Hey hey, earlier update then yesterday because I just wrote a chapter and man it was deep so I needed to shake out my head a bit lol take a break. But don't worry the deep chapter is as far away as next Christmas so enjoy the flow of nice fluffy chapters while they last. And believe me this ones a long one. So go to the bathroom, let the dog out, get a nice cup of tea (or coffee preferably) and sit and read until your eyes are glazed over.
Pangs of Guilt
Chapter 15
Tropical Flu
The rain gently pattered against the caves. It was a light, relaxing sound, so unlike rain falling against a tin roof. That was the sound he had been accustomed to, the sound he had associated with rainfall.
But after being on the island for six months, he now thought of waves crashing against the beach as a normal sound. Now the sound of a car horn, or cell phones ringing were so farfetched, that Jack was even beginning to forget the sound of that damn pager he had to wear everywhere.
As calming as the rain was, Jack could not get to sleep. It wasn't that he wasn't tired; he'd been up since sunrise catching fish, and picking different kinds of fruit. Kate had insisted on coming with him. They sat and talked while his fishing line bobbed lazily in the water.
He opened his eyes and looked at Kate. She lay sound asleep against Jack's chest. He smiled, she hadn't been having bad dreams as frequently as before, and fell asleep so quickly now. He guessed the pregnancy was tiring her out. In a way that was good, so she could get her much needed rest, but it could be dangerous to her health.
He lifted his hand and placed it a top hers, she gave a sweet asleep smile and adjusted against him, though she hadn't woken up. Her breathing was raspier, but Jack just assumed she was having somewhat of a nightmare. She hadn't tossed her turned yet, so Jack didn't feel that he needed to wake her.
He sighed and closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would claim him quickly. If not, he could just go back out and do more work, if someone so beautiful hadn't been lying on his chest.
His ears searched for a rhythmic noise, but the only sound that came close was Kate's wet exhalations. He became focused on those, and how they matched the rise and fall of her chest, how his breathing came sequenced with hers, like the beat of a song.
Suddenly his mind had become a blank slate, cleared of that day and ready for a new one, darkness grew and he relaxed.
"Jack!" he heard a female voice scream. His eyes instantaneously shot open; he was in the stage between tedious consciousness and appealing unconsciousness. His first thought was it was Kate.
The call had come from outside their cave, and he almost shot up knocking her off of him. But at the last moment, he groggily remembered that she had been sleeping with him, and the warmth of her body against his hadn't left yet.
He was confused momentarily, Kate lay, sound asleep, only giving harsh gasps. He thought perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him, had he dreamed the cry? It had sounded so real though. About to close his eyes, the scream pierced though the soothing drizzle; it was louder this time, closer then before.
Kate jumped slightly out of her sleep, "Waszat?…" she asked groggily, lazily raising a hand to try to vacate the sleep from her eye.
"Someone's calling for me, Kate," he explained as she reluctantly moved of her warm sleeping area of his chest as he got up.
"Wait a sec…" she mumbled fighting sleep, "I'll go with you," she added as she grabbed a sweater, and pulled it over her windblown hair. She got up stumblingly, moving from foot to foot as if the cave floor was on fire. After about five shifts she gained her balance.
"Are you okay?" he asked waiting at the caves opening, "You don't have to come, you can stay here," he explained.
"No, I'm fine," she answered, taking his outstretched hand. They walked into to the tickling shower and looked around camp. Everyone seemed to be sound asleep, with no disturbances could be seen or heard except for Hurley's thunderous snore.
Until Charlie came bounding furiously through the greasy mud and skidded right in front of Jack and Kate. Jack jogged over to him helping him up, while Kate walked over jadedly, "Charlie, what's wrong."
"It's, Claire, well no, it's Alex, something's wrong with him," Charlie explained frantically to Jack, "You have to come take a look at the little guy, he can barely breathe."
