If Kate wasn't wide awake before, she most definately wasn't now. Jack had picked her up seeing as she was adament on not moving, and carried her back to where he sat. He didn't even attempt to move her from his lap, or to remove her head from the part of flesh where his neck met his shoulder. Here it was: Kate, terrified. Her whole body was trembling, and her eyes were wide whenever he craned his neck to see. Her tiny hands had made fists so tight that her knuckles where white.
Whispers had not been heard for at least two years, which is why it came as such a shock to the others. Charlie was sure that it can't have been true, until Claire had intervened by asking him why a four year old would lie. Jack knew what was happening though: The Others were back, and they were back for Kate.
Eventually, Jack knew that Kate was uncomfortable in the position of half sitting, half standing, and he moved her so that she was sitting as she usually was, but she quickly balled up and clung onto him.
"Jesus Christ," Charlie exhaled. "She's pale and everything."
Looking down, Jack saw that Charlie was right, Kate's face had gone deathly pale. He pretended to be playing with her hair for a moment so that he could take her pulse, and just as he suspected, it was racing way above its usual rhythm. There was only one diagnosis Jack could make, and that was pure, undetered fear.
But what could he do? He knew that he had a terrible bedside manner, and people were always telling him, so how could he comfort this child? He looked at Claire at a loss, and she shook her head. "No, Jack." She said. "She needs you."
Jack sighed. "What do I do?" The others could see that Jack was truly helpless. He wanted to help Kate so much, but didn't know what to do for her. It would have been easier if, like before, all she needed was an arm around her shoulder, or an embrace with a kiss to make her feel at ease, but Jack had been embracing this little girl for an hour and she had not calmed down. The fact that her pulse was so racy after an hour was only adding to his worry. He needed to help her before she got sick.
"Comfort her." Claire answered. "She needs to know that everything's going to be fine, and she needs to hear it from you."
Jack was silent for a moment, and then looked down at Kate again. Claire was right, she needed to hear it from him. She was staring at the fire as though watching a movie in it's flames, entranced, but not truthfully seeing it really. Her head was rested gently on Jack's chest, so that her whole face was lit up with the glow of the fire, and from the orange cast shadow, he could see the tears brimming in her eyes. One of them felll down her cheek as if on impluse, and Jack felt his heart hitch for a moment.
"Kate." He said, and moved so that he turned her round in his lap. Now she was facing directly at him. One of his arms was behind her back, and she leaned back against it, not making eye contact with him. She was looking down at her lap now that she couldn't see the fire, but Jack could still see that two more tears had fallen, and more were set to come. He leaned his arm to wipe the tears away with his thumbs. "Are you ok?"
Way to ask a stupid question, Jack. Of course she isn't. But Kate didn't answer anyway. Not even a nod, or a shake of the head. Jack pushed some of her loose hair behind her ear. "Hey, it's all right." He told her in a softer voice, not much more than a whisper. He knew that everyone else present had their eyes on the pair, but he didn't care. "It's Ok, you're safe." He said.
She shook her head. "Whispers said stuff." She said.
"What did they say, Kate?" Jack asked. She didn't say anything. "It's Ok, you can tell me." He assured her.
"Whispers said Kate was a bad girl. Had to be punished. Had to go away with voices forever." She said. "Don't want to go with voices Jack-Jack. I want to stay here with you." More tears fell, and Jack scooped them up as he had the last ones, but they kept coming, so he stood her up, and wrapped his arms around her, feeling hers link around his neck. Again, she clung tightly, fearfully, so Jack held her tightly back, rubbing her back and stroking her hair.
"Don't worry, you're staying right here." Jack assured her. "I'm going to look after you, Ok? I'm going to make sure that you're safe." Kate pulled away from him and he looked into her eyes, seeing the unshed tears still buried in them. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He whispered in a promise. She nodded, and then hugged him again. Over her shoulder, Jack caught Claire's eye, and she smiled at him.
Kate slept very little that night, as almost every time she fell asleep she would wake up screaming about the 'voices' coming to take her away. Every time she woke up Jack would be ready, making sure that she knew that she was safe, and he had lost count of the times he had said "it's just a dream".
When the sun came up, Jack was sitting against the cave wall with Jack draped over his lap. She was finally asleep, and seeing as she was no longer stirring regularly, Jack had taken the opportunity to get some sleep himself. It had only been for an hour or so though, and he had taken to watching the colours of the sky changing as the sun rose. At one point during the night, when Kate had woken up, he had sat in that very spot with her, and pointed out the stars to her, and she had sat staring at them with awe filled eyes as she went back to sleep.
"Hear you had a rough night last night."
Jack looked up to see Sawyer coming into the cave and leaning against the wall. He chose not to elaborate on that statement. "Can I help you, Sawyer?" Jack asked.
"Nah, I'm just here on Claire's call." He said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder towards the direction of Claire, who was feeding Aaron. Jack raised an eyebrow in question. "She wants a break, so I'm taking the kid off her hands for a few hours, she said I should ask you as well, says you could do with the sleep."
Jack thought for a moment, with Kate being as scared as she was, was it wise to leave her with Sawyer? But then he reminded himself of how good Sawyer was with Aaron. Whenever Aaron was upset, it only took a story or a game from Sawyer for him to forget all about it. Maybe that was just what Kate needed - something to take her mind off it. She'd probably enjoy Aaron's company as well, as Jack had seen Aaron watching her strangely, welcoming the other youngster into the camp, and it would be good for Aaron to have someone his own age around, even if it was only temporarily. It was perfectly clear how much fun Kate had the previous morning running circles around Sawyer. Who knew? Maybe if she ran enough circles around him, the three would tire themselves out, and Kate and Aaron would sleep the whole night through, and Sawyer wouldn't have the energy to be annoying in the evening.
"You have any idea what you're letting yourself in for?" Jack asked with a cocky grin.
"I know." Sawyer said. "I've already experienced her idea of fun on the beach yesterday. If little Freckles is anything like that, then I've got a back-up plan." He said.
"What back-up plan?"
Sawyer grinned devilishly. "A little game called Blind Man's Buff." He said, and Jack rolled his eyes. "Last time I had Aaron doing it he was walking into trees all day. Slept well that night."
Sawyer left the cave, and Jack shook his head. He felt sorry for Sawyer thinking he could control Kate with a peice of fabric. She used to have eyes in the back of her head, and they were probably still there. In fact, it wouldn't surprise Jack at all if Sawyer ended up being blindfolded.
