Lucky

Chapter Two

Worry

Jack rushed to the group that had followed Sawyer out of the jungle. He'd heard Kate scream for him to come and help, he'd seen the rush to the new survivors. He ran over to meet them and quickly took charge of the injured woman. That was what he did on the island. He took charge.

He insisted that they bring her to Sawyer's 'tent'. Much to Jack's surprise, Sawyer didn't fight on bringing her there. In fact, Sawyer seemed almost intent on following her. But Jack couldn't focus on Sawyer at the moment, nor did he want to. Jack had to focus on the girl with the broken leg.

"I'm Jack, Miss. I'm a surgeon."

"Ah, well, does that mean my leg's coming off, Doctor?"

Jack couldn't stop his mouth from curving at her joke, but he continued to talk with her to find out all he could.

"Where have you been hiding?"

"Somewhere in the jungle, Doc. I'm not a cartographer, you know."

"What are you, then?"

"Primary schoolteacher. I'm Sora."

"What happened to your leg, Sora?"

At that moment, the brothers sat her down as gently as they could. Of course, gentle onto the sand was hardly easy on her leg. Sora winced, but she tried to hide it. Patrick went crazy when she was in pain and she couldn't really deal with his over-protectiveness at the moment.

Avery noticed Sora's flinch. He couldn't blame her. He'd seen the infection grow the longer they were in the jungle. He never mentioned it to anyone, he never would have. He had known that it would scare Sora to death before she put that tough façade on to protect his brother. And once her shield was up, there would be no breaking through, no discussing the possibilities of what was happening. He left it unsaid so all would be oblivious to the true circumstances. But now he imagined that the doctor would let them all know. He watched Sora closely as she began to laugh uncomfortably. She was already trying to hide her pain. That was Sora Hanrahan for you.

"How'd it happen? You really are the master of the obvious inquiry, you know. The crash caused it."

Jack began to examine her leg and could see the white puss forming where the break had been. Not a good sign at all. They were already short on penicillin since he'd had to give Sawyer regular doses to stop any infection on his arm. Too bad he'd wasted it all on him. But a guilty voice inside Jack's head reminded him that he was the reason Sawyer needed the medicine in the first place. Sora was more inclined to infection since she had been in the jungle, vulnerable to the elements and he didn't know if he would be able to save her leg with what little medication was left. He'd have to find some way to converse with Sun about something to help the leg.

"I was trying to get you to tell me about the crash. How did you wind up way out there? Most of us landed near the beach."

Sawyer cut in at that moment, stopping the line of questioning. She seemed a little disturbed at even thinking about the crash, and he didn't really like seeing her that way. It was weird, feeling like he should help her, but he had been the one responsible for bringing her to the beach. He could at least get her started off comfortably before the 'hero' started in on her.

"Come on, Doc, she's tired and she's hurt. We really don't need you to become a psychologist now."

"Stay out of it, Sawyer. She doesn't really involve you."

"I'm the one that found her, so I'd say that involves me."

Sora watched the two argue back and forth, and she watched the woman with the dark hair start to shift uncomfortably. The fight was very obviously not about Sora, but about the dark haired woman. Kate, she'd said her name was, Sora thought. She wondered if the woman would step in, but it didn't seem likely.

"Come on, Tom, I'm fine. I can answer the question myself. The last thing I need is another protector."

Sawyer turned to Sora, surprised that she had spoken. He was even more surprised that he'd answered to her nickname for him.

"Don't let the Surgeon General here bully you, Blue Eyes. He seems to think he's God around here and someone needs to take him down a few pegs."

"It doesn't need to be now, Sawyer. Everything's a bloody mess right now, and you fightin' with him isn't going to help my leg. Why don't you and the pretty lady go on for now and let the Doc fix me up?"

To everyone's surprise, Sawyer seemed to accept her request. No one had seen Sawyer listen to a single person on the island until Sora had said that. Kate felt an unfamiliar twinge of jealousy rise at the friendliness between the two. She did, however, prepare to follow Sawyer out of the shelter.

"All right. I'll come find ya later, darlin'. You coming with me, Freckles?"

"Yes. I have a few things I need to discuss with you anyway." She narrowed her eyes and Sawyer tried to resist the urge to laugh. She was angry with him. She was pretty hot when she was angry. He always liked his girls fired up.

They left the tent and Jack watched Sora in a sort of amazement. He had never seen Sawyer react that way. But Sora was already past telling Sawyer what to do and was ready to start talking about the plane crash.

"The three of us were sitting happily unaware in business class. I'd even fallen asleep. Suddenly, the plane started shaking and everything just fell apart. The three of us didn't even have our seatbelts on - they were too uncomfortable. And so we flew out when the plane broke."

