Chapter Six
The kiss ended and Jack shifted back to a normal sitting position. He looked at Karen and gave her a sort of half smile. Then the smile disappeared. Awkward silence. Karen's eyes wandered until Jack said something.
"Nice weather today, eh?"
Karen laughed and slapped him playfully on the arm. Then the two were laughing. I could do this. Karen thought.
"As fun as this is, I should go wash off my head." Karen said. And Jack smiled at her and nodded. The she got up and left the tent.
Walking down the beach, Sawyer spotted her and half jogged up to her. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell me what to."
Karen stopped and whirled around.
"Bugger off."
Sawyer's blue eyes filled with mischief. Damnit. He's got that look. Karen thought as his face donned a wry smile.
"No."
"Listen, I'm sorry, but while you and Jack were bickering like an old married couple, do you know how much blood John was loosing?" Karen didn't even let him answer. "I'm sorry. You probably can't count that high."
"You don't know how high I can count Trooper." Sawyer said. "I saw it."
Karen stopped. Now he was just confusing. "Saw what?"
"Don't deny it, Trooper." Sawyer smiled. "I saw it."
"Sawyer, I'm going to ask you one more time. Saw what?" Karen was loosing her patience.
Sawyer rolled his eyes. "The kiss." The wry smile never disappeared. It just got bigger.
"Bugger off." Karen said and stalked off down the beach.
Sawyer stood there staring after her.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" A voice said behind him. Sawyer turned around and saw Jack looking at him.
Sawyer smirked. "Actually Doc… I don't."
Jack walked off and Sawyer flipped him off behind his back.
"Saw that." Jack yelled.
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Karen had been washing her hair when Jack had come up and asked her to take care of Locke while he went to get food.
So now Karen was standing in the infirmary tent changing Locke's bandages. He was coming along well, he was almost healed and Jack was letting him sit up.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked.
"Sure, John." Karen finished changing the bandages and sat down on a makeshift chair next to where Locke was sitting.
"Did you go to college?"
"No, sir."
"University?"
"Nope."
"You're the kind of person who looks likes she's been to college or university. How come?" Locke asked. "If you don't mind my asking."
"Growing up for me was harder than it looked." Karen began. "My dad left when I was 13 and my mom hadn't been able to hold down a job since. When I was 18, my little sister Tess had been wearing the same pair of shoes for three years and my little brother Gordon needed new clothes. My family was in desperate need of money so college or university just wasn't an option for me. I joined the army so my family could get what they needed."
This was why she liked Locke. He was always ready to listen and he always had advice. Now the advice wasn't always obvious, you had to think about it for a bit before you got it. Locke was like that.
"Why did he leave?"
Karen shrugged. "No idea. We got up one morning and there was a note on the counter telling how much he loved us. The one thing that sticks out to this day is, if he loved us, why'd he leave?
"One morning I got up in the middle of the night and my mom was in the kitchen crying. I asked her what was wrong and she asked me why he did it. I reminded her of the note and said that if he truly loved us he would come back. Then she asked me why he hasn't. I told her I didn't know. But I told her that we all wanted him to come home."
"So you spent almost half of your life waiting?"
"No. I hate that son of a bitch. He crippled my family and practically killed my mother's hope and soul. If he loved us the least he could do is send money."
Locke shook his head. "Sorry to hear that."
"It's ok. Richard was an asshole anyway."
"Richard?"
"Yeah. That's his name. I don't think he deserves to be called my father." Karen said. "Thanks for listening. I needed to tell someone." Karen said and left the tent.
