They'd gotten dressed and Shannon was just strapping the splint to his leg again, when they heard Hurley.
"Dude? Hey man, Boone? You out here, dude?"
Boone stole a final kiss, letting his tongue roam freely, intoxicated by the heady feeling. Shannon giggled girlishly, further inciting his passion.
With difficulty he broke away, "I'm here man."
It sounded like a herd of elephants was approaching them, then Hurley burst through the jungle. "Hey dude, I was…oh, Shannon." His smile came out as more of a grimace. "Hey."
"Hurley," She acknowledged, letting her hand linger on Boone's thigh just long enough for the newest occupant of the clearing to notice.
He stared at the two of them, "Yeah, right, okay." He mumbled, thinking that his impression of what they'd been doing must be completely wrong. "So, Boone, dude, you ready?" he asked with a bit more focus.
"Sure." Boone struggled to his feet, the two of them helping him.
Boone had already explained to Shannon about his daily physiotherapy sessions with Hurley, so she was aware of where they were heading.
They stopped twice more before they reached the beach, Boone's inability to go very far without rest the reason, the conversation at a minimum. Boone had so many questions to ask Shannon that he thought he'd burst, but none of them were appropriate in front of Hugo. Boone had been too caught up in the surrealism of their encounter in the clearing, the Kafkaesque nature of her dual reveal, to actually be able to pose real world questions when they were alone. He kept glancing at her frequently, still trying to sort out the completely unexpected and abrupt about face their relationship had taken. He was half convinced that it was another of the "wacky-paste" induced hallucinations, but every time he shot a look over his shoulder she was there smiling at him softly. Hurley glanced between the two of them as if trying to figure out if they were playing some kind of practical joke on him.
Shannon had arrived at the caves just as Jack was closing Boone's eyes, and had screamed "No" in anguish and then dissolved into tears. Jack had looked up at her, tears in his own eyes, brow furrowed in misery.
"I'm sorry. I promised him I'd save him, but then he let me off the hook when I couldn't." Jack stared back down at the dead man before him, the lines of pain smoothed out from the pale, blood streaked face by death. Suddenly Boone's body jerked and the horrible wet gargling breathing had started up again. Jack mouth fell open in stunned amazement and the fight to save her brother's life had started up again.
It had been touch and go of course, Jack and Sun didn't know just how Boone was managing to stay alive; they only knew that he was and that he seemed, while not necessarily to be getting any stronger, at least not losing any ground either. Equally astonishing was that the leg that had seemed dead, once again had colour in the toes, and warmth in the flesh, so any thought of amputation was banished. Shannon sat by his side hour after hour, day after day, pouring small amounts of water and broth into his slightly parted lips, sponging the fever induced sweat from his face and torso.
She'd been sure at one point that he'd finally succumbed to his injuries when she awoke after inadvertently falling asleep, her face pressed against his hip, and a dead weight on her head. She jerked away from the unexpected pressure causing Boone's hand to fall lifelessly from where he'd found the strength to place it while she slept. She stared at the hand certain that it had been his dying gesture, before fearfully raising her eyes to see with relief that his chest still rose and fell shallowly under the thin layer of blanket covering him. That was when she became aware of the struggling wheeze of his breathing over the slowly diminished pounding of blood in her own ears. It was one of the last signs of awareness that he displayed for almost a week.
Three days after he'd moved his hand and he still hadn't regained consciousness again, Shannon spoke of her fear to Jack. "It's been days. Why isn't he awake? What if he never wakes up again?" She was exhausted and cranky, worn to the bone from sleeplessness and worry, and to top it off she was often nauseous and had thrown up at least once each morning for the past several days in a row, something she chalked up to the tenseness of the situation and had managed to keep secret. It wasn't too hard to hide for a former bulimic.
"Shannon I just don't know." How Boone was even still alive was a mystery to Jack, Sun had been right the night of the boys' accident, he should have been dead, he was too far gone for saving, even if they'd been in a fully equipped hospital. "Maybe his body is keeping his brain shut down to save himself the pain. We don't have anything to give him for it. Just the broken leg alone would be agony even without the rest of it." Jack had shaken his head and patted the girls' thin shoulder. "I'm sure he'll wake up when he's ready." It was a small comfort, but he didn't have anything else to offer her. Bedside manner had never been his strong suit anyway.
They finally reached a secluded cove, some distance from the beach camp. Hurley waited while Boone stripped down to his boxers, carefully removing the splint again with Shannon's assistance. The two of them heaved him to his feet where he wrapped his right arm securely around Hugo's shoulders. The mercifully still fully clothed larger man helped him through the surf and into deeper water, while Shannon spread his t-shirt on the sand and sat on it carefully. She watched while Boone held on to Hurley, using him as an horizontal bar while he worked his way though several exercises. After half an hour, they had a brief conversation and then Boone let go, swimming away, parallel to the shore while Hugo made his way to shore.
