As the sun crested over the lush green hills, Jack struggled to open his eyes. The sunlight poured into his little domain, forcing him to wake up. There was no hiding from it. Everyone else in the caves was already up and about, save Charlie and himself. Charlie! Jack sat up and glanced over at the tent they'd put him in. No movement, no sound. Jack sighed with relief. "Morning, sunshine," Kate said suddenly, startling him. He smiled. As late as he'd gone to bed, it seemed impossible to wake up this early. Kate sat next to him. "Don't worry about Charlie, he's sleeping still." She handed him a mango and some bananas. "Breakfast," she said, and went out into the caves, to help with whatever was needed. Sayid and Locke stood in a far corner, silently conversing with serious expressions. Walt was giving Vincent a bath, and Kate was- Where did she go? Jack wondered. Suddenly a distant howl floated in through the cave entrance. Kate rushed up, breathless and red-faced. "Saw-Sawyer," she said, panting. "He stepped on some glass, he's bleeding pretty badly." Jack knew it was time to get up; he, Locke, Sayid, and Kate rushed down to the beach. Walt, being the curious child he was, soon followed. The only thing left in the caves was Charlie's pathetic little shelter.
"HOLD STILL!" Jack shouted to Sawyer for the umpteenth time. "I can take care of myself, DOC," Sawyer retaliated, as a piece of gauze was trying to be applied to his bloody foot. All this commotion was starting to draw a crowd of unhappy, tired people. Sawyer got Jack good across the back of his head with a coconut. "Why are you fighting me!" Jack cried. "Do you seriously want to bleed to death?" Sawyer looked around, wild-eyed. He caught the soft gaze of Kate. Dammit, he thought. Kate walked through the crowd to him. "Just do it, Sawyer. We can't afford to loose ya," she said with a teasing wink. Sawyer rolled his eyes and let out a stream of air as if exhaling from a cigarette. "Fine," he said darkly, and offered his foot out to Jack. After it was cleansed and bandaged, Kate and Jack headed back up to the caves.
"What's the matter with HIM?" Jack asked.
Kate laughed. "He just can't stand the thought of being taken care of; especially by you."
The two stopped dead in their tracks as another frightened scream sounded; this time from the caves. A flock of birds from that area took off in flight, scared by this. "What NOW!" Jack cried, as they began to sprint towards the caves, the source of the cry. Shannon, Boone, Hurley, Sun and Claire stood around Charlie's tent, whispering. Every now and then the tent quivered and shook. It was big enough for him to be walking around inside, he could be heard muttering and swearing, and every so often, a startled little cry.
"What's going on here?" Jack panted as they finally arrived.
Claire stepped forth. "I don't know! We were all here, and he woke up and-and…something's wrong."
Jack cautiously approached Charlie's tent, opening a flap. It was dark inside, but Charlie could still be seen pacing back and forth. "Charlie…" Jack said gently. "What's the matter, pal?" Charlie stopped.
"Get out."
Jack was a little shocked but said nothing. He backed away from the tent.
"Let me try," Claire said determinedly. She walked up to the tent and without warning, stepped inside. Everyone leaned in closer to listen.
"Claire…."
"What's the matter, Charlie?"
"I…I…I don't know! I just woke up and I was like THIS!" A gasp from Claire.
"Jaaack!" Claire cried, and the doctor rushed in.
"Charlie- oh my GOD!" The group of people outside whispered even more nervously, all vainly moving and bending, hoping for a glimpse inside. "You're gonna have to come outside, so I can get a better look at you," Jack finished. "I'm NOT going out there…" Charlie said, in a rather pouty tone. "Please, Charlie, for me," Claire said sweetly. He sighed. "Ok…" All this noise had attracted more people from the surrounding area, even Sawyer, who somehow managed to hobble up to see what all the ruckus was.
Eagerly, they all waited with baited breath as Jack stepped out, then Claire. Holding the flap open, Jack looked back into the tent.
"Well?…" Silence. "Charlie!" he said sternly.
"Hold yer bloody horses, I'm coming…" Charlie emerged, wearing his familiar hoodie down over his face. Jack sighed. "Charlie, take off your hood." The hood shook back and forth. Sawyer let out an amused "I can't believe this" sigh, and ripped Charlie's hood down off his head; and stepped back with halting steps, in complete shock. A unanimous gasp echoed from the crowd as they gazed upon Charlie, whose skin was now a lovely shade of light purple.
He stood embarrassed, feeling like some medical experiment gone terribly, terribly wrong. He thought back to seeing the tattooed man at a freak show over in Manchester when he was but a wee lad; he remembered the sad expression on the man's face from inside the barred cage. Now he knew how the man felt. Holding back tears, he looked at the ground. There was total silence from everyone. Then Sawyer started to laugh.
"What's the matter, Ringo? Too much grape jelly?" he said between mighty laughs.
Charlie balled his fists and lurched for Sawyer, but Jack caught him by the collar.
"EASY!" he hissed. "Before you start killing anyone, we need to find out the cause of this!" Jack ushered Charlie through the crowd over to the rock again, while Kate and Claire kept the crowd out of the only entrance. Sayid and Locke were admitted.
"Doesn't look like hypothermia- he obviously isn't freezing to death."
"Charlie- are you hot? Are you cold? What's happening? Do you feel ok?"
All these questions flooded Charlie's mind. "I'm fine…mostly," he said, gesturing at his skin. He removed his shirt to reveal a purple torso as well. The color really contrasted with his floppy blonde hair and light eyes. Jack stared at him in deep thought. "From what I can tell, this truly is only skin deep, most likely an effect from the bug bites. All we can do is hope for it to go away as quickly as possible. You're free to go, Charlie." Charlie hopped off the table and back out into the clearing. This was going to be a long day.