They quickly followed Charlie back to his cave where Claire was sitting hold Alex, her face was drained of color, and she was worrying profusely.
"Jack, I don't know what's wrong with him," Claire cried, "He was fine before we turned in for the night."
"Claire, calm down, I'm sure it's nothing serious," he said softly, "Can I see Alex?"
"Oh, sure," she replied and gently placed the two month old in his arms. Alex's face was more rouged then usual, and he seemed blearier. Jack bent his head down slightly, so he could hear any respiration problems, he could only hear harsh breathes.
"When did this start?" he asked checking Alex's blood pressure.
"I…umm… I woke up at two, to feed him, but he wasn't hungry. I didn't understand because he sleeps from nine until two, so usually he's starving. Then I noticed he wasn't crying or anything, and he's been coughing a little," she explained shaking, Charlie's arm was around her shoulder.
Kate closed her eyes slightly, leaning against the cave entrance; she should be paying attention to Jack, and the baby. Listen to what he was saying, because one day their child might have the same symptoms as Alex, and she would then know what to do. But she was exhausted, it seemed walking five feet could be compared to running a fifty mile race.
She began to shake, it seemed when she wasn't cold, she was overly hot, and when she wasn't burning up, she was freezing to death. She wrapped her arms around herself for warmth and shivered the cold out.
Her throat was dry, and it pained her to swallow, that was due to the fact that both her nostrils were packed with God knew what, but no air was getting through anytime soon, so she had no choice but to breathe through her mouth.
She grudgingly placed her hand onto her forehead and felt the smoldering skin, her head felt like it was in a vice grip, her temples stinging, if she concentrated she could feel the pulse in her temples without even touching them.
Lastly she noticed her stomach; it was literally doing cartwheels. She tired to ignore the familiar tickle at the back of her throat, or the nervousness the washed through her.
She stood quietly leaning on the wet, rocky boulders for support, contemplating if she should return to the cave or not, while taking over her sweater and letting it limply drop to the ground.
Jack returned Alex to his mother, who was still stuttering and trembling about her son. He carefully placed a hand a top the baby's head. It was not only hot to touch, it was burning.
"He's got a fever," Jack said seriously, "If we don't do something about that," he paused and thought his words out carefully, "It can be dangerous."
Claire gasped, and hugged her child.
"Well what can we do?" asked Charlie.
"Lucky for us, I have some children's aspirin, I can cut one in half, and that should clear Alex right up. He'll want to sleep a lot, and he'll be very hungry when he wakes up though," Jack explained.
"That's all okay," Claire sighed, "As long as he's okay."
"We should wait about ten minutes before giving him any medication, incase he has to throw up. Since he's just an newborn when he gets sick, it'll get rid of mostly all the contents of his stomach, so he won't have to do it again," Jack clarified.
"I can go and get the medication if you'd like," Charlie suggested, ready to help out in any way he could.
"No, you stay with Claire and Alex, Kate and I will go. That's okay, right Kate?" Jack asked turning to face her.
Her head was booming like someone was doing construction on the streets of her brain. She closed her eyes and braced herself more against the wall. The roller coaster ride taking place in her stomach had been speeded up from breaking the sound barrier to light speed.
The nausea had gotten to her, when she opened her eyes, the room looked like a record you'd find spinning on a disc jockey's turntable. The air in the cave had gotten thicker, and more humid. It seems like no matter how quickly she breathed in; her lungs still craved more air.
"Kate?" She heard someone call her, probably Jack, but she couldn't bring her to answer. She tried opening her eyes again, but saw only whirlwind colors; she noticed the edges had faded to black.
"Kate?" Jack called again, this time more seriously; her answer was wobbling weakly against the wall. When he saw her starting to slide down, he was on his feet and over to her in a matter of milliseconds.
He almost flew over to her, grabbing her carefully, before she fell, and slowly lowered her to the ground.
