A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I am thinking of a twist in the way this story is going. I originally was thinking of creating a new story and putting it in it but I decided to add it in this story. Even if you didn't understand that stuff that's okay.

Chapter 9

Jack knelt down immediately and cushioned Desmond's weak body in his arms. One look at the poor man and you didn't need a PHD in Medicine to know he was in critical condition. Jack scanned his body with an experienced eye and wracked his brain for what he could possibly do without the proper medical instruments. It appeared Desmond's leg was broken. An open fracture, by the look of the dark stain on his pant leg. Quite possibly a concussion on the head where he saw a bruise and swelling. All this he saw in a matter of seconds. His next reaction was directed towards Kate.

"We need to get him over to the beach."

Kate bent down, ready to pick up Desmond, "Wait, it's better to make a stretcher. He shouldn't be carried." Jack told her, "Get something…like a pole and see if you could find a sturdy board for him to lie on." Jack directed, entering his almighty-protective-doctor mode, where the orders seemed to flow out of his mouth like water.

Kate left without a word; she knew by Jack's voice that this was a serious situation and that he would never forgive himself if he lost yet another on the island. Shifting through the debris, it was hard to find something that did not have splinters in it, but Kate finally came across a light weight aluminum shelf that felt sturdy enough to hold Desmond.

"Here," She said bringing it to him, "Will this do?"

"Yeah," Jack had torn part of his shirt off and wrapped it around Desmond's leg. The English man moaned, his eyes closed tightly. They carefully moved him onto the makeshift stretcher and gingerly lifted it. The two struggled under the weight, but they managed to get him out of the hatch. Kate dreadfully realized it would be a long way back to the beach.

The going was tough; they had made little progress in the hour they had been walking. After what seemed like days, they brought Desmond back to the beach and over to Jack's tent. Desmond was laid onto a blanket and Jack began treating his wounds with efficiency. In addition to he collection of aliments, Desmond had a deep gash running down his side, Jack was about to reach for a small bottle of rubbing alcohol for it when he realized it was empty, Damn it!He swore silently to himself. He opened up one of his briefcases and discovered that those bottles were also empty. Well Jack, your all by yourself now.

Jack heard someone walking through the sand behind his back, he looked behind his shoulder and saw that it was Sayid.

"Desmond right?" The other man asked.

"Yes," Jack confirmed.

"Will he be alright?"

"Too early to tell," Jack replied, "Hey could you ask everyone if they have any alcohol on them?"

"Gonna try to escape your trouble, doc?" Sawyer spoke as he popped out from behind a palm tree.

"No," Jack tried to make his voice as unemotional as possible. He couldn't believe Sawyer could be so insensitive.

"I'll get right on it, Jack," Sayid said leaving the two alone with Desmond.

"Hey buddy we all thought you were dead!" Sawyer said as he saw Desmond opening his eyes. Here we go, thought Jack, getting irritated. But then he noticed that Desmond was waking up.

The man opened his eyes and looked weakly around, "No," He replied in a heavy Irish accent, "Why am I still here? This has got to be a dream."

"Take it easy, here have some water." Jack advised.

Jack watched as the other man feebly drank some of the water. He could barely hold his head up and had so little strength that Jack feared he would collapse again.

"Can you tell us what happened in the hatch?" Jack asked, hoping to get some more information.

"Brother, I pushed the fail safe. And it should have killed me." Desmond weakly replied.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Sawyer asked as he stood behind Jack watching.

"Locke destroyed the computer. I had too."

"Locke?" Jack was startled by this, "So he caused timer to run down to zero?"

"Yes."

Locke was sitting in the sand watching the tide roll in and out. He felt overwhelmed with grief, about what he had done. It was his fault the hatch exploded and Eko died. Whenever he closed his eye, he remembered it. The shame was like a weight tied to him and he dragged it with him wherever he went. He couldn't get away from it, how was he ever going to live?

I was never meant to do this! He thought. I'm no use around here, so I should just stay out of everyone's way and not get involved. That's what he'd do. Maybe go off into the jungle and live alone, where they would never find him. But wasn't he going to do that when Boone died? The only thing that had made him go back was the light in the hatch. Well, he had found out what that light was and his stupid idea about the hatch being meant for him to open was wrong.

Locke picked himself up and was about to go get his things and leave when he saw Hurley who was approaching him.

"Hey Locke," He called waving.

Locke didn't return the gesture.

"Yo, everyone was wondering if you were gonna catch some more boars. Food's kinda getting scarce." Hurley said in his laid back tone of voice.

"I don't know. I don't do that sort of thing anymore." Locke spoke looking down at the ground.

"What are you talking about, man? You were the only one who brought knives and could catch anything. We need to eat."

"Hurley, it would be wiser not to have me catch boar, or be around. Everyone would be a lot safer."

"Um, okay dude." Hurley said confused, "I guess we have to find someone else who knows that stuff." He walked off, glancing behind his shoulder every once and a while to look back at Locke.

"Locke!"

Someone else called his name. It seemed angrier and more determined. Locke spotted Jack's silhouette in the distance covering ground alarmingly fast. Jack trudged over to him with anger showing in his eyes. "What did you do in the hatch!" He called.

Locke held his ground waiting patiently for the doctor to get there. Well it's too late, I guess they found out.

Jack stood in front of the older man, waiting for an answer, "Desmond told me you broke the computer."

"Desmond's back?" Locke questioned, at least he wasn't responsible for that death.

"Yes, he told me you broke the computer. Is that why the hatch exploded?" Jack struggled to keep his anger under control. He felt this strong urge to punch Locke in the face. But that was how Jack always got when he treated a patient. He over sympathized with them and felt it was his duty to fix everything. That included the police work.

"Alright, I admit, I did break the computer. I was too overconfident that the hatch wasn't real. Isn't that what you thought Jack? You wanted the timer to run all the way down to zero and see what happened. That's what I was trying to do."

"So you risked everyone's lives on it? And you broke it on purpose?" Jack accused.

"Yes."

"You caused Eko's death and maybe even Desmond's!" Jack couldn't control his emotions anymore.

"I know Jack! You don't need to tell me how much I screwed up! Locke's voice grew louder. He walked away from Jack and headed over to get his things. They don't want me here! Well, I'll do them all a favor and leave.

A/N: Thanks again for the support. The Writing Fairy has a new stroy up about POC and I think it's written very well. You should review hers cause it's her first one and everyone deserves a lot of reviews on their first fanfic.