Chapter 5 to LOST Love

For the next two days, Jack had sent out search parties, but every night they had come back with nothing. Sayid had put all of his effort and energy into finding Alexandra, but each day he was met with disappointment and grief. He neither ate nor slept, save for a few sips of water. He was so guilt-ridden that he let this happen to her, his stomach couldn't handle any food.

Sayid, Sawyer, and Jack went out to gather food. The gang had run out of herbs and fruit, so they went to a cluster of fruit trees that they had found to gather some more. Sayid was so absorbed in his thoughts that he picked fruit mindlessly, even some unripe ones. Seeing this, Jack came over to Sayid and put his hand on his shoulder.

Sayid looked at him with blank eyes, so bereft of emotion it was scary. "Why don't you go back to the beach and get some rest," Jack said. "You look very tired."

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes and suddenly a person jumped out from behind them and took off running. Startled, Sawyer fired his gun at the person, not thinking it could have been one of their own. His aim was a little off, but the bullet struck anyways and the person fell with a cry. Sayid, Sawyer and Jack ran to see who they had hit, but the person was already up and running, clutching its arm.

Suddenly, the men entered a clearing where they found the person pressed up flat against a wall of rock, looking for a way out. Sayid gasped with recognition…it was Alexandra! She was alive and apparently very freaked out. She was panting and trying to press herself flatter and flatter against the wall in fear. Blood was coursing down her arm, but she paid it no mind. She moved her frightened gaze between the three men quickly.

"Alexandra…" Sayid tried to say. Suddenly, she looked past them, pointed and screamed. The men whipped around thinking something was there, but nothing was. They turned back around to find that she had gone! Jack cried, "There!" and pointed to their right where she had taken off running.

It was a trick to get us to look away! thought Sayid. The men took off running after her. They had run a short ways before they saw her run toward the edge of a cliff and wheel her arms to catch her balance again. "Alex!" Sayid cried out.

She whipped around, panting, scared to death. Sayid said, "Alex…it's me, Sayid, remember? Remember me? Oh, please remember me." Alexandra's brow creased with thought but she didn't do anything. Her eyes sort of glazed over with pain and she slowly sank to her knees, clutching her arm.

Seeing that she was really hurt, Sayid stepped toward her to help but seeing his movement, she crawled backwards on her hands and feet away from him and the cliff, sort of turning to her left before moving. Sayid took another step toward her, not understanding, but she crawled back another few steps, completely terrified of him. She kept making moaning noises and soft "uh's" as she crawled away. She looked like a frightened and wounded animal, crawling on the ground like that.

Jack sank down to a crouch and said, "Alexandra, it's okay. Remember us? It's me, Jack…remember?"

Alexandra just stared up at him in horror. These men scared her…she didn't know why, they were just terrifying.

"Why doesn't she understand, doc?" Sawyer asked.

"I don't know…amnesia maybe, I'm not sure," Jack replied, getting up from his crouch.

What were they saying? She couldn't understand…her arm hurt so badly… Suddenly, her eyes clouded with pain and she clutched her arm, momentarily looking away from the men, moaning as she did. Blood was now flowing steadily down her arm and her hand, soaking her shirt as well.

Sayid, concern and fear deep in his expression, ran towards her and crouched down to try and pick her up. He barely touched her knee when she sucked in her breath through clenched teeth, like she'd been burned, and her eyes shot open. She scrambled away from his touch again, baring her teeth and staring at him.

"Alexandra, please. It's Sayid, remember? You've been gone for two days…where did you go? Please, Alex, try to understand," Sayid begged. He was almost crying from frustration and fear for her.

She just stared at him and shook her head with not understanding. "Ah…" was all she could say before her vision swam again and she passed out. Sayid, carefully this time, inched his way to her in case she should crawl away again. She didn't move when Sayid touched her. So he gently picked her up and made his way down to the caves where Jack's medicine bag was to clean her wound.

As Sayid was walking away, Jack suddenly turned on Sawyer, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and pulled him closer. "Why the hell did you do that?"

Sawyer tried to shove him off, but to no avail. "Do what, doc?"

Jack practically yelled, "Shoot her, you idiot! You could have killed her! You know how Sayid feels about her. You can see it in his face, goddamit!"

"I'm sorry, doc! I got freaked when she sprang from the bushes like that…it creeped you out, too, don't deny it. I was just the one who acted first and I used my instincts," Sawyer explained. "It's not like she's dead either, she's just hurt. I'm sorry I hurt her, I just thought it was Ethan or someone else crazy."

"Oh, great, you used your instincts and the first thing that comes to your mind is to shoot people. I'm never going to surprise you again, lest I end up shot, too," Jack said sarcastically. "Ethan's dead, by the way. In case you didn't see Charlie shoot him eight times, then here's your reminder. He's not coming back to life, okay Sawyer?"

"Yeah, well, I just got freaked that's all. So let's just leave it at that, shall we?"

Jack just glared at him with contempt written all over his face. "Alright, alright. Let's just see how she's doing." They both headed back to the beach, not speaking to each other at all.

At the Caves…

Sayid had laid her down on a bunch of airplane pillows and blankets by the time Jack and Sawyer returned. Everyone else came running when they heard that they had found Alex. They started asking Jack a ton of questions at once, but Jack silenced them, saying he had to concentrate.

Jack stitched up her wound, which was very deep and took a while for the bleeding to stop. Her face was deathly white; she had lost a ton of blood. She wouldn't wake up to eat or drink anything, so there was nothing left to do but hope for her recovery. Sayid sat by her the whole time, holding her hand, even though she didn't squeeze back.

Jack stood up and so did Sayid. They turned to everyone standing, or in Charlie's case, pacing, and Jack said, "There's not much more I can do. We just have to let her sleep and hope she recovers."

"Will she be okay, Jack?" Shannon asked. She liked Alex and they had become friends.

"Honestly, I don't know. She has a good chance, but I truly don't know."

"Come on, Jack, you're the doctor, here. Tell us she'll be okay! We've lost too many people already," Charlie said. Claire put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He took it and squeezed it back.

"Guys, I don't have proper hospital equipment, so I honestly can't say anything for sure! She looks like she might be alright, if she will wake up. But if she doesn't…" he didn't finish the sentence. Everyone knew what he meant, though. It was very obvious; if she didn't wake up, she would die.

Will she wake up? Or will Sayid be tormented by her death? We shall see!

A Bleeding Rose