Fever Ch. 6
Kate and Hurley did not return by sundown, nor by the next evening. While most people were too busy caring for the sick and keeping the camp running to notice their absence, Jack and Sayid were worried. They spoke in hushed tones in the growing darkness outside the infirmary.
"Hurley was adamant about not spending one night in the jungle," Jack said. "This will make two. Something's wrong."
"Kate can take care of herself, and Hurley, too," Sayid reminded him. "That is why you chose her to go. But if Hurley fell, twisted an ankle, she would not be able to move him, and she would not leave him alone. That is probably what has happened."
"If they don't come back tomorrow morning, I'm going to go after them," Jack said.
"Go after who, Doc?" Sawyer stepped out of the infirmary, still weak and walking slowly.
Sayid looked at Jack. Jack shook his head. Was Sayid really suggesting they take Sawyer into their confidence?
"Perhaps we should tell him." Sayid said. Jack almost groaned out loud.
"Tell me what? You keepin' secrets, Doc?"
"Kate and Hurley went to find Rousseau, to ask her about this illness. They should have been back by now." Sayid told the southerner.
Sawyer glared at Jack. "You sent Kate out there with Fat Albert to find the crazy French chick? You ARE a Jackass."
"Who was I going to send, Sawyer? You were sick. Sayid was sick. I couldn't go."
"Oh, no," Sawyer smirked. "The good doctor couldn't go himself...had to stay here and play He-ro."
"You got better, didn't you?" Jack snapped.
"Why'd we need the looney bird anyway?"
"She told Sayid her team got sick after they had been here awhile. We want to know if this is the same illness."
"And when were y'all going to enlighten the rest of us about this 'illness'?" Sawyer moved toward Jack.
Sayid stepped between the two men. "We are all concerned for Kate and Hurley's safety. This is no time to place blame."
"I think we should all get some rest. If they aren't back in the morning I'll form a search party and go after them," Jack said. "Most people are recovering. Sun can handle things here."
"I will go with you," Sayid said.
"No. No way," Jack said. "You just started walking around today. You would just slow me down."
Sawyer spoke up. "Yeah, listen to the Doc, Omar. I know how I feel...you can't be feelin' much better. This ain't no time to be stompin' around in the jungle. You'd just be monster bait."
"You are probably right," Sayid reluctantly agreed. "But Kate took the maps. Perhaps I can draw some of what I remember. That way you would not be traveling blind."
"That would be good." Jack nodded.
"Hey, have you guys seen Charlie?" The men turned to see Claire behind them, holding Aaron, who was beginning to fuss.
"I have not seen him all day," Sayid told her.
"Me neither, Mamacita," Sawyer said. "Need some help with the little guy? I ain't good for much else. At least I can sit down." As soon as Sawyer spoke, Aaron stared at him with big eyes and stopped fussing. Claire nodded gratefully and they walked away together.
Jack looked at Sayid. "You're tired. You should rest. I know you feel better, but don't push yourself, especially since we don't know what this is." Sayid nodded and turned to go back into the infirmary. Jack noted that Shannon had not visited at all that day.
"Hey," he said to Sayid's back, "Shannon all right?"
"I suppose so. We had a...disagreement. I have not spoken to her since yesterday morning."
"Oh, sorry," Jack said, not knowing what else to say. Relationships certainly weren't his department and the two seemed like an odd pair to him anyway.
The doctor looked around for any sign of Charlie, but the musician was not in the camp or on the perimeter. Jack had not seen him since confronting him about his behavior the previous day. He was more certain than ever that Charlie was using again. With an entire plane full of heroin within walking distance it would be difficult to keep him away from the drug if he really wanted it.
Jack yawned and brushed his hands over his short-cropped hair. If he was going to go looking for Kate and Hurley tomorrow, he'd better get some sleep. He could worry about Charlie later.
The next morning before sunup Jack sat by the fire eating a mango and drinking the strong tea Sun had brewed. Sayid came out of the infirmary and joined him.
"I will go with you as far as the beach," he said, sipping the tea. "I want to check on the things I left in my shelter, and the walk will help to build my strength back up. I do not feel like sitting around here all day."
Jack suspected the man's decision had more to do with Shannon than building up his strength, but he nodded. "All right then, get your stuff...bring lots of water. I'll be ready to leave in a minute."
Sayid strode off toward the cave to retrieve his pack.
Shannon looked up from the book she was reading as he came in. "Where are you going?" she asked, watching as Sayid began to put things in the backpack.
"To the beach with Jack," Sayid responded flatly.
"Are you staying there?"
"I don't think so," he stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "I should be back this afternoon."
Shannon seemed almost ready to say something, then shook it off. "Be careful," she said, breaking his gaze and ending the conversation.
"Yes, I will," he said and left.
