But throughout their conversation Jack found himself gazing at the lifeguard down the beach, romantically lit by the fires dotted around. He tried to look away, concentrate of what the brunette was saying to him, but there was definitely something about that guy. He went over and sat down with a girl about his age and offered her something. Judging by the look he got in return it wasn't something she wanted. Jack wondered if she was his girlfriend. And then he wondered why he cared.
He turned his attention back to the brunette. "I don't know your name."
"I'm Kate," she replied.
He gave her a small nod. "Jack."
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The next morning, he and Kate were heading out to the cockpit to find the transceiver but Jack knew that he needed to brief someone on the situation. He went over to a group of people who were talking tactics, the lifeguard being one of them.
"We're going to go out and look for the cockpit," Jack explained. "See if we can find a transceiver to send a distress signal to help the rescue team." He turned to face the lifeguard who he was crouched next to. He seemed to have some first aid training so he could probably be left in charge. So long as no one actually needed any medical treatment that was. "You're going to need to keep an eye on the wounded," Jack told him. "If the guy in the suit wakes up, try to keep him calm, but don't let him remove that piece of shrapnel, you understand?"
"Yeah, got it," the guy replied, nodding a little and seeming slightly distant. "What about the guy with the leg, the tourniquet?" he asked.
"I stopped the bleeding. I took it off last night. He should be all right," Jack replied.
"Yeah, cool," the lifeguard replied vaguely. "Good job," he added but Jack noticed that he was avoiding eye contact. He hoped he didn't tear him up too badly yesterday and come off like a complete jerk but there were really other things on his mind at the time.
He was just thinking about saying something when the British guy spoke up and offered his assistance. Actually Jack wasn't sure if it was an offer so much as a statement. Either way, he kind of wished people would just stop trying to help him and leave him alone. Not that he had all the answers but he was kind of going through some stuff right now and the last thing he wanted to do was make small talk. He hated small talk at the best of times but right now it seemed so absolutely ridiculous to discuss what you did in college or if you were still close to your best friend growing up. Medicine and no in Jack's case. But Jack relented and the British guy looked rather happy to be in the gang.
So Jack, Kate and the British guy, who was apparently in a band once, Charlie, went out in search of the cockpit. And they had what Jack could only describe as a misadventure. Actually, he was fairly sure there was a stronger word for what happened to them out there with all the torrential rain and running and screaming and mangled pilot. So things weren't going entirely to plan. And now Jack was in possession of a piece of information that he could really have lived without. No one was going to find them unless they managed to notify someone of exactly where they were. So, in short, no one was going to find them.
Jack went back to see the man with the shrapnel wound. If they weren't getting out of here anytime soon then he had to do something. This guy wasn't going to last much longer in these conditions, he was going to have to perform surgery. Which was kind of amusing - beach front surgery, a lot of doctors would kill for that. Okay, Jack really had to focus.
He looked over to watch Kate leave on her trek to try and get a signal on the transceiver that Sayid had fixed, and saw she had quite a band of followers. Along with her and Sayid he saw that Charlie had decided to go along again as had the lifeguard and that blond girl he kept hanging around with. Good, Jack thought, no distractions. No brand new best friend trying to talk to him and enquire how some guy she was sitting next to but doesn't actually know was doing, and no incompetent lifeguard trying to help out. Or, more accurately, Jack had to admit, distracting him from a distance just by being in his eye line. What was that about? And just as they were leaving he saw that patronising southern idiot follow after them.
So he turned his attention to rounding up supplies and an assistant, deciding on the guy who helped him with the pregnant girl yesterday, he seemed trustworthy. Boy could Jack nod read a person. Well, no, Hurley probably was trustworthy, he just wasn't particularly conscious. Jack was used to having slightly more professional people assist him during complex procedures and this just really wasn't going to cut it.
Kate didn't come back that night. None of her team did. Jack hoped nothing terrible had happened to them. Like that monster. Or that they'd just killed each other. Which, with the amount of bickering going on with the group Kate had chosen, or gotten lumbered with, probably wasn't such an out there possibility. Either that or they just made camp for the night. Hopefully out of the tree line, Jack thought.
So Jack settled down and tried to get some sleep. Except that he was rather uncomfortable and he had sand everywhere and it was too damn hot, even after sundown, and he was fairly sure there was something crawling up his leg. He hoped they'd been successful with the transceiver and were having a celebration party, causing their return to be delayed. He wasn't sure if he could take it if Kate came back with a different tale.