"Sorry," Jack said. "I didn't mean to wake you."
Boone shook his head. "I wasn't asleep," he replied.
Jack gave him a smile. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm okay," Boone told him. "I think your day was worse than mine."
Jack nodded. "It wasn't great," he agreed. He looked down and tried to shake the mental images that were undoubtedly buried in his mind forever. He shook his head a little and tried to concentrate on something else. He propped himself up on one elbow and leaned over Boone. "Were you comfortable last night? Were your stitches okay?"
"Yes and yes," Boone replied.
Jack gave a small nod but then decided to check Boone anyway. It probably wasn't necessary but it made him feel better. He pulled the covers down and reached for the hem of Boone's T-shirt, tugging it gently up and inspecting the stitches.
"You keep doing that like ten times a day like you're expecting something terrible to happen," Boone said with a smile. He then suddenly turned serious. "Are you expecting something to terrible to happen?" he asked.
Jack looked up at him. "I'm not expecting anything terrible to happen," he told him. He turned his attention back to the wound. "I'm just dreading it. But you seem to be fine so I think we can relax for a little while." He carefully pulled the T-shirt back down and then sat up, moving the covers away from Boone's leg.
"What are you doing now?" Boone moaned.
"Just making sure it hasn't fallen off," Jack replied.
"It hasn't, believe me," Boone said.
Jack looked up at him. "It's painful?"
"Well, yeah, have you seen it?" Boone replied.
Jack looked back at the leg. "I'm sorry," he found himself saying.
Boone shrugged. "Not your fault," he said. "Did you mean what you said about Locke last night?" he suddenly asked.
Jack replaced the covers and looked at Boone, staring at him while he worked out the answer. "I don't know," he finally replied.
Boone looked as though he were going to say something but then changed his mind. Jack shifted in the bed so he were lying next to Boone again, propped beside him. Jack looked at him and wanted to kiss him, he couldn't help it. Not that he could think of a reason why he should try and help it. Well, except for all the stitches. He couldn't help but think that Boone was starting to resemble a rag doll of sorts. A really sexy rag doll. Okay, Jack had to seriously clean up his mind. And he had to stop staring at Boone too.
"You're moving your lips," Boone told him.
"I am?" Jack asked. He tried to glance down at his lips which was really a stupid idea because nobody could glance at their own lips and he was a doctor so he should really know that.
"Shannon used to do that," Boone said. "When she was a kid. When she was thinking really hard about something she'd kind of mouth her thoughts except that you couldn't read her lips cos she wasn't really forming words or anything, just this little movement," he explained. "Then I told her and she got really pissy about it and so I used to tease her when she was being a brat. She learned how to get out of the habit pretty quick when she realised it was a weakness." He looked at Jack. "What were you thinking about?"
"Nothing," Jack replied.
"Were you thinking about me?" Boone asked. "Because you were looking at me."
Jack found a smile curling over his lips. "I was thinking how much I wanted to kiss you," he admitted but he wasn't sure why.
Boone got that hopeful look in his eye. "You can kiss me if you want," he said. "And, just so you know, that offer never expires."
Jack's smile got a little wider and he leaned forward, placing a single kiss on Boone's lips before moving away again, but not too far. "I can't wait until you're better," Jack told him.
Boone smiled. "Me either."
Jack leaned in again and kissed him more fully, pressing against him as much as he dared, which wasn't really much but it felt very nice all the same.
"Jack!" he heard Sayid yell. Sayid who was supposed to be here yesterday but never showed.
"Oh for God's sake," Jack muttered, pulling away from Boone. Why did this keep happening? He's doing boring jobs that he really wouldn't mind escaping from and no one says a word to him but the second he starts to do something fun he's suddenly the most popular guy on the island. He leaned away from Boone and started to turn around. "Sayid, what..."
He froze as he saw Sayid entering the room looking distraught carrying an unconscious Shannon, blood seeping through her shirt. Oh God, he couldn't do this again, he thought. It was all too much, he didn't want to be the doctor anymore. But he knew he didn't have a choice so he leapt out of bed and headed to Sayid.