Jack and Sayid walked along the well worn path to the beach. Jack measured his footsteps so that the pace would not tax the former soldier. The jungle around them was beginning to wake up. Birds were calling and there was the steady drip, drip, of the heavy dew falling from the trees. As they drew closer to the beach, the welcome sound of the surf filled their ears and the smell of salt water stung their noses. The island had a way of waking up all of your senses, thought Jack.
He could feel the warmth of the sand through the soles of his shoes as he stepped out of the trees into the open. The shelters that were in use were quiet, their occupants still sleeping. Others, including Sayid's, stood empty and abandoned. Sayid walked to his shelter and set down his pack. Stooping down, he opened it and removed a water bottle and a rolled piece of paper. He took a long drink and gestured to Jack.
"Here is a crude map of what I remember," he unrolled the paper. "You need to be very aware. Rousseau has traps set in many places. Watch your step."
Jack knelt beside him looking at the map. Suddenly his head snapped up. "Did you hear that?" he asked Sayid.
"What?" Sayid paused and listened.
"Hey...hey, you guys!" Jack and Sayid looked down the shoreline to see Hurley and Kate, struggling to drag something along the sand. They headed to meet them ,walking at a fast pace, with Jack leading the way.
"We could use a little help here!" Hurley yelled. Jack broke into a jog.
"Where the hell have you been?" he said to Kate when he reached them. She glared at him and dropped her part of what Jack could see now was a trunk, setting Hurley off balance. The big man sat down heavily in the sand, breathing hard.
Sayid caught up to them in time to hear Kate's response. "We found Rousseau," she began.
"Dead," Hurley interrupted.
"Dead?" Jack and Sayid spoke at the same time.
"Rousseau is dead?" Sayid repeated.
"Yeah, man, dead. As in not breathing. D-e-a-d, Dead. Like Boone dead," he looked at Jack. "Oops, sorry, Dude."
Jack turned to Kate. "How?" he asked, "How did she die?"
"Gee, Dude, we didn't have time for an autopsy, but the big hole in her chest was a clue."
"Hurley," Kate said, exasperation in her voice, "Let me tell them," she went on. "It was bad, Jack. She'd been dead for a few days it looked like. She'd been shot."
Sayid spoke. "Was it...could it have been self-inflicted?"
"I don't know," Kate said. "I suppose you could shoot yourself in the chest. Her gun was right there...we brought it...along with other stuff we thought we might be able to use. That's what's in the trunk."
"We buried her," Hurley said.
"Yes," Kate said. "We dug a grave and buried her. Then we collected what we could from her camp and headed back. It took a lot longer with the trunk. We had to carry it over the rocky parts, but we took turns dragging it the rest of the way."
"Let's take it back to Sayid's shelter and look at what you've got," Jack said. He picked up one end, and Sayid grabbed the other. Kate and Hurley followed, ready to help if Sayid needed them.
When they got to the shade of Sayid's shelter they opened the trunk. Kate pulled out a leather-bound book. "This seems to be a log from the science expedition," she said, flipping through the worn journal.
"It may be more than that if she continued writing in it after they became stranded," Sayid suggested.
"It's in French," Kate said, handing it to him. "Can you get Shannon to take a look at it?"
Sayid hesitated. "I will ask her."
"Laissez-moi voir," a voice behind them said. "Let me see. Je parler francais."
"Libby," Jack said, surprised. "You speak French?"
"My mother was from Quebec," Libby said, casually, sitting cross-legged on the ground between Kate and Sayid. "We spent every summer in Montreal with mes grand-peres...my grandparents. My grandmother insisted we speak French while we were there."
"Great," Jack took the journal from Sayid. "Take a look."
Libby took glasses out of her shirt pocket and put them on. "Farsighted," she said. "It's a bitch," she turned the first few pages, scanning the text. "This stuff is mostly nautical...I think...temperatures, barometric readings...scientific stuff. I don't know a lot of the words. I'm better at speaking French than reading it." She flipped to the middle of the book. "What exactly are you looking for?" Libby asked.
"Any mention of an illness, a fever," Sayid said, leaning forward. "She said they had been on the island for two months when it started."
Libby flipped pages. "The scientific stuff seems to stop in June," she said, "So two months would be..Aout. August...here we go." Her lips moved silently as she read the diary. "It says here that someone named David is sick. No mention of a fever. Agissent etrangement," Libby muttered. "Acting strangely, voyant des choses, seeing things, voix d'entendre...hearing voices...sounds like they were going crazy," she looked up, "Is that what you're looking for?"
Sayid and Jack exchanged a look across the shelter.
"I need to get back," Jack suddenly felt the need to check on everyone. "Would you be willing to come to the caves with us...translate more of this?" he asked.
"Sure," Libby said, "I'd like to see Rose, anyway. Let me get a few things." She returned a few moments later, pack slung on her shoulder, and the five of them headed for the caves.