When he reached the hatch, he found that Sayid and Hurley had brought all his things into the bedroom area, only this meant that he now had to walk to the other side of the hatch past several people. As he rushed past, a variety of people followed him, concerned for Kate's safety, wondering what was wrong; Sawyer, Locke, Mr Eko, Charlie and Sun. He didn't answer any of their questions. All he cared about was making Kate comfortable. She was now struggling to hold onto her consciousness again. Jack lay her down on the bottom bunk bed, and then settled seated on the edge of the bed.

Placing his hands either side of her face, he gently focused her head at him. "Kate, Kate..." Her eyes rolled to see him again, and he nodded at her. "Just focus on my voice, Kate, stay with me, you're going to be fine." She didn't answer, but every breath she took was still weezing horribly.

"Jack..." She moaned, bringing her hand to her neck weakly, still not having the strength.

"Wait, don't touch it." He said, reaching for the peroxide and a clean cloth. He dabbed it with the solution and held it to her neck. "I need to clean it, Kate, but it's going to hurt. I'm sorry."

He applied the peroxide, and where as before she would had simply winced, and been ashamed even of that, she didn't hide the tears that slipped down her cheeks, or the horrible heart-wenching moans that escaped her strained throat. When he had finished, he put the cloth to one side, and focused back on her face.

"Hurts..." She said in a quiet cry, not even trying to hide her pain or her fear from the onlookers. They weren't crowding, but were all still in the room, waiting to hear what had happened to her, and why. "So...much..."

"I know, I know." He whispered to her, wiping away some of her tears with his thumb. The sweetness of the gesture after all that she had caused only made her want to cry more.

"Had..to find...you..." She said weakly. "To...talk...to you."

Jack hushed her gently. "Shh...don't try to talk Ok." He said to her, brushing the now matted hair out of her eyes. "You're going to be alright..."

"Sorry..."

"Kate, it's just going to hurt more if you speak, hon. Try to relax." Neither of them realised that he had called her 'hon', but the others did, and Hurley nodded and annoyed Sawyer in the ribs.

"No...have to...tell you..." She struggled, taking deep breaths to control the pain. "I'm sorry...I...ran..." She said, holding his eyesight with hers and watching as his head moved forward and place another kiss on her forehead.

"Don't you worry about that, its Ok." She tried to give him a smile, but it came out as a grimace of pain with a moan. Jack reached into his bag, and produced two tiny pills. "Here, this will help with the pain."

He brought it up to her mouth, knowing from previous experience that the smaller pills were easier to dry swallow, and Kate took it into her mouth, swallowing it, immediately screaming out in pain. Jack hadn't expected such a tiny pill to cause her pain, and within seconds, had sat her up, and was soothing her back into regular breathing again whilst she leaned against him. "That's it...just breathe...good...that's it...I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."

He met Sawyer's eyes over her shoulder, and after a few seconds, the southerner made his way to the sink, approaching Jack with a glass of water. Now that Jack was sitting with Kate where she had been laying, he just handed to glass to him, and sat at the bottom of the bed.

"'Bout time you learned the whole whisper-in-the-ear trick, Doc." Sawyer told him seriously.

Jack nodded, and held the glass in his free arm, his other holding Kate to him.

"Kate, Kate, listen to me." Her whimpers died down. "This is a bit of role reversal, now isn't it? I've been told that my bedside manner sucks, so bear with me on this Ok? I'm sorry for whatever happened to you out there. When I saw you hanging from that tree, a bit of me died inside, knowing that I hadn't been able to keep the one good thing in my life safe. That's you, Kate, the one good thing I have left. And whoever did that to you, they're not coming near you again. 'Cause I'm here now, I'm with you, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. Now, I know that it hurts, but I need you to swallow this pill. The other one is useless on its own, but together they'll numb the pain long enough for you to get some sleep, and for the healing to begin. I hate seeing you in pain, it kills me, baby, really it does, but surely a few seconds is worth it for six hours..."

The others were staring at him dumbfounded. Not only was it revealed that Kate had been hanging from a tree, something that had frozen Charlie to the spot, but Jack had also refered to her as the one good thing in his life, and he had called her 'baby'. They knew that it was only a matter of time before the pair got together, but after the period of ignorance they'd had recently, it was definately a wake up call.

Kate nodded slowly, and Jack put the pill on her tongue, raising the glass of water to her lips. She took a few shaky gulps before, Jack passed the glass back to Sawyer, and brought the trembling Kate back firmly against him.

"That's it...well done, Kate...you did it..." He comforted, whispering softly to her.

Sawyer got up, and the left the room, as did the others, who all allowed the pair some space.

Jack still held Kate against him. The painful racking of sobs began to ease eventually while he whispered nothings to her to calm her. He leaned down to her ear when her crying eased, and the painkillers began to kick in.

"You really gave me a scare back there, Kate." He admitted again, holding her tightly incase she slipped away again. "I really though I'd lost you."

She shook her head against him, too weak to reply.

"It made me realise, though, how much I care for you." He continued. "Not a day goes by now when I don't regret not coming after you when you ran. I just want you to know, that I don't regret that kiss, not for a second. It meant everything to me." Kate lifted her head from leaning on his chest to leaning on his shoulder. "I love you, Kate." He told her.

She froze against him. Then, slowly, she leaned back, releasing herself from his hold, staring into those big, brown, sincere eyes. She could read people by their eyes, and he wasn't lying - he really loved her.

She found her voice again, glad that the painkillers had kicked in and she could speak a little better. "You...you love me?" She repeated. She wasn't questioning it, just making sure that this was really happening.

He nodded, not wavering his eyes for a second. "Yeah, I love you." He repeated.

For a second, neither of them did nothing. She remained in his arms, just inches apart from him. Then, her shocked face took on a transformation, and she smiled, her eyes filling with tears again, but this time not formed through pain. That smile was all Jack needed for reassurance. She never gave anyone that smile, except for him. It was the one that she reserved for all his doubts, and with that one small curve, they dissappeared.

"Jack... I, I love you too..." She whispered.

Jack grinned, and closed the gap between them. Their lips met this time in a gentle touch that slowly progressed. It wasn't rushed, or filled with helplessness as the last had been. Neither of them needed to wait for the shock to set in. It was simply perfect. Nothing was there to interrupt them, to scare them, or drive them away from each other. For once, Jack was needed no where else other than in the arms of the woman he loved. Even with his eyes closed, he could see her before him. It couldn't have been more magical. Her hands rested lightly on his chest, while he carressed the bare skin exposed underneath her shirt, his other hand stroking her hair. If it were up to them, it never would have ended, but they knew that the moment it did, the next could begin.

FIN