Kate woke a while later to the sound of male laughter. She sat up and saw Jack and Sawyer sitting at the fire, talking and joking. They didn't notice as she quietly made her towards them.
Jack looked up as she reached them. "Hey Kate," he said, still laughing. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to wake you up."
"Here sleeping beauty, have a seat" Sawyer greeted, patting the dirt floor beside him. "Lunch is almost ready".
Kate nodded and sat down looking at them both warily.
"What is it, Kate?" Jack asked, noting her expression.
She didn't respond, just shook her head slowly, looking back and forth between the two of them.
They were both staring at her know, making her suddenly uncomfortable.
"Are you okay?" Jack questioned.
"Yeah, I'm okay" she said slowly, "I just feel like I've stepped into some alternate universe, though. When did you two become best girlfriends?"
They both laughed at that.
"I guess we discovered we have more in common than we thought" Sawyer answered truthfully.
"Besides," Jack added, "life's hard enough on this island without having to fight with each other all of the time".
Kate shook her head, amazed. "If I'd known this was all it would take, I would have feigned some catastrophic illness weeks ago."
"Well, we're glad we could please" Jack said with a smile..
"Looks like the fish is about done" Sawyer announced, removing the spit from the fire.
Jack handed Kate a piece of mango, which she took willingly and began to suck on.
Jack produced some plastic airplane trays, and Sawyer put a fish on each of them. He moved to hand one to Kate, but she wrinkled up her nose and made no move to take it. Jack took the tray from Sawyer.
"Doesn't look too appetizing, huh?" Jack asked her as he began to cut it up.
"Not really" she said, relieved that he'd taken it.
Her relief didn't last long, though. He was soon handing her a clean tray with small portion of cleaned fish and another piece of mango. She tried to refuse, but he didn't let her this time.
"Come on, Kate. You've got to eat a little, whether you like it or not. It's the only way you're going to get your strength back".
She let out a frustrated sigh and took the tray from him. They both watched her expectantly as she picked up a small piece of the flaky white meat.
"Will you quit staring at me?" she begged, clearly tiring of their attentions.
Jack and Sawyer turned to their own meals, each occasionally stealing glances to be sure she was still eating.
After eating about half of her meal, Kate put down the tray and pushed it away from her. She looked Jack in the eye defiantly, and he knew that was the best they were going to do for now.
"Alright," he chuckled "you win". He handed her a water bottle, and she surprised him by taking a long drink without argument.
"Just let me finish up here," he said, "and then I want to check you over". She rolled her eyes, letting him know she wasn't pleased, but nodded.
Taking that as his cue to leave, Sawyer put down his now empty tray and stood up. "Well, I guess I'd best be heading back to the beach before someone starts to miss me".
Kate shot him a look, clearly not buying it.
"Hey," he laughed, "you never know, it could happen".
"Whatever, Sawyer".
Sawyer ruffled her hair as he walked by, heading out of the cave. "You take it easy, Freckles, and listen to the doc, ya hear? See ya, man" he waved to Jack.
Kate watched him go, shaking her head in amazement.
Later, Kate sat alone in the cave, watching the fire fade. True to his word, Jack had checked her over thoroughly, asking her a number of questions about things she'd have preferred not to discuss with him. Now he'd gone to the pool to wash off their trays and get fresh water.
She heard footsteps approaching and looked up, surprised that he'd be back so soon. But it wasn't Jack. Sun walked in cautiously, looking around to see if Kate was alone. Kate smiled when she saw her.
"I'm alone," she assured Sun, beckoning her over with her hand. "Jack went down to the pool. He should be gone for a little while".
Relieved, Sun approached Kate and handed her a bouquet of beautiful tropical flowers. Kate accepted them with a smile and buried her nose in them, breathing in their sweet scent.
"I thought they might make you feel better" Sun explained. "Jack and Sawyer said you'd caught a pretty nasty bug.
"You were right. They're wonderful. Thank you Sun." Kate realized, that despite all of her earlier worry, she'd completely forgotten about what the others might be thinking. She'd have to thank Jack and Sawyer for their lie.
"So," Kate said, sitting back and patting the seat next to her, "tell me how's the garden doing."
Jack headed back to the cave, wondering if he'd find Kate awake. When he got near, he could make out voices. She must have a visitor. The other voice was female, but he couldn't recognize it, which was strange. Whoever it was, he was glad to hear Kate talking freely. She'd been too quiet these past few days.
Jack walked in, prepared to greet their visitor. "Hey Kate, who's the . . . " Jack stopped short when he saw who it was.
At his voice, Sun jumped back up from the seat in panic. Kate looked back and forth between the two of them, unsure what to say.
"She speaks English?" Jack asked, clearly dumbfounded. He turned to Sun, "You speak English? This whole time?"
Sun nodded slowly, and looked to Kate for help.
"Jack", Kate spoke, "you can't tell anyone".
Jack was still looking at Sun. "Does Jin speak English, too?"
"No. My husband does not know. Please, you must not tell him".
"Okay", Jack said. "I don't understand, but okay." Sun didn't look convinced.
"I promise," he assured her, "you're secret's safe with me".
"You can trust him Sun, he won't tell" Kate assured her friend.
Sun smiled with relief. "I should return to the beach. Jin will start to wonder where I am. I'm glad you're going to be okay Kate. I've missed talking with you." She turned to leave.
"Sun" Kate called, causing Sun to turn back, "thank you for coming, and for the flowers. I'm sure I'll be back to the garden soon".
As sun left, Jack sat down heavily next to Kate.
"Well", he said, rubbing his hands over his rough beard, "that was a surprise".