Claire hugged Aaron tightly, a sense of relief running over her body as the fear escaped. She watched Richard and Ted lay Eko down a few feet from her, their words muffled as she was Sawyer and Sayid emerge in the distance, carrying Locke. Her heart skipped a few beats and she stood, running to greet them.
John felt like half of a man staring into her crystal blue eyes, his heart sinking over her genuine, beautiful smile. His eyes shifted to the sand below him, he couldn't even bare to look at her.
He felt like an utter disappointment and all his hopes that one day she would be his were crushed by the horrid reality that he was paralyzed again, as if he was wretched from a wonderful dream and thrown back into a never ending nightmare.
"Oh John!" Claire cried out, her sweet voice like a song to his ears. "You're alive!"
He couldn't find the words to answer her, he felt as if his throat were closed and the words couldn't be set free. He gave a slow nod as Claire guided them to her shelter, telling them to leave John in her care.
Claire's gentle touch sent shivers down his arms and she surveyed the wounds on his face.
"I can't walk." He finally let slip. Claire looked into his eyes with concern. "I can't feel my legs." John added.
She tensed a little, and looked won at Aaron beside her. John couldn't tell what emotions were surging through her body at that moment. Claire looked back up at him and touched a rag to his cheek gently. She remained silent as she cleaned his wounds before she finally said, "You will be fine."
John didn't bother to reply, there weren't the right words to speak anyway. The assurance in her voice broke his heart and he knew he would not be fine, but he could not bring himself to tell her that he couldn't even walk before he ever wound up on the island.
Claire gave a nod then gave a small smile, "I know you will be fine, I know it."
----------------------------
Sawyer watched Jack, Kate and Alex return with Desmond and knew that he wasn't needed anymore, not that if they asked at that point he would honestly help but it did feel nice to be needed every now and then. His muscles ached and carrying John back to camp didn't make him feel any better. He walked towards his shelter and smirked, muttering, "Hut, sweet, hut," to himself before pulling back the flap.
He nearly fell back on his ass as he was greeted by a high pitched scream and two beautiful girls. Though the scream wasn't exactly how he would prefer to be greeted, the visual more then made up for it. He eyed the lanky, busty brunette and the gorgeous, petite blonde with the angry eyes laying before him and gave a wide smile.
"This my welcome home gift?" He laughed.
Aly screamed again and stood, shoving Sawyer away from the shelter.
"Hey hey now little girl, you come in my home and then get all territorial? Don't work that way, sweetheart."
"Oh...you must be Sawyer." Aly groaned.
"The one and only." He smirked, eyeing Aly up and down. Aly scoffed and slapped him in the jaw.
Sawyer's temper rose a bit and he grabbed her by the wrists, holding her arms in front of her chest.
"I ain't got a clue where you came from, or who you are but you ain't got no right to slap me around."
"Sawyer!" Sayid called out, running over, causing Sawyer to release his grip.
"I ain't gone but over a day and you've already sold my property?"
"I should have said something in the Hatch and I apologize. This is Aly, and the other girl is Kellie, they temporarily moved themselves in."
"Yeah, real temporary, I'll help you pack, sweetheart." Sawyer said with a glare.
"Don't call me sweetheart." Aly growled rubbing her wrists and glaring back at Sawyer.
"Where the hell did they come from?" Sawyer asked. Aly slipped back into the shelter, throwing her things around in obvious frustration.
"I was going to tell you, Jack and Kate together, but obviously you have discovered them first."
"Spit it out, Abu, ain't got all night."
"Apparently they were found floating on a raft just a bit off shore, apparently their father's yacht was attacked."
"Yeah, and I'm Han Solo."
"I believe them." Sayid stated.
"Well, can't complain...they're nice to look at, but I won't exactly be givin' no warm embraces right off the bat." He watched Kellie emerge from the shelter, in pajama shorts that left little to the imagination and a tight white tank top. Sawyer muttered something to himself and then stared at her legs.
"You know what, how about we let them stay with me after all?"
"Oh, fuck that." Aly exclaimed as she lifted the flap back and stepped out. She watched Kellie checking out Sawyer and rolled her eyes. "No, we'll be fine..uh...elsewhere."
"No, I think I'll stay, Aly." Kellie smiled, twirling her hair and giving Sawyer a few flirty glances.
