Jack figured Shannon was feeling better because he could hear her complaining before he even got into the room. Which was a good thing but he kind of liked it better when she was being quiet. He knew it was only a matter of time before Sawyer came around as well, the antibiotics seemed to be doing their job and his fever was going down, which meant he'd have too bitching patients on his hands. Boone could moan but he was fairly easy to reason with, well, most of the time, and he was also fairly restrained. Neither Shannon nor Sawyer seemed to hold either one of these qualities and Jack could feel himself getting weary already.

"What's up?" he asked as he reached Shannon and Sayid.

"I have to pee," Shannon said, looking incredibly put upon. "Sayid won't let me get up."

"Okay, great," Jack said, reaching over and grabbing a container. "Pee in here."

Shannon gave him a distasteful look. "Is that your idea of a bedpan?" she asked. "Because first of all, I'm not using a bedpan, and second of all, if I were to use a bedpan..."

"You can go to the bathroom," Jack said, cutting her rant short. "But when you get there, pee in this."

She stared at him. "Why? Do you have a fetish?" she asked.

Jack gave her a look. "No," he replied, sounding unimpressed. "I need to check for internal bleeding. If anything was hit, chances are they'll be blood in your urine. It's the easiest way for me to test for it here, I don't really have a lot of options at my disposal."

"Are you gonna watch me?" Shannon asked.

"No, Shannon," Jack replied, wondering why he was even entertaining her anymore. "Just let me take a look at your stitches," he said.

He lifted up her shirt and gently eased away the edge of her dressing. He moved the skin around the stitches but was careful not to touch the wound itself. He could see Shannon studying his face while he did it and he couldn't help but think she looked kind of like a little girl.

"Looks okay," Jack told her, pressing the dressing carefully back down. "Just be careful with it, really I should make you use a bedpan." Shannon gave him a grossed out look. "Just be careful not to bend your stomach and if you feel it pulling for God's sake stop."

"Okay, Dr. Jack," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Sayid, help support her and keep her straight, and make sure she goes slow," Jack instructed.

Sayid gave him a nod and then leaned down to Shannon. Jack moved over to the bunk where Sawyer was lying, Kate still holding vigil by his bedside.

"Hey," Jack said, leaning over her to get a look at Sawyer. "How you doing?"

"I'm fine, Jack, it's Sawyer that needs looking at," Kate replied.

"I'm looking," Jack told her, putting a hand up to Sawyer's forehead. Far hotter than it should be but not as bad as it was. "The fever seems a little better."

Kate nodded. "He's stopped shaking too," she said. "I keep talking to him but I can't get him to wake up."

"It might be a while, Kate," Jack nodded. "He'll come round. It's Sawyer, he'd come back from anything just so he could brag about it."

Kate smiled a little. "Yeah, you got a point there."

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Jack assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Just try and keep him cool, make him comfortable, keep talking to him. You're doing everything right, just keep it up."

"He's gonna love all this when he wakes up, isn't he?" Kate said.

"Hell, he's probably awake now, he just doesn't want you to stop," Jack joked.

Kate smiled fully this time. "That'd be his style, all right," she agreed. Her expression then turned serious as she placed a wet cloth on Sawyer's forehead. "I never got to say goodbye to him," she said quietly.

"What?" Jack asked.

"I never got to say goodbye," she repeated. "When he went off on the raft, I never said goodbye to him."

"It's okay, Kate," Jack told her. "You don't need to say it now."

Kate nodded but didn't look at all convinced. Jack wanted to say something else to her but he wasn't sure what he could say. Sawyer was a fighter and he'd get through this come hell or high water but Jack guessed that Kate already knew all that so it seemed pointless to repeat it again.

Instead he found himself moving away from her and towards the bookcase, checking out the titles. He kind of wished that he was more of a reader but he never had the time for it. He'd probably only read about five novels in his entire life and they were all set texts in high school, stuff he needed to read for the midterms.

