Sun's visit had lifted Kate's spirits, but only temporarily. She was feeling better today and not sleeping as much, but the problem was, that gave her time to think. Jack had been in and out of the cave for much of the day,only interactingwith her when he wanted to check her over or give her medicine.
She'd known this would have happen, really. At first, when she'd been so sick, he had put aside his feelings and cared for her. He'd been sweet and kind, as he would with any patient. But now that she was doing better, things were starting to go back to the way they were before. He was withdrawing; she saw the way he looked at her. It was the same way he had that day when he'd opened the case and he'd learned the truth about her.
As much as she'd expected this, part of her had still hoped that this situation would heal their relationship. In the short time they'd been on this island, she'd come to value their friendship greatly, and it had cut her deeply when he'd pulled away, more so than she cared to admit.
Jack returned to the cave and found Kate sitting on the seats by the fire, staring into the flames. She was exactly as he'd left her almost an hour before, which worried him. He'd been encouraged by her obvious happiness at Sun's visit earlier, but her light mood had faded fast.
She didn't acknowledge his return. He wondered if she even noticed. Noting the sinking sun, he picked up the bottle of antibiotics and some water and approached her slowly, not wanting to startle her.
"Kate," he called softly as he knelt down in front of her, blocking her view of the fire. She continued to stare straight ahead, as if he wasn't there at all.
"Kate", he said, more firmly this time, reaching for her chin and forcing her eyes to meet his. Her expressionless stare startled him, and he pulled back, releasing his hold. Her eyes sank back down to stare at his feet.
There's that look again, Kate thought painfully. He can't even stand to look at me.
Jack took a deep breath and tried again. "What's wrong, Kate? Did something happen?" he asked, trying to figure out what had brought on this abrupt change in attitude. She didn't respond.
"Do you feel alright?" he continued. Finally, almost imperceptibly, she nodded.
"Okay. That's good" Jack said, glad she'd given some response.
"Here," he said, shaking out two pills and offering them to her, "time to take these". She ignored him.
"Kate" he said, in a warning tone. She turnedaway fromhim. Getting frustrated, he grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around to face. She struggled against him, ineffectively, and shot him a look of pure hatred and determination. Why does she have to be some damned stubborn, he thought.
"Kate, what the hell has gotten into you?" he asked, now clearly angry. She continued to struggle.
"Leave me alone", she said bitterly.
"Kate, don't fight me on this one; you're not going to win. It's too important. If I have to, I'll get Sawyer to help me and we'll force them down your throat."
She stopped and stared at him, clearly shocked by his angry threat. He was glad. That had been his intention. He could tell she was trying to decide if was serious.
"I'm not kidding, Kate" he assured her. "Take them". He held them out to her again, holding his breath as he watched her consider and then reach out and take them. He sighed with relief as she swallowed them.
He felt bad that he'd been so harsh with her, but he hadn't know what else to do. "Kate," he said softly, feeling the need to explain, "I'm sorry I got angry with you, but you have to understand."
She showed no response, but he continued. "Kate, I know you're starting to feel better, and I'm glad that you are, but that doesn't mean that you can stop taking the antibiotics. Without them, you could develop a very serious infection. This isn't something to play around with. Do you understand?"
He heard her say something under her breath, but couldn't make it out.
"What did you say, Kate? I couldn't hear you".
She slowly raised her head and looked him straight in the eye. "I said, what do you care?"
That shocked him. "Kate, where did that come from? Of course I care".
"Oh, I forgot," she said sarcastically, "you're a doctor, you care about all of your patients. Well don't worry. I'll be better soon, and then you can go back to not giving a damn." With that, she got up, taking a pile of blankets, and headed to a far corner of the cave.
"Kate. Kate, come on. That's not fair. You know that's not true", he called after her. Ignoring him, she curled up in the corner, her back to him. Frustrated, Jack stormed out of the cave, suddenly needing some fresh air.
Once he'd left, Kate finally let go of the sobs she'd been fighting to suppress. She didn't know what had gotten into her, but he'd made her so angry. Now that he'd left, she was embarrassed by how she'd acted and angry with herself for letting him see her emotions so clearly. She couldn't face him again, she realized. She decided that tonight would be her last night at his cave. Tomorrow she'd return to the beach.
Jack paced around outside the cave, trying to calm down. He'd been shocked by that outburst and felt bad about the way he'd handled it. He should have seen it coming, really. In situations like this, anger was probably a very common response. She needed someone to release that anger on, and he'd been the one there. What worried him more was her comment. Could she really believe he didn't care?
Jack sat down on the rock, suddenly exhausted. The events of the last few days had taken a toll on him too. Their relationship was at such a precarious place, and that was obviously making things more difficult now.
Before, their growing closeness had been his only source of hope and happiness on this island, but then, when he'd learned the truth about her, things had changed. He'd felt betrayed, in a way, and angry with himself for being such a poor judge of character.
But, after having had time to think about it, he'd realized he might have made a mistake. He knew what kind of person she was, and she wasn't a cold-blooded killer. He should given her a chance to explain, but he'd closed off to her. He could still recall the pain in her eyes and her voice when he had.
He realized now, after their argument in the cave, that she still clearly felt that pain. Part of her current distress was directly attributable to him. He should have talked to her about this a long time ago. Certainly, he couldn't put it off any longer.
Taking a deep breath, Jack stood up and headed back into the cave, intent on explaining himself once and for all. But, as he approached her, he saw she was asleep. He watched her closely for a moment, trying to decide if she was faking sleep, but her steady breaths told him she wasn't. In the dim firelight, he could see her cheeks were streaked with drying tears. He was the cause of those tears, at least in part, he realized sadly. He was contributing to her sadness, when he should have been helping to alleviate it.
He got up, leaving her to sleep, and vowed that he'd make things right tomorrow.
When Jack woke up the next morning, he was surprised to that the sun was already high in the sky. He sat up, looking to see if Kate was awake, but it soon became clear that he was alone.