The hospital was bright. Far too bright for Shannon's taste. She looked around, hoping someone familiar would appear in the doorway. She had been without the rest of the islanders for only an hour, but she found she missed the sounds of their voices, and the lulling of the ocean. She sat up, aware of the wires that had appeared on her body. They had been off the island for 2 days now, and ever since the plane had touched down on the tarmac, she had felt different.
A noise cluttered the doorway, and she looked up to see him standing in the doorway. The man who had become her savior on the island. The man that she had found herself falling in love with, when she hadn't thought love was an option. Her smile said it all, and he hurried to her bedside, wrapping his arms around her tiny figure. She heaved back tears, just to be near him reassured her.
He pulled away from her, brushing a strand of hair from her face. She smiled, looking at him. He was dressed in real clothing. She laughed to herself, she had never seen him dressed in anything but cargo pants, and a white tank top. His beard was closely cut, and his hair was several inches shorter as well. But his soulful eyes were still there. She took his hand in his.
"They say that I have some blood problems. The doctors said I might be anemic." She said softly. "They want to run some tests."
Sayid nodded. "They gave me the go ahead. Although I must report back for checkups every week until they see fit for me to leave." He said with a smile. "So I suppose that means I will be here for a while."
Shannon smiled, and looked around at the equipment, beeping and buzzing all around her. "It all seems so surreal. Being here, with real doctors." She grinned. "Although I must say, I think I prefer Jack. These men in while coats just don't do it for me."
"Jack is a good man, and a good doctor." He said with a smile. "He saved many lives on the island."
Shannon nodded. "And took some away." She said quietly, almost too softly to be heard. She remembered her brothers smile. And she remembered the grimace on his face when Jack made the first incision to remove the piece of wood that had somehow lodged itself in his abdomen. But most of all, she remember the blank, unmoving look on his when they buried him in a shallow grave next to his mentor, John Locke.
Sayid squeezed her hand. "We left many behind, but they are somewhere else now. Somewhere happier." He said. "And, we had many happy moments on the island, didn't we?" He asked.
Shannon nodded. "I met you." She said, a smile gracing her lips once more.
Sayid laughed. "And I met around 30 other people, who will be friends for the rest of my life."
Shannon beamed, memories flooding back to her. "And then, there was the wedding. Charlie and Claire…" She said with a smile. "Do you remember that day? Everything was so perfect. Claire in her battered sundress, and the ring that Charlie made for her out of vines and a shell."
Sayid laughed. "And little Aiden in his homemade clothing."
"Have you been to see them?" Shannon asked, wondering about her friends.
Sayid nodded. "The last I heard, everyone will be fine. Claire is up and walking, and Aiden still has that cheeky grin that he learned from his father." He said, knowing that the only father the boy had ever known was Charlie.
Shannon sighed, and leaned closer to him, trying to block the bright hospital lights from her range of vision. She thought about what was to come for her. She didn't know what the future could possibly hold. She looked up at Sayid, placing a kiss on the edge of his jaw. She leaned into him, burying her face in his chest. For now, she decided, she wanted to be back under the sun, with the man that she loved, with not a care in the world.
