The Message In the Bottle
Chapter Five
Chapter Note: I can not express enough how important Jack's flashback is. Not only are what Jack does and thinks important, but so is a character, make that two, who appear in the flashback important. They're both on the island, though Jack doesn't realize it. Neither will remember seeing Jack, or won't remember any time soon, which is very important to the plot, and only one Jack knows, and knows very well. The second is turning out to be the baby ice burg to the plot, under the hatch, and will come into the fic, well.. this story! See if you can figure out who I'm talking about.
Note Two: I'm going to go back and add in the 'Disney world" line into the drinking game so I can make a reference to that. Also, for further notice, I'm going with the shows p.o.v. on everyone except Boone as far as I know. I'm still debating about changing the Sawyer/Jack's dad chat. I like how I'm able to have those fights between Jack and Sawyer, but I love what Christian said about him being weak.
A sharp jab to the side of her head made Kate's eyes snapped open, and without moving her head, she looked around, trying to figured out where she was. The memories of the day came rushing back to her in a wave of pain- Sawyer's boar attack, Jack's fall, finding Jack alive, and the soothing feeling of Jack's head on her shoulder as she held him, switching roles for once, and she didn't mind it a bit. She want sure if he had cried, or what he was thinking about as he lay against her, but just the feeling of his head against her shoulder told her that Jack had something that Sawyer could never have- depth, and the courage to admit that maybe he was wrong, and to find the strength to ask for help, even if that help came with one touch, soundless. But something was wrong.
She was soaking wet, and something was leaking through her shoulder. Raising her hand, she ran it through her pulled back, dripping hair, catching a loose strand and pulling it behind her ear. Turning her head away from the rock it had been pressed against, Kate groaned, and then stopped at what was beside her. Jack's head still rested against her shoulder, and the feel and site of it made her smile. He looked at peace sleeping there beside her, and she didn't want to, but she knew she had to wake him up.
"Jack," she whispered, shaking him a little, "Jack, wake up, we fell asleep."
"What-?" Jack groaned, raising his head.
He blinked, looking around.
"Oh man," he muttered, realizing what had just happened.
"Are you okay?" Kate asked, concerned as Jack suddenly seemed embarrassed.
"I'm sorry Kate," Jack said quickly, "I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay," Kate said softly, "you needed to."
"I feel like a kid who wants his mother," Jack said with a laugh.
"Just don't make me punish you for not eating your vegetables," Kate joked.
"I don't think we'll have to worry about that for a while," Jack said.
They shared a smile that lingered until Jack finally broke the gaze, looking up towards the graying sky.
"I can't believe we slept through that," Jack said, looking around them.
Limbs were everywhere, and every bit of ground was soaked, causing the rocks to shine in a glaze. They gazed at it for a moment before Kate replied.
"I can't believe you slept."
She turned, and smiled at him, making him smile back.
"See, I like you like this," Kate said, finding herself actually feeling.. happy.. which seemed weird in a situation like this.
"Like what?" Jack said, testing his back as he tried to move, but groaned in the effort, and resulted to falling back against the wall behind them.
"Like this," Kate said, watching him, "happy."
"I don't think happy's the right word right now," Jack said, "it's leaning more towards grateful.
Kate smiled, knowing she had proven him wrong. Jack might not of been happy, but he looked and seemed ten times better than he had when she had been holding him, which Jack obviously seemed embarrassed about, which Kate didn't like.
"Jack, don't be embarrassed," she said finally after a few moments of Jack purposefully avoiding her.
"What?" Jack said, giving her an idiot smile that gave himself away.
"Jack, whatever you're going through-"
"I'm not 'going through' anything," Jack said, doing a horrible job at covering himself up.
"It's okay to ask for help," Kate said, looking at him, trying to come up with a reason why he would deny the advice he himself gave every day.
"I don't need 'help'," Jack said, as he finally tried standing up.
He winced as he did, and Kate watched, helpless as Jack straightened his back, face scrunching at the pain. Finally upright, Jack put on a fake reaction that Kate didn't buy.
"I was just- tired," Jack lied.
