Chapter 23 to a LOST Love
A piercing scream shocked Alex and Sayid from their embrace and they quickly pulled away. Their glances simultaneously flicked toward the forest, then back at each other.
"Boone!" Sayid said suddenly. Scrambling up, Sayid grabbed Alex's hand to hoist her up and they ran toward the forest.
Without warning, a huge thump shook the earth beneath them. Trees began to crash and fall down everywhere. Birds flew up out of the trees by the hundreds, shrieking in protest. Sayid and Alex halted where they were and looked toward the forest in fear.
"Jesus H. Christ!" Alex whispered, putting her hands on her head. Sayid barely acknowledged her and still stared at the forest.
Another scream echoed through the forest and the giganticbeast walked away, the screams dying with it. Sayid and Alex stood paralyzed at the forest's edge, afraid to go in.
Sayid called out tentatively, "Boone? Boone, are you there?" No one answered. Sayid looked back at Alex then slowly headed into the forest, with her in tow. They only walked a short ways when they came to where Sayid had found Boone.
Sayid spotted something on the ground and let go of Alex's hand. He walked over to it and knelt down…it was Boone's backpack. Sayid grabbed it with one hand and felt something slimy all over it. He dropped it hurriedly and looked at his hand…
It was covered in blood…Boone's blood. The backpack was fairly soaking with it on one side. Sayid looked around to see which way the creature had gone but saw nothing save for a few fallen trees in different directions. Alex knelt beside him and her knees cracked as she sank down. Sayid jumped a little, but said nothing. "Oh Sayid…" Alex started to say.
A crashing through the trees behind them made the two stand up and whip around very fast. They crouched down, ready to bolt should it be something dangerous.
No…it was Jack! And Kate and Sawyer and Charlie and everyone else! "What the hell…is…" Jack started to say before staring at Alex, his mouth agape.
Sayid immediately slouched down, breathing a sigh of relief. Alex on the other hand straightened up and looked at all of the newcomers.
"ALEX!" Kate practically screamed with joy. Racing forward, Kate pushed past Jack and grabbed Alex in a hug. Laughing and wincing slightly, Alex hugged her back warmly.
Looking over Kate's shoulder,Alex grinned and laughed again. "You should see the looks on your guys' faces," she said. She couldn't continue with laughing so hard.
"Ok you know what, this is some freaky shit here," Hurley said, breaking the group's silence. "Man, Alex, you gave us all a scare here! I mean, first you're blind, coughing up blood, and all loopy, and now you're better…what's up with that?"
"What was that screaming that we heard?" Charlie butted in. "Was that you, Alex?"
Alex shook her head, her smile dropping. Sayid said, "No, it wasn't her. It was Boone. The…the thing took him." He bowed his head. "He was right here," Sayid gestured with his hand toward the bloody backpack. "I ran to find Alex on the beach and came back here to find that he had gone."
Jack was still staring at Alex, rubbing his mouth and head in turns. Alex turned to look at Jack. "What?" she asked him.
"Sorry, it's just…I'm really confused. You were to the point of death and now you're standing up and talking to us, with your sight back, I might add," Jack said.
Kate still hadn't let go of Alex, but she had pulled away from the embrace. She now had her arm around Alex's waist, friendly-like. "You're so thin!" Kate said, shocked at Alex's wasted form and smiled. Alex smiled back at her.
"Will one of you please explain to me how the hell this happened?" Jack said, growing impatient.
"What, Boone being taken or Alex's miraculous recovery?" Sayid said laughing. He came over and grabbed Alex's other side of her waist. Kate, seeing this, backed off slowly to let them be together.
"Ah!" Alex cried out suddenly, flinching away from Sayid. Sayid looked at her in surprise. "Owww…that really hurt!" Alexsaid.She turned around to find the source of the pain. The group got a good look at her back. "Eep!" Kate blurted out suddenly before quickly covering her mouth with her hand in embarrassment.
Alex's back was covered in blood. Her old wounds had come open again and they had soaked through her bindings and Kate's shirt she was still wearing. Sayid took her shoulders and ran his gaze over her back. "You need new dressings, Alex. You might even need stitches for some of these," he said.
"Aww, man!" Alex said childishly and she pouted. Jack came over and touched her shoulder. "Well, while we go back to the caves and fix you up, you can tell us all about your "miraculous recovery". How's that sound?"
"Alrighty Jack, sounds fine to me. And you can tell me all about what I've missed this past decade," Alex responded.
Jack looked confused for a second, then replied, "Alex, you were only sick for 3 days."
Alex looked at Jack squarely to see if he was kidding; he wasn't. Sheraised her eyebrows but simply said,"Hey, it felt like a decade to me," she said.
Sawyer laughed. "Maybe you can tell her exactly what she did, doc." He continued to laugh. No one laughed with him so he clarified, "You know…all her sleep-talking and her giving Charlie a good thump on the head…am I gettin' through to ya, Jack?"
Jack grinned. "Yea, yea, I hear ya."
"Hey, man, that really hurt!" Charlie protested. He turned to face Alex and he said, "You were havin' this dream, some awful dream, let me tell you." The group started walking back to the caves together. Sayid walked quickly forward and grabbed Alex's hand…he wasn't going to let her go again. "Well, you started cryin' and all, and I mean really crying. So, being the kind person that I am…" Charlie paused for effect. Alex smiled at him to keep going.
"Well, being the kind person that I am, I tried to shake you awake," he continued. "Suddenly, your arm swung at me and before I could duck, your fist hit me right on the head!" Alex broke out laughing.
Sawyer broke in laughing, too, "Yea, and he started walkin' around like this," and he made this goofy, dazed face and started stumbling around. Alex continued to laugh, harder this time.
"Hey, it wasn't like that, man!" Charlie said quietly, embarrassed.
"Oh, yes it was!" Sawyer said, nodding the affirmative to Alex.
Charlie and Sawyer were still debating it as they walked away from Boone's kidnapping. Only Sun paused, looking back to where Boone had been. Glancing at the group walking away from her, she turned and ran back to where Boone's backpack still lay. She picked up the pack, not really noticing the blood, and headed back to catch up with the group.
More to come soon!
A Bleeding Rose