"You survived that? That's astonishing. Especially with no more damage than you did."

"I suppose you're right. The three of us thought we were the only survivors. We were playing the waiting game for when we all just died."

"That must have been pretty lonely and terrifying."

Sora's eyes were haunted, as anyone who had lived through what the survivors had would look. "Kind of hopeless."

"I think we're all very helpless. Direct result of seeing our plane break in midair, 1,000 miles off course."

Sora flinched, whether it was from Jack's words or his movement of her leg. But he didn't have time to figure it out because Patrick had broken in.

"What do you mean we're 1,000 miles off course? That means no one will find us. That's too far off a grid map for rescue."

Jack suddenly felt guilty for speaking so carelessly. Of course these three had no idea that the plane was off course. They had probably felt this big surge of hope when they'd discovered there were other survivors and imagined their chances of rescue were much greater. If only they had known.

"We're still hopeful for rescue, but we are learning how to survive without our old conveniences. Don't worry about survival. And we'll be rescued eventually. It just might not be as soon as we'd like it to be."

Jack tried to make his words comforting, but he wasn't so sure if he was doing a good job at that. The two brothers seemed more irritated and he bet it had to do with the stressed look on Sora's face. Jack took out some fresh bandages and some antiseptic that remained. He began to spread it on her dirty leg, trying to clean the wound. She sucked in her breath as he continued to work on the leg, hoping he'd be able to heal it without having to remove it. The foursome could no longer speak, though. Each was lost in their own thoughts of misery and pain.

Kate stood on the beach, staring out at the water. She refused to look at Sawyer. He had that charming smile that would make her forget why she was angry with him. She did not want to lose that anger. It drove her. She liked feeling something besides guilt. She could sense Sawyer was watching her, studying her, imploring her to look at him. But she wouldn't. She was just as stubborn as the southerner.

"What were you thinking, Sawyer, running around the jungle with your arm the way it is? You were tortured and you lost a lot of blood. You run a high risk of getting an infection, an infection that would not easily be healed here, and you act like that doesn't even matter!"

"Risk of infection is why the good doctor has been pushing pills down my throat."

"Doesn't mean you should tempt fate. I think we've done enough of that lately."

"Aw, Freckles, you didn't need to get your panties in a twist over me."

"Shut up, Sawyer." She no longer wanted to hear his slow drawl surrounding her every thought, the drawl that made her heart speed up and her senses fall away just a bit.

"You were worried about me."

"Annoyed by you is the more accurate statement."

"I never would have found the lucky charms if I hadn't gone out there. They would have died out there by themselves if they'd stayed out their much longer."

"You suddenly care about the well-being of others?" She said it incredulously, which made Sawyer shrug nonchalantly. He shifted so he could sit on the sand while he debated whether he should tell Kate why he had left for the jungle. He hated sharing personal things about himself, even to Kate - who usually seemed to understand where he was coming from. Especially because she understood. He was used to being misunderstood. He deserved to be misunderstood.

"It's not any of your business if I do go into the jungle, Freckles. My well-being won't affect yours."

Kate's face fell into a dark look that Sawyer hadn't seen often. She kicked the sand stubbornly, enough to make some sand fly into his face, but she ignored his exclamations.

"Fine. I knew I was crazy for worrying about you, anyway. You can take care of yourself. And if you can't, you'll just die. Doesn't make a difference to me."

She turned on her heel and stomped away like a spoiled little girl. Perhaps the best impression of Sticks he'd ever seen. Kate wasn't the type to flounce with style, but she wasn't usually a stubborn child either. Sawyer watched her with interest, and his smirk formed instantly. He loved getting a rise out of Kate. And she made it so easy.

Boone watched Shannon from a distance after he had hidden himself away under a palm tree. He always seemed to be watching from a distance. She was smiling at Sayid, her usual self-indulgent smile that somehow got her everything she wanted. Sayid seemed partially enthralled in her, yet somewhat separated from their conversation. And Boone understood exactly how Sayid felt when he spoke with Shannon. That didn't mean he sympathized with Sayid at all. He hated watching Shannon flirt with the man shamelessly, just as she tried to do with all the men on the island. He understood her, understood that she needed the attention. He had accepted it. But that didn't make him any less jealous. He was so sick of watching from a distance. Watching Shannon, watching Jack save the day, watching Sawyer steal Kate by being a jerk. He was tired of watching Locke hunt, watching Charlie earn Claire's affection, watching people grieve. He wanted to be involved. He wanted to help. He wanted to stop feeling jealous and protective of Shannon. He wanted to feel that way towards someone who deserved it. Someone who wasn't Shannon.