Chapter three is ready! It has a rather abrupt end, but the next chapter was so long I had to cut it down in to two, but hopefully you will enjoy this anyway :)

Oh, and thank you to everyone who has reviewed and/or added this to their favorites - it really means a lot. I'm gonna be ambitious and try and break to 20 mark for reviews this chapter...

x

Jangsty

"What the hell, doc!" Sawyer moaned, gripping Jack around the shoulders to steady him, while Kate turned around and stared in confusion.

"Sorry - wasn't looking where I was going."

He had to admit he wasn't really paying attention, just blindly following Kate's lead.

He'd been thinking about the vision - or the memory, whatever it had been, when suddenly a tree branch came flying out of nowhere and struck him across the face.

It hurt.

Jack had narrowed it down to a list of possible diagnosis. He might have amnesia, which would explain the missing pieces, or he could have post traumatic stress, which would explain -

Alarm bells and a man, grey hair, dirty unkempt appearance and the foul smell of B.O,is standing over him. The bat comes down before he can see it, striking him once, twice..He watches as the man -why does he want to call him Tom? -raises the bat again but Jack's out before it comes down.

- the flashbacks.

He shook it off.

It would also mean that whatever had happened to Jack while he was away must have been so traumatising that his brain had involuntarily blanked out the entire experience, but giving him little - little clips - piece by piece.

It was getting dark now, and they hadn't stopped walking all day. Jack yawned widely and rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted and the unexciting scenery and monotonous stepping pattern did nothing to help to keep him awake or alert. He yawned again, and this time Kate eyed him, ready to go in to doctor mode - ironically.

"Not much further now, Jack. It's just around the corner" She said for the sixth time that day (yes, he had been counting) but he knew that this time they might actually be close, as he could see a great grey plumes rising over the tree tops just ahead. Was it their camp?

Sawyer ran past Jack and Kate, disappearing through the trees. Where was he going?

Why was he leaving?

What was happening?

Then Jack watched as Kate followed him, turning the clearing and leaving him standing alone in the foliage.

Where were they going?

Why were they leaving him here?

He looked around. All of a sudden the trees were alive, and they were moving too, beginning to close him in. He was powerless to stop it, his legs wouldn't move an inch. So he was forced to stand in the mud, his world spinning around his head. He couldn't remember which way Kate had gone, there was no exit. Trapped, he stood frozen, barely able to breathe.

Then he's tied up in the jungle alone again. And he's cold, and scared. And alone.

It's all too familiar.

And as before, Jack tried to call out for Kate but couldn't find his words. Then his chest gets tighter, and everything starts to move in slow motion - begins to shut down. He can't breathe.

He can't breathe.

Clawing at the neck of his shirt, he tries to loosen the material, pull it away from his neck, stop it from suffocating him. But the material already droops down, laying gently against his sternum. Then why can't he breathe?

He was dying. That was certian. Reaching his arm out to grab the closest .. the closest something .. to steady himself, Jack tried to stop the inevitable.

But he's still tied to the tree, and they're binding his wrists and ankles together so tight it hurts. He looks up and it's Tom again. The man with the club. And he's staring at him, and Tom's laughing but Jack wants to cry. He doesn't recognize where he is, and is confused as to why he's there. Then Tom brings out a syringe. And another man holds Jack's arm in place - Jack hates needles - then he feels the prick, and the liquid enter him. The pain subsides and peace, tranquility falls over him. But Jack doesn't want this. He needs to fight, he needs to stay alive - but his eyelids begin to fall, and the fight is too much - and when the blindfolds goes on, blocking out the setting sun, he's already out cold.

Jack was staring blindly, his hands locked securely into place around the necking of his shirt, his whole body stiff with fear. He looked too pale, he wasn't breathing well, and she made sure Saywer had a firm grip on Jack in case he passed out again.

Kate took Jacks face in her hands, trying to get him to look at her - to wake up. And then, as if brought back by her touch, he does. And she watches as he just stands there in front of her. Eyes wide, taking everything in, realizing he is safe. It only takes him an instant to realize what's happening and then his face crumples; and he throws himself on to her shoulder.

Kate stands there dumbly, slowly running her fingers up and down his strong back soothingly, throwing questioning glances as Sawyer. "It's alright," she whispers in his ear, raising her left hand and running it though his matted hair. "I'm not leaving you - I'm not going anywhere."

