It only took two days for the infection to set into Slade's arm. At first, he was only sore near the wound, but then he developed a fever and by the fourth day he couldn't move from his cot.

It was at that point that Oliver had moved his cot next to Slade's so he could better moniter his condition. Another thing that bothered him was Slade was so close to the door, if there was ever an intruder Slade would be the first target. Slade was practically passed out on his cot and Oliver couldn't move it without getting Slade up, which wasn't happening. Moving his cot on the other side of Slade closest to the door not only let Oliver keep an eye on him but also gave Oliver a clear line of site into the clearing beyond the plane. If worse came to worst, he could also better shield Slade from an attack at a moment's notice. Oh yeah, he thought to himself with some satisfaction, he was definitely catching on to the tactical side of this mess.

Oliver was trying everything he knew to help Slade but nothing seemed to be working. The biggest thing he was focused on right now was hydration, as Slade wouldn't last too much longer without it and his body was already failing without that added problem. Oliver walked over to where Slade was laying, carrying a cup of water. He didn't need any medical training to see Slade was getting worse; he was shivering and gasping, as if his breathing was also getting worse. That thought scared the hell out of Oliver and he quickly closed the gap and knelt next to Slade but he didn't realize Oliver was there.

Holding the cup in one hand, Oliver used the other to gently shake Slade's shoulder, "Hey, look at me. Drink this."

Slade could hardly hold his head up so Oliver held the cup to his mouth. Slade tried to swallow it but spit most of it back out. He turned his head to Oliver, "That tastes like dirt."

Oliver was still kneeling next to him with his hand on Slade's shoulder, "You gotta stay hydrated, okay?" He was trying to stay calm but he was getting really worried. Every day Slade was getting worse and the moments of clarity Slade had were getting fewer and farther between with his fever steadily climbing. The worst was when Slade was asleep, the fever causing him to have nightmares and, Oliver suspected, flashbacks. More than once Oliver had been sitting with Slade, listening quietly as he rambled about his son or trying to calm him down as Slade relived the day his partner left him to die. It was during one of these flashbacks that Slade revealed that Billy had tortured him during his one year stay in Fyers' camp. That made Oliver want to kill the guy all over again. It was bad enough when he was tortured by Wintergreen, but that was Slade's own partner!

At the moment, Slade was surprisingly coherent as he responded, "Hydration is not my problem. My problem is getting a bullet dug out of my arm with a cold blade."

Oliver leaned over him to reach the wounded arm, "Let me take a look."

Slade tried to be still and let Oliver inspect it but he knew it was bad as soon as Oliver pulled back the bandage, "Is it infected?"

Oliver just looked at him and Slade remarked, almost in a whisper, "Go figure."

The two stared at each other for a moment , despair evident in both before Oliver broke the silence, "Yeah," he replied, "Uh, I gotta stop that before it spreads." He stood up, grabbing a knife Slade kept in one of his numerous weapons caches.

Slade could see the kid was scared and to be honest, he was scared too. He tried to calm them both down with his usual fallback, sarcasm. "Well, when you swing by the drugstore for those antibiotics, you wanna get me a Maxim or maybe a copy of Sports Illustrated?" he tried to laugh but he was in too much pain and his throat felt like it was closing up.

Oliver turned to him and said, "Yao Fai had these...super herbs back in the cave that would heal anything. I'm gonna go get them." Oliver started walking towards the door. The last thing he wanted to do was leave his partner here helpless, but he knew nothing else was going to heal him.

Slade tried to stop him, "You're not gonna last an hour out there."

Oliver turned and said, "Well, I guess you better hope I get back in 45 minutes then." He walked out the door in the direction he remembered the cave being located. He knew this was going to be dangerous but he was not willing to sit by and watch his friend slowly die. He wouldn't last on that island without Slade anyway, he wasn't even sure he wanted to. Once Oliver crossed the field their plane was sitting in and entered the jungle, he tried to remember everything Slade had taught him so far, moving quickly but carefully through the vines, keeping sound to a minimum and watching out for booby traps and soldiers.

Slade watched him go before closing his eyes and praying for a miracle, hoping against hope that he'd taught the kid well enough that he would come back unharmed.