He knew what he wanted, and at the moment, it was nothing more than wanting to be back in Kate's arms, better yet, for it to be the other way around. The thought of admitting his weakness made him feel low, and like everything he had done on the island had been for nothing. Had it not been he who had spent restless nights awake so others felt sick? Was it not he who others came to for help, advice, and every decision? As much as Jack secretly loathed the role, it now felt like something that was set for him, and he knew he couldn't perform it if he blended in with the truth. He then felt Kate's eye on him as he took a drink from the water bottle that had been thrown down for him, and he wanted to pour some down his sore neck, but knew it needed to be saved.
"We should go," he advised.
Kate looked up at him at partial disgust at the way he was acting. Why was it, she wondered, that he treated himself like this. He didn't deserve it, and didn't want it, and could change it, but yet, he didn't. But sitting at the bottom of some cliff in the midst of a storm wouln't help a thing, so Kate(against her will) stood up, and looked Jack in the eye, trying to show him at least a window of how she felt.
"Let's go then," she said, her face less pleased then before.
The smell of fresh burgers and liquor filled the air as a waitress, who only looked sixteen or seventeen with long, dark brown hair, finally came towards his table. Jack had been sitting at Roscoe's, a bar/grill for the past half hour, and no one had bothered to give Jack so much as a glance. Of course, Jack hadn't exactly brought attention to himself, and probably could've beam waited already, if he had had the energy to ask, which he lacked. All that Saturday, Jack had felt drained and exhausted, and hadn't been able to do a thing. He couldn't bring himself to get back into bed, after what he had done.
He was blaming the whole affair on himself. Jack had done exactly what he swore to himself he'd never do. He had told himself he would never fall into the hands of society, and let the world do with him as it pleased, and become part of the one power everyone was under. Though worthwhile, his life was dry, he'd admit, but he never thought he'd sink as low as this. How could he of been so ignorant, thinking that something like that would actually work out? He felt like a fool, and embarrassed. So Jack had decided to take refuge a bar/grill where it(so lucky for him) had to be karaoke night, and a new song started just as a man of forty with long, brown, seventies style rock band hair took the mic, and, surprisingly, turned out to be good.
When are you gonna come down?
When are you going to land?
I should have stayed on the farm
I should have listened to my old man.
"Sir, excuse me, sir, can I take your order?"
Jack looked up and straightened himself out of his slouched position as he gave a weak smile to the young girl.
"Sorry," he offered, then cleared his throat," I was just- listening to the music."
The waitress gave a glance towards the man on stage, not realizing she was taking in the song as she did.
I'm not a present for your friends to open
This boy's to young to be singing the blues..
The man continued to sing into the chorus, fading into the back of Jack's mind.
"You're order, Sir?" The waitress asked.
Jack shook his head, pulling himself away from his thoughts.
"Just a beer," Jack said, looking down.
He felt like a teenager who had snuck into a R rated movie and was now having regrets. He shouldn't be here, he knew, it was hypocritical to everything he stood for, but even as he thought that, he was embarrassed for making such a big deal about it.
"You sure?" The girl joked, checking her watch. "It's not even sixteen passed six."
Jack glared up at her, silencing the waitress, who was thrown for a loop at his glare that told everything his was feeling- exhaustion, pain, and hurt.
"All right, all right," the girl muttered, and Jack turned his chair down as she wrote that down. "Anything else?"
Jack simply shook his head as the waitress sighed.
"That's what's wrong with the world today," she said, taring the page of her tablet and throwing it onto Jack's table, "everyone's a few beers behind."
"So I'm guessing you don't drink?" Jack said, picking up the ball of paper as he began fingering it.
The waitress laughed.
"Are you serious?" She said. "You're lucky I even got your table, no one else even noticed you were here. Truthfully, I'm supposed to be managing of the karaoke, but-" she glanced over towards the man still singing, "-it looks like they've got that under control."
She turned swiftly on the heals of her worn shoes, going over to the bar, leaving Jack alone with his thoughts.
So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough..
While waiting, Jack had continued fingering the ball of paper, rolling it in-between his fingers and feeling the roughness of its edges, until, finally, he brought himself to open it as the background music rang in his ears.
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny black toad..
The song was somehow driving into his mind, and the paper ball was becoming engulf by a fist that was shaking, and Jack grew unaware of the staring eyes, including the singer on stage. Jack was trembling all over, he knew, as sweat began to trickle down his forehead as he drove himself mad with his thoughts, and the waitress who had taken his order stopped talking to the bartender and glanced over him, in somewhat concern. The restaurant grew quite as they watched Jack, and the singer caught himself right before missing his next line.