They only stand there for a moment, Kate continuing to awkwardly comfort Jack with Sawyer watching her curiously. "You have to calm down, Jack." She whispers. "We're home now, it's just - "

Jack cuts her off by abruptly pulling his head off her shoulder and beginning to walk towards the treeline purposefully, realizing just how sad and pathetic he looks in front of Kate. Ugh, and Sawyer. Angry and embarrassed, he leaves them standing alone. Jack cut through the trees, pushing leaves out his face and snapping branches just for the hell of it. Then he started to hear the waves lapping against the shoreline, and looking around and the clear blue ocean he feels calmed. Drawing his eyes to the left, he sees Sun sitting on the beach with Claire and Aaron, while Jin, Charlie and Hurley fish.

Jack smiled as he watched them, they were just the same. Nothing had changed. Maybe they didn't need him after all.

There were small, soft hands on his arms again, but this time he didn't jump. He knew it was Kate. "Your home." She whispered. "And you have no idea how much we've all missed you." He forced himself to smile.

They stood for a moment, watching Saywer run down the beach and tell Juliet that Jack was back. He saw her catch his eye and smile; beginning to run towards him - but Sawyer grabbed her arm to stop her. Whispering something, she nodded and they casually walked over trying not to draw attention. It didn't work. In a second, it seemed like all the other survivours had gathered around him, patting him on the back, asking questions, offering him water. All the faces began to blur in to one and he felt sick. He looked at Kate, he needed her to make them all go away; but she was talking to Charlie. Jack took Kates hand loosely, and knowingly, she stepped infront of him, telling the crowd he was going to be fine but needed to rest.

"Maybe Juliet should check him out," Charlie offered, he turned to Jack "Your looking a bit pale, mate."

Kate nodded worriedly, Sawyer did his best at dispersing the crowd and Juliet followed Jack and Kate to his tent to examine him.

Jack scuffed his feet along the sand, too tired to lift them. The sand landed in golden heaps on the top of his shoes. He felt dizzy and drunk. Not the overly-confident, no-shirt-no-worries drunk, but the type of drunk that makes you scared of what you might do.

He was finding it hard to remember what had happened even a few minutes before, and his eyes wouldn't focus properly on anything. His muscles hurt, it was like someone had grabbed his limbs and pulled until apart they couldn't pull anymore, and his stomach felt like it was on fire. He needed to know what they had injected him with, because it was obviously beginning to metabolize at a rapid rate.

He entered his tent and Kate and Juliet helped him sit down on his make-do mattress, constructed out of piles of old clothes and airline blankets. He was amazed they had kept it the same way he left it.

"... and look how skinny he's gotten.. lift your shirt up Jack."

Kate was talking again, and pulling at his shirt. He let her, but he didn't move at all himself.

"Everyone has missed you and been so worried." Juliet said, running a hand up and down his arm "Can you remember what happened?"

Jack bowed his head to inspect himself. He didn't think he'd gotten that skinny... and no. He couldn't remember anything, and he wished people would stop asking. He didn't answer.

"Jack, do you feel alright?"

He stared at Juliet. She looked the same as she always had. She hadn't changed as much as Kate or Sawyer. "..'m fine." He muttered, and once again bowed his head, staring in to his lap.

Kate stood up and moved to sit behind Jack. "He has these cuts.." She whispered, making sure there was no way Jack could hear her. She lifted his shirt cautiously once again, and Juliet gasped.

Jack could feel her cold hands on his back and it made him uncomfortable. He didn't want to be touched, he wanted to tell her what was wrong with him - he needed to explain he had been drugged, but he couldn't find the words.

"They look like... cigarette burns." Juliet said, "And cuts from some kind of whip." She began to lift Jacks shirt over his head and he held it down.

"Why?" He asked, or at least, that's all Juliet understood. His words came out slow and slurred.

"Remember when I took out your appendix?" She asked while extracting his arms from the sleeves and lifting his shirt over his head. " And you wouldn't let me examine you - I said you wouldn't have a problem if you didn't have anything to hide."

Jack fiddled with his hands awkwardly. But he was sick then, and he knew it. He hated not knowing what they were going on about this time.

"You have a little cut and I want to make sure it's not infected, that's all - you don't need to worry."

Juliet opened the medical bag and found some antiseptic to rub on the wounds, all the while sending worried glances at Kate. Jack didn't move once. He kept his head bowed and eyes downcast, his hands now firmly clasped shut on his lap.

