For the third time that night, Jack awoke to Kate's muffled cries. In the dim firelight he saw that she'd managed to fall off of the row of airplane seats and was tossing and turning on the ground, no doubt fighting the invisible monsters of her dreams.
He quietly made his way over to her and called her name, trying to rouse her gently. When she didn't respond and began thrashing around more wildly, Jack grasped her shoulder and called her name again.
That only agitated her more, and she began fighting against him. Her eyes were open now, but wild and unseeing. "Come on Kate, it's just me," Jack tried to assure her. But his voice didn't register, and she kept struggling. Jack reeled back when her fist made sudden contact with his jaw. He brought his hand to his jaw, knowing it would leave a good bruise.
Kate took the opportunity to shuffle back into the corner, trying to put as much distance between them as she could, now crying hysterically and gasping for air.
Jack wanted to wake her up, to get her to calm down before she hurt herself, but all his attempts just seemed to upset her more. He again approached her, slowly and cautiously, speaking to her in a soothing voice.
In response, she pressed herself further into the corner of the cave and pleaded for him to leave her alone. "Come on Kate," Jack coaxed, "it's me, Jack. You're okay. You're just dreaming. No one's going to hurt you".
"No, please don't. Please leave me alone", she begged.
This was getting to be too much. It was by far the worst of her nightmares yet. The other times she'd been relatively easy to wake. After taking a deep breath, Jack quickly grasped her by both shoulders and gave her a firm shake while loudly calling her name.
She stiffened under his grasp, and her eyes met his. He saw recognition flood into them. "Jack?"
He could have cried with relief. "Yeah, it's me Kate. You're okay. You're okay. It was just a dream."
"No", she gasped, shaking her head, "it was real. It was real". She was gasping now, choking on her sobs, her breath coming rapidly.
"It wasn't Kate. You were asleep. Please, try to calm down, takes some slow, deep breaths".
"I can't," she gasped.
"You can, just in and out".
"No, I . . . . I can't . . . breath," she cried.
She was having full-blown panic attack, Jack realized. She was hyperventilating. "You'll be okay Kate, come here, lets go sit down." Jack dragged her over to the seats and sat her down, pressing her head down between her knees.
"Just concentrate on taking nice slow deep breaths, okay?" he said, slowly rubbing her back.
Soon two minutes had passed, and she was still frantically trying to suck in air. He was surprised she hadn't passed out yet. Deciding to try something else, Jack sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap. She tried to pull away, but he just held her tighter.
"It's okay Kate, just lie back against me. Try to breath with me, okay?" To his relief, she listened. He felt her body relax, and her head lolled against his shoulder.
"I know," he said, "you're probably getting pretty dizzy, huh?" He felt her nod.
"I promise it won't hurt you. Just try to concentrate on my breathing".
She did. Soon Jack could feel her heartbeat slow down. Her breathing began to even out, although it was still punctuated by occasional painful hitches.
"There you go, that's good," he encouraged. "Does that feel a little better?"
She took a deep, shaking breath and nodded against him.
"Boy, that must have been some nightmare".
He felt her nod again. "I'm sorry," she said hoarsely.
"You don't have to apologize Kate. It's not you're fault".
"No," she insisted, "I'm sorry for everything".
"Kate, it's okay. None of this is your fault." Feeling her shudder, Jack reached for a blanket and tucked it around them.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked carefully.
"About what?"
"Anything. About your dream? About what happened last night? About the weather? Whatever you want."
She gave a sad laugh at that, but shook her head. "I'm sorry".
"No, it's okay. You don't have to talk if you don't want to. Just know that if you want to later, I'll listen. I'm sorry if you didn't feel like you could talk to me before."
She sniffled and nodded her head. "Thank you, Jack".
The birds were chirping as Sawyer made his way towards the cave the next morning, carrying a bag full of empty water bottles. He just had to pick up Jack's bottles, and then he could go fill them all at the pool nearby. He also wanted to see how Jack's patient was doing.
He reached the cave and found it silent. Quietly, he stepped inside. When his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he saw them both on the row of seats. Kate was lying down, curled up on her side with her head resting on Jack's lap. Jack had a protective hand laid on her shoulder.
Sawyer quickly turned away, feeling like he was intruding. He tried todeny the pang of jealously that shot through him. Spying Jack's near empty water bottle, Sawyer picked it up and headed quickly out of the cave.