And oh I've finally decided my future lies-
Jack slammed his fist down onto the table, causing everyone around him to jump. His eyes were mad with a mixture of fear, hatred, and pain, but not towards anyone or anything, but to himself. He hated himself for letting himself allow one desperate act, one night, get into him, and now felt even worse that he was sitting in some restaurant taking his anger out. All in one movement, he let the paper fall out of his hands, and pushed himself up from the chair, storming out of the room and leading the other customers silent except for the people solo from the karaoke machine, which the singer realized was still playing.
-Beyond the yellow brick road.
As Jack let the door sling shut behind him, the singer's voice faded as he ended the song, and Jack crossed the parking lot to his car. On the way, he met eyes with a passenger in a black SUV. He couldn't make out a figure, for all he could see were eyes, eyes full of fear of the near future..
"Jack, let's stop," Kate said, leaning against a tree for support.
Hiding himself after coming out of his thoughts, Jack ignored her as he continued on.
"Jack!" Kate pleaded.
Just as it seemed like Jack was about to reply, the bushes before them rustled, causing Jack to stop dead in his tracks.
"Jack-" Kate warned, stepping forward.
She soon felt the cool touch of Jack's hand against her stomach. The touch made her stop, and even take a subconscious glance towards him, wandering if Jack knew what he was doing. The rustling grew closer as Jack moved to step forward, but then changed his mind, stepping back, and preparing for the worst, which turned out to be-
"Sawyer," Kate sighed in both relieved and irritable.
Jack sighed as well, just thankful for the knowledge that they weren't about to find themselves kidnapped again, because somehow, he just didn't think he could put up with that right now.
"Howdy," Sawyer said, "ain't yall a pretty site?"
He was clearly amused by Jack's exhausted appearance, despite the fact that he had just fallen twenty feet.
"What are you doing out here?" Kate said, crossing her arms.
"People at the caves thought it would be funny to sneak off to the valleys and leave the injured behind," Sawyer said, "so I followed them."
"All the way out here?" Kate asked, amused a little herself.
Yet part of her couldn't help but to feel sorry for Sawyer, if he was telling the truth, and a little guilty as well. With all that had happened with Jack- the fall, falling asleep, the storm, Jack denying- Jack.
It suddenly felt very awkward or at least herself. She hadn't mention her and Sawyer's little camp out in the woods, and had made every effort to avoid conversation that led to it. Now she felt guilty, like she had just cheated- but on who, and for what?
"Storm through me off," Sawyer said defensively.
Jack shook his head.
"Let's just go," Jack said, secretly not wanting to further Kate and Sawyer's conversation, "and just be glad the storm's over."
"Be glad the storm's over?" Sawyer snorted. "Hell, you know nothin' about storms, do you?"
"What do you mean?" Kate asked for Jack.
"Lived in the south long enough to know when a storm comes, it comes," Sawyer said, showing off his southern accent, "and it don't go nowhere."
Jack was about to make a comment regarding how ridiculous that sounded, when, ironically, it started to rain again. Sawyer just smirked.
"What did I tell ya?"
Jack just once more shook his head, starting down the path again, leaving Kate, and finally Sawyer to follow.
"Walk around any longer and I'd say we landed ourselves on the undiscovered continent, not an island," Sawyer yelled to Jack over the pouring rain.
The three were soaked head to toe. Sawyer had decided to discard his bag(which really only held a few packs of cigarets, a bottle of water, and a bottle of vodka), saying why carry the water when Niagra Falls was unleashing it's afternoon tea. It was only holding him back, he claimed, though it didn't seem to help, for he still trailed behind Jack and Kate, and found himself repetitively running to catch up.
"There's a clearing up ahead," Jack shouted back.
In all, the hike had been quiet. Having nothing to comment about, Sawyer kept to himself, aside glancing towards Kate every few steps, noticing how distant she was being, which Kate only knew, was from worrying about Jack, who had been even quieter than the both of him.
He was torn in two with his thoughts of Kate. Though Jack was well aware that when it came to romance, he was the one who made a big deal out of nothing. But it was a big deal, wasn't it? Ever since he first saw Kate stumble through the bushes the first day, Jack had felt some kind of tension between the two, and witness as his feelings varied from relief, to hope, and to..love? Did he love her? What was love anyway? Did he even know? Could he ever know? All his life he had dedicated himself to finding love through his father, to being able to make him proud. Could he find that through someone else too?