"Kate, maybe you should go and get Jack something to eat and drink." Juliet said, and Kate furrowed her brow in confusion; they both knew Jack would rather stay with her, but then she realized. "Oh, okay. I'll be right back Jack, I'm just outside." She said reassuringly before exiting the tent.

Juliet shifted so she was right in front of Jack, and looking his straight in the eye. "Jack, look at me. This is important."

It was her serious tone. He could tell that even through his lucidity.

"Do you remember anything that happened while you were with them?"

Jack considered lying, or rather - stretching the truth. Technically, he remembered something. He remembered being tied to the tree, and he remembered that Ben had been there. But he decided to be truthful, after all, Juliet had elected herself as his own private physician. He shook his head and tried to speak. "They put.. a needle.."

"Yeah, yeah I know.." She finished, cutting him off and turning his arm over revealing the yellowish purple bruise "But can you tell me what was in the needle?

He shook his head pathetically. "Bit dizzy."

She nodded, explaining that she didn't want to give him anything in case it reacted with what was already in his system, but that he was probably fighting some kind of sedative.

Jack opened his mouth to speak, he knew he couldn't - not properly, anyway - but he needed to tell someone what he remembered in case he forgot again. "They.. a tree.. tied up.. on. I couldn't see."

"No one is going to let one of them come and take you again." Juliet whispered soothingly, "And we're going to find out what happened. If you need someone to talk to, or you remember anything - anything - you come and find me, okay?"

Jack just stared and nodded. Juliet wasn't sure he was listening or was even alert, but Kate was back with food and juice. "I'll leave you two alone, make sure he gets some sleep." She said and exited, giving Jack a genuine, yet worried smile.

"Here you go," Kate said, handing Jack a handful of crackers. He smiled and looked up at her,'they always make me feel better' - he remembered that at least. He reached for the juice, but Kate moved it away "In a minute - eat first."

He ate a few crackers and reached for the juice again, this time she gave in and let him have it. As soon as he had finished the small cup, he began to feel even worse than before. His eyes wouldn't stay open and his head felt twice it's normal weight.

Kate had crushed half a sleeping pill into his juice, not so much that it would make him sleep all day - just enough so he could actually rest, because he wasn't going to on his own accord. She'd done it before, so why not again? She quickly explained to him what was happening, while gently lowering his head on to an airline pillow.

"Oh." He said grumpily."I'm hungry, not tired."

"I'll go and get you some proper food now, an-"

"No," Jack whispered, "Don't leave me alone. Don't-"

His eyes closed and he fell asleep. She ran her hands through his longer hair. "I'm never leaving you again." She whispered.

The makeshift dharma food bar was less than ten feet from Jack's tent, and Kate knew he would probably want something other than crackers when he woke up from his nap. He had never really had the chance to take advantage of the dharma food stash, and scanning the boxes of oatmeal, instant pasta and cans of beans - Kate decided he would prefer any of this food to fish, coconuts or mangoes. She opened a white tin with the dharma logo on labeled "COOKIES", but to her surprise she found something much better. The container was stacked with apollo chocolate bars. She smiled to herself. Not only was chocolate delicious, Jack needed to keep his strength up. Perfect.

Kate pulled the blue tarpaulin back and entered the tent "Hey, guess what I-"

She froze.

Jack wasn't asleep anymore, it was like he was being electric shocked. His whole body was shaking uncontrollably, and as she knelt down to wake him, she was afraid to touch him. His back was arched and his hands were curled in to fists as his sides. She grabbed his face, caressing his cheeks in an attempt to wake him; but his eyes were rolled back in his head and his jaw was tightly locked.

Kate panicked, realizing she was wasting time by trying to help him herself, she bolted out of the tent and screamed for Juliet. It didn't take a second for Juliet to run in to the tent and kneel beside Jack - along with Sawyer, Sun and Hurley who all crowded around the door.

"Have you given him anything?" Juliet asked seriously, although she didn't seem as panicked at Kate was - or Hurley.

"No. No!" Kate said, stumbling, "Only sleeping pills - half a sleeping pill - I gave him one before, and he .. what's happening?"

"He's having a seizure. Sawyer, help me ..."

"What?" Kate screeched, pulling at Sawyers arm. He needed to stop this for her. He needed to make Jack better. "What do we do?"

"Turn him on his side and hope to god it stops."

Please leave a review, they make me write faster,

I want to pass the 20 mark before I post a new chapter.

:)