"NO. KELLIE." Aly growled, locking arms with her sister and pulling her away. She lowered her voice, looking back at Sawyer every now and then whose eyes were locked on Kellie's ass. "Look, you don't know him, he could have Herpes. I know you're young, you have hormones and like myself can't go very long without sex, I'm begging you not to give into him. He looks sleazy, we don't do sleaze. Kellie..." Kellie was intently staring at Sawyer, biting at her lip seductively. Kellie grabbed her sisters chin, forcing her to look Aly in the eyes. "Think with your brain Kellie, I know its up there, NOT your lower extremities."
Kellie rolled her eyes. "I don't think he's sleazy at all." She sighed, "But whatever, I will do whatever you want just as long as I don't have to hear you bitch anymore."
Kellie walked back over to Sayid and Sawyer alongside her sister.
"It's rather late." Sayid pointed out. "We wouldn't be able to build a suitable shelter for you both, well, I could with no sleep..."
"Oh, no, we don't need you to loose ANY sleep."
"Don't say WE, Kellie. Yes, Sayid, start on our shelter." Aly ordered.
"Whoa there, Princess. Don't know where you're from but round here, new girl don't get to make the orders."
Sayid thought for a moment then made a suggestion. "You may stay with me for the night."
"Both of them?" Sawyer asked, a little disappointed. "How about you take her royal highness and I take Busty over here?"
Aly scoffed, Kellie wasn't sure if she was scoffing at Sawyer's remark or Kellie's lack of reaction but Kellie nodded. "I like that idea."
"What happened to sticking together, Kellie?" Aly groaned.
"I'll see you in the morning, sis, I'm exhausted." Kellie gave en exaggerated yawn and then slipped in to Sawyer's shelter before she even had to hear Aly whine.
Aly threw her arms up in surrender and grabbed the things that she had gathered from Sawyer's shelter and took off, following Sayid.
Kate and Jack still were too busy with Eko and Desmond to even notice the commotion surrounding the two girls. Sayid didn't feel the matter needed to be adressed any further and the girls did need their rest as he knew they would go through much interrogation the next day. Aly set down her things and adjusted the blankets, making herself comfortable.
"Stay on your side. I do carry Mace on my and I'm not afraid to use it, I am a light sleeper and I will obviously notice wandering hands. Watch yourself." Aly warned, waving her index finger in Sayid's face.
She could hear a rather loud giggle from her sister in Sawyer's shelter and it made her blood boil. "Oh she better not come to me whining about getting knocked up by some guy she found stranded on a desert island." She rolled over to her stomach and sighed. "Actually I hope she does so that I can point and laugh at how stupid she is for never listening to me in the first place."
She peered over at Sayid and whined. "Oh, why am I even talking to you?"
Sayid didn't quite know what to say to the girl, but he offered her another blanket and quietly began to speak. "I will be back soon, please try and get some sleep."
Aly gave a nod and closed her eyes, obviously more exhausted then she wanted to admit because she fell asleep almost instantly.
------------------------
"What can you tell us, Desmond?" Kate asked, sitting next to him.
"That I'd kill for a bloody drink." He smiled.
Kate, thinking ahead, handed him a small bottle of Vodka. He smiled wide, raising the bottle in her name before gulping it down.
Jack loomed over the two, wiping his brow. "I think Eko's going to be fine." He stated. "I'm worried about his hearing but Sun's helping take care of him. He's in and out of it."
"And John?" Kate asked. Desmond couldn't help but wonder the same thing.
"His legs...its strange. I can't even make a proper diagnosis. He had to have hit the desk pretty hard to have severe paralysis like this."
"Will he be alright?" Kate asked.
Jack shrugged. "This is a time will tell thing."
He sat in the sand to Desmond's left, eyeing Kate, who was seated to Desmon'd right.
Desmond groaned and brought his palm to his forehead, groaning in pain. "I've been in that bloody hole for over a day?"
Kate nodded. "What happened?"
Desmond sighed. "I'm not gonna point fingers, but Box man decided he didn't wanna push the bleedin' button. We get all locked up, and the big man's goin' off his trolley and tries to blow us outta there. I did what I needed to do to save this bloddy rock...I been in and out of it since I turned the bloomin' key. Down in that rat hole, the air thick, hard to breathe...aye, brotha, wasn't the best night o' my life eh?" Desmond turned to Kate with a wink and asked, "Got anymore of them, d'ya?"
Kate smiled. "I'm sure I could get you some more."
"I'd fancy that much, love."
Kate nodded and surprisingly walked over towards Hurley, who had ended up with a couple small bottles of alcohol due to some mishap with Sawyer, trying to avoid Jack or some strange Sawyer tale.
