Lauren the Oxymoron: Hey! I'm glad to hear from you too. It seems like for ever since I've written anything. I've been really damn busy and hadn't had the time to work on any stories. But, I'm back now and I have a lot of idea's built up for this story. I'm glad you like it and hope to hear more from you as it continues. Oh, and enderingness is totally a word, and there will be a lot more of it to come, along with some well-needed drama to keep this story going.
Alebelle: Glad you liked it. I thought it was pretty sweet. I'll try to keep up the good work.
Charlie
The sun had barely come up when Claire awoke, hearing the sound of rushing foot steps fill her ears. She sat up, startled by the noise, looking around through half shut eyes as a series of shadows moved past her tent, making plenty of noise as they went.
"Charlie" She whispered, nudging turning her attention to him. The sounds outside her tent starting to worry her. Charlie didn't respond, remaining perfectly asleep in his unconscious state. She shook his shoulder, trying to draw him out of his sleep, but still he remained stiff as a rock, only jerking slightly in response to her gentle shaking. She nudged him harder, begging to hear more sounds from out side. Some shuffling, a thud and a grunt, as if someone had fallen only a few feet away.
"Charlie!" She hissed instantly, shaking him violently. But still, he remained limp. Then, it dawned on her. She was supposed to be monitoring him for symptoms of a concussion. Now he wasn't waking up, despite her harsh efforts. Panic rushed through her veins as she shook him again, begging for him to wake up. His eyes rolled open slightly, a slight moan escaping his lips.
"Charlie, wake up" Claire insisted, running her hand along his face. He let out another little cry, squeezing his eyes shut as he flinched in response to the pain in his head. Claire frowned. She hated seeing him in pain. But the noises out side had gotten louder, and the thought of the others making another attack was all to vivid in her mind.
Another rush of foot steps and a wave of shadows rushed past, this time from to right side of her tent, moving across the front of her tent instead of the left side like before. The people who were moving now were from their camp, probably rushing to investigate the disturbance.
"What's going on?" Charlie murmured, holding his hand to the back of his head. "I don't know" Claire replied, glancing at the wall over her shoulder. Watching the shadows dance across the tarp as distorted voice began to emerge from outside. Charlie sat up, his instinct to protect Claire over powering his headache. But when he sat up, another burst of pain rushed through his scull, shaking another cry from his lips.
"Charlie-" Claire sighed, worriedly, placing her hand to the back of his head. "No, I'm fine" He assured, taking her hand in his and taking deep breaths, trying to make the pain go away. Claire watched him with a look of worry, knowing that the sudden headaches were not a good sign.
The noises from out side had woken Aaron, and he was now starting to fuss. Claire turned her attention towards the crib and gathered him up into her arms, the shrill cries making Charlie's head throb. He rested his head in his hands, trying hard to make the pain go away. Another cry erupted, this time coming from neither Charlie or the baby. It came from out side.
"Charlie-" Claire began, shooting a worried look in the direction of the sound. "Come on. Lets go see what's going on" He instructed, pushing himself to his feet, putting the pain in his head aside. The sudden change in altitude made him a bit dizzy, the tent seeming to swirl before his eyes. He shook his head and blinked a few times, and soon it readjusted. Once he'd snapped out of it, he held out his hand, heeling Claire up.
The two emerged from Claire's tent, heading towards the crowd that had formed near by. Charlie felt off balance, his legs wobbling unsteady, as if he were walking on the deck of a boat during a storm. His head continued to pound, the loud thunder in his ears sounding as if there was a metal wall somewhere inside his brain, much like the one in the hatch, and someone was on the other side, kicking it repeatedly in order to break it down. He felt dizzy, everything going in and out of focus. Another sharp pain and he felt his knees go weak, no longer able to see.
Claire didn't take notice to the peculiar way he was walking, she was to focused on the crowd that had gathered by her tent, curious to know what was going on.
She squeezed her way through, staring in confusion as she say Echo in a sitting position on the sand, his legs stretched out before him as if he'd fallen. Locke and Desmond knelt on either side of him, trying to help him up. The whisperers erupted around her.
What happened? Is he ok? What happened to the hatch?
Annoyed by the sound, Aaron began to cry louder, and Claire began bouncing him gently in hopes to calm him down.
"Echo, come on. Wake up. We're almost thre" Locke instructed, trying to draw him back to consciousness. Echo's eyes rolled around in his head a bit before they managed to focus on Locke.