"Kate?" he called again holding her limp hand and stroking her cheek, "Kate open your eyes, say something," he willed her but she didn't reply, "Kate, squeeze my hand, just one little squeeze," he sounded as if he were begging her for something so small and insignificant. She couldn't ignore the passion in his voice, and despite her weariness, she gave a weak squeeze.
She heard Jack laughing relieved, and she opened her eyes just to see the look on his face. Jack himself was smiling, but the background was spinning a mile a minute.
"What happened?" she asked her voice sounding weak, it even surprised her.
"You fainted," he explained placing a strong hand on her forehead, "And you're burning up," he replied.
"Suddenly remembering those good days, isn't doing squat," she murmured and closed her eyes, her breathing a bit labored.
"Is she going to be all right?" Charlie asked standing behind Jack.
"Seems, Kate has caught the same cold as Alex, except hers is amplified due to the pregnancy," he explained simply, stroking Kate's cheek still, to give her something to focus on.
"Jack," Claire cried, "I think Alex is going to be…."
Kate's eyes shot open and she stood up drunkenly, "Kate," Jack said as he tried to steady her, "you need to sit back down…"
"I think I'm going to…" Kate placed a hand over her mouth and ran from the cave just as Alex spit up all over Claire.
"Sick," Claire sighed and began wiping herself clean.
"Charlie, do you think you could go get my medical bag after all, I should check on Kate," he explained getting up.
"No problem," Charlie complied and ran for Jack's cave.
"Claire you're okay if…" Jack asked.
"Oh, no problem, I'm just going to clean him up anyways," she smiled back.
Jack nodded and ran from the cave into the rain that had increased from a light drizzle to a heavy shower. He found Kate at the edge of the cave area, where it met the jungle, hunched over, with her hands and knees in the mud. Her chest was heaving heavily, she was coughing and water slid down the sides of her face.
Jack took the hair that fell over her face, and pulled it back, wrapping the wetted ringlets in a ponytail holder, he sat beside her and began to rub her back comfortingly, when she collapsed in the mud, her coughing hand gone silent.
He was concerned, but Kate weakened and annoyed questioned, "Jack?"
"Yeah," he said ready to spring if she needed anything.
"My face is covered in mud now, right?" she huffed.
He chuckled lightly, "Yeah, your face is full of mud."
"And people pay good money for this…" she sighed.
Jack smiled and helped her into a sitting position, "Come on, I just have to cut the pill for Alex, then we can get all the antibiotics a pregnant, Kate can handle."
"Can't I just go to sleep here?" she asked, placing her damped head onto Jack's lap and looking up at him. The rainwater smattered away the mud on her face slowly, clearing it in petite circular drops.
"You want to get free of the cold, right?" he replied.
"Yeah, but I think I burnt all my energy out running far enough away from everyone…" she replied solemnly closing her eyes. Jack lifted her head from his lap, and stood up.
"I'll be here," she replied. She expected to hear the sound of Jack's footsteps, but instead felt his arms under her back and her knees, before she could open her eyes, Jack was already halfway back to the caves.
Claire smiled as he entered into the dry caves with Kate sleeping in his arms. He placed her gently to the side and she smiled a thank you at him.
Charlie sat with Jack's medical supply bag, and watched intently as he rifled through it. Jack eventually came up with a bottle of grape flavored children's aspirin, and the knife Locke had given him for medical purposes.
Just to be safe, Jack toasted the knife over the flame up his lighter for a few seconds, and then cut the already miniscule pill, in half.
Charlie handed him the makeshift bottle they were using for Alex. It was a water bottle, with one of the fingers from another pair of Jack's sterile gloves placed over the opening with a hole poked in it
Jack dropped the fragment in and shook the bottle until it dissolved in the small amount of water in the bottom. Smiling he handed it to Claire, "I believe the rest is up to you."
"Thank you, Jack," she smiled and took the bottle, gently coaxing it into Alex's mouth.
