Chapter 4

Hurley was sitting out on the beach; Dave Matthews Band was in his CD player. You said always and forever, and I believed you baby, you said always and forever is such a long, lonely time, Hurley sang along softly. Charlie, Claire and Aaron were nearby on a tent that they had just put up. He glanced at them. They looked happy, but their happiness felt temporal, random, and inconstant. He can't help but think how he could be to blame for all this. To be stuck in this island forever would be such a long, lonely time. He tried to think of other sports they can come up with. Then almost suddenly, he began to wonder about the raft.

He squinted, his eyes fixated on the horizon. He tried to imagine how far the raft had gone now. It occurred to him a couple of times that the raft may have been "in trouble" (he refused to use any word graver than that), but he quickly pushed those thoughts aside; afraid that he might actually cause the raft some trouble by merely thinking of it. Instead, he tried to guess what time it was. When he saw that the sun was directly above his head, he realized that it was noon and he was hungry. He got up and began to wonder about lunch.

He was about to turn around and head towards the food storage when something far off caught his eye, making him forget why he was getting up and where he was heading in the first place.

"A ship!" Hurley exclaimed, not realizing that he exclaimed it so loudly and excitedly that Charlie and Claire almost simultaneously looked at him, then towards where he was looking. Suddenly, Charlie ran towards the caves to announce that it looks like they are finally going to be rescued. Hurley ran to gather branches and leaves and started a fire to make sure that they get spotted. Claire held Aaron on one arm, the other pointing excitedly at the ship that was heading towards them.

When Jack heard about the ship, his first thought was Kate. He couldn't help but think how it was a paradox that everyone was excited to get out of the island and live freely again when Kate would have to leave the island to go to jail. She wasn't around so he assumed Kate hadn't heard of the news yet. He set out to search for her, although he already knew where she might be.

Since the raft left, Kate had been sitting alone by a waterfall. He had sat with her there once; she told her there were dead bodies beneath the waters. Jack didn't think of asking how she knew about the dead bodies; he figured she might have gone swimming there alone. What Jack didn't know was the reason Kate knew about the dead bodies and the reason why Kate went back to that place everyday and stayed there for hours ever since the raft left was because of Sawyer. Kate was grateful Jack never asked; she didn't want to have to explain to anyone, not even to herself, why she missed Sawyer so much.

Kate already knew about the ship before Jack came to see her. When she heard about it, her first thought was Sawyer. She couldn't help but think how ironic it was that the man she wished to stay and be with her was the man who left and consequently brought the ship that would send her away, send her way to prison that is. She was beginning to imagine how today would have been like had Sawyer stayed, when she heard someone call out her name.

"Kate," Jack called out when he saw her sitting on the edge of a rock, a couple of meters above the water. Kate looked at him, but she neither smiled nor nodded; she looked at him then back at where her eyes were before. Jack started towards her. He wondered how he'd tell her about the ship, on second thought maybe her nonchalance meant she already knew.

"Hey," Jack tried again, sitting beside her then nudging her lightly. There was awkward silence as Jack tried to think of what to say.

"I have to run, Jack. I can't go back," Kate whispered, finally breaking the silence.

"But you can't stay here either," Jack retorted to the surprise of both Kate and himself. Kate looked at him for the first time since he sat beside her, trying to find clues as to why he reacted that way. Jack tried to look at her straight in the eye, but he couldn't handle the sorrow he found in them; he looked down to the water below them instead.

"You don't know what's in this island, Kate," Jack reasoned, this time more calmly, but still looking down.

"That's true, but I know what's waiting for me when I go back; and I'd rather be here and be uncertain than go back and certainly rot in prison." Tears were blurring and burning Kate's eyes but she refused to let them fall, she refused to acknowledge that both options terrified her to death. For the first time since they've been on the island, she wished she had died on the crash.

"I wish I had died," Kate suddenly blurted out, surprising herself more than it surprised Jack who dared not look at Kate. They sat there without saying anything for several more minutes that Kate was beginning to wonder if the ship was already close to the shore and whether or not she should start running now when Jack suddenly broke the silence.

"You could be dead," Jack said, turning towards Kate, holding the key that was wrapped around his neck.

"What?"

"We could say that when you heard about the ship, you knew that you were going to be sent to prison so what you did was you committed suicide. They'll be looking for a body, so we'll say, no I mean, I'll say that when you shot yourself, you fell off the rock and into the water. But all the while, you'll sneak up to the ship and hide," Jack explained, almost out of breath, his hands were shaking. "I'll go get the gun, and when the ship is close enough to the shore, we'll fire one shot so even the other survivors can testify that they heard a gunshot. Then we'll run to the shore. I'll announce what you've done while you sneak inside the ship," Jack continued.

"Jack, it looks like it could work but I can't put you in that kind of danger, I can't...," Kate tried to speak up, but Jack would hear no more of what she had to say; all he needed to hear was that Kate also thought that the plan could work. Immediately, Jack was on his feet to get a gun.

On his way back to the waterfalls, he made a quick check on the beach. The thick smoke from the fire Hurley made was almost suffocating, was blurring one's vision; but nobody seemed to mind as they waited for waved at the ship that was nearing the shore.

