Chapter 5

Hurley and Sawyer had managed to keep the curious folks away from Kate. Hurley had told them what had happened and Sawyer had left no doubt that everybody who disturbed Kate with stupid questions would regret it.

Sun didn't talk to Kate for a few hours, but she, Sawyer and Claire stayed in hearing distance in case Kate needed anything. When they hadn't heard anything from her by noon, Sun couldn't stand it anymore and went inside the cave to look after Kate. She found her in exactly the same position she had been in when Sun had left. A quick glance at the water bottle and the fruits she had placed next to Kate earlier told Sun that Kate had neither eaten nor drunk.

"Kate, you need to drink at least a little water. It's very hot and you'll become dehydrated. "

This time Kate didn't even respond to Sun, she seemed to be drifting off more and more. Signing, Sun left again.

"How is she doing?" Claire asked.

"I'm really worried. Kate isn't eating or drinking and I don't think she slept last night. It's like she had stopped living when Jack died. It seems like she had just lain down to die."

Sawyer got up so suddenly that the women looked at him surprised. But before they could say anything he was in the cave. He didn't speak softly to her like Sun had done, but turned her around with enough force to pull her out of her lethargy and make her look into his eyes.

"Listen to me: I won't allow you to kill yourself. Did you get that? You have two choices. Number one is you drink some of that water voluntarily. Number two is I'll force your mouth open and pour the damn water in your stubborn throat. And you know that I'm capable of doing that."

Kate looked at Sawyer with surprise. A close inspection of his expression told her that he was absolutely serious. So she took the bottle from him and drank.

Sawyer didn't know if he should be relieved. Kate had finally drunk some water, but he knew he couldn't force her to sleep or eat. They had run out on sedatives and there was no way he could get something else than water into her by force and Kate knew that as well as he did. What alarmed him most was that he hadn't see anger in her eyes when he made her drink. The Kate he knew would have had that unmistakably glow of pure rage in her eyes being forced to do anything. But now her eyes were empty. There wasn't any sign of life inside them.

Jack didn't allow himself to rest. What had been a diffuse feeling of worry the day before had become more intense. He had the strong feeling that there was something seriously wrong with Kate and that he needed to get back to camp as soon as possible.

Don't be stupid, he tried to tell himself. You're a scientist, you don't believe in something like a sixth sense. If something was wrong with Kate she probably didn't make it back home. And if she was home, she was most likely fine. So the urge he felt to get back to the camp as soon as possible because of Kate was absolutely irrational. But it felt exactly the same like when he had decided to go after Kate after she had gone to explore the hatch with Locke. And back then she had been in danger. Coincidence, Jack told himself, but it didn't help. The worry didn't leave him and so Jack went as fast as he could with his hurt ankle without taking a break. In the late afternoon he had made it quite far. Another hour, maybe two, if I can keep my pace, he thought. He would be home before dust if nothing unexpected happened.

Sawyer had come two more times, silently giving Kate the bottled of water and she had silently expected it and drank until he allowed her to lie back down. It would soon be evening. The other survivors were starting fires to cook their dinner and to give them light and warmth during the night. Only Kate was facing another sleepless night. She would give everything to feel Jack's arms around her and hear his soothing voice. Her eyelids dropped close and she pressed the pillow even tighter around herself. She could almost hear his voice. She felt a soft hand on her shoulder. Kate smiled contently. Then she heard someone speaking to her, but it wasn't Jack. Kate opened her eyes.

"Kate, I'll stay with you for the night. Is that all right?" Claire asked softly. She had talked to Sun, Hurley and Sawyer and they had come to the conclusion that they would take shifts staying with Kate. Just in case she decided to do something to herself. No one was sure she wouldn't consider that in her current state.

Kate felt her heart break again. For a moment she had believed he were really there. Kate started sobbing helplessly again.

Suddenly Jack heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. The others had found him. Luckily he hadn't lost his gun when he fell down the cliff. Jack shot in the direction of the sound and heard a scream. He obviously had hurt one of them. Maybe his friends would look after him, so Jack could disappear from their sight by running into the direction where the trees were standing most tightly.

He was lucky. The sounds of the others became weaker; Jack was obviously removing himself from them. He tried to move fast, but silent. They would expect him to go back to his camp and they would try to catch him before he got there, because there were weapons and a lot of people who could deal with them at the camp. It was much easier to catch him alone.

Jack had no choice but to chose a different direction without departing too much from the camp. After he had walked for a while he found a place where the trees stood so tight that nobody would see him between them.

Jack wanted nothing more than get back to Kate to convince himself that she was all right. But he had to wait until the others gave up the search for him. He would stay awake during the night and leave as soon as there was enough light that he didn't have to use a torch. If he hurried, he would still be home at about 8 am.