Charlie smiled happily as Jack packed up his supplies, "Is Kate going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I just have to get some aspirin in her," he said walking over to where she laid, "Kate," he charmed lightly as he squeezed some excess water from her shirt.
"Mmm," she mumbled back.
"We're going back now, can you do me a favor and hold this?" he asked showing her the bag.
She cracked open one eye to look at it, "Yep," she answered, while taking the bag from Jack.
He hoisted her up into his arms again, "Night guys," he said walking out once again into the rain.
"Night," couple replied happily.
"Must be nice to be pampered," Jack joked with Kate, who was barely holding the bag, but they were almost 'home'.
"Being stuck on an island, with the world's worst cold, four months pregnant, is hardly being pampered," she replied, "But the fact that you're here, yeah I do feel like a Princess."
Jack smiled and placed her on the ground in their cave, he brought the medical bag back to its spot and pulled out some new clothes for Kate. Luckily all the rain had washed away most of the mud covering her.
He walked over to Kate, and sat beside her, helping her into a seating position, then out of her clothes and into the new ones. After she had on clean pants he lifted her top gently over her head, "You're not a princess, Kate," he proclaimed.
"Yeah, but I can dream can't I?" she replied pulling her arms through the new, soft, warm material.
Jack smiled and handed her a water bottle and two pills, "That's not what I meant?"
She sent him an inquisitive look as she swallowed the pills that she prayed would help her hammering head.
He took the bottle back from her, and helped her lie back, "You're the queen," he explained kissing her temple, "She is the princess," he added, bending over and kissing her stomach.
She smiled and caressed the back of his neck as his head lay by her stomach, "You know what Jack? I am pampered and it's wonderful."
Such a fluffy ending, but wait until tomorrow, for the biggest cliffhanger in the world will leave you writing me hate mail for hours on end until we all end up with carpole-tunnel syndrome (Yeah I don't know how to spell that).
Lara Chubb of Deephollow Yeah I update incredibly fast, because it's what I do, and I pride myself on my stealthy updating talents. Hey what else can go wrong with the baby, I mean besides Kate being abducted by aliens (believe me there's so much more that can happen, because I have a talent of conjuring up loopholes!). And I relentlessly give cliffhangers because I love. PS thanks for checking out the pic's
Rain1657 Yeah I'm taking French next year because it's an easy credit basically, I think it's the only exam I passed. And So much more is going to come in this story, and not just to do with Jack and Kate, but others too (but sadly not Ethan)
Freckles-101 Aww yeah I liked the hidden shoe thing too, but I just had to right a funny chapter because I seriously felt like I was in some Evanescence video because it was all angsty and everything, and as I've said before I'm not a good angst writer.
Oreata Charlie would love your help, but unfortunately he's being tortured by Sayid because he can't do the dancing. And Locke's getting more of that spiked fruit salve for his head so he can have a spiritual journey and hopefully become a better dancer.
IrethAnwarunya Aww sorry I made you late for class, but maybe my next chapter will make you contemplate skipping class all together (which is a good idea until the exams hit).
MusicMonkey88 Yep I'm writing more as you read this. Well not really butt I'm conjuring up what Jack's going to say to Katein a chapter far far away because man, he's better have a good response.
Pink Pinker Hmm rescuing maybe but I'm sure that'll happen in like chapter 3000, because I have a whole lot of other crap planned for before they get rescued (seriously I've been like planning and planning for like 3 months).
Oh and believe me you'll want to send hate mail, you so will, because what I did was uncalled for. (but it has nothing to do with Sawyer…or does it?)
Evermore As of now the post-rescue fic is only 5 pages long (woe) so I have to right some more to it, which I will probably do when I get road blocked with this story, because right now it's my first priority.
Next chapter it's been two months since the cold epidemic and some things have to change. Remember I'm expecting the hate mail (ha ha it's forwarded to my junk mail ;) )