When he got back to the waterfalls, he found Kate exactly where he left her, but this time she was talking to Sayid. Sayid saw Jack and immediately declared that he wanted to help, "Not too long ago, I helped a woman I love escape from prison, I insist to help you; tell me what I can do."

Suddenly, Jack had a better plan and Sayid being on their side was perfect.

The ship was already by the shore and many of its crews are already giving out blankets and first aid. A reporter and his cameraman were with Claire, asking her about the baby, fascinated as Claire, who chose to omit the part where her baby got kidnapped, told them about her giving birth on the island.

Be it giving another fellow survivor a hug or helping someone carry their belongings to the ship, everyone was busy doing something. Except, that is, for two men in suit, one in gray, the other in black; who were merely keeping a wandering, yet watchful eye as if waiting to spot a face.

A gunshot was all it took for everyone to stop, to look back towards the forest behind them, and to wonder what that bullet was for. Hurley wished in his heart that he wasn't too cursed as to destroy even this rescue. Charlie went over to Claire, putting his arms around her determined that he would protect her and Aaron this time. Shannon was looking around, searching for Sayid, wanting to feel the kind of security his mere presence gives her, when through the trees, she saw him running; anger was evident on his face.

"Jack. Where's Jack," Sayid demanded, he was out of breath yet his voice was forceful and commanding.

Shannon tried to make her way towards Sayid, but he was hysterical, throwing blankets and first aid kits all over the place, demanding that they bring out Jack.

"What do you want, Sayid," Jack asked, emerging from the forest, his face was sunken but his voice was firm.

Suddenly, Sayid darted towards Jack knocking him off the ground, punching him on the sides. "You killed her! You killed her," Sayid accused over and over again. Charlie and another guy from the ship tried to pull them away from each other, but Sayid pushed them violently. "You killed her! Why Jack," Sayid shouted endlessly. "I tried to stop her! God dammit! I tried to stop her," Jack cried with every blow, punching Sayid back. The cameraman tried to get a shot of their fight only to be pushed and thrown to the ground. Aaron was crying; his shrieks were deafening. Shannon was yelling for Sayid to stop, but although Sayid heard her, he knew he should give Kate more time. He and Jack would just have to keep creating this commotion until Kate had successfully made her way to the ship.

Then Sayid noticed the two men in suit and immediately thought that they were the ones assigned to take Kate away. He grabbed Jack's shirt and forced him to get up, then Sayid moved quickly to Jack's back, grabbing his wrists with one hand and pulling his hair hard with the other hand. Jack tried to free himself from Sayid, but Sayid only pushed him towards the two men. Jack tried to fight Sayid back, but the man in gray suit held him on his place, while the one in black held back Sayid.

"You killed her, Jack! You let her die," Sayid shouted.

"I tried to stop her," Jack glowered at Sayid.

Sayid tried to get away from the man's grip, but finally gave up. For in the corner of his eye, he saw Kate, covered with a blanket and concealed from the crowd because of the thick smoke from Hurley's fire, making her way from the forest, across the shore, then finally to the ship.

"You let Kate die," his eyes were still glaring at Jack, but his voice was now shaking like he was about to break down and cry. "You let Kate die," Sayid repeated, this time emphasizing 'Kate', their signal that she was already on the ship.

"I tried to stop her. I tried to... I tried..." Jack suddenly broke down in tears. "She killed herself, Sayid. She knew they were going to send her to jail so she killed herself." Jack fell to the ground, his hands on his face, he didn't see how the other survivors reacted.

As was planned, Jack, after determining where his room was, met Kate at the nearest ladies' restroom from the ship's entrance. They then made their way to Jack's room, locked the door, and sat on the bed.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I don't know what else to say," Kate whispered, feeling terrible seeing his cuts and bruises.

"There is nothing you should feel sorry about," Jack looked at her in the eye; the compassion Kate found in them was obvious.

"Jack," she started again, "Thank you."

"Thank you, Kate. I think Sayid and I found out we're pretty good actors. Did you see our choreography," he joked.

"So, have I really gotten away with being dead," Kate asked with a faint smile.

"Well, when I took them to the waterfalls and told them that you fell off in the water with more dead bodies, they gave up on the idea of searching for your body right then and there," Jack said, with a hint of pride that his plan had worked.

Kate forced a smile, but said nothing.

"Kate, when we're back, you can't make any transactions, you can't go out and risk being spotted," Jack said, voicing out what Kate was already thinking.

"I know," Kate whispered.

"You can stay with me, Kate. I can take care of you," his voice sounded as if he was begging for her to come with him.

"I can't. You have already given me too much."

"And I can still give you so much more."

"Jack..."

"You don't have to answer now. Just sleep on it, Kate. Don't answer now and just think about it, okay?"

Kate nodded slowly. But she had already thought about it. As soon as she gets off the ship, she was going to put on a disguise, a wig perhaps, she had always wondered how she will look like had she been a blonde. She was going to pick some pockets like she had done countless of times before. She was going to check phonebooks and directories searching for a James Ford, his real name which she found on his passport. And then she was going to make her way through whatever, until she finally finds herself knocking on Sawyer's door.