Thanks for all the reviews...for those of you who gave advice and such as to any part of this story...thank you!
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Sometimes something happens, and we're too afraid to admit it. We see the clear signs, we hear the warnings but still refuse to see the truth. We all need rest every once in a while, some need more than others. And when it comes to letting rest actually happen, putting yourself in someone else's hands, laying pride aside-Kate always had a problem with that.
Kate jolted awake, feeling someone grabbing her.
"I'm awake!I'm...Charlie...what's wrong?"
Smiling with understanding, he handed her a cup. "Drink."He insisted.
Allowing the liquid into her mouth, she was relieved when she was no longer thirsty. "You know I wasn't asleep long."Kate said, stealing a glance at her watch. "Ten...Ten minutes.So, there's no need to wonder or-"
"I Understand...in any case, I do believe your shift is over.Why don't you try to sleep?''Charlie asked, walking towards Claire's bedside.
Picking up her bag from the floor, she placed her water bottles, book and flashlight back inside.
Standing up, she flung the bag over her shoulder. "I really wasn't sleeping...I was just..."
"Kate...Everyone on this bloody island gets tired sooner or later.You've been working yourself off down here...you down right deserve a moment's rest."He protested, suddenly distracted by a noise coming from Claire's bed.
"Charlie...''Claire whispered, trying to move, but wincing from the pain. "I...I thought I heard you."
Charlie begged himself not to fall apart. Seeing anyone like this was hard, but watching the one that he now realized he loved fighting this new sickness wasn't going to be easy.
"Has Jack been in this morning?"He asked Kate.
"Oh...No.He probably followed Sayid out into the jungle...I've got to talk to Sawyer.If Jack comes in...well.."Kate let her mind drift away, thinking of how Jack would react to her going to talk to him.
Someone had to, she knew that much. And Kate figured that if anyone could convince Sawyer to allow them to look inside the medicine, it would be her.
"You're talking to Sawyer?Why in-"
"Did you understand the charts?"Kate asked, wanting to change the subject. Wanting more than anything to understand what was happening to these people that she cared about.
Grabbing the one that was next to Claire's bed, Charlie flipped the clipboard open.
After a few minutes of reading, and some explaining from Kate, Charlie was sure he understood.
"Good...the next shift starts at ten this morning."Kate said, feeling slightly out of breath.
"No.No...He...Help...He..."
Everyone turned towards Shannon's bed. Kate ran over, wondering what what happening.
"Shannon! Shannon...can you hear me?"She pleaded, taking off her backpack.
Her eyes were wide open, but seemed slightly glazed over. It's like she had been daydreaming, or from the sounds she had been making, more like so called 'daymares'.
"Please...St..Stop...I..."
Pulling a cloth out of her bag, Kate poured water onto it, rubbing it across Shannon's forehead. "Shh... It's going to be okay...just...calm...there..."Kate said as Shannon's shaking started to slow down.
"I'm here...I'm he...re.Take me,too...help..."Shannon exclaimed, blasting out a puff of air.
Closing her eyes, her hands were shaky.
Kate glanced around the room, looking for the light Jack had used the night before on Claire.
"Shannon...Shannon...stay with me,okay?"Kate called, becoming desperate.
Her eyes opened slowly, staring at the ceiling.
"They were...here.Here to...take...take us to..."
"Who was here, Shannon?"Charlie asked, hoping to help.
Getting the cloth wet again, Kate rubbed it across Shannon's forehead. "Shannon?"She asked.
"I need you to tell me what happened...were you dreaming?''
"Dreaming?"Charlie asked. "How could she?Her eyes were wide open, I..."
"Charlie, you really aren't helping much right-"Kate stopped, sinking to the ground beside Shannon's bed.
"Kate?Kate, what's wrong?"Charlie asked.
Rubbing her eyes, Kate bunched her hands into fists. Everything was going to be okay. It had to be.
"I'm...fine.I'm fine."She said, trying to turn her attention back to Shannon.
"You just...what just happened?"Charlie asked, wishing Jack was there. He'd be able to make sense of this, despite the complex he could have sometimes. Maybe they didn't always agree on everything. But one thing was sure from that moment-Kate wasn't okay. Maybe it was the being trapped in the sick zone, or the limited contact with people. But something was wrong, or atleast it looked to him to be.