"Jack!"
Jack jarred from his thoughts just before he stepped onto some wood-wait-wood? He looked down and looked up, following the trial in front of him, the trail that turned out to be a wooden swinging bridge that connected to the cliffs like a hammock., hanging over at least a fifty, sixty foot drop off over a creek of rocks a stream ran through. The rope of the bridge felt rough in his hand as Jack heard Sawyer approach behind them.
"Something's telling me this ain't the way they went, doc," Sawyer said as the rain echoed against the rotting wood.
"Should we go back?" Kate asked, staring at the bridge, feeling sickness developing in her stomach.
"No," Jack said, shaking his head, "that will only take us right back to where we came from."
"This island doesn't work miracles," Sawyer reminded him, "with are luck, one step and the thing blows."
"We need to find a path that goes around," Jack said after a moment of thinking.
"How are we going to do that?" Kate asked, looking at Jack.
The fact struck Jack. The clearing had turned out to be the jagged edge of a cliff, that had no way around it but straight.
"I'll go across," Jack decided finally.
"What, no-" Kate tried, grabbing on to Jack's arm but having no effect as he pushed out of her grip, and stepped on to the bridge.
The first step creaked as it felt the long awaited weight, and the rope slipped from the rain, and Kate tried to reach to pull but was drawn back by Sawyer's arm.
"Let him do what he wants," Sawyer muttered into her ear.
Kate recoiled, knowing that Sawyer didn't care what happened to Jack, and probably would be please with the outcome of the fate the bridge could have on him. So she watched, helpless, as Jack took a few more steps, and winced at every creak. Ten steps in, Jack stopped and turned, giving Kate a weak smile that she return, and Sawyer smirked at before turning back, but the forest wasn't what he saw in front of him.
The angry form of his father's hallucination was glaring at him, refusing to let him pass. Jack's eyebrows firmed together as he stared back.
"Are you okay?" Kate called, worried.
Jack looked down, holding his hand to his head, squeezing his forehead, trying to get the image out of his mind.
"Yeah-" Jack yelled back, "yeah, I'm fine."
Watching as he closed his eyes tight, Kate broke away from Sawyer's grip.
"I'm going to help him," she said, shaking her head and moving out of reach before Sawyer could stop her.
She stepped onto the wooden plank, and swallowed hard, balancing herself.
"Stay back Kate!" Jack forced out, hearing her behind him. "It's to dangerous."
"No, Jack-" she said as she moved for quicker than she meant to, now only four planks behind him, "you need-"
Breath was ripped from her lungs as the bridge broke underneath her. She fell through the two fallen planks, which crashed into the stream bellow, and grabbed onto the rope, clinging for life. Jack turned at the sound of her scream, ignoring the fact that his father had disappeared.
"Kate!" He shouted, as he moved towards her.
Sawyer was already on it, running across the bridge to Kate, and for some reason, that bothered Jack more that it should, and he missed a loose bolt which he tripped over, causing him to fall forward until-
He was caught, just before his legs gave out, and was left staring down into the stream, which very easily could've been his destiny if it wasn't for the fact that Sawyer's hand caught his arm just into. Looking up, he saw something he had never seen in Sawyer, worry, concern, and it wasn't just for himself. He helped Jack up, and Jack planted his feet, balancing himself.
"Thanks," he said sincerely.
"There won't be more where that came from," Sawyer said in his usual tone.
"I won't expect it," Jack jolted.
Sawyer and Jack were immediately back down, squatting beside Kate.
"You gonna pull her up?" Sawyer asked, wondering why he even bothered to come across.
Because in the end, it was always Jack who was the hero.
"I can't do it alone," Jack admitted to his surprised.
Sawyer looked at him questionably, then nodded in agreement.
"Kate, you'll have to reach up to me," Jack said to her.
Kate had both hands gripped around the rope, and was biting down hard on her teeth.
"Kate, you'll have to let one hand go," Jack said, "I'll catch it."
"I-I can't!" Kate said in a panic. "I can't do it!"
"You can!" Jack said to her. "Just- trust me."
