He slowly sat up and then swung his legs over the side of the bunk. No big deal, no major pain, nothing more than the usual dull hurt that he was more than used to by now. He looked for his crutches and noticed that Jack had placed them at the other side of the room, undoubtedly to stop him getting out of bed. Boone rolled his eyes.
Kate entered with a bag of fruit and placed it down on the side. She looked up and noticed Boone. "Oh, hey," she said. She looked behind her and then moved nearer to him. "Aren't you supposed to be resting?"
"I have rested," Boone told her. "I rested like half of yesterday and half of today so that's a full day altogether. I'm rested."
Kate smiled at him. "You shouldn't really complain, you know," she told him. "He'll put you to work in no time, believe me."
"Can you pass me my crutches?" Boone asked.
Kate looked behind her at the crutches and then back to Boone. "Did Jack put those over there?"
"Can you just pass me them?" Boone asked again.
"I don't..."
"Kate?" Jack called through from the other room.
"Erm, yeah?" Kate called back.
Jack walked through. "Have you seen Sayid on your travels? He's supposed to be here, he said he'd give me a hand with the..." he stopped as he noticed Boone. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Nothing," Boone replied, trying to look innocent but he couldn't help but think that looking innocent always made you look guilty as hell, especially on him.
Jack walked over to him. "Lay down."
"But, Jack, I was..."
"Lay down," Jack repeated. "Do I have to sit on you?"
"I really feel fine, I just wanted to look around," Boone told him.
"I don't care how you feel, I'm telling you to lay down," Jack replied.
"You know what, I'm just gonna..." Kate motioned towards the door and took a step towards it.
Jack turned to face her. "Kate, wait a minute," he said. "Have you seen Sayid?"
"Erm, yeah, down at the beach," Kate replied. "He was making some kind of shelter I think."
"A shelter?" Jack asked. "He has a shelter down there already doesn't he?"
Kate shrugged. "I guess."
Jack shook his head a little. "Okay, thanks," he said, turning back to Boone as Kate exited. "Lay down," he instructed again.
"Can you stop saying that, please?" Boone requested.
"I'll stop saying it when you're lying down," Jack told him.
"Did you put my crutches over there on purpose?" Boone asked.
Jack stared at him. "I'm trying to take care of you," he said. "You're making it very difficult. Were you like this when you were a kid?"
Boone was instantly reminded of the story of Theresa and felt bad all over again. He looked down.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked, suddenly concerned. Actually, he was probably always concerned, Boone realised, that's why he was acting like such an idiot lately.
"Nothing," Boone said with a shake of his head. He looked back up at Jack. "Can I get up and sit in a chair?"
"No," Jack replied.
Boone rolled his eyes. "You are being a nightmare, you know that?"
"You're not exactly being a cotton candy dream yourself," Jack replied. "Christ, what do I have to do to get you to stay in bed?"
Boone smiled at him. "I could think of some stuff," he said coyly.
Boone wondered if he'd crossed a line or if he should really be bringing up sex right now but Jack smiled back at him so he guessed he was okay with it. He looked away for a second and then looked into Boone's eyes again.
"Okay," he said. "You can't use the shower because of your stitches so that means sponge baths. Of course, I can only do that if you're in bed."
Boone looked at him. He said all that in a very professional manner but Boone had a feeling there was definitely another level to what he was saying. Jack had given him sponge baths before while he'd been injured but he'd been too out of it to enjoy it and once he got a little more mobile he took care of his own hygiene needs. So Jack knew he could take care of himself but was offering anyway. Yeah, definitely a double meaning.
Boone laid back down in the bunk and Jack smiled at him. "You're so easy, you know that?" he smiled before getting up and heading to the bathroom.
He returned with a bowl of water and a cloth. He placed them down by the side of the bed and pulled up a chair. He looked down at Boone. "Okay, well, these clothes are no good, they're gonna have to go," he said.
Boone smiled at him. "You're not even gonna use a line first?" he asked.
"That was a line," Jack told him. He leaned forward and took hold of the hem of Boone's T-shirt and gently pulled it over his head and discarded it on the floor. He ghosted his fingers over the chest wound, examining it. "It's healing up nicely," he said. "The stitches are going to have to stay for a while longer though." He looked down at Boone's pants and then seemed to consider his options. Boone knew that Jack taking off his T-shirt was a pretty big step for them really so he wasn't about to push his luck.
"I got it," Boone said, reaching for the button on his jeans. He slipped them off leaving him in just his boxers and he couldn't help but notice the way that Jack was looking at him while he did it. Or the way he thought Jack was looking at him.
"Okay," Jack said, looking away. "Right, let's get started."
He picked up the bowl and dampened the cloth, bringing it up to Boone's forehead. Boone closed his eyes and melted into the mattress, feeling like he never wanted to move again, which was Jack's plan so Boone guessed he'd lost in that respect but if this was losing then he could really live with it. Jack moved the cloth down to Boone's neck and leaned forward, placing a kiss on his forehead where the cloth had just vacated. Boone sighed and gave Jack a smile but didn't open his eyes.
Boone concentrated on Jack's gentle touches with the cloth and could almost feel himself drifting off to sleep again. He so wasn't going to though because this was really too good to miss, he wanted to feel all of it. And it wasn't just the physical touches it was Jack's presence, the sound of Jack's breathing, just a tiny bit too ragged to be natural. Boone wanted to open his eyes but he didn't want to break the spell. It felt like forever since he and Jack had been intimate and he figured that all Jack's previous inhibitions with being together would have returned. The night before the accident was amazing but there was a big build up and Boone wasn't going to allow himself to expect any like that again any time soon. This was not foreplay, he had to keep reminding himself.
