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Chapter 2

Attaccato

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the presence of fear with the will to go on."

It all came down to this, didn't it? She was going to lie here knocked out until she simply died. Being half aware of what was going on, but not being able to do anything about it was not the best way to go either. Darkness swirled around her, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to get her eyes to open. She couldn't seem to move either. Or make any noise for that matter. As the door swung open, she only heard it slightly in her blur of thoughts, but she knew someone else was in the room with her, but who? Kate wasn't sure. Hopefully it wasn't anyone to hurt her.

Kate was the first thing that caught the eyes of all three of them as Jack, Sawyer, and Jessie walked into the room. She was just lying there in a lifeless form on the floor. What had they done?

Sawyer quickly turned to the man, narrowing his eyes at him. "I swear…" he muttered under his breath.

"You swear what?" The man replied. "She's not dead…and what would you do if she was? There's more of us than there are of you. Deal with it." With that the door slammed shut, leaving the three of them in the room alone.

Jack was quick to kneel down by Kate, shaking his head a bit. He examined the side of her head. "It's not that bad." he said. "She should be fine."

"Should be?" Sawyer asked. "What do ya mean by should be?"

"She will be fine." Jack re-worded his statement, gently sitting Kate up a bit, leaning her against him. "Check the bathroom for a cloth and cold water." he said, looking up at Jessie and Sawyer.

There was a moments pause and Jessie realized Sawyer wasn't going to go get it. She quickly turned and headed into the bathroom, glancing around for what Jack had asked for. The bathroom was clean and organized, making it much easier for her to find the cloths. After grabbing one, she turned on the water. She rooted through the medicine cabinet as she waited for it to get cold. Nothing they could have used in there. She soaked the cloth in cold water, then turned the water off and walked back over to Jack, handing it to him.

"Thanks." Jack told her, cleaning the blood off of Kate then pressing the rag to the side of her head. There were no icepacks, so this would have to do for now. "Come on, Kate…Wake up." he told her softly, ignoring the glares that he was getting from Sawyer. Sawyer was the least of his worried right now.

Kate shifted slightly, feeling someone holding her upright and the cold wetness against her head. Who was there? Her eyes fluttered open and took awhile to adjust. An inaudible sigh of relief left her lips when she realized it was just Jack, Sawyer, and Jessie. She let her eyes close again, frowning as Jack shook her slightly.

"Stay awake." Jack told her, shifting her a bit more. "Can you talk to me?" he asked her. "Does anything hurt?"

Kate sighed and opened her eyes again, glancing up at him. "I'm fine." she told him, stubbornly. Her voice was still a bit raspy and she wanted water, but other than that she sounded alright for now. She replaced his hand in holding the rag against her head with her own and scooted away from him a bit, using the wall to lean against.

Jack sighed and shook his head a bit at her stubbornness. Oh well. If she didn't want his help then he'd stop giving it to her until she needed it. "You want me to get you some water?" he asked. He wasn't sure where he'd get a glass. Maybe they had one in the bathroom or something.

Kate nodded her head slightly, looking at him. "Yeah." she said. "Thanks." She tore her eyes away from him and glanced around the room before looking at Sawyer. She forced a smile at him then closed her eyes.

"So I see they knocked ya good one." Sawyer said, smirking a bit. "What'd ya do to 'em, Freckles?"

"I didn't do anything to them." Kate replied, smiling slightly as Jack brought her a glass of water. "Thanks." she said, taking a sip of it.

"No problem." Jack told her with a smile. He walked over to one of the beds and sat down. "You want help over to one of the beds?" he asked.

Kate shook her head, flinching a bit as she did so. "I'm fine right here for now." she told him, taking another sip of water.

Jack looked at her then nodded his head slightly. "Alright." he said. "If you need help, just ask me…"

"What if she wants my help though?" Sawyer replied, arching a brow at him.

"Or Sawyer." Jack added, shaking his head slightly. Why did it matter who she asked? She was just going to ask for help to do something. It's not like it was anything more. Shutting his eyes, he lied down on the bed, shaking his head a bit more.

No sooner than Jack had lied down, the door swung open and the man walked into the room. "Get up." he said, looking at Kate.

Kate looked up at him and frowned. "I can't." she replied honestly. She wasn't even sure if she could try to get up.

The man narrowed his eyes at her. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up onto her feet, ignoring how dizzy she looked.

Sawyer frowned and walked over to him. "Leave her alone." he said, balling his hands into fists. "Keep your dang hands off of her."

"Shut up." The man replied in an icy tone. "You either shut up or I hurt her…"

Kate glanced over at Sawyer. "Sawyer…" she said softly, but was cut off.

"You keep your mouth shut too!" The man replied, giving her a rough shake.

"Hey." Jack said, getting up and walking over to them, watching as Kate began to us all the strength she had to struggle against the man. He gave him a shove, narrowing his eyes at him. "Keep away from her."

"Hey! A little help in here!" The man called, stumbling slightly as he was shoved. Only seconds after he shouted, three more men rushed in the room to help him, pretty much causing all of them to start struggling. Somehow in between it all the fighting, Kate was shoved out the door, followed by the first man.