Boone looked at him. "But we just stopped."
"Yeah, and we're just stopping again," Jack told him.
"Jack, I'm fine," Boone said.
"Really? And where exactly did you earn your medical degree?" Jack asked, an expression of mock seriousness on his face. Boone glared at him. "That's what I thought, now sit down before I knock the crutches from under you."
"Fine, whatever," Boone muttered. Jack helped as he eased himself to the ground and then sat down next to him. Boone sighed. "You know I used to be able to do this in like twenty minutes."
Jack grabbed a bottle of water out of his pack and handed it to him. "Here, have a drink."
"I just had a drink," Boone said. "When we stopped like two seconds ago."
"Have I told you lately what a terrible patient you are?" Jack asked.
"Well we're hardly in a hospital, are we, Jack?" Boone pointed out, looking at the jungle surrounding them.
"No, we're not," he agreed. "Which is why I am taking no chances with you. Now have a drink and rest for a minute."
"I'm resting," Boone grumbled, taking a drink from the bottle. He handed it back to Jack. "You know I could have gone a little further."
"We're in no rush," Jack told him. "Let's just take our time."
Boone knew he should be happy that Jack wanted to take such good care of him but he really didn't want to be wrapped up in cotton wool. Which was kind of funny, actually, because he always thought he'd quite enjoy that. Maybe he just wasn't used to being on the receiving end of being spoilt. He couldn't really remember anyone lavishing attention on him before, not even any of his ex's.
"Do you know how amazing you've been since the accident?" Jack asked him, not looking at Boone but instead gazing ahead.
"Do you know how amazing you were when you fixed me up?" Boone asked back.
"Do you?" Jack countered, looking at him. "You were pretty out of it."
"I've heard stories," Boone told him.
Jack smiled and looked away again. "I mean it, Boone," he said. "Not a lot of people could put up with that with no real pain medication or anything."
"The physical pain was a nice break from the mental anguish," Boone told him. Jack looked at him, concern all over his face. "Relax, Jack, I'm mostly kidding."
"Well unless you're wholly kidding I'm not going to relax," Jack replied but he looked away again so Boone guessed he wasn't going to push the subject.
"Thank you for looking after me," Boone said.
Jack smiled. "I'm a doctor, it's what I do," he said.
"I don't just mean the doctor stuff, Jack," Boone told him.
Jack looked up at him. "The doctor stuff's the only stuff I'm good at," he said. "I don't know what else you'd be thanking me for."
"I got a lot of stuff to thank you for," Boone said. "I'll get round to it."
Jack smiled at him. "When you're better?" he asked.
"You did say you wanted to get me into bed," Boone reminded him.
Jack nodded and looked at him with something that resembled lust. "If you weren't injured I'd so be jumping you right now." He then laughed a little self-consciously and looked down again. "Yeah, I'm not even good at the doctor part anymore I don't think."
Boone smiled at him. "You're so cute." Jack looked up again and gave him a smile. "Or manly," Boone added. "Whatever you wanna go with."
"I can live with being cute," Jack replied. He shook his head a little. "Okay, I'm going back into professional mode now."
"You don't have to," Boone told.
"I do," Jack insisted. "Trust me, we're not getting anything done today unless I do."
"Okay then," Boone agreed.
"So, are you feeling okay?" Jack asked.
"I'm feeling surprisingly good to say what's happened to me lately," Boone told him.
"Good," Jack replied. "If you get tired or you're in pain or anything you have to tell me and we're stopping, okay?"
Boone rolled his eyes a little and nodded. "Yes, Jack," he droned.
"If you're gonna smart mouth me I might just leave you here," Jack said, giving him a look.
"I wasn't smart mouthing, I was agreeing," Boone pouted, giving Jack his best puppy dog eyes.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Just get up before I'm forced to kick your ass," he said. He stood up and then helped Boone to his feet. "Watch your step, okay?"
"Right, like that hadn't occurred to me," Boone said to Jack's back as he set off walking. "And it's not step, it's hop."
Jack spun around to face it again. "I thought you weren't smart mouthing me?"
"I wasn't," Boone defended. "At the time," he added.
Jack gave him a look. "Don't think I won't leave you out here for the jackals."
"There's jackals now?" Boone asked. It was probably just a manner of speech but you could never be too sure in this place.
"Not yet," Jack replied. "But I'm sure the polar bears would find you eventually."
"I'm being good," Boone said, giving him a butter-wouldn't-melt look.
"I bet you were a little heartbreaker as a kid, weren't you?" Jack commented.
Boone smiled and shook his head. "I doubt it."
"I think you might be wrong," Jack told him. "Come on, let's make some headway here."
In the time it took them to get to the hatch Boone had a feeling he could have walked all the way round the island, back in the days when he had the use of two legs like most people. Also, he had a feeling it would have taken him half as long if Jack didn't insist on taking constant breaks. But Boone was feeling exhausted enough even with the stops so he had a feeling Jack was right. Not that he was going to tell him that.
Jack took him round to the door and Boone wondered why neither he nor Locke thought of looking for a door in the first place, it would have saved them a lot of trouble. But they had no reason to believe that there was any other way in so he wasn't about to start beating himself up over it.
Inside was a lot more spacious than he expected and a lot more comfortable. In fact it was almost like being in civilisation. Almost. Jack led him straight through to the living quarters and ordered him into the bottom bunk.
"How do you feel?" Jack asked, checking on his leg.
"Tired," Boone replied. "And my leg hurts. And my chest. And my arms and back. I'm having some pain."
Jack smiled at him. "It's a little swollen but it looks okay," he told him. "Now, you need to get some rest. Just relax, get some sleep."
Boone fought to keep his eyes open. "You finally got me into bed," he said with a sleepy smile.
Jack smiled at him again and leant down, stroking his hair. "Half way there," he said. "Now we just need to get you healthy enough so I can join you."
"This place is kind of cool," Boone said, looking around from where he was. "You have to give me the tour some time."
Jack nodded. "Later," he said. "You have to stay in this bunk right now. I want you to get some rest, you shouldn't even have been going through the jungle like that."
"You made me," Boone commented.
"Yeah, I know," Jack replied. "And now I'm making you get some rest. Close your eyes, okay?"
"Okay," Boone agreed, letting his heavy eyelids close. He concentrated on Jack's fingers in his hair and couldn't help smiling. He heard a beeping sound and opened his eyes. "What's that?" he asked.
"Nothing, just the timer, close your eyes," Jack told him and Boone couldn't help but obey. "Kate?" he heard Jack call.
"Got it," she called back and Boone heard some typing before the beeping stopped.
He then felt Jack's hand leave his hair and he wanted to open his eyes but he couldn't find the energy. Then he felt Jack lean over him and arrange the sheets over him, adjusting them carefully to avoid his chest wound. Jack then placed a kiss on his forehead and whispered "Sleep tight." He heard Jack pull up a chair and then the hand was back in his hair as Boone finally drifted off to sleep.