About an hour after they returned, Jack sat doing his regular inventory of medical supplies that they had left, making notes for Sun on what herbs he needed more of. Kate was playing at the edge of the cave with Aaron while Claire sat and watched them from a rock, enjoying a well deserved rest. Jack kept checking on Kate, making sure she was all right, and she was laughing and running around just like any other day. He kept looking for symptoms from the bite, but it was only an hour afterwards, not even midday yet, so he knew that he probably had a worrying day ahead of him.

"What's the matter, Kate?" Claire asked.

Jack looked up, to see what she had asked that for. He saw Claire crouching infront of Kate while Aaron stood at her side, waiting to be able to play again. Kate had her right hand stretching across her neck so that it was sheilding her shoulder, as if trying to stop a pain in it, but it was strained like she couldn't quite reach the area she wanted to.

"Sore." Kate mumbled to Claire, who frowned.

"What's sore, sweetie?" She asked softly, in that motherly tone.

"Shoulder." She mumbled again, her voice sounding like she was about to cry, but trying to stop it.

"Can I have a look?" Claire asked, Kate shook her head. "Honey, I can't do anything if you don't show me." Kate considered this for a moment, and then turned around so that Claire could slip down the shoulder and look at her skin. She gasped. "Oh my God." Claire didn't take her eyes off of Kate's shoulder. "Jack!"

Jack came running straight away, and swore when he saw Kate's shoulder, immedietly falling on his knees and taking a better look. There was a lump around the bite the size of large coin, and the skin around it was breaking out in a rash. He reached out to put his fingers on the lump, but Kate recoiled and pulled away when he did, whimpering. "Hey, it's ok. I'm sorry." Jack said comfortingly, and Kate came back to him. "How long has it been hurting for?" He asked her, noticing her pale face.

She shrugged. "A while."

"Does it itch?" He asked her.

Kate nodded. "I can't scratch it." She complained. "I can't reach."

She strained her arm again but Jack gently pulled it down. "No, sweetie, don't scratch it. It will make it worse." He put a hand on her forehead. She was burning up. Not ten minutes ago she had been playing as usual, but now she was getting sicker by the minute. "Claire, can you get me a cold cloth?" Jack asked, and she went to give Aaron to Charlie before going into the cave to wet a cloth for Jack.

"Don't feel well, Jack-Jack." Kate whimpered again, and reached out for him, holding herself to him tightly. "Don't like it."

"I know, baby, I know." He said. "Don't you worry, Ok. I'm gonna make you all better."

Kate pulled away and retched. Jack moved so that he was behind her when she began throwing up. Her hair came loose and he safely tied it back before it got in her way. She vomited for a while, all the time Jack stayed there, rubbing her back, whispering words of comfort. If Kate had taught him anything, it was the bedside manner. Halfway through, she had started crying as well, scared and tired.

When she did finally stop, Jack lifted her up, and took her into the cave, where Claire had been waiting. He laid Kate down where she slept and Claire handed him the cloth. "Thank you."

"Do you need anything else?"

"Sun." He said, and Claire nodded, running off to find their Korean friend.

Jack sat down beside Kate, who was breathing hard. Her eyes were looking everywhere, moving quickly. "Kate?" He said softly, wiping her forehead down with a cloth before picking up a bottle of water. He helped her to sit up for a moment, letting her lean against him. "Kate, I need you to drink some water. Can you do that for me?" He asked. She didn't reply, so he lifted the bottle to her lips, tipping it slowly. She drank it, and he smiled slightly. "Good girl." He said.

Instead of laying her back down on the bed, he moved onto it with the cloth in his hand so that she could lay comfortably in his arms. He sat cross-legged, supporting Kate so her back was leaned against his chest, her head just below his shoulder. He could feel each rise and fall her chest. She said nothing except for whimpering his name.

"I'm here, Kate, I'm right here." He said to her, wiping down her arms and neck to keep her cool. Sun appeared with Claire behind her, and she frowned when she saw Kate.

"What happened to her?"

"She's been bitten by something." Jack told her as she crouched by his side. "I need something to bring her fever down and fast." Sun nodded and rushed off to her garden.

Kate began crying again and Jack gently rocked her in his arms to try and soothe her. It didn't work, but her cries sounded weak, not strong as they had been before. Jack knew that it was only a matter of time before someone discovered a poisonous bug around the camp area, but they thought that Aaron had eaten one of every species already. Unless their bites had different properties to being eaten. After a while, a tired out Sun came running back into the cave.

"Did you find anything?" Jack asked.

Sun nodded. "I need her to drink this." She handed Jack a bowl of liquid that he recognised Sun using before for fevers. He didn't pretend to know the name of it, as it was a complicated name that he could never remember no matter how many times Sun tried to tell him. Jack nodded, and raised the bowl.

"Kate?" He asked her softly. "Kate, honey, listen to me. You're going to be all right, I promise. If you want to get better, you need to take some medicine for me, okay?" Kate nodded wearily. "Thats it, sweetie." He said, as he tipped the plant extract into her mouth and she swallowed. She grimaced at the taste, but didn't complain about it.

"Jack, you look scared." Sun observed.

"I am scared." He admitted.

"Why? It's just a fever."

"First of all; fevers are dangerous in young children, particularly as high as Kate's is. They're also potentially fatal when it comes to women with early pregnancies." This is what scared him most, particularly because hers was so high, and before she had turned into a child, Kate was pregnant. It was only five weeks, well, six weeks now, but this made it all the more dangerous. "Secondly, we don't know how poisonous this bug is. And I don't want anything to happen to her."

Sun looked at Jack as he turned his attention back to the child version of the woman he loved. "Kate brought you faith, Jack." Sun said. "Don't let this take it away from you."