"Shan?" he heard Boone ask quietly behind him.
"Put her down, let me take a look," Jack told Sayid. "What happened?" he asked as Sayid placed her down and he got a better look, lifting her shirt up.
"She was shot," Sayid replied.
"Shot?" Jack asked. "By who?"
Sayid didn't answer him, he concentrated on Shannon which Jack knew he should be doing right now.
"Oh God, not more," Kate said, standing in the doorway.
"Kate, I need you to grab me some towels and bring me the medical kit now," Jack ordered, finding himself slipping effortlessly into doctor mode once more.
Kate nodded and headed out of the room. Jack held his hands to the wound on Shannon's side. She didn't look like she'd lost a lot of blood and the hole was away from the centre of the abdomen so Jack guessed there was a good chance of this not being too serious. Kate returned with the towels and Jack grabbed one off her and pressed it to the wound. He lifted her slightly and took a look at her back.
"No exit wound," he said to no one in particular. "I need to get the bullet out."
"Sawyer," Kate said.
Jack looked up at her, confused. He then followed her gaze and saw a large black man place Sawyer down on the floor. He didn't look good. Jack's heart sank. Two patients? In these circumstances it was going to be tough saving one of them.
"What the hell happened to him?" Jack asked, looking at Sawyer from where he was. The diagnosis didn't look good.
Michael and Jin came into the room, followed by a man and a woman.
"He got shot," Michael replied.
"What the hell were you people doing out there? Duelling?" Jack asked.
The woman bent down to Sawyer's side and put a hand to his forehead. "He was shot a few days ago," she explained. "He's running a fever and he has an infection. I think it's gotten through to his bloodstream. Plus, he's dehydrated."
Jack felt a surge of hope. "You a doctor?" he asked.
She gave a small shrug. "Clinical psychologist."
"Were you in med school?" Jack asked.
"One year," she replied.
"Good enough," Jack said. He turned to Kate who was still staring at Sawyer. "Kate, I need you to show..." he looked at the woman questioningly.
"Libby," she filled in.
Jack gave a small nod. "Libby," he repeated. He turned back to Kate. "Kate, I need you to show Libby where the shower is." He turned back to Libby. "Get him under the cold water, get his fever down and get the wound cleaned. Kate will help you with anything you need."
Libby nodded her understanding and with Kate's help the two of them left the room with Sawyer. Jack turned back to Shannon. He lifted the towel up briefly and the blood started pouring out of her again. He pressed it back down and looked at the medical kit he'd put together. He grabbed a blade and a pair of tweezers.
"What are you doing?" Sayid asked.
"I need to get the bullet out," Jack explained.
"Jack, is she okay?" Boone asked from across the room.
"Just.." he sighed. "She's gonna be."
He felt Shannon shift slightly under his hand and looked up at her face. She was starting to stir. Great, that was all he needed. He turned to Sayid.
"Sayid, I need you to talk to her," Jack instructed. "Just calm, soothing things, we need to keep her calm, don't let her move."
Sayid nodded his agreement and started to whisper things to her, his voice almost relaxing Jack. He moved the towel and made a small incision, extending the wound for better access. He dug in with the tweezers and felt the bullet but he couldn't get it and she was going to lose too much blood if he didn't hurry up. He put the tweezers down in frustration and replaced the towel, applying pressure.
"I can't see a damn thing," he said. He turned around. "Michael, go through to the lab, there should be a small flashlight next to the console, grab it." Michael returned with the flashlight and kneeled down at the other side of Shannon. "Okay, I'm gonna take the towel off and I need you to shine that right into the wound okay, I need a good look."
Michael nodded and Jack tried again but he didn't have any better luck than the first time. He once again had to replace the towel without success. "God dammit," he exclaimed. "I still can't see anything, I need some suction in here, there's too much blood."
"Jack, is she gonna..." Boone began, sitting on the edge of the bunk.
"She's gonna be fine, Boone," he replied, irritated.
