Jack gives Walt a physcial examination while Walt recounts his experiences.
It was early afternoon when the group of seven, Walt, Michael, Sawyer, Sayid, Sun, Jin, and Hurley made their triumphant return to the caves. Shortly before they came in sight, they were greeted by a four-legged creature, but fortunately one that barked. Vincent sprinted toward Walt, but hesitated for an instant. The Labrador's master looked a lot different from the last time he had seen him. But through all his trials, Walt's scent had remained recognizable, and soon Walt was giving Vincent a big hug while the pet licked Walt's face.
After a solid minute, the group resumed their march. Kate, Claire, and Charlie were outside, doting on Aaron. Kate heard the commotion first, stood in shock for a second, and gasped, "Look who's back!" pointing at the large group. Kate's wounds after the rescue attempt by her, Jack, and Danielle through the rooms and tunnels connected to the hatch, had healed quite well, thanks to the good doctor's attention. The burns and moderate cuts on her arms and legs, suffered when Jack had to throw the grenades at that Others' machine, were no longer visible, and she ran easily toward Walt and Vincent. She laughed to herself when she got a good look at how Walt was dressed, wondering if there was any way she could convince Sawyer or Jack to run around in a loincloth. As she got closer, she grew startled at how much he had grown, though the facial features were familiar.
"Walt! It's so good to see you!" Walt had to endure a hug. "You've grown so! And those muscles! What happened to you down there?"
A few seconds later Claire, carrying Aaron, and Charlie came up. Walt got another hug from Claire, and high-fived Charlie. They asked similar questions, and Walt responded,
"Hey, Aaron's got a lot bigger too!"
The baby was now four months old, and to Walt had obviously grown a lot since he had only seen Claire's child as a newborn.
Before Walt could get very far with his story, Michael and the rest of the group caught up, and Michael was insisting that Walt see Jack.
"I think Jack is in the caves, doing some doctor stuff I suppose," responded Kate.
"All right Walt, you can stay here until I find Jack." Michael rushed toward the caves to find Jack. Along the way he crossed paths with Shannon.
"You're back!" exclaimed the blonde. "Did you find … ?"
"Yes, we got Walt, he's right over there. I bet he'd like to talk with you."
Shannon hurried down the path from which Michael had come, and soon met up with a crowd.
Walt spotted her, and immediately said, "Thank you for taking good care of Vincent. I was sure you were the best choice."
Shannon hesitated, surprised like all the others by Walt's appearance. "You're welcome Walt, that was very kind of you. But Vincent did run off a few times. I didn't like tying his leash to a tree or something all the time, but he always eventually came back."
Walt was in too good a mood to complain. "That's all right. Now I know what it feels like to be tied up all the time, and I don't want to do that to Vincent ever again."
"You were tied up all the time? Like that?"
Walt gave a quick explanation to everyone at once. "I wasn't really tied up all the time. Pretty much only at night when I got chained to a bed. During the day those Others had me working in these mines, digging out some mineral that I have some crazy ability to detect."
While Walt was giving his explanation, Michael had found Jack in the caves. Before Jack could say anything, Michael blurted out, "Jack, we found Walt and brought him back. He's been through a terrible ordeal. He's been slaving away in the mines for months. He looks healthy, but told me the Others gave him injections from time to time that … seem to have made him grow quite fast. The French woman's daughter was also there, and we got her out and reunited with Danielle. They're together now, and may pay you a visit tomorrow. But I want you to give Walt a complete physical now. I'm warning you, he looks a lot different."
Jack was amazed at Michael's tale, but quickly replied, "Of course, bring him in, I'll set up everything I need." Jack expected Michael was exaggerating, as some worried parents might, but as Walt entered the caves, Jack took a look at him and almost swallowed his tongue. The boy looked six inches taller, and sported an Afro that added another foot to his height. He looked much more muscular, which was obvious because he was wearing very brief shorts. To be honest, they looked more like an African native's loincloth from any number of old movies. Having been criticized for his bedside manner in the past, Jack fumbled for something appropriate to say.
"Great to have you back, Walt, but you know you don't have to disrobe before entering the doctor's office."
Walt chuckled. "Hi Doctor Jack. I haven't had anything else to robe since soon after I was kidnapped. But I didn't need anything else; it was hot down there all the time. It felt funny at first, but I got used to them, and they're really comfortable. Alex made them for me. I outgrew a few of them. And it's good to see you, too."
Jack composed himself and remembered what it was like to act like a doctor.
"That's interesting, Walt. Now hop onto this table, and lie down."
Walt did as instructed. Jack began his examination as Michael looked on. Walt's heartbeat was strong and regular, though slow like a well-conditioned athlete, his respiration normal, and his reflexes fantastic. But what surprised Jack the most was Walt's growth. Instead of the skinny ten-year-old Jack had known, Walt resembled a very well developed thirteen or fourteen year old. After sitting up, Walt got a kick out of flexing his muscles as Jack requested.
"Now your father tells me you were given some injections. Please describe them."
