It was late the next day before Boone made it back to camp. He had spent almost twenty-four hours stretched out under the tree, thinking. He felt sorry for himself; that was undeniable. Admit it; it was impossible not to feel sorry for a guy who kept getting beat up and was in love with his baby sister. Boone wondered what Dr. Phil would do in this situation.
The really sad thing was, no one seemed to miss Boone. He could have stayed away a lot longer than a day, and no one would come looking for him. Kate and Jack were too wrapped up in each other; Claire and Charlie were still reeling from the loss of the baby; Locke…Boone honestly believed Locke could care less if Boone lived or died. Life was just a great experiment to Locke, and whatever was meant to happen would happen. It wasn't that Locke was unkind or harbored ill will, he simply put trust in fate. And Sayid, well, there was no love lost between Sayid and Boone. Sayid could take a swan dive off the highest cliff, and Boone would be eager to give him a helping hand.
That left Shannon. Shannon, the sister he had sacrificed so much for. The woman he should have lied to yesterday. God, he was such a loser! Why did he tell Shannon he felt relieved when he believed her to be dead? It was time to stop seeing Shannon as a pesky little sister, and treat her like a woman to be loved and desired. That meant, Boone knew,
keeping the truth from her at all costs.
"Hello there, Boone," Charlie said, sneaking up behind him. "You don't look so good, if you don't mind me saying."
Boone gave a dry laugh. "What doesn't look so good, Charlie? My face? Well, Shannon slapped me yesterday. My lip? I bit down on myself to keep from telling Shannon exactly what I think of her. Oh, and there's my head…my head which Locke whacked the other day."
Charlie backed up a few paces, his eyes wide. "Well, mate, I need to get back to Claire…"
"No, stay!" Boone yelled, grabbing Charlie's arm. "You think I look stressed out right? You should have seen me this time yesterday! I was limp and sated with sex. God, I was happy."
"You know, I wouldn't use the words limp and sex in the same sentence," Charlie advised. "It doesn't send the right message."
"And you know who I was having sex with, Charlie?" Boone said, laughing hysterically. "Take a wild guess. The last person you could possibly think of."
"Um, if you say you were with Vincent, I'd really rather not hear about it…"
"I HAD SEX WITH SHANNON!" Boone bellowed. "I slept with my baby sister! Again! We did it in Sydney! We did it yesterday under a…well, I don't know what kind of tree it was. It had leaves on it."
Charlie searched Boone's face. For the first time, Charlie realized how flushed and sweaty Boone's face was. Looking closer, Charlie noticed a strange, feverish light in Boone's blue eyes. "Are you on drugs, mate? I ask because, well, you might not know, but…"
"I'm not on drugs!" Boone yelled. "I am perfectly sane. Sober! Sane and sober! I could be the star of the island's first reality TV show!"
"Right," Charlie drawled. He sent a frightened look at Boone, then roared, "JACK!"
It only took Super Jack a second to materialize beside them. "What's the problem?" Jack asked, looking from Charlie to Boone. Jack, being a little quicker on the uptake than Charlie, noticed Boone's flushed appearance at once. Jack raised a hand to Boone's forehead. "You feeling okay?"
Boone swatted Jack's hand away. "Don't treat me like some sort of little kid, okay? I can take care of myself, despite what you all think."
Charlie started humming. "You all everybody," he softy sang.
"Charlie," Jack said sharply.
"Right," Charlie nodded. "Need to be getting back to Claire. Feel better, mate."
Boone watched Charlie bounce off into the wilderness. Charlie, even when hanging from a tree or taking care of a despondent girlfriend, always seemed to come out on top. Charlie was a funny little guy; a one-hit wonder, couldn't swim, almost hobbit-like in appearance. Yet, everyone seemed to adore him. What made Charlie so loveable, and Boone so…Boone? Perhaps if it weren't for Shannon…
"Boone, you're burning up," Jack said, shaking Boone from his revive. Jack had finally felt Boone's forehead, and it was flaming. Jack remained calm, not wanting to upset Boone. Mentally, Jack ran through the antibiotics back at camp. He took Boone by the elbow. "Listen, we really need to get you back to camp. I can take care of you there."
Boone gave a dry laugh. "Wouldn't it be better on everyone if I just died?"
Jack stared at him. "Where did that come from? You're needed around here, Boone; you know that. If it weren't for you, Shannon would-"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT SHANNON!" Boone roared. Blindly, not fully realizing what he was doing, Boone swung his fists at Jack. One fist made contact with Jack's stomach, while the other caught him in the windpipe. Jack doubled over, winded.