The timer started beeping and Jack could quite gladly start crying. He turned to Sayid.
"I'm not leaving her," he said simply.
Jack understood and he couldn't really argue, there was no way he would have left Boone after his accident, even if he could have done. And there was no way Jack could leave right now, he just had to hope Kate was less busy than they were.
"I'll get it," Boone announced, reaching for his crutches.
"No you won't," Jack told him, not taking his eyes off Shannon.
"Jack..."
Jack turned to face him. "Do not get out of that bed," he said sternly.
"You're the one that made me hike all the way out here and now you won't let me leave my bunk?" Boone asked incredulously. "If I can make it out here I think I can go to the next room."
Jack sighed and turned back to Shannon. "I'm gonna need the bunk anyway," he said. He was vaguely aware of Boone getting up behind him. He looked at Michael.
"Third time's the charm, right, man?" Michael said.
"I hope so," Jack replied.
He moved the towel again and opened the wound with his fingers finding the bullet with the tweezers and this time managing to grab hold. He pulled it out and quickly put the towel back on. He looked back to Michael and they shared what was almost a smile.
"So how do you check for damage?" Michael asked.
"I perform a laparotomy," Jack replied.
"How do you perform a..."
"In a hospital," Jack replied. "With lab equipment."
Michael looked at him in understanding. Kate and Libby came back through with Sawyer, now soaking wet and lacking his shirt. Jack turned back to Michael.
"Hold this," Jack told him, motioning the towel. "Press down hard," he instructed.
Michael nodded and took Jack's place as Jack moved over to help with Sawyer. "Get him into the bunk," he instructed. "Kate, you need to grab my medical kit, bring it here." Libby helped Jack ease Sawyer into the bunk. Jack bent down and went to look at the bullet wound but noticed Shannon's blood on his hands. He stopped and looked at Libby.
"Cross contamination," she nodded. "I'm not a doctor, I can't..."
Kate handed him his medical kit. He dug through and found the pills he was looking for. "Give him these," he instructed. He took out the sewing kit and moved back over to Shannon. He knelt by her side and took the towel from Michael. He stitched her up and applied a dressing. He moved her onto the mattress they'd moved from the top bunk and found himself slipping out of doctor mode again.
He looked at the three new faces and then at Shannon and Sawyer. He felt almost too exhausted to ask. "Someone gonna tell me what happened out there?" he asked. "Because after everything with Sun yesterday I want some answers on this one."
"What happened with Sun?" Michael asked, which was closely followed by a question from Jin in Korean.
Jack looked at the two of them sadly. They didn't know, of course they didn't.
"Sun died yesterday," Kate said softly.
Michael stared at her. Jin looked questioningly at each of them. He asked another question that none of them could understand.
"What happened to Shannon?" Jack asked.
"What happened to Sun?" Michael asked.
"What happened to Shannon?" Jack repeated, louder this time.
"Ana-Lucia made a mistake," the black man told him calmly.
Jack stared at him. He knew that name. The girl in the bar. She was called Ana-Lucia. She was on the flight. She was in the tail section. "What did you say?" he asked.
And then there she was. Ana-Lucia. She'd been stood in the doorway, hidden by the shadow and the other people. Jack stared at her and she stared right back. He nodded a little.
"Ana-Lucia," he said. "42F"
"42F," she agreed.
"Tequila tonic," he continued. "Never did get that drink. We don't have any tequila here. Or tonic. We have water." Ana-Lucia stared at him like she was wondering why he was still talking, and Jack was wondering the same thing if he was honest. "I thought you were dead."
"You thought about it?" she asked.
He had, only he wasn't sure why. Clinging onto civilisation?
She looked him up and down. "You always perform surgery in your underwear?" she asked.
Jack looked down at himself, suddenly realising he was indeed only wearing his boxers and T-shirt. He looked back at her and wanted to say that usually he was in a hospital but that was just making him more homesick for the place than he already was right now. "I need to take a shower," he said instead.
He left the room and tried to ignore the daggers Boone was probably staring at him.