"Oh, those were awful. They hurt so much for a minute that I had to be tied to a chair or bed to stop me hurting anyone. After the pain stopped, I felt some kind of tingling in my head. It gave me the ability to sense this mineral the Others were after. They claimed they were sick and needed it for their cure. But there were side effects, mainly this rapid growth. I had to cut my finger and toenails every day, and my hair got kind of long."
Walt patted his Afro as if wasn't too big a deal.
"This may be serious, Walt, but thank goodness you won't have any more of those injections. Do you remember when you got them?"
"Pretty much. I got the first one like the day after they took me. The second was right after I tried to communicate with Mr. Locke. The third was right after that explosion when I got buried in mud up to here." Walt held his hand up a little higher than his head.
Michael had to explain. "Remember when you and Kate, and Danielle tried to blast through those doors you found in the hatch? Apparently that caused a cave-in in the tunnel Walt was working in at the time."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Jack. "We had no idea you could be hurt by that."
"It worked out all right. I was scared for a little while, but then I could hear Alex's voice when I got the mud cleared away from my head. I was stuck pretty good, but I was standing on the floor. It took at least an hour to get out of that. Oh, and then I crawled and walked along the top of the mud pile, and when I got near the end, I sank in real deep again and made Alex laugh for the first time. We cooperated much better after that."
Jack was astounded. "Well, I'm glad that episode worked out all right for you. Is there anything else I should know?"
Walt glanced at Michael, but hiding things from the doctor wasn't a good idea. "Well, there was the one time I almost went crazy. It was right I was tapping those messages with Mr. Locke. The Others punished me by tying me to a table, and letting water drip on me. They knocked me out with something – chloroform? – and when I woke up, I was all stretched out, like this."
Walt re-enacted the water torture by lying back on the table and extending his limbs. "I couldn't move my arms and legs at all. And then water was dripping from a pipe, landing on me here and here and here." Walt tapped his head between his eyes, the center of his chest, and his navel in succession. "They just left me there, for hours. I felt like I was going to go mad."
Jack was revolted at the description. It was a wonder Walt hadn't lost his mind, and Jack asked, "How did you avoid going mad?"
Walt continued, "It was weird, but I pictured what I would look like as a comic book character. I just realized, Mr. Locke once said I should picture things in my mind's eye. Well, I pictured someone helplessly spread-eagled and dressed in just a silly little loincloth, and I thought it so funny I passed out laughing. But I was terrified of the Others for weeks and months after that. They made Alex chain both of my hands and feet to my bed every night after that, but not tightly, more like this."
Walt moved his hands to the side of his head, so that his elbows were bent at the familiar right angles.
"Before then it was usually only one hand or foot. After it was so annoying lying there so helpless each night. But I got used to it, and then was disgusted that I was used to it, like it was normal. I hated living in fear like that, but I got over it by something strange. The last time I was injected, I had Alex chain me very tightly to my bed. The Others made her give me the last two injections. I had to be restrained anyway, and I wanted to conquer my fear of the Others. It worked, after ten or fifteen minutes it was over. Alex and I trusted each other completely after that, and we figured out how to cooperate with a rescue effort. But am I weird for wanting to be tied down like that? The previous times I was injected I was tied to a chair."
Jack didn't know what to say at first. Then he decided, "Walt, after what you have been through nothing can be considered weird. It sounds unusual, but it makes sense in a way under those circumstances. Frankly, it's a miracle your mind didn't snap. I think we're done here, I just like to conduct a few tests outside."
Jack had Walt do some calisthenics. Walt did sixty pushups in a minute, and twenty-three pull-ups hanging from a tree branch. Tucking his toes under a tree root and his hands behind his head, he performed two hundred sit-ups in five minutes. He climbed vines easily, making Jack wish that he had had that relative strength when he needed to be rescued by Locke while hanging from that cliff. Next came some running, and Michael had to agree Walt was much faster than before.
"Like an Olympic athlete," mused Jack. "But he would probably fail a drug test right now with what he's been injected with."
Walt's body was glistening with sweat, but Jack had another test in mind. "Since you're dressed for it, how about a little swim?"
"I'm not that great at swimming, but I can try. Actually I'm sure the water would feel good about now."
Walt, Michael and Jack walked to pond a short distance from the caves. Walt stepped in, and soon was tearing through the water at triple his previous best pace. Back and forth several times, amazed at his ability. But he would have gone faster if it weren't for his massive mop of hair.
"I think that's enough for today, Walt," said Jack. "Let's go back to the caves. I'd like a sample of your blood and your hair. Sayid built a microscope while you were away, and it will come in handy now."
Michael suddenly noted, "Sayid! He was shot, rather grazed by a bullet in the rescue. He insists it's no big deal, but you should have a look at it, Jack."
Naturally the parent was more concerned with his child, but forgetting a bullet wound seemed unusual. But knowing Sayid, it probably really wasn't all that serious, or something he couldn't.
"I'll see Sayid right after this."
Jack's needle was nothing compared to the injections Walt had been experienced with the Others. Having collected the samples, Jack announced, "Walt appears to be in the best physical condition of anyone I've ever seen his age. I'd still like to run some tests, and won't know the results until tomorrow. In the meantime, I suggest you get a haircut. I saw Claire giving Charlie one shortly before you were kidnapped; I'm sure she'll be glad to do it."