Boone kicked Jack in the side, sending him sprawling in the dirt. Suddenly, Jack was gone, and in his place was Brian, punching Boone over and over. Michael, taking a swing at Boone. Charlie, yelling after he'd discovered Boone had stolen the water. Sawyer, beating Boone to a pulp when he discovered him rooting through his things. Locke, knocking him unconscious with a blow to the head. Sayid, who Boone knew wished him dead.
And Shannon. Boone punched and kicked Jack for every blow Shannon had dealt him. It was Shannon's blood, not Jack's, spilling on the jungle floor. Shannon, who Boone wished, more than anything, had truly been murdered by the island monster.
"Boone…" Jack whispered. "You don't know what you're doing…"
Boone laughed; it was a mirthless, cold laugh, an unfamiliar laugh on Sabrina's perfect son. "I know exactly what I'm doing, Shannon," he said, bending over Jack. "I'm leaving you here to die, like I should have done before."
Stripping off his shirt and jeans—when had it gotten so hot?—Boone rambled off into the jungle. Jack, bleeding and broken, faded into blessed unconsciousness.
It was hours later when Jack, still woozy from Boone's beating, made it back to camp. Jack was sure nothing was broken, but he had a hell of a headache. He hoped there was some of that aspirin left. If he'd given it all to Charlie, Jack had half a mind to attack the little guy and force him to cough an aspirin up.
"Dude!" Hurley materialized beside him. "Oh man, were you attacked by the monster? It must have been the monster, right? Kate has had a leash on Sawyer all day."
"Bite me, fat boy," Saywer called.
"Jack?" It was Kate. There was fear in her voice. Jack tried to smile, tried to reassure everyone he was okay. He especially didn't want Kate fawning over him. "Jack, what happened?" She took one of Jack's elbows, and she and Hurley helped him sit down.
Michael shoved a bottle of water in Jack's hands.
"Thanks," Jack said, gratefully chugging the cool water. He wasn't in a hurry to tell the others what had happened. Boone was far from the most popular guy on the island. Boone was sick, however, and everyone needed to band together to find him. Locke and Shannon might have an idea where to look.
"Boone took a few swings at me," Jack said, trying to sound flippant.
"Boone would never do that," Shannon called. She stepped out of the darkness, Sayid close behind her.
"Listen, Shannon," Jack said, cutting her off. "Boone's sick. He has a really high fever. It's probably making him have visions, hear things that aren't there…"
"No!" Shannon yelled. "Boone would not just suddenly attack you."
"He doesn't know what he's doing, Shannon. Charlie saw him earlier. He can tell you Boone was flushed and nervous."
"He's right," Charlie said, stepping into the light. "He was acting really strangely. Even for him."
Shannon stared hard at both Jack and Charlie. She flipped her hair. "Okay, so Boone's sick. Just give him a couple of your little pills and he'll be fine."
"Listen, I don't do that kind of stuff any-" Charlie began.
"I think she meant aspirin, Charlie," Rose said gently.
"Ah," Charlie flushed. "Sorry."
"The thing is, Boone ran off into the jungle. I don't know where he is," Jack said. "He could be anywhere on the island, running around with a very high temperature."
"So what do we do?" Kate asked, all seriousness.
"We find him," Jack said simply. "If we don't find him, and bring that fever down…"
Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then Shannon laughed. "Boone can take care of himself just fine. I was about to go to bed. Maybe I'll look for him in the morning."
Kate turned to stare at her. "This is your brother we're talking about. Sick and alone.
Don't you care what happens to him?"
"Like I said, Boone can take care of himself," Shannon shot back. "He doesn't need me playing nursemaid."
"What, like he played nursemaid to you during your asthma attack?" Kate snapped. "Boone did everything he could to take care of you. Now you're going to turn your back on him?"
"You two can argue all you want," Jack interrupted. "But we have to start looking for him. We need to form at least two search parties. Another group can stay here at camp."
"I'll head one group," Locke volunteered. He looked across at Shannon and Sayid. "You two want to join me?"
"They'll go," Kate answered, glaring at Shannon. "I'll head the other team."
"Great. Listen, Kate and Locke, take four aspirin tablets and two bottles of water. Here, take my blanket as well. There's no telling what condition he'll be in when you find him."
If we find him, Sayid thought, trailing along behind Locke and Shannon. If…