Shannon stood and met him at the shore line, concern on her face. "You're leaving him out there alone?"
He shrugged, "He likes to swim for a while when we're done."
"He almost drowned in that ocean when we first crashed! And he still had two functioning legs then! What if he gets caught in a rip tide again?" She demanded in a shrill voice.
"Jin checked this place out. He said because it's so protected by the two spits that it's safe, and I watch him pretty carefully. If there's trouble I'll go back in and grab him. He's careful about not going out too deep. He just goes back and forth." As if to prove a point, Boone paused in his strokes and turned back around swimming in the opposite direction, still maintaining a safe distance from shore. Shannon had watched enough of his swim meets to see that his forward progress was slightly less smooth than his usual swimming style as he compensated for the diminished ability of his right leg. She glanced at Hurley somewhat doubtfully, wondering just how quickly the guy could get to her brothers' aid if he actually required help.
Hurley correctly interpreted her look, "I'd get to him in time, I'm spry."
Shannon frowned a bit, raising a not entirely convinced eyebrow then moved back up the beach to sit again on Boone's shirt, Hurley falling heavily into the sand at her side.
"Sooooo, uhm, haven't seen you around much." He fished awkwardly for information.
"No." She answered shortly, then leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her legs, trying to decide just how much to tell him.
"Boone doesn't mention it at all, but I think he's missed you." In fact any time Hurley had brought up Shannon's name, Boone had abruptly changed the subject; eventually he'd taken the hint and dropped it totally.
"I missed him too." She said a bit wistfully.
"Then why'd you stay away?" He wondered.
"He's not my brother, you know, not my real brother. Did he tell you that?" She blurted out the apparent non-sequitur.
Hurley shook his head, "What?"
She went on to explain their true relationship, as it had existed before her revelation of earlier that day.
"Cool." He didn't really have anything else to say, and wondered why she was telling him this now and just why she'd started coming around again? They continued to monitor Boone carefully as he ploughed back and forth in front of them.
Shannon looked over her shoulder at him as if gauging him in some way, obviously not finding him lacking, "I'm pregnant," she blurted.
"Whoa, dude!" His mouth fell open.
She laughed at his catch-all appellation for everyone, regardless of their sex. "It's Boone's." She said more seriously.
"What!" His mouth opened even wider.
Shannon nodded.
"Whoa!" He drew the word out in amazement, staring at her dumbfounded. "I did not see that one coming!"
She explained a little bit about the circumstances, leaving out as much as she could; it had just been the once, the night before the flight, she'd only just told Boone about the baby today, they were both exited about it.
Hurley nodded through the whole thing a smile growing on his face. "Right on! Jesus! Everyone's going to have a cow when you tell 'em! I gotta be there, promise me you won't tell them all unless I get to watch!"
Shannon laughed, "You can be our very own Jeff Probst if you want." She put on an "announcer" style voice, "The big reveal tonight on Survivor: Craphole Island edition with your host Hugo Reyes."
He sat up straighter, "I always wanted to host one of those tribal councils." He glanced out at the water; Boone was bobbing just off shore, only his head and shoulders showing. He'd learned not to try and stand in even the most mildly surging surf; he simply didn't have the stability for it with only one leg. He raised one arm up and waved it at Hurley when he saw he'd gotten his attention.
"He's done." Hurley announced, standing. He held his hand down to help her up.
"Tell him I'll see him at the caves later. I'm going to go back to the beach and get my stuff together." Unexpectedly Shannon leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for watching over my brother."
Hurley grinned and shrugged shyly. "It's cool, no prob." He turned to go and fetch his charge while she headed down the sand.
"Where's Shannon going?" Boone asked as soon as Hurley reached him.
He delivered her message as he assisted Boone to shore and lowered him to sit in the sand. He always needed time to recuperate after his daily aquatherapy session, it gave the sun time to dry him off and recharge his batteries, most days he napped for a while as well.
"She told you then?" Boone surmised as Hurley sat beside him.
"Yeah, dude. You guys are going to blow everyone's socks off! Right on!" He gave Boone two thumbs up and then impulsively leaned forward and pulled him into a bone crushing bear hug. Boone wheezed for breath as he pounded his fists against the guy, trying to get him to let go. Hurley finally clued in and released him muttering apologies. Boone collapsed back onto the sand gasping for air. He wobbled a bit as he shook his head and tried to clear it of the stars he was seeing before his eyes, then he leaned back on his elbows to rest.
"It's a little surreal, let me tell you." Boone said when he'd regained the use of his voice. They discussed the situation a little longer, Boone's head dropping farther and farther forward, longer gaps in his responses as his exhaustion mixed with the warmth of the sun and sand lulled him into a snooze. Hurley took a second to look into the horizon as he pondered Boone's latest comment, and by the time he turned back to the guy, Boone was stretched out full in the sand, fast asleep.