The comment caught all three of them off guard. It was a known fact that Kate trusted Jack, visa versa, but for Jack to ask it, seemed odd. The moment drew on as Kate continued to cling on.
"Just, reach up," Jack instructed, "and- don't look down."
As he said it, Kate glanced below her, and began to twitch at the sight
"Nice going," Sawyer mumbled to Jack.
Jack ignored him, as he looked back down at Kate.
"Kate, please, just trust me-"
She looked up at him then, and he realized what it was. Of course she wasn't fast to trust him. Was he not the reason they were all out here in the first place?
"Sawyer's going to help," he reassured.
Kate looked at him, staring into his eyes, and then nodded. Shaking, she let her right hand slip off of the rope, which seemed to take forever.
"We ain't got all afternoon!" Sawyer reminded her.
Jack glared at him. That was the last thing Kate needed. But her hand was now free of the rope, and as promised, grasped his hand, lapsing his fingers into hers. He wanted the moment to last forever. Just the feeling of her soft skin embracing his rough, well-worked, callused fingers, felt soothing, and for a split second, it seemed as though everything would be okay, Sawyer would disappear, and he could have the moment to himself, embracing it.
"She can't cling any longer," Sawyer's voice reminded him.
He wanted to curse at the man for ruining his moment, but knew Sawyer was right, and shifted weight as Sawyer reached down, grabbing under Kate's arm.
"On three," Jack said, "one, two-"
The two men pulled, lifting Kate safety onto the floor of the bridge, where she lay, her head rested against Jack's knees. Jack pulled her hair out of her face as she coughed, gasping for breath.
"Will you be all right?" Not trusting how long the bridge would last with all of their weight, but felt the urge to shove Sawyer's off as her head lay against him.
"Yeah," she managed, "I'll be fine. Help me up."
The bridge creaked as Jack helped her up, Sawyer watching, and the three looked ahead as far as they had to go, an estimate of eight steps.
"So are we going to stand here all day or what?" Sawyer asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Let's go," Jack said, readying himself.
"Can you do it this time?" Kate asked him, more concerned for Jack then herself.
Then again, she had to be. Sawyer had no clue what was going on with him, and couldn't.
"Yeah," Jack nodded, making the mistake of looking down.
Because, of course, to his luck, there stood his father, standing on the banks of the stream, staring up at them. Jack stared, praying he would just go away, just this one time, without Jack having to complete some kind of task, or get hurt himself. Instead, Jack's father just stood there, until..
"Help them," came his father's voice, muttered into his ear.
"What-?" Jack said to himself, looking back, only to find Sawyer staring at him with the utmost confusion.
"Jack, are you okay?" Kate repeated for what seemed like the dozenth time that day.
"I'm fine," he promised, once again.
But as he took the next step forward, gravity pulled against him and he jerked as he felt it. Kate's hand stopped him this time, her hands gripping his shoulders.
"Just let me help you this time," she insisted.
Jack stared at her, and then reluctantly nodded, trying to forget that Sawyer was there, because he knew that though Sawyer wouldn't go brag about it, he wouldn't let Jack forget it either. Either way, Kate held onto him as the three crossed the bridge, letting the rain fall around them. And that's when the lightening started, growing more rapid at every flash, not even allowing the three time to stop, so they continued down the path, until Jack looked up, just in time to notice a lightning bolt slamming against a tree.
"Look out!" He shouted, and covered Kate's head as the three dove to the ground, narrowly missing being crushed by the falling tree.
"Sawyer," a voice whispered, "Sawyer, hey Sawyer, you awake?"
Sawyer reached out at the sound of the voice, grabbing who he knew to be Boone's arm.
"I ain't your dog boy," Sawyer muttered, "stop saying that."
"Yep," he heard Boone say, "he's alive."
"Help him up," he heard Locke's voice say.
Sawyer's eyes rolled open just as he felt Boone pull him up, letting his head rest back against a rock. He took a moment to catch his breath, and then another to take in his surroundings. It took a while for him to remember what happened, but when it did, it all came crashing down on him in one stream of memories. The first thing he noticed as he saw Boone was that the kid was perfectly dry, unlike he himself, who was still damp from the rain. Looking over, he saw that Locke had sat Jack down on a log, and was crouched in front of him, doing the usual eye check. He saw Locke nod in satisfaction, and slapped Jack lightly on the shoulder as he stood. Jack rubbed the back of his head wearily, and looked around, briefly meeting eyes with Sawyer before turning to Kate, who was laying only a few feet from where he was, and unlike the other two, she wasn't awake.