Shannon had finally calmed down, and had managed to swallow some water out of the cup that Charlie had poured for her. "I just checked her temperature...her fever is still high.Make sure that she keeps fluids down...They're both supposed to take medication soon. Sun made a fruit thing she said... I guess it's in that tub over there."Kate said, using the bed rail to stand.
Charlie grabbed her arm, causing a suspicious glance.
"I was...just trying to help."He protested, somewhat nervous.
Nodding, Kate picked her bag up off of the floor, walking over to Claire's bed. "Is everything alright?"
Claire feebly nodded, her throat being too sore to speak.
"Charlie's here if you need anything."
With that, Kate left the room. She knew it was early, so she decided she'd atleast follow part of what Jack had said by getting a few hours of sleep.
Entering the room, she was surprised to see him there, sound asleep. Feeling a smile creep its way across her mouth, she could have been content watching him sleep. The candle was starting to fade away, so she was carefult to not cause too much of a motion around it.
Laying down on a mattress on the far side of the room, she sunk into it, begging sleep to come.
Her mind went back to what had happened in the room just now. Shannon was having some sort of vision. Laughing to herself, Kate rolled onto her side. She was never one to believe in psychics, or visions. But the look on Shannon's face was one of pure fear. She truely felt that someone was coming.Or maybe going? Kate thought about what she had said, but dismissed it as part of paranoia or dilusion.
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When she woke up later, the room was empty. The Candle had been blown out, but a light bulb, which had been poorly covered littered light across the room.
Sitting up, she stretched, yawning. Ignoring the headache that now held her, Kate decided that she'd now go see Sawyer.
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Jack had just left the sick room when she shut the door.
"Hi."She said weakly, leaning up against the door.
"Where are you going?"He asked, pointing to the bag on her back.
"I...was hoping to convince Sawyer to let me see the medicine.I know..."She said, stopping him before he said anything.
"I know that you said you would.But Jack?"
He looked up at her, and wasn't surprised to see the look of determination in her eyes.
"Fine.I just need you to be careful when you're out there...try to stay further away from those who haven't been exposed to the Goodnight Syndrome...like Rose, Locke...Sawyer even."
Kate felt herself smirk at his last comment. "I promise you that I'll be careful."
"Okay..."Jack said, producing a piece of folded paper from his back pocket.
"Look for these...saying Sawyer actually lets you in.By the way...why didn't you come and get me earlier?"Jack asked, catching her off guard.
"You mean with..."
"Shannon.Yes.Granted, you took care of the situation well...what if-"
"Jack?"Kate said, putting a hand on his cheek, catching his attention.
He stared into her eyes, watching the emotion that swam there. The entire time they had been on the island, she had been one to volunteer to assist on any missions, and this wasn't going to be any exception. He felt like he should tell her not to go, that he'd handle it. But Jack knew that there was no changing Kate's mind once it was made.
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Making her way to Sawyer's tent, Kate prayed that everything would work out right.
She didn't actually pray, rather rehearse in her mind what she would say once she got there. While he was generally okay to work with an be around, asking him to look in what he considered 'his' belongings was a job noone looked foward too.
"Sawyer..."She called upon reaching his tent.
Lifting what he had considered the door, Sawyer stepped out.
"Freckles...nice to see ya. Lookin' a little pale after all that time in the sick zone...what brings you back up here to the land of the living?"
"I need to look in the medical supplies, Sawyer.I need you to let me look myself..."
"Hold it, Freckles..."Sawyer said, deciding to be difficult. It had been several days since he had last seen her and wether he cared to admit it or not, he hadn't been just 'okay' with that.
"I can't just let you in that easily...what am I gonna get in return?"
Rolling her eyes, Kate sighed. She didn't have time for any of Sawyer's games today.
"Look Sawyer-I've got the list right here...It'll take me a few minutes to look around in there.So can I?"
The wind picked up a little, allowing the clouds to roll in. Staring out at the ocean, Sawyer's hair blew in his face.
Reaching in her bag, she knew she'd eventually regret handing him anything, but it was a better trade at that moment than anything he had in mind.
