Thanks to everyone who reviewed my first chapter, and to everyone who read my first chapter even if you didn't review. I hope you liked it, and I hope you like Chapter 2. So here goes...
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Chapter 2
They were both still in bed when they heard footsteps in the hallway. Kate jumped up and stood behind the door, and Sawyer hurried over and stood on the other side. When the door opened, Kate grabbed the doorknob and swung it back, then forward as hard as she could, knocking out the woman who had been bringing in their breakfast. Luckily she was alone as she had been the other mornings, and Sawyer grabbed Kate's hand and they stepped over the woman's body and ran down the hall. Just as they got to the door at the end of the hallway, a man's voice behind them yelled "Stop now and no one will get hurt!" Sawyer tried to open the door, but it was locked, and Kate turned to look behind them. Immediately a shot rang out, and Kate slumped over against Sawyer. He kicked the door open and picked her up and ran out into the jungle.
Two men followed them out the door, but didn't continue the chase into the jungle. Sawyer heard one of them say "She's no good to us now."
When he thought he was far enough away, he stopped where they could be hidden by an overhang and lowered Kate to the ground. She was conscious, but weak. He took out a bandana that he had in his pocket and pressed it against the wound on her chest. "Sawyer….what… what happened?"
"Shhh… don't try to talk. You've been shot. We need to get you to Jack." He raised her head and shoulders up against him. "I don't think they're following us anymore. Do you think you can walk?" She nodded and tried to move, but made it only a few inches before her head fell back against his legs and her eyes closed. Dammit. He touched her face, and her eyes fluttered open. He pulled her up so she was standing. "Come on Freckles, we're off to see the wizard."
He knew Jack would be able to fix her. He was the hero. He could fix anything and anyone, as long as it wasn't already too late, like it had been for Boone and Shannon. So he needed to get her home quickly, before it was too late.
Home, he thought. He had never thought of this island, or the hatch, as home. But since they'd been here about two months and there didn't seem to be any chance of rescue, he figured he better start making it a home. If they survived this, that is. She was slumped against him now, and he didn't think she could walk at all. So he picked her up from under the arms as you would pick up a child, and put her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder. He helped her wrap her legs around his waist and he put his right arm around her back and carefully put his left arm under her buttocks to help hold her there. She was pretty much out of it or she'd have slapped his arm away at that little move. A small smile crossed his lips at the thought of that. We will survive this, we have to. She had chosen him over Jack. Now he had something to live for, and he wasn't about to let it go.
He walked as quickly as he could through the jungle, hoping he was on the right path. He never had been good at tracking and he wasn't sure he was going the right way to get to the hatch. If she was awake she would have told him how to get there. She could find a trail better than anyone on the island. But she wasn't conscious enough to help him now. So he had to let his instincts guide him. As he walked he thought back to the crash….
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He remembered the second day they were on this god-forsaken island, she had stepped in and helped break up a fight between him and Sayid. That fight surely would have ended in someone's death, probably his own, at the hands of the trained torturer had they been allowed to keep fighting. He owed her for that.
When she, Sayid, Boone, Shannon, and Charlie had gone off to find higher ground to see if the transceiver would work, he decided to join them. He didn't know why, but he was drawn to her for some reason. As he grabbed her hand to help her up the steep mountain, he had felt… something…. He wasn't sure what, but it was something different than he'd ever felt before. He felt a connection, more than just their sweaty dirt-stained hands touching as they climbed the cliff. He owed her for that.
And when the brush started rustling and they heard growling and movement towards them, everyone had started running. Everyone except him. He stood there to face it, whatever it was going to turn out to be. What did he have to live for? He didn't care. And as he stood there, pulling out the gun he had found on the US Marshal, aiming it at whatever was charging at him, he heard her yell his name from the distance, "Sawyer!". She had later told him how she tried to turn back for him, but Sayid wouldn't let her. But she had tried. He owed her for that.
After shooting what turned out to be a polar bear, everyone wanted to know where he got the gun. She had grabbed it out of the back of his pants and pointed it at him. He remembered thinking go ahead, shoot me. But he knew she wouldn't, she couldn't. Sayid told her how to eject the magazine from the grip, and as she handed it back to him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her close. Even in that tense situation, he had felt that connection again. He owed her for that.
As they were walking back to the beach, Sayid said they should make camp for the night, but he didn't want to stay. When he had pulled out the gun and tried to get the clip back so he could go back alone, she had told him to put his gun back in his pants. He knew that was a metaphor for something else that he intended to discuss with her at a later time. But she had convinced him to stay and make camp with them because of the "monster" that could have attacked him if he had walked through the jungle alone at night. She cared about me even back then. He owed her for that.
He remembered how, as they all sat around the campfire that night discussing how the plane went off course and the radio transmission by the French chick, he'd looked at her discreetly, many times, and noticed the trail of freckles across her nose and cheeks. It was the first time he had called her by the nickname he gave her, and it just stuck. She later said she liked it when he called her Freckles. He owed her for that.
He remembered the following night when they had found boars in the fuselage of the plane. They all ran and she had run straight into his arms, by accident of course, but she stayed there for a few minutes after the boars had run away and the commotion had died down. He felt like he had protected her. It was nice to feel needed. He owed her for that.
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And she needed him now more than ever. He stopped walking and looked around. He spotted something about 10 yards away. He walked over to it and realized it was one of their backpacks from the day they were kidnapped. So we must be on the right track. Damn, I'm gettin' better at this, he thought. He picked up the backpack and put it on his shoulder. The trees were dense and even though it was about midday, it was hard to see where he was going. His arms were numb from holding her and his legs were unstable, but there was no way in hell he was giving up. He shifted Kate to his other hip carefully. She moaned as he did so. "Sorry Freckles," he whispered, hoping he hadn't put her in any more pain than she was already feeling. He glanced down at her face, her eyes closed, and planted a quick kiss on the top of her head. Then he began walking again, still hoping he really was getting better at this and was on the right path.
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Is Sawyer on the right path? Will he get Kate back to Jack in time? Stay tuned to find out!
Please read and review. Thanks!