But then suddenly Jack's hand stopped moving on his side and his lips collided with Boone's and it took Boone a couple of seconds to catch up, his brain still wondering what the hell was happening. But once he managed to get his lips moving against Jack's everything else melted away and it was just him and Jack and lips and tongues. Boone felt like he couldn't breathe, and he probably couldn't, but he didn't really care, he just wanted, needed Jack to keep kissing him.
"Jack!" someone shouted. Not Kate, a man. "Jack! Jack!" Charlie. It was Charlie.
Jack pulled away from him and Boone suddenly felt cold but Charlie's cries sounded pretty urgent.
"Jack!" Charlie shouted again, somewhat aimlessly.
"Charlie, in here," Jack called.
Charlie came through out of breath, looking wildly at Jack. "Jack," he said again but quieter this time.
Kate came through from the other room. "What's going on?"
Charlie gazed around the room. "This is the hatch then?"
"Charlie!" Jack called, giving him a questioning look. "What's wrong?"
"Erm, Sun," he managed. "Something happened to Sun."
"Something?" Jack asked. "What something?"
"Erm, I dunno," Charlie replied. "Me and Hurley found her. Near the garden. There's blood everywhere, I don't think she's okay."
Jack sprang from his seat and headed for his medical supplies. He piled things into his pack, muttering a checklist to himself.
"How did you find this place?" Kate asked him.
"Made Hurley show me," Charlie replied.
"But isn't Hurley with Sun?" Kate asked.
Charlie looked sheepish. "Erm, well, yeah, actually this was a while ago," he admitted. "He said I couldn't come in though. Said Jack would kick my arse or something."
Jack glanced at him and then stood up. "Okay, let's go," he said.
"Jack, you want me to come with you?" Kate asked.
Jack shook his head. "You need to stay here, press the button."
"I could press the button," Boone offered.
"No, you need to stay there," Jack replied. "Kate can press the button, I'm gonna go with Charlie. Let's go."
Charlie nodded and led Jack out of the hatch. Kate turned to Boone and they both looked at each other, unsure what to do.
"Can I have my crutches?" Boone asked.
Kate gave him a look. "Didn't you hear what Jack just said?" she asked.
"Please?" Boone persisted.
She looked at him and then sagged a little. "Yeah, okay," she said. She picked up his crutches and took them over to him as he sat up.
"Thanks," he said.
"Just don't rat me out," she said, turning and leaving the room.
Boone got himself some clean clothes and then took a look around the hatch. Kate showed him all the main features and let him sit at the computer and be button pusher for a while. Jack was gone a few hours and when he returned he was covered in blood and looking exhausted, not just physically but mentally. Boone looked up at him and couldn't think of a thing to say.
"You're out of bed," Jack said blankly and Boone wasn't sure if it was an observation or an accusation.
"Yeah," he replied blindly.
"You should be in bed," Jack told him, still not showing any emotion.
"What happened?" Boone asked. "With Sun. Is she..." Boone couldn't finish the question, he couldn't bring himself to ask, but Jack obviously knew where he was heading with it and simply shook his head sadly. Boone looked down. One more lost. "What happened?" he asked.
"I don't know," Jack replied, emotion starting to crack through in his voice. "Monster? Polar bear? Something ripped her up. She didn't stand a chance."
Boone nodded in understanding but couldn't think of anything to say. He'd nearly died himself but he hadn't been alone, Jack was there saying reassuring things and taking heroic measures. Sun was on her own and she just slowly ebbed away with no one to anchor her.
"I'm going to take a shower," Jack announced, glancing down at his clothes. "You should go to bed."
Boone nodded again and watched as Jack left the room. He grabbed his crutches and decided that he should probably follow Jack's instructions. He got into the bunk but didn't feel sleepy at all, how was he supposed to sleep now? It was a while before Jack came out of the shower, now wearing clean boxers and a T-shirt. He looked at Boone sadly from across the room and seemed unsure of coming any closer, he seemed unsure of doing anything.
"Come here," Boone said.
Jack didn't hesitate, he walked across the room and sat in the chair by Boone's bedside.
"I think you need to get some sleep," Boone told him.
"Yeah," Jack agreed. "I think I do."
"You can share my bunk," Boone offered.
Jack looked at him. "I don't want to..."
"You won't hurt me," Boone cut in, guessing where he was going with that.
Jack gave him a sad little smile that almost broke Boone's heart. "I'm lucky Locke was there with you," he said, which kind of jarred Boone for a moment. "If he wasn't you would have died alone like Sun. I never would have gotten to save you." He paused and looked at Boone, tears in his eyes. "I don't know what I would have done if I didn't save you."
"You did save me," Boone reminded him. "You saved me so it doesn't matter."
Jack nodded a little and sighed. He got up and Boone shifted to the far side of the bed to make room for him. Jack climbed in next to him and laid an arm over his stomach. "Does that hurt?" he asked.
Boone shook his head. "Doesn't hurt," he replied. "It's nice."
"Nice," Jack repeated as he closed his eyes.
Boone watched him for a minute and felt like the luckiest person alive, which was really something considering his current situation. But at least he was alive which was apparently quite something on this island. He took one last look at Jack and closed his eyes.