"Key?" Jack asked, folding his hands.
"Yeah." Desmond replied softly.
"There was a key, a last resort, a fail-safe...you turn the key, there ya go, everythin' solved. 'Cept I turned the key and don't remember what the bloody hell happened after I did."
Kate came and sat next to Desmond, handing him another small bottle, which he quickly finished off.
"I'm...not understanding." Jack said.
"Not sure I do either, brotha." Desmond smirked. "Guess we just sit real thankful that I'm alive, eh?"
"The sounds, the lights?" Kate asked.
Desmond shrugged. "I don't remember a thing. If you've got questions, you're askin the guy wonderin' what the answers are as much as you."
----------------------------
Charlie ran until he couldn't possibly run anymore. His lungs felt as if they were going to collapse as he struggled to take another breath. His head was spinning, his body ached...but he couldn't go back to camp. He couldn't face John, Eko or even Desmond. He couldn't face anyone at all and the mysteries of the humid jungle seemed much more appealing then answering questions and having conclusions leapt at. He stopped for a moment resting under a large tree, the ground moist soaking his pants, mud clinging to his shoes.
The jungle was dark, the air thick and warm, various animals scampering up trees, rustling through the bushes and calling out to lost mates. Charlie embraced the darkness, closing his eyes and pulling his hood up over his head. He pulled his knees to his chest, hugging his knees and resting his chin on them with a sigh.
He still didn't know why he ran in the first place, ran and left them all behind to suffer. He didn't know if it was guilt that he felt inside, all he knew was it couldn't be described in words. His head ached and his palms began to sweat, his mouth was try and his legs began to shake. His mind raced with thoughts, his eyelids so heavy he couldn't even open them again, he wanted to curl up and fall asleep, alone in the jungle, alone with his rampant thoughts and intense cravings for the one thing that could make it all right again, the answer and solution to all his problems. No one understood him there, and just now was Claire finally beginning to accept him again, could he give that all away for one hit, one simple solution? The heroin wouldn't last forever, even if he hadn't thrown it into the ocean. But he wanted it, he needed it. The low hum in his ears was driving him mad, and as he finally opened his eyes again, everything blurred, swirling with intense colors and broken images.
He struggled to keep his eyes open, focusing as best as he could on a figure in the distance.
He could hear his name, a gentle whisper on the light wind that rolled past him. Charlie...it called, beckoning him.
He closed his eyes and ripped them open, hoping they could focus clearly, hoping he could see who was standing before him.
He opened his eyes to Claire, but she didn't seem herself. He hair was matted and tangle, her cheeks stained with tears, her chest and arms blooded as she shook her head.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Charlie couldn't understand what she was saying. Over and over again she said, "Is í ding di féin a scoileann an dair."
"Claire?" He moaned, reaching out to touch her as his eyes fell heavy again. He forced them open, looking out into the darkness, alone.
"Oh bloody fantastic..." Charlie moaned, brining his palm to his forehead. He was already miserable, but now he was seeing things?
-------------------------------------
Sayid noticed Alex, alone, sitting down on the shore staring off into the ocean. He eyed Kate, Jack and Desmond who were all deep in conversation, and then walked down to the beach to sit beside the girl.
"I am Sayid." He introduced himself, offering a hand to the girl. She shook his hand gently. "I did not get to properly introduce myself, it is a pleasure to meet you Alex."
Alex gave a gentle smile. "I know...that you will not all be quick to trust me, but I hope that I can be helpful in any way."
"That is very honorable, Alex. Thank You." Sayid nodded. "Do you need a place to sleep tonight?" He asked.
Alex nodded. Sayid stood up and offered his hand to the girl, helping her up. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going to put the girl, but he didn't want her to alienate herself either. He walked over to Desmond, Kate and Jack and Kate immediately reached out to the girl with a warm smile.
"Oh, Alex! I'm sorry, I got to caught up in the moment I haven't pain any attention to you. Here, you can stay with me tonight and then in the morning you can come help me start working on the Hatch, how does that sound?"
Alex nodded, and sat in the sand next to Kate. Jack couldn't help but smile at Kate's genuinely sweet nature towards the girl and he felt gratitude towards the girl, even if he wasn't One Hundred Percent sure she could be trusted.
"Who is with Sawyer?" Kate asked, furrowing her brow in thought as she heard loud, girlish laughter from Sawyer's shelter.
"Oh...there is something I have been meaning to tell you..." Sayid trailed off.