Chapter 11
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Mike sat with his back on the gate. He was staring at Sawyer's back, his shoulder rising and falling with his breathing. Jack had patched him up the best he could, ended up putting the first aid box under his head as support. It had been hours since they had arrived back, Sawyer still hadn't woken up and no one had spoken since Ben and his guy left. Jack was sitting facing Mike, looking at Sawyer's face with his back against the bench. Sayid had his eyes closed as he sat on the bench.
"What do you think happened to his back?" Mike spoke into the silence, just for something to do.
"They are scars. They look as though someone hit him with a belt. Multiple times. They look old, decades old."
Mike and Jack both looked at Sayid as he said this, eyes still closed. The fact he said this so monotone was almost at troubling as the fact that it was probably true. Looking at Sawyer, Mike had a rush of protectiveness that he didn't expect and instantly forgot. He looked at Jack.
"Will he be ok?" Mike didn't know if he wanted to know the answer.
"I don't know." The negativity in Jack's voice was out of character, prompting Mike to speak again.
"How bad is it?"
"Not good. His torso is a mess, he'll be in a lot of pain for a while. His breathing is laboured. His pulse is fast but weak. And he hasn't woken up." The way he said it, it was cold and resigned.
"Are you ok?" Mike's question was met by laughter.
"Me? Oh, I'm fine. I'm not the one beaten to a pulp because you decided to act out."
"Excuse me?"
"Code three. Guess we know what that means now, right?"
"I never meant for this to happen."
"But it did."
"You can't blame me for what they did."
"Yes, I can. If you hadn't antagonised them."
"They have my son!"
"Stop yelling. My head's killing me." The voice was small, rising from in between the two fighting men. It made both look down at him, ceasing all anger.
"Sawyer? Sawyer? Hey, can you hear me?" Jack had bent back down to be right in front of Sawyer's face. "Open your eyes man, come on."
Slowly Sawyer's eyes flicked open. Mike had jumped over him, putting his face next to Jack's, Sayid was at the top of his head. Jack and Mike gasped as they saw his left eye open. It was bloodshot and the skin around it was black. Jack put his hand under Sawyer's left cheek, tilting his head to the side.
"Hey. Can you hear me?" He panicked slightly as Sawyer's eyes slide shut again, but he relaxed when he heard a response.
"I hear you Doc."
"Good. You know who we are?"
"Yeah, I know ya. What happened?" The three men looked at each other.
"You were attacked by one of them. But you're going to be ok. Ok? You just need to relax." Sawyer relaxed slightly, but suddenly tensed again, eyes opening and trying to push his head off the first aid box. "Woah what're you doing? Lie back down."
"Walt. They have the kid. He was here, I saw him."
It didn't take much for Jack to hold him down. As he was about to respond, Mike beat him to it. He put his face closer to Sawyer.
"It's ok. Walt is fine. They didn't hurt him, it's ok."
Sawyer relaxed again, closing his eyes. Mike and Jack looked at each other, the latter nodding at former. Sayid stood up, pacing back to his spot to look at the building and sat down.
"Do you think you can sit up? Lying on the bench will be more comfortable than lying here. We'll help you." Sawyer nodded, trying to push his head up again, but stopping quickly. "It's ok. We'll do the work. Mike, go behind him and help me roll him onto his back, then we'll sit him up." Mike nodded, moving behind Sawyer, preparing to help. "Ready? One, two, three..."
Slowly they manoeuvred Sawyer until he was lying flat out, hearing him stifle his groan of pain.
"Ok, this will hurt. We'll do it quick. Just breath and try to stay conscious," Jack looked at Mike, each holding on to one of Sawyers shoulders and arms. "Do it quick, don't stop. One, two, three..." They both pushed him into a sitting position, trying to ignore his shout in pain.
"Stop!"
"Keep going, get him on the bench." The continued to push him into an almost standing position. Realising this was a good as they would get, they each grabbed an arm and carried him over to sit on the bench. His yells increased in volume with each movement. Each one felt like a punch in the stomach. Both Mike and Jack were breathing heavily by the time they got him seated. Sawyer's breathing was erratic, his body shaking violently and eyes tightly shut.
"Sawyer? Open your eyes man. Hey, come on, talk to us," Jack knelt in front of him, his hand going out to check his pulse. Yet again, Sawyer jerked his head and body backwards, but Jack kept going, feeling the pulse quick and weak under his fingers. He sighed, "Sawyer, you're ok. I need to you open your eyes."
"I'm tired."
"I know. I need to check your head, then you can sleep." Slowly Sawyer opened his eyes. Although the sun was setting, he squinted at the brightness. His left eye was painful looking. Jack put his hand over his right eye, "Can you see?"
"No, just shadows."
"It's ok, it should go back to normal in time. How sore is your head?" He looked at the gash and bruise on his left temple.
"Sore. I'm just tired. I'll sleep it off."
"Sawyer, you were almost beaten to death. You are almost blind in one eye and have a concussion. You won't sleep it off. Tell us what happened." It wasn't a question.
"I was sitting here. The guy from the boat came out, Walt behind him. He looked so scared. I couldn't help him, I could barely stand up," Jack saw the emotion at the memory flick across his face, "the guy said some stuff, he hit me. I could hear Walt shouting. Knew I had to do something, so I hit back. Didn't last very long, but I got a few shots in. Then I was down. Then I was out. Next thing, you two are shouting over me."
"It's ok. You did good. We saw his face, you got more than a few shots in. Just relax," Jack put his hand on Sawyer's arm, which was shaking. He looked at Mike, who was crouched next to him. "Lie down, get some rest. We'll have to wake you every hour due to the concussion, but just rest." He helped Sawyer lie on his side, wincing at the grunts of pain he heard.
