(A/N: A day late, I know… But I have officially caught up with my writing, so now I think I might have to update every other day, or every three days. Right now, I'm at a HUGE writers block, which so sucks, so you might see another fanfic of mine pop up soon. I promise you; this one will not be forgotten. Lol. So anyway, last update was a cliffie. Now you finally get to see who shot the gun, and who got the bullets implanted into their chest. Woo!)

Disclaimer: No worries, I don't own them. ((Points at Lost cast and crew)) "Rotating Head" is by 'The (English) Beat'.–LOST- is copyrighted by H.B.

-Saving Kate-

-Chapter 12-

-On The Right Side-

Jack stared at Ethan as his body fell to the ground. The bushes rustled and out came Charlie and Boone. Charlie was holding the gun with a half-crazed look on his face.

"Charlie! Are you ok?" Jack asked, bewildered.

Charlie let out a little sob and started to laugh hysterically.

Boone, with a certain look of fear implanted on his face too, said, "I'll take care of it." And walked Charlie away. His laughs could still be faintly heard through out the forest.

Ethan was definitely dead, no doubt about that. But Kate… Jack didn't know. Approaching her, he saw she was deathly white and pale. Her breathing was labored, and a small yet noticeable pool of blood was by her side, seeping into the soft, brown soil.

"…Kate?" Jack asked. "Kate, can you answer me?"

Kate didn't move.

"Kate?" Jack asked again, small tears filling his eyes. Maybe he could save her, but she'd never be the same again, she'd always have a scar to remind her of what happened. Picking her up carefully, he started to walk back to the caves.

-LOST-

Kate felt herself being picked up once more. She groaned softly. "Ethan?" she whispered faintly.

Jack stopped dead in his tracks. "Kate!"

"…Jack?" Kate took another stab at a guess, no matter how wild it may be.

"Kate, it's Jack! Everything's fine, everything's taken care of… Ethan's gone."

"What do you mean by 'gone'?" she asked, pushing her body to muster up the strength to speak.

"He's gone, Kate, he's dead."

Silent tears of happiness fell down Kate's cheeks. Ethan, he was gone!

For the first time in days, Kate actually felt relieved. But the wound in her shoulder kept her sober.

"Jack…" she stared, still straining to make her voice audible.

He continued walking, but looked down at her. "Yea?"

"I'm scared…"

Jack's jaw nearly dropped. Kate was scared! Never in his life at the island had he known the word 'scared' was actually in Kate's vocabulary. "But… why?" he asked.

"I'm just scared. I'm scared about how the survivors are going to react, I'm scared about how I might just become a vegetable and be of use to no one, I'm scared that somehow he might come back. I'm just scared."

"…Wait, what?" Jack asked. He was confused, Kate wouldn't be un-useful (A/N: Not sure if that's a word or not…).

"I was stuck with Ethan. It'll be like Claire, when she first came back. No one wanted to be around her because she reminded them of what Ethan did to us. I want to help out, but I not be able to, or people won't let me, because they think that after what Ethan did to me, I might just become a nuisance. And no matter how unrealistic it is, I'm scared that Ethan might just take me again." She breathed in deeply, trying to make all the pain go away from talking too long.

"But Ethan won't take you, I promise. And you won't become a vegetable, because I won't let you. And last but not least, everyone's just to be glad to have you back. You've had no idea how boring the island life is without you!"

Kate was silent, taking in what Jack just said. Suddenly she fell unconscious once more.

-LOST-

Jack knew that he had to act fast if he was to save Kate from dying. It was funny, she hadn't even brought up the subject of being hurt, though her body shook violently and her body temperature was slowly inclining into the hundreds.

He sighed in relief, and in fear, as he saw the faint fires of the caves ahead. Maybe Kate was right, maybe no one would want to be around her, maybe she would be considered a nuisance when anyone went hunting. Even if people knew Ethan was dead, they knew that Kate was still a connection to him. But Jack would stay by her side, even if no one else would.

It must have been well past midnight, because when Jack first set foot into the camp, mostly everyone was asleep. Charlie and Claire were the only ones up, and even sleepiness could be seen in their eyes. Claire gasped when she saw Jack.

"Jack!" she whispered.

Jack stared at her and headed over.

"Is that Kate!" she asked.

"Yea…" Jack replied.

Charlie cut in. "Wow. She looks pretty beat-up." He shifted Kate's shirt so he could get a better look at her shoulder.

"Jack…" he breathed in. "That shot we heard earlier today wasn't nothing… it was Ethan shooting Kate in the shoulder!"

"What!" Jack yelped, causing some survivors to shift in their sleep. He craned his neck to look at it. Sure enough, there was a bullet wound in her left shoulder. He hadn't noticed it before, it had been too dark. He thought the reason the skin around it was black and blue was because Ethan had abused her, and the blood was from some minor cuts and scrapes, but he was wrong.

All this time, he had been carrying Kate, she had not breathed a word to him about it. Jack had not realized the seriousness this situation held until now.

-LOST-

Rotating head, keeps on the right side

Coiled up and tense remain on the lookout

Expects to be shot or get given the bullet

Rotating head tries to look on the bright side of things

Rotating head, friends in high places

No need to guess what's in that briefcase

A mind like a gin-trap, one swollen ankle

The rotating head tries to stay on the right side of things

On the right side of things

-LOST-

(A/N: For all those people who have no idea what the term 'Vegetable' means, it's used as like it means it's lifeless, it can't move around and such. It's a term used for paralyzed people or people who can't think for themselves anymore. Well, this was certainly an interesting chapter, 'eh?)

Reviews to the Reviews that my Reviewers left me:

PinkPinker: I'm afraid that everyone in this fanfic needs a reason to have their ass kicked. But keep on the lookout for Sawyer's ass-kicking, I'll work in somehow! Yea, Locke's speech was weird. Yes, there was a bit Jack/Kate flirting in the beginning but you didn't miss too much!

Evermore: Yea, Charlie needed to do something, and I figured Boone was too much of a wimp to shoot Ethan. (Sorry to all you Boone fans out there!) 'Sides, it makes things interesting with Charlie, so expect some Charlie/Claire fighting to come up soon.

Rain1657: Woo! You get a special prize cause you guessed it was Charlie who shot Ethan. Once I think of it, you'll get it, lol. Well, Kate's going to get worse before she gets better. I know! I like how JJ made all the information into a simple game they played. I'm going to play 'I never' with Pepsi instead of alcohol, lol!

Freckles-101: Lol! Thanks. I hope this story won't end anytime soon, but right now I'm on this huge Writers' Block with it. Not good! But hopefully I can battle it, and I just need to get over the '3 day hump' (as quoted from 'Supersize Me'). If I can write some for 3 days, I can get over the writers' block, so wish me luck!

Orlando-Crazy: Wow, thanks! As you read, the bullets were from Charlie. And now Ethan is dead…or at least we think he is. ((evil cackle))

(A/N: So, how will Claire react to Charlie's shooting of Ethan? (Btw, in my fanfic, Claire remembers.) And how will the survivors react to having Kate back? Is Sawyer going to be a part of the next chapter, and will Jack get made at Locke for leaving him in a situation where he needed help the most? Find out in the next chapter of 'Saving Kate'!)