Chapter Four

The three of them remained frozen in shock for what felt like an hour, but what must have been in reality no longer than ten seconds. The snake also remained motionless save for a barely discernible vibrating motion; its head still erect, still coiled in attack position.

"Can you shoot it?" Sawyer hissed at Jack.

"She's got the gun, remember?" he replied through clenched teeth.

Kate's knees were beginning to tremble. She was still balanced on the edge of the seat, hanging on to the overhead baggage compartment for balance, but it didn't look as if she could hold the position much longer. "Jack..." she cried softly.

The situation was terrifying, but not terrifying enough that Sawyer wasn't annoyed by the fact that she was calling for Jack. After all, he was closer. He looked around for something large enough to kill the thing with. Jack saw what he was doing and shook his head. "Don't make any sudden movements."

Simultaneously, Kate had lowered her right arm to the gun, which was sticking out of her jeans above her hip. As she gingerly withdrew it, Jack noticed the motion and said, too sharply, "Kate...don't!" The sound of his voice startled her. The events of the next few seconds occurred in a blinding flash and were visible only as a blur. She dropped the gun next to the snake; as it struck, Jack and Sawyer were already nearly at her side, and the snake had disappeared, wriggling at warp speed through a moss-grown gap in the side of the plane's exterior. Sawyer made a futile lunge after it with his foot, but it was no use.

She collapsed, breathing hard, onto the seat. Jack kneeled in front of her while Sawyer stood behind him, all of them looking as if they might faint.

"It's okay...it's okay. It missed. It didn't bite me."

Sawyer looked relieved, but Jack was skeptical. "Are you sure? I thought I saw it strike."

"Yeah, it struck...but it missed. It hit my shoe. Thank God." She leaned back, closing her eyes and trying to slow her breathing.

"Okay. Why don't you come outside for a minute...get some air."

She nodded. He helped her up, and she crawled back through the opening, followed by the two of them.

They sat down on some logs near the wreckage. Sawyer handed her a water bottle. "Close call, there, Freckles. I think that might have been a pit viper. They're deadly."

Jack looked concerned. "How would you know that?"

"Used to have a thing for snakes when I was a kid. Didn't you?"

"Dinosaurs," Jack answered, looking distracted.

Kate looked unnaturally pale as she sipped the water. She didn't seem to be listening to them. Jack watched her closely.

"You should probably take your shoe off and let me have a quick look, Kate. Just in case."

She looked irritated. "Why? I told you, it missed."

"I'm sure it did. I'd just feel a lot better if I could check and be certain."

"Jack, I think I would have felt it, don't you?" she asked, clearly tired of being babied.

"Just humor me then."

She looked at Sawyer, expecting him to support her like usual, but he wasn't backing her up this time. He looked concerned as well. "Doctor's orders, girl."

She sighed, replacing the cap on the water bottle and lifting her left foot up onto the log. She yanked her shoe off and let it fall to the ground, then rolled her sock down. There was nothing there. "See?"

As she prepared to pull the sock back up, Jack caught her leg and delicately rolled the cuff of her jeans up a few inches. The three of them looked down in horror at the two tiny pinpricks of red just above her ankle bone, spaced about an inch apart.


Sayid stepped gingerly into Sawyer's tent. "The coast is clear," he said playfully, motioning to Shannon. She stepped in behind him, looking around.

The sun had set, but there was still just enough daylight left to see by.

"Do you have any idea where it might be?" he asked her.

She looked as if the answer was an obvious negative. "I don't really visit here a lot."

"Then I guess we just start looking."

The two of them began going through bags and various storage containers.

"He would kill us if he knew we were doing this," Shannon said.

Sayid grinned mischievously. "Yes, and somehow that makes it so much more fun, doesn't it?" Shannon grinned back.

With a bemused look, Sayid held up a bra hooked on the end of his finger. Shannon rolled her eyes, but then said, "Hey, what size is that?" With a smile, he tossed it to her and continued to rummage through the bag.

After a few minutes Shannon yanked a bottle out of the side pocket of the tote bin she was going through and held it up to the light. "Need some hemorrhoid cream?"

"I'll take a rain check on that."

They continued to riffle through the contents of Sawyer's tent like kids in a candy store. Suddenly, Sayid spoke in amused shock. "Good God."

"What is it?"

"I'm too much of a gentleman to say."

Shannon jumped up eagerly and went to peer over his shoulder. "Ew! Why would any woman have had that with her on a plane?"

"I think the more important question is, why does Sawyer have it now?"

She covered her mouth with one hand and laughed hysterically, putting her other hand on his shoulder to keep her balance and finally collapsing on the ground next to him.

When they finally stopped laughing, they looked at each other tenderly. Shannon said in a grateful voice, "I'm really glad we decided to do this."

"So am I."

Looking closely into the corner of the bag he had been going through, Sayid seemed to notice something he hadn't seen before. "Wait a second." He reached in carefully and withdrew a book. Glancing at the cover, he handed it to her carefully. "Is this it?"

Taking it and turning it over, a shadow seemed to fall over her face. The sight of the book had an effect on her that she hadn't at all anticipated. Sayid watched her closely, reading the heartbreak written in her features.

With shaking fingers, she gently drew back the front cover of the beat-up paperback. In an unusually delicate male script were the words "Property of Boone Carlisle."

