and rubbed them together. Then he splashed his face with cool water.
He sighed and took off his shoes and socks. Then he put his feet in the water. It
was light out- the sun was just rising. Usually, Jack loved sunrise more than any time of day.
But Jack was still upset from the night before.
He thought about Kate. How he could even manage to think about Kate at a time
like this, he was unsure. Boone had just died, and Jack was sad and all, but he didn't want to
think about Boone.
Up until this time spent on the island, Jack was almost sure he was in love with
Sarah. But Jack Shepard had the tendancy to think he knew everything. And his vainness
often resulted in other people's deaths...
Jack smacked the water where his reflection was, resulting in a splash. Sarah was
nothing anymore. Jack would be stuck on this island forever, he was sure of it. There was
no way they could get off, and it's pretty obvious no one was looking for them. And Jack
would never see Sarah again...
Somehow, this thought did not make him as upset as he thought. Sarah was
something very special, but Jack could no longer picture her face in his mind. The only think
Jack saw, when he closed his eyes, was Kate.
Jack played with his fingers. He wished he'd had the guts to leave Sarah at the
altar like he'd planned. But he didn't want her to be sad. She was still very nice.
But somehow Jack knew that she wasn't the one.
"Hey."
Jack was a little stunned. He turned around to face the speaker.
"Hey, Kate."
Kate sat down on the ground beside Jack and put her feet in the water too. "I hope you're
not beating yourself up too much."
"I'm not."
"Yeah, you are." said Kate.
This was one reason Kate was nothing like Sarah. Kate always knew when Jack was upset or angry. She just knew. And she always tried to help.
Jack sighed. "I could have saved him."
"No, you couldn't have." said Kate. She didn't seem to have a doubt in her mind. "I talked to
Locke yesterday. Boone didn't fall from a cliff."
Kate told Jack the entire story of what happened to Boone. When she finished, Jack sighed again.
"Why didn't Locke tell me that?" said Jack. "Boone tried to tell me- I know he did. But then
he passed out. I could have saved him. Really."
"Jack. Boone was going to die anyway. You would have put him through more pain if you had
taken his leg off." Kate looked at him. "You are an amazing, wonderful person. You help
every single person on this island. But you are only going to hurt yourself if you keep
bringing back the past."
Jack looked at her.
Here's another reason Jack was sure Kate was special- her eyes always had that
little twinkle in them, like no matter how sad she was, she was just a tiny bit happy.
"Thanks, Kate." he said. "Sometimes this all gets to be too much for me."
"It's been a hell of a ride for all of us," said Kate. "But none more than you. Sometimes we
rely on you too much to help us."
"That can only be expected," said Jack. "I'm the doctor."
Kate smiled, then looked at the sky.
"You know what I like about being out here?" she said.
"What?" asked Jack.
"When you wake up in the morning, all you hear is the waves crashing on the beach, or maybe
the fire, but that's it. You don't hear car horns honking, or somebody's music blasting or
anything. Just the waves." she smiled and looked back at Jack.
"Yeah," he said.
"I wish the world was all like this," said Kate. "Like this island. No drugs, or crime or
anything like that."
Jack looked at Kate. She was so open about her thoughts. Sarah liked to keep them
put. Jack was both, in a way. He could tell Kate anything. But in the real world, he mostly
kept to himself.
There's another reason Jack liked Kate. She gave him this feeling of comfort.
Anything that was bothering him, anything- he could tell Kate.
Which led Jack to only one conclusion- he was in love with Kate.