Chapter 14 to a LOST Love

"Wait, wait, wait…what do you mean "she can't see"?" Jack's voice asked. He stepped out from behind a corner, holding his razor in his hand. Apparently he was in the middle of a shave so he was only half done.

"Literally, Jack, she can't see anything. Come look," Sayid explained impatiently. Turning his glanceto look at Alex, Sayid spoke gently, "Alex, I'm going to set you down now, alright?"

She nodded. Slowly, ever so slowly, Sayid let her legs slip from his arms, still holding onto her back to support her. Alex clutched onto his neck to keep from falling and for comfort. When her feet finally touched the rock floor, she eased up on his neck and let go. Crouching down, Alex felt for the ground and, finding it, she sat down heavily. She drew up her knees, put her elbows on them, ran her hands through her hair and held them there. A deep sigh escaped her…

Meanwhile, Jack had set down his razor and had found a small flashlight. "Alex, I'm gonna need you to look at me so I can check your eyes."

Alex removed her hands from her hair and stretched out them out to find him. Jack moved in her hands' way so she could find him. She felt his unshaven side of his cheek and moved it to the other side. She grinned. "You haven't finished shaving yet, Jack, just so you know."

Jack grinned and Alex felt him smile. She put her hands down and waited for Jack to begin. "Hold still, okay?" Jack asked. She nodded. He clicked the flashlight on and slowly passed it in front of her right eye. Nothing changed; her pupils were still huge and they didn't move. He moved to the left eye and same thing happened. He did it twice more and got the same thing.

Jack clicked off the flashlight and said, "I am utterly confused. Yesterday she was fine and today…not so fine. Did you hit your head or are you sick?"

Alex thought and said, "Well, this morning, I was really dizzy. I would get dizzy, stop for a second to clear it, and it would be fine. Well, I was coming back to camp, and all of a sudden, I got really dizzy again. I tried to clear my vision, but it didn't work. I got this awful pain in my head and then bam; it was like someone shoved me in a pitch black closet. I couldn't see at all. Then Sayid found me and we came back here to find you.

Jack sat back on his heels and looked thoughtful. "So you're saying you were really dizzy and then a sudden pain in your head? Did you eat or drink anything that might be poisonous last night?"

Alex shook her head. "The only thing I had was water after the singing. That's all." Her right hand started to feel around and when she touched Sayid's shoe, she clutched onto it. Sayid felt it, bent down and took her hand in his own.

"Well, I honestly don't…" Jack started to say.

"Wait…someone's here," Alex said quietly. She felt Sayid's hand and reached out for Jack to make sure it wasn't either of them. No it wasn't…she could hear the other person behind her. With her sight gone, her hearing had shot up in efficiency. She turned her head slightly to her left to listen better. She held her breath for a moment…she could hear 3 other sets of breathing. Sayid's next to her, Jack's in front of her, and someone else's behind her. The person had stopped moving and was just standing there.

Sayid started to open his mouth to tell her who it was, when Jack shot him and the person there a look and shook his head, as if to say watch-and-see-what-she-does. Sayid shut his mouth and watched her. Alex disengaged her hand from Sayid's grip and slowly stood up. Stretching her hands out, she stumbled forward to find the person.

She felt the person move in front of her outstretched hands, a kind gesture. Her hands slowly traveled up the person's strong, slightly hairy arms, to broad shoulders, to a hairy chin. She had a good guess, but just to make sure, she reached up to feel its hair. It was longer than normal for a man, so she said, "Sawyer, don't you dare scare me like that again, d'ye hear me?"

Sawyer's eyebrows went upwhen she said his name and then grinned. "Yes, ma'am, I won't," he said. Alex playfully punched him on the arm and turned around again. She felt around and said, "Sayid…" Sayid stood up to take her hands in both of his and led her back to Jack.

"I was just looking for that book of mine, sorry!" Sawyer suddenly said defensively to Jack. Jack had given him a look and turned back to Alex.

"Well, Alex, I'm just as stumped as you are. I mean, how can one day you be fine, and the next, you're blind? It's just…odd," Jack said. "It defies all medical reason that I know of and I've been doing this for a long time. Well, you're fine otherwise, but I suggest you stay here in the cave tonight, just so you don't hurt yourself, okay?"

Alex nodded and asked Sayid to stay with her. "Of course, Alex. Of course," he replied. Sawyer and Jack went outside to leave them alone.

Sawyer turned to Jack and asked, "Doc, what exactly happened to her?"

"I don't know, Sawyer. I just don't know. She just can't see anything at all and yesterday she was completely fine," Jack said, sighing. He looked at Sawyer questioningly.

"What, doc! I don't know any more about it than you do, so don't look at me like that," Sawyer said. "You know damn well I don't know what happened to her."

"Okay, okay, Sawyer calm down. I'm sorry," Jack said quickly. "I'm just utterly confused, that's all. I need to go think…," Jack said, taking his leave, not even finishing his shave. Sawyer headed down to the beach, without his book.

In the cave…

Alex sighed. "Ugh, Sayid, this really sucks." She leaned her head against Sayid's chest and sighed again.

"I know it does," Sayid said softly, stroking her hair. "I'm always here for you, you know that."

At that, Alex sat up and looked more in the general direction of his arm, not wanting to look in the direction of his face even though she couldn't see him. "But, Sayid…everything about my dream is coming true so far. I've gotten dizzy, I've gone blind, for Christ's sake…something else is going to happen to me. Worse, my dream will actually, completely come true, and I will die. How can you be there for me then, huh?" She was getting angry. "I can't stop fate, Sayid, any more than I can stop these stupid dreams. I can't stop them…can't stop them…" Alex her back to him and Sayid heard her cry.

Sayid touched her shoulders and said, "Hey, hey, easy Alex, easy. It'll be alright, ssshhh…I will always be here for you, and I won't let anything happen to you. Even if I have to tie you to a chair and never sleep to watch over you, so help me, I will do it."

At that, Alex laughed a little. She turned around and hugged him. She whispered into his ear, "Sayid, will you…"

"Stay here with you tonight? Of course," Sayid responded.

Awww, so cute in moments of crisis. More to come soon!

A Bleeding Rose