Her vision became blurred as her face crumpled into itself. She drew the book close to her chest and leaned her head over onto her knees. Harsh, jagged sobs were torn from her, sounding excruciatingly painful. Sayid, knowing he should probably leave her alone, but unable to, sat silently with his hand on her shoulder as the last traces of light faded away.


It was getting dark, and Charlie still wasn't back. Had she hurt his feelings that badly? The concept was so new to her that she wasn't really sure how to judge; she was never mean to people. Her fear for the baby was causing her to do and say things that she was ashamed of, but she felt that it was in some ways beyond her control. She wondered sadly if every mother felt like this after giving birth, and thought with a pang that there wasn't really anybody to talk to about it. She had never felt so alone.

Hearing footsteps approach, she looked up hopefully. Thank God, it was Charlie. Of course he wouldn't stay away just because of what she'd said. She felt silly for having even considered it. She noticed he had somebody with him. Straining her eyes to see in the falling darkness, she could just make out that it was Sun.

"Claire," he said breathlessly. "I tried to come back as fast as I could, but...she wouldn't run."

Sun smiled calmly and kneeled down next to Claire.

"How is he?" she nodded toward the baby, who was awake now, but not crying.

"It's spread all over him." Lifting the boy gently, she cradled him in her lap.

Charlie hovered over them nervously. "That's bad, right? I told you we should come faster...What do you think it is? Do you think there's anything you can do?"

Sun spoke to him gently. "Charlie. I need you to make a fire. It's getting too dark to see. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, of...of course."

They waited.

"Now, you mean?"

Sun smiled.

"Right." He went off distractedly, looking for wood.

Claire looked up from the baby, worried. "So...what do you think?"

Sun looked at him carefully, then glanced around the campsite area, focusing in on the spot Claire had lifted the baby from. She moved over closer and picked up the towel. "This towel...it is not...cotton?"

"No, I don't think so," Claire said, sounding embarrassed. "He, um...he had a little accident on the other one. I haven't washed it yet."

Sun nodded as if she had expected this. "I think...this material, he is...what is the word?"

"Allergic?" Claire supplied tentatively.

"Yes, allergic to it. You should not use it anymore."

"Oh," she said, breathing out in relief. "Is that all? God, I feel like such an idiot. What kind of mother would do something like that?"

Sun looked sympathetic. "I am sure it happens..all the time. You shouldn't feel bad." She withdrew a small vial from the pouch that she had brought with her. "This is a mixture from an herb...it will make the rash go away."

Claire nodded gratefully. "Thank you."

"But I should warn you...he won't like it."

Looking regretfully at her son, Claire sighed. "That's all right. He's been pretty quiet all day. He's probably due for a good cry."

Smiling, Sun gently began to apply the concoction to the baby's skin as he started a loud, continuous wail.

At the edge of the woods, Charlie, hearing the sound, dropped the firewood he was carrying and raced off like a madman.


"Shit." Sawyer muttered. He wiped his hand over his mouth nervously. "What I said earlier...I was just messin' around, Freckles. I don't have any idea what kind of snake it was. Hell, it probably wasn't even poisonous. Right?" he said hopefully, looking at Jack.

Jack looked at him, then up at Kate. "How do you feel, Kate?"

"Fine. I feel fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'm still a little shaken up, but other than that..."

"That's good, right? If it was poisonous, she'd know by now, wouldn't she?"

Jack looked as if he didn't know what to say.

"Jack?" she asked softly.

"It's hard to tell. Depending on the amount of venom that was injected, it could take up to an hour or so to have an effect. If it wasn't poisonous, then...you'll probably just have an itchy ankle for a few days, like a mosquito bite. And...that's most likely what'll happen. This is a Pacific island, and it's not very big...there probably aren't many poisonous species."

"Thought you said you didn't know anything about snakes," Sawyer said under his breath.

Jack didn't answer, and he looked less than convinced himself.

"So...what should I do?"

"Nothing. There isn't really anything we can do until we know if it was poisonous." Jack looked defeated.

Sawyer stood up angrily and paced toward the plane and back. "Nothing? That's all you got? Well, thank God we got a doctor out here with us to sit around on his ass and give out useless advice! Hell, you might as well charge her for it while you're at it!"

"Sawyer," she said wearily. He sat back down heavily, looking sick.

She turned to Jack and swallowed nervously. "What kind of...symptoms? I mean, what should I be looking for?"

He tried to speak calmly, professionally. But there was a look of terror in his eyes. "Most likely nausea. Maybe stomach cramps. You might feel like you had some bad Mexican food." He tried to smile and failed.

"Jesus.." Sawyer rolled his eyes. "They teach you these cute little analogies in med school, doc?"

Jack looked at him lethally. "Look, I've had about as much of you as I can take.."

Sawyer interrupted him, talking over him, "Because so far, according to you, she's either got a mosquito bite or had one hell of a bad burrito. Funny, 'cause I seem to remember it being a little more serious than that!"

Jack stood up. "You want to see me take this seriously? Maybe if you shut your mouth more than once every hour the rest of us could hear ourselves think!"

"Oh, you think so, huh? Somehow I get the feelin' your thoughts ain't all that loud, Jacko. You probably ain't even really a doctor, are ya?"

"You son-of-a-bitch..." Jack moved toward him as Sawyer stood up, confrontationally. As he reached him, however, both were diverted by Kate's movement off to the side.

Leaning over the back of the log, she was throwing up all the water she had just consumed.