A/n: thanks for the reviews! The story continues…no Kate yet, but there will be more of her and some Jateness next chap. Enjoy!
Chapter 9
Sawyer's eyes flickered. "Wh-where…." He struggled to sit up, using his good arm, but groaned in pain.
"Shh. You need to lie down." Juliet told him firmly, while gently pushing him back to the ground.
"…Kate…Wh-where is she?" He asked in breathy gasps. He started to push himself up again.
"You need to stay calm, James. You've lost a lot of blood."
"What? You the Doc now?"
A pained expression flitted across her face. "You're gonna hurt yourself, James." She picked up one of the shirt lying next to them, and ripped it into strips. Next, she picked up some old rags and moved them closer.
"What're ya doin?" He mumbled, struggling to remain conscious.
She didn't answer, straddling him gently. "Hold still." She commanded, grasping the handle of the knife.
A tiny, stifled whimper rose from his throat, as he grit his teeth. Without another word, she pulled upwards, eliciting a guttural cry from the man, as the weapon came free from his flesh. Juliet set the knife down, and Sawyer quickly bit down on his lip, pressing his head into the sand, closing his eyes, as she applied pressure to the bleeding wound. He shifted in discomfort, instinctively moving away from the pain, as his vision began to darken. Juliet's voice telling him to stay still snapped him back into reality.
"Juliet?"
Her head turned towards the new voice. "He's bleeding badly. I'm not sure if I can stop it."
"What can I do?"
She looked down and took a deep breath. "Did Jack have any medical supplies besides what he carried in his pack? Bandages? Antiseptic, alcohol, anything to clean the wound?"
"I'm not sure…" Sayid seemed to be thinking, when they were interrupted by the Southerner's weak voice.
"Corner of the tent, in the bag…few bottles left…"
Juliet carefully got up and searched for the alcohol, while still speaking. "Sayid, can you get Jack's backpack from his tent? We're gonna need some bandages…The wound's deep, if we can slow down the bleeding, then I can stitch him up."
"I do not think that is going to work."
She glanced back. "What?"
"May I speak to you for a moment, Juliet?" Sayid asked. She nodded, looking confused.
"H-hey, where ya-where ya goin?" Sawyer lifted his back from the ground slightly, while holding a rag to his bleeding shoulder, fear in his eyes. Sayid and Juliet stood just outside of the tent, still in view, but spoke quietly enough that he couldn't hear what was being said between them.
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"I don't think I can stop the bleeding with just pressure, and if we don't stop it soon, he's going to die."
"Have you ever heard of cauterization, Juliet?" Sayid asked calmly. He didn't wait for her to answer. "If you cannot stop the bleeding with pressure, then-"
"I know what it is, Sayid."
"Then you agree?"
She took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "I know we don't have a choice, but I just don't feel comfor-"
"So you are going to let him die because you are afraid of causing him pain?"
"No, I'm hesitant because it's an invitation for infection, especially on an island. I thought maybe we should think this through before jumping into it." She said coldly.
"Well, we do not have much time." He argued back.
Juliet paused, and looked away momentarily. "Can you get what we need?"
Sayid nodded. "A few weeks ago, I fashioned a soldering iron out of some supplies from the crash."
"Good." The man started to turn, when her voice stopped him. "Sayid? You might wanna get someone to help hold him down."
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"What're ya gonna do?" Sawyer asked, lifting his head when Juliet entered the tent again.
"I'm going to keep applying pressure to the wound, James." She replied, kneeling next to him and pressing hard into his shoulder.
"Umh…take it easy…" He groaned. "So…what was that little talk about out there?" He mumbled, closing his eyes and lying back.
"Nothing, James."
Minutes later, he opened his eyes. "Tell me somethin…is the room supposed ta be spinnin?"
"You've lost a lot of blood. Close your eyes and stay still."
Before he could reply, Sayid walked into the tent. A short iron was in his hand, the end of it glowing red-hot. Sawyer shifted back, as Sayid knelt down and handed the iron to Juliet. Locke followed the Iraqi into the tent and wordlessly held Sawyer's legs in a steel grip, clearly having already been told what to do.
"Are you ready?" Sayid asked Juliet, meeting her eyes.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before slowly nodding. "Uh-huh."
"The hell is goin on here?" Sawyer exclaimed, struggling to move away, but finding it both painful and hard, seeing as he was barely conscious.
"We have to seal the wound." Juliet said quietly, gripping the iron tightly. "Bite down on this." She said, pressing a fresh rag through his clenched teeth.
He gasped. "No, I don't think so…" He said, his words muffled by the rag. "Get away from me with that thing!" He eyed the iron warily.
Sayid nodded to Juliet, and straddled the Southerner, placing his hands on Sawyer's arms and holding him down firmly, so the weak man couldn't move.
"What're ya doin? Get offa me!"
The blonde woman hesitated, staring at the hot iron then the wound. "I-" Suddenly, she felt sick. This wasn't her area of expertise; she wasn't trained to do things like this!