Turning, Sawyer managed to get by her side as Jack walked over, but was held back by Locke.
"You of all people should know she needs her room," Locke said to Jack.
Hesitantly, Jack nodded, and sat back, knowing all he could do was wait, which didn't take long. He was up again in an instant, ignoring the pains in his back(and knowing Sawyer was doing the same) as Kate's eyes fluttered open.
"Hey," he said, giving her a small smile.
"Hey yourself," Kate said, feeling as though she was reliving the day.
"Think you can stand?" Locke asked her. "We need to get to the caves before dark."
Kate let her head rest against the ground, wanting nothing more than to lay there, and wanting no one else to be there with her than Jack, who seemed more concerned for her than anyone was.
"Yeah," she said finally, "I can."
Locke and Jack helped her stand as Sawyer fed for himself, and after a moment of letting Kate recollect herself, started the journey back.
"So Jack," Boone said twenty minutes into the hike, "what are you going to do when we get rescued?"
When, Jack couldn't help but to think, not if, but when. The boy seemed so set on it. He just wished he could have those kind of thoughts.
"Probably go back to work," Jack said, knowing that would be the reality of it.
"Glad to see some people have a life," Sawyer muttered.
"So I guess it doesn't matter to you if we get rescued or not," Locke said.
He had trailed behind the group, though knowing he could've made a faster pace but not wanting the others to think they had to live up to it.
"Well I don't have to pay rent here," Jack joked.
The others, save Sawyer, laughed lightly, a sound that sounded cool against the humid air.
"What about you, Kate?" Boone asked next.
Jack and Kate exchanged glances, not knowing Sawyer was doing the same behind her back, and Kate swallowed the lump in her throat.
"I'm going to take Sawyer to Disney World," she said, forcing herself to smile a little as she continued walking.
"I might just hold you up to it," Sawyer smirked.
The conversation turned quiet again, until a few minutes later when Jack began to whistle out of boredom, stopping at Kate's groan.
"What?" He asked, a little amused.
"Nothing," Kate said, shaking her head, "it's just, my dad used to sing that song all the time. Non stop. It was like the only one he knew."
"Well," Jack said, acknowledging the tone of Kate's voice as she talked about her father, "I don't know if I'm as good as your old man, but-"
"Please don't," Kate pleaded, smiling.
Jack ignored her, and began to sing-
Day after day I'm more confused
Then I look for the light through the pourin' rain
Sawyer smirked at Jack's singing voice, which lacked some of the major qualities, but for the others, was pretty close. Boone laughed a little to himself at his own memories of his father, knowing Locke was watching him.
You know, that's a game, that I hate to lose
I'm feelin' the strain, ain't it a shame
Give me the beat boys and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away
Give me the beat boys and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away
Jack retreated to whistling, gradually coming to a stop, to the others relief.
"Can anyone do a good Simon Cowell impersonation?" Locke teased.
The others smirked, and looked up, not realizing that they were entering the caves.
"There you are," Sayid said, in somewhat relief.
"Yeah, where have you been?" Charlie Michael. "It's been what, four hours?"
They were handed water bottles that were sitting by the stream, but Sawyer reached down, grabbing his own before being offered one, and opened it, letting the cool sensation quench his sore throat.
"Jack put on a show," Kate said, reaching down as she helped Jack with a bag he was trying to move."
"Were those the screams we were worried about?" Sayid joked, leaving the others to laugh as the caves grew less populated as the castaways went back to their normal everyday activities.
Kate lingered as Jack reached for his spare bag.
"Let Charlie do the singing," she whispered into his ear," keep your day job."
Jack smiled a little as she walked away, leaving him surrendered with his own thoughts, that were soon interrupted by real screams.
"Jack! We need some help!" Charlie's voice rang into the caves.
Faces turned to the sight of Charlie in Hurley, rushing in, bringing in an unmoving body, and laying it down before Jack.
Author's Note: I'll do this later. I'm beat. Disclaimers and everything will be next chapter. Basically, thanks for the reviews and sorry for the wait.
October Sky