Once he'd snapped out of it, the two men were able to help him to his feet and carry him over to one of the tents. Claire turned to Charlie, surprised to find that he was no longer at her side.
"Charlie?" She questioned, looking around curiously. He wasn't with the rest of the crowd. She spun around, looking back in the direction they'd came, spotting his body stretched across the sand. He laid on his back, his body jerking now and then, but for the most part he laid still.
"Charlie!" Claire yelled, panic throbbing in her veins her once again as she ran to the area where he laid, dropping to her knees at his side. A small portion of the crowd fallowed her over, their concern turning from one unconscious man to another. Claire shifted Aaron so that she could hold him in one arm, laying the other against Charlie's chest, not sure what to do.
Her heart was racing, fear flooding all of her senses, making it hard to concentrate. "Get back" Bernard instructed to the group that was now crowded around them, kneeling down on the opposite side of Claire. She watched as Bernard gently tapped his check, trying to wake him up.
When that didn't work, he tilted Charlie's head side ways, as if to examine it, a harsh look of concern crossing his face when he noticed the dark stream of blood leaking from his ears. Claire gasped, her eyes wide as she caught sight of the blood.
"Clam down" Bernard instructed, reading her reaction with ease. "Where's Jack?" Claire questioned frantically, her mind over flowing with negative thoughts that were polluting her brain, making it impossible to take his advice and relax.
"Claire, please. Just give me a sec" Bernard asked patently, trying to assure her that everything would be find. Claire nodded and silenced her worries, letting them roll down her cheeks instead of off her tongue.
"Charlie.." Bernard began, leaning in close to his ear as he spoke, holding Charlie's head on his lap so that it was elevated form the rest of his body. "Charlie, can you hear me?" He tried again, his words firm and persistent. Still, no response. "Here. You try" He then instructed, lifting his head and waving Claire over. He took the baby from her arms and Claire did her best to copy his attempt, holding Charlie's head on her lap and leaning down, whispering into his ear.
"Charlie. Can you hear me?" Claire questioned softly, her angelic Australian accent ringing through his ears. Charlie's eyes opened about half way, his eye lashes fluttering as he tried his hardest to look up at her.
She smiled, relieved to know that he wasn't completely unconscious. He tried to sit up, confused by what was going on. He didn't know how he ended up on the ground or why everyone was suddenly crowding around him.
He just knew that his head hurt like hell, and everything sounded really, really strange. It was like he was in a giant cave, and everything was echoing. Everything except Claire's voice. That came out crystal clear.
"Claire-" He muttered, his voice dripping with fear as he lifted his hand, trying to push himself up. "Shh.." She coed, taking his hand in hers and smoothing back his hair.
"Don't worry, hun. Your gonna be ok" She assured, forcing a smile although she had no clue rather the words she spoke were actually true. He flicked her eyes up towards Bernard, trying to figure out what to do next.
"Charlie, we're gonna take you back to Claire's tent, alright?" Bernard explained, but his words were to blurry for him to understand. Not only did his voice blend in with all the other voices around him, their whispering buzzing in his ears like a thousand flies.
But his words simply didn't come out right. His hearing was fucking up again, and to him, Bernard's words sounded something like a broken record, skipping and repeating along with a lot of static.Charlie didn't respond verbally, instead he flinched, the noise making his head ache worse.
"Charlie, were gonna take you back to my tent" Claire explained, starting to catch on. Charlie nodded, still feeling the throbbing webbing out through his brain.
Bernard waved another one of the male castaways over and the two lifted him up and moved him back to Claire's tent with ease, after all, Charlie wasn't all that heavy. If it were Locke or Echo they probably would have only needed one man to carry him.
Claire fallowed them inside and laid Aaron in his crib. He'd stopped crying once the commotion died down, and Claire was relieved to keep them both in the same room now that his high-pitched screams would not worsen Charlie's pain.
Rose brought Claire and Ice pack and she held it against the side of his head, trying to use the ice to chill his headache away and help him relax. Charlie was in and out of sleep, his eyes opening every now and then to look up at her, not really seeming to know what was going on every time it happened.
"Claire?" he muttered, his own words pounding in his head as he toyed with a strand of hair that had fallen over her shoulder. Claire smiled to show she was listening.
"I love you"
And with that, his eyes fell shut again, the pain to much for him to bare. It was good timing on his part, because he didn't have to see the burst of tears that came streaming down Claire's face after he spoke those words.
