A/N: Many thanks once again for all the kind reviews and suggestions. And props to Foxygirl33 for helping me so much when I got stuck! All the best parts of this chapter came straight from her, believe me!

"What the hell…" Sawyer lunged forward in an effort to catch Kate, but he wasn't fast enough and she landed hard on the cave floor.

Sawyer tossed his bag aside and quickly knelt down beside her. "Freckles?" His tone was frantic. "Come on now, Freckles, wake up," he urged, trying to coax Kate to open her eyes.

"Hey! I could use some help over here!", he yelled to Michael and Hurley, who were still working on the showers.

"Whoa, whoa- what happened?", Michael asked, sprinting over to where Kate lay.

"She just… dropped," Sawyer explained, completely at a loss.

"Hurley, go get Jack," Michael instructed. Then he turned to Sawyer, "Help me move her."

Together, they carefully lifted Kate's limp body and carried her back to the infirmary cave.

"What do we do now?", Sawyer asked as he gently arranged her head on an airline pillow.

Michael shook his head. "I don't know, man. I mean, she's breathing, right? Maybe we should just wait for Jack?"

As if on cue, Jack came bursting into the caves. "What happened?" he called out, running to Kate's side.

Michael and Sawyer moved back to give Jack room to examine her. He gently placed one hand on either side of her face, "Kate. Come on back now, Kate. You have to open your eyes now."

But Kate wasn't responding. Her skin was on fire and her face was strangely white. Jack couldn't believe it; she had looked fine less than an hour ago. What could have happened? Suddenly, he looked up at Sawyer.

"She's burning up. What the hell was she doing?" he asked in an accusatory tone.

"Easy, Doc!", Sawyer intoned, his hands raised defensively. "She was takin' a walk in the damn jungle and I'm the one that tried to convince her to come back here! Or maybe you haven't noticed how stubborn she is?"

Jack looked away from Sawyer, shaking his head and cursing under his breath. "I shouldn't have left her." He looked back at Kate and forced himself to brush away the feelings of guilt; there would be plenty of time for that later. Right now he needed to concentrate on Kate.

"Michael, can you get some water?", he asked quickly.

"Sure, of course." Michael hurried toward the waterfall and Jack turned his attention back to Kate.

"We have to cool her down. Her body temperature is dangerously high," Jack said, putting his hand to Kate's face once more.

Sawyer stood above him, feeling frustrated that he couldn't do anything to help. He watched as Jack continued his attempts to rouse Kate. Hero looks even more serious than usual, he thought to himself. If that's possible…

"Look, Doc, can't you just give her some of those antibiotics you gave me? Ceph-a… whatever the hell it is?" Sawyer tried to control the desperation in his voice. "Hell, she can have mine…"

Jack glanced up in surprise, meeting Sawyer's eyes and realizingimmediately that he was serious. He had never seen anything to suggest selflessness in Sawyer before now, and he marveled at it for a moment, taking in the full meaning of Sawyer's offer.

Sawyer realized at once that he'd given too much away, exposed too much of how he felt about Kate. And to Jack, no less. But right then, with Kate lying unconscious in front of him, he didn't really care.

Jack looked at Sawyer for several seconds before answering. "It's not an infection," he explained quietly. "It's a poison."

Sawyer nodded and looked up as Michael returned with the water. Jack took it from him, dipped a cloth into it, and began running it over Kate's face and neck. He gently lifted her head and pulled her long hair away from the back of her neck, leaving the cool cloth in its place. He quickly took another and soaked it, once again running it over her face. "Come on, Kate," he whispered, willing her to open her eyes.

Kate's eyelids fluttered as she struggled back to consciousness. "Kate, can you hear me?", Jack asked, leaning over her. "Look at me, Kate. Open your eyes," he commanded. She blinked a few times, trying to focus her vision.

"Jack?", she asked weakly.

"Yeah, it's me." His face broke into a relieved smile. "You're okay. Try not to move." Jack rinsed the cloth and brought it back to her face.

"Come on, let's give her some space," Michael said to Sawyer. "Unless you need us to do anything, Jack?"

"Uh, no," Jack said, his eyes still on Kate's face. "I got it covered. Thanks."

Michael nodded and turned to go, but Sawyer lingered, a question in his eyes.

"She'll be okay," Jack assured him quietly. His voice sounded a lot more confident than he felt, but Sawyer nodded and left.

Jack looked back at Kate. Her eyelids were drifting downward again, but he could tell she was trying to fight it. "Stay with me, Kate," he urged, leaning over her. "Focus on my eyes."

"Jack?", she whispered.

"I'm right here," he said gently. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry, Jack," she managed weakly. "I didn't listen and…"

"Kate, you don't have anything to be sorry about. This isn't your fault," he assured her.

She nodded slightly, eyelids bobbing downward again. "I'm so hot…"

"I know," Jack replied, rinsing the cloth once again. "I'm working on that. You just relax."

"Thanks," she said, barely audibly, before falling into unconsciousness once more.