"Now, Juliet!" Sayid said loudly.
Juliet closed her eyes and moved the iron closer.
"Don't close your eyes!" Sawyer cried through the rag in his mouth, still struggling, eyes wide with fear.
"Juliet!" Sayid snapped.
Without another thought, she pressed the smoldering iron to the wound. A hiss and the smell of burning flesh immediately greeted her.
"Son of a bi-" Sawyer cut off mid-sentence, an agonizing scream rising from deep in his throat, as his back arched, his head slamming into the sand. Sayid frantically tried to keep the man down, but Sawyer managed to free his good arm and caught him in the jaw, just as Juliet lifted the iron.
The screams stopped, but tortured whimpers still filled the tent for a few more moment, sounding something like choked sobs, until Sawyer finally lost consciousness. Juliet looked at Sayid, then Locke, all three of them breathing hard.
"Well…that wasn't so hard now, was it?" She said with a half smile.
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Locke brushed his hands off on his jeans as he left the tent. "So…are you gonna tell me what that was all about, Sayid?" He asked, turning to face the Iraqi.
"We sealed the wound."
"Yeah, I got that. Where did it come from?" He asked, vaguely impatient. "Was it the Others?"
"I don't know." Sayid said.
Locke stared into his eyes, then nodded. "That's the truth."
"It is. I assure you, as soon as he is well enough, I intend to question him about it. In the mean time, thank you for your help." He replied, dismissing the topic and the older man, as he turned back.
"Sayid…"
"Yes, John?"
He chuckled, looking at the ground, then back up. "I get the feeling you don't trust me."
Sayid smiled. "Your feelings are right, John." He paused. "Again, thank you for your help."
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(Later That Night)
Sawyer shivered violently in his sleep. He hadn't woken since that afternoon when they had stopped the bleeding and bandaged his shoulder. Juliet had stayed at his side the entire time, while Sayid came in occasionally to see how he was progressing and if she needed his help.
"How is he?"
"His fever spiked again. I don't know anything exact, but he's definitely worse. It's only been a few hours and his temperature has to be over a hundred." She said, brushing a gentle hand over the Southerner's forehead, resting it there. "He can't survive like this…the wound, the-"
"Is there a possibility that it could be infected already?"
She nodded. "We don't know how long he was out there like this. He was gone for a few hours, but we don't know when he was stabbed…or why." She added in a low tone.
"Do you think it could have been your people?"
She glanced up, narrowing her eyes. "They aren't my people."
"Answer the question."
"It could have…but tell me, why would they want to kill Jack and stab James?"
"You tell me."
She rolled her eyes and went back to working on Sawyer, lifting the bandage and exposing the nasty looking wound. She winced inwardly as she poured a small amount of Sawyer's alcohol on it, then gently replaced the old bandage with a new one.
"What about Kate?" Sayid tried again, all the while watching her work. "Did 'they' want her? Could Jack and Sawyer have gotten in the way of a kidnapping?"
"They could have…" She answered calmly, looking him in the eyes. "But I don't think they did."
"Then how do you explain this?"
Juliet took a deep breath. "I don't know."
"I think you do."
She set her jaw and met his eyes yet again, looking almost offended. "I don't know anything, Sayid. If you want to interrogate me…do it…but I'm the only thing keeping him alive right now." She said, nodding to Sawyer's trembling body. "If you want answers, then wait until he wakes up."
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Sawyer woke up with a start, horrible pain flooding his senses. His eyes, bright with fever, shot open and he took a gasping breath, a whimper caught in his throat. He looked around the dark tent, as if wondering where he was. "Wh-where…what…"
"Hey…" Juliet brushed the sweaty blonde hair out of his eyes. "Calm down, alright? You're safe."
Sawyer let out a muffled cry. "Oh god-" He shut his eyes, nearly delirious with the fever and the pain, dizziness washing over him. "Where is she?"
"What?"
"…Kate…Where is she?"
"We don't know, James."
"Do you-"
"She ran…she ran away."
"Why, James?"
"Jack."
"What about Jack?" Her tone became more frantic.
Suddenly, it was as if something clicked in his mind and he remembered it all, even through his foggy memories and loose hold on consciousness. "The Others…" He managed to whisper.
"What happened?" She asked, leaning closer.
"They killed him. They killed Jack…She ran…" He mumbled, struggling to maintain his conscious state. "I gotta find her…" He moaned.
"Shh…You're gonna be okay." She said soothingly, watching his eyes close, before quietly standing up and leaving the tent.
"What is it?" Sayid stood up from where he stood a few yards away.
"You were right." She said softly.
"And what exactly was I right about?"
She sighed. "It was Them."
A/n: I hope you liked it! We'll start on the next chapter soon. There will be between 12-15 chapters in altogether, we're not quite sure yet. Either way, we've still got a ways to go, and lots to explain. Please review and tell us what you think!
