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Kate stepped onto the beach and looked around her. She had only dreamed of visiting such a beautiful place. But now that she was living here against her will, the beauty she had originally seen has somehow lost its luster.

As Kate walked back to her own small shelter, she saw Sayid stumble out of the jungle sporting a bloody wound on the crown of his head. She instantly dropped her stuff and jogged over to him.

"Sayid, are you all right? What happened to your head?" she asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm fine. I just need to put something on this cut to stop it from bleeding," he explained in a tired and shaky voice. "Do you know if Jack left any medical supplies on the beach?"

"He did but it was only a few bandages and your cut looks pretty bad. I think we need to get something to clean it so it doesn't get infected. And I know we don't have any peroxide here, so it looks like we'll have to go to Jack for that."

"Great," he said unenthusiastically.

Kate and Sayid set off toward the valley camp to get Jack to dress his wounds. "Sayid, what happened up there?" she asked referring to his sojourn in the mountains.

"I set off my bottle rocket and saw the two others go off. Then I activated the transceiver and just as I was receiving the signal, someone came up behind me and hit me on the head. I blacked out and didn't wake up until several hours later," Sayid explained.

"Who could have hit you?" Kate asked puzzled. "I was in the valley so I don't know who was left on the beach."

"Why were you in the valley? Who set off the signal?" Sayid said in a confused voice.

"Yesterday there was a cave-in up at the valley camp and Jack was stuck inside. I went to help and left Sawyer in charge. Jack's alright now..." Kate trailed off sheepishly.

Sayid smiled knowingly. "You like him don't you?"

Kate just smiled and blushed. She took a few seconds to compose herself and asked again, "Who could have hit you? I don't know if anybody left beach, but I didn't see anyone leave the caves. They were all trying to dig Jack out."

"I don't know, Kate. But I intend to do whatever I need to find out. Someone obviously was trying to sabotage the operation so that we wouldn't be able to get off the island."

"I agree," said Kate. "But I just don't see anyone wanting to stay here forever. I can't understand why someone would try to stop people from rescuing us. It just doesn't add up."

"I don't know," asked Sayid in a lightly angered manner. "I don't know."

They walked in silence for the next ten minutes until they reached the caves. When they got there, many of the survivors were just getting up and starting to look for something to eat. Jack, however, was still asleep. That's odd, thought Kate. He's usually the first one up and the last one to go to sleep. I guess the sleep deprivation is finally getting to him. It's funny, it's like he never woke up because I didn't tell him to. I wonder if he's been subconsciously waiting for me to come. She smiled to herself.

"I'll go get Jack," she said.

"Are you sure we should wake him up?" asked Sayid. "I'm sure that I could wait a while longer. My cut isn't that serious."

Kate looked at him and took his false courage in stride. "Sayid, you have a large gash on the back of your head that has presumably been losing blood for several hours. I think it's best that we wake Jack up."

Sayid nodded his head in consent.

Kate strode over to where Jack was sleeping and knelt down beside him. He looked so peaceful as he slept. She bent over him and resting her left hand on his arm whispered in his ear, "Jack, its Kate. Wake up."

He stirred and his eyelids fluttered. He slowly pealed his eyes open and looked groggily at Kate. "Are you going to leave now?"

"No, but Sayid needs your help. He has a gash in his head that's been bleeding for quite some time now. I'm afraid that he's losing too much blood."

Jack sat up newly energized and looked around him, searching. His eyes quickly settled on Sayid. "Okay, Kate, get some fresh water to clean the wound with," he directed purposefully.

While Kate filled a water bottle, Jack leaned over to grab his medical bag. As he was reaching for it, he noticed a beautiful flower and a water bottle filled to the brim. He smiled to himself and thought, I wonder who did that?

Jack stood up and quickly covered the ground between himself and Sayid. It was time to get into doctor mode. He opened his bag and pulled out a bottle of peroxide, some gauze and a roll of medical tape. People sure do seem to get injured more than usual on this island.

As Jack worked on Sayid's head wound he questioned him about what had happened. "How did you get this?"

Sayid briefly recounted the little he knew. "The attacker came from behind. I didn't have any chance to see his face."

"Do you have any idea who did it?" Jack persisted.

"Not a clue. My first thought was that it must have been Sawyer; but he has an alibi. He was lighting the rocket's fuse. It just doesn't make any sense. I don't know anyone who would want to stay here."

Jack nodded in agreement. "Yah, me neither." A few second later he said, "That should do it. Just keep the bandage on even after it starts to heal. It's not good to expose such delicate skin to direct sunlight. I'll need to change the bandage tomorrow to keep the wound clean and make sure it's healing correctly. Okay?"

"Yes, that's fine." After a brief pause he added, "I should head back to the beach. The transceiver was pretty badly broken. But I must try to fix it because it's our only hope of getting off this island."

Sayid stood up and started walking toward the jungle. He turned around and asked, "Kate, are you coming?"

"I'll be along in a few minutes. I just need to take care of some unfinished business."

"Okay," he consented. "Do you want me to wait for you?"

"That's okay Sayid. I'll be along in a few minutes," she repeated cryptically.

Please R&R!  Thanks.

Sorry this chapter isn't terribly exciting b/c it lacks almost any Kate/Jack moments.  But it's necessary for plot and continuity.  I promise that next chapter things are going to heat up. :)