Now medical textbooks he'd read more than his fair share of. He was terrified of what his father would say if he wasn't top of the class all the way through medical school so he read all the assigned texts and anything else he could get his hands on, anything that could have been deemed even slightly relevant. He succeeded in his task but it was an empty victory. Once he was qualified his father just asked why he hadn't found a nice girl to settle down with yet. He dreaded what his dad would have to say about his current relationship if he was still around to say anything.

He scanned the titles of the bookshelf over once more but failed to have his interest sparked. Maybe it was for the best, he could pretty much guarantee that whenever he started to get interested in it, some big disaster would come about that would cause him to get interrupted.

Then he spotted a copy of Robinson Crusoe and couldn't help picking him up. Kind of apt for the situation. But Robinson Crusoe was lucky, he didn't have to look after forty odd people, he just had to look after himself. That must be nice. Lonely, but nice.

"I peed in that thing, you can look at it if you want," Shannon said, moving back into the room, Sayid by her side, helping her along.

"Thanks," Jack replied, intent on not getting into anything with her right now. He went to the bathroom and picked up the container, holding it to the light. No blood, thank God. Not even a trace. He went back through to where Shannon was laying back down.

"So, am I dying?" she asked. She was trying to sound sarcastic but Jack could tell that it was a serious question.

"No, not dying," he assured her. "Just make sure you let me keep a check on it, I need to be sure you're all clear."

"Yes, doctor," she said, deliberately trying to sound as obnoxious as possible.

Jack considered saying something but thought it was best to let it go. Shannon was just a scared kid under all the snarky comments but mentioning that to her really wasn't going to get him anywhere fast. He grabbed the copy of Robinson Crusoe again and decided to pass it onto Boone, he knew he liked to read.

He walked through to where Boone was sat on the sofa and held the book up to him. "Robinson Crusoe," he said, taking a seat. "I guess someone has a sense of humour." Boone smiled at him. "You ever read it?" Jack asked him.

Boone nodded. "My mom used to give me books to keep me quiet when I was a kid," he explained. "It's a good one." He took it off Jack and looked at the back of it.

"I don't know if it's any good to you if you've already read it but I thought it might give you something to do for a while," Jack shrugged.

Boone looked up at him. "Yeah, I haven't read this one for years, it could definitely do with another look," he replied. "Thank you, that's really sweet."

Jack found himself shrugging again. "There's a bunch more through there if you want to take a look later. You can pick your own out."

"I want to read this one," Boone told him.

Jack smiled at him. "Okay," he said, though he was fairly sure that it had as much, if not more, to do with the fact that Jack had given it to him than the fact that he actually wanted to read it. He looked at the smile on Boone's face and it made him want to give him more presents, just to see that look again. He got the impression that Boone hadn't really received a lot of gifts throughout his life, not ones that didn't come with conditions, that didn't expect something back in return. Then he suddenly panicked that Boone thought he wanted something in return and tried to think of a polite way of telling him he really didn't.

"Have you ever read it?" Boone asked him.

Jack shook his head. "Not much of reader, I'm afraid," he admitted.

"Don't you have a favourite book?" Boone asked.

Jack tried to bring a book to mind from his schooldays, just so that he had something to say, but he couldn't even come up with a title.

"That's just sad, Jack," Boone told him.

Jack smiled a little. "Yeah, kind of is, isn't it?" he replied. "What's yours?" he asked.

"Watership down," Boone replied. "Never travel without it. Except now I don't have it anymore cos that asshole Sawyer stole it and won't give it back."

"He's unconscious now, I bet I could get it back for you, it'll be in his stash at the beach" Jack offered.

"That's sweet," Boone said. "But you need to be here."

Jack sighed. "Yeah, I guess I do," he agreed. "Well, Robinson Crusoe can keep you company now, I'll work on Watership Down later," he promised.

Boone smiled at him. "Okay."