Staring at what Kate held in her hand, Sawyer took in reluctantly. "You're gonna give up your gun that easily?On an island like this?"
Feeling a rain drop fall, Kate grew impatient. "Can I look now?"
Looking at the bottles, vials, and containers, Kate wondered about the people who any of the medicines had belonged to. Some of them had been on the plane in the first place, others had belonged to people on the flight.
Sawyer walked up behind her, looking at what she was doing. "Five different medications for two people?"He said,letting out a slow, high pitched whistle.
Placing the few that she had found in her backpack, Kate began to make her trek back to the hatch.
"Hey, Freckles-"Sawyer called, starting to run after her.
"You know...aren't people supposed to say thank you when they get things?I mean...it's what I always thought.Of course, I don't know where you.."
Kate turned to face him, prepared to make some sort of argument. Prepared to have a list of things about him that, at this moment, she wasn't sure of she liked. But as the wind picked up again, she suddenly felt weak. The trail that she'd have to travel back to the hatch suddenly seemed to stretch on and on.
"You alright?''Sawyer asked, trading in his attitude for genuine concern.
Her arms shaky, Kate nodded, preparing to walk back to the hatch. "I wish people would stop asking me if I'm alright.I've gotten along well this far, haven't I?"She said, using the tree to lean against.
"Maybe you should go back...have theDoc take a look at you."
"Sawyer, really...Jack can't help me with something that isn't wrong."Kate protested as the rain began to fall on the ground.
She tried to recall the last time it had rained on the island. Normally, it wouldn't have been that hard.
But with everything else that had been occupying her mind lately, she couldn't remember. Though she wasn't looking in his direction, she could feel Sawyer staring at her. She could feel the questions that were currently left unasked.
She didn't want to admit to feeling weak. She considered herself to be among the core group, the strong ones. Admitting otherwise in front of anyone, Sawyer any less wouldn't help her any.
Her last thoughts were that she should probably head backm before the storm got any worse.The last thing she remembered were her legs sinking beneath her.
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"Hey, anybody in here?"Sawyer called, carefully trying to balance Kate in one arm, holding the hatch door open with another.
Sayid came running towards him. "What happened?"
"I dunno...she was up, tryin' to bargain with me to take a look in the meds."Saywer said, trying to be louder than the rain.
"I thought somethin' seemed off with freckles.Can you take her in there?"
"You mean you aren't willing to go down there yourself?"Sayid questioned him, perhaps too sarcastically.
"I doubt my presence would be welcomed by the Doc...just take care of her."
After being assured by Sayid that Kate would be fine, Sawyer ran off, in hopes of finding something else to do. The island had caused everyone to become restless, it had put everyone on edge the past few months. Kate had been one of the few who actually understood him, and he felt her slipping away.
He'd never admit that he felt that way, of course.
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"Jack!...Jack!"Sayid called, holding Kate in his arms. "Jack!"
Jack opened the curtain the seperated the hallway from the rest of the area, surprised by what he found.
"What happened to her?Is she awake?"Jack asked, leading him into the room.
Laying her down on a bed, Sayid sighed. "I do not know..."He said, wiping away the rain drops that had pelted his face.
"You would have to ask Sawyer.He was the one that found her, I suppose.I found the plant...the one that Sun was talking about."He said, retrieving several fruitful flower stems from his bag.
"Thanks, Sayid..."Jack said, placing his attention on Kate. He couldn't help but feel guilty. He knew something was wrong, but had still left her alone. He should have gone instead.
"What do we do now, Jack?Everyone is falling around us-"
''Don't say that, Sayid..she's probably exhausted from all the work she's been doing lately...Come on, Kate..."He said, checking her temperature. Hitting his head on the metal post that held the bed, Jack mused.
"How the heck is this happening?"
"She was exposed before...maybe she developed the virus somehow?"
Jack shook his head, searching through her bag for the medicine she had brought. "She was exposed the whole time, it can't..." I don't want it to be...He thought to himself.
"So what do we do now?"Sayid said, voicing the thought that occupied Jack's mind.
Staring up at the man, Jack sighed. "Well, for now there's only one thing we can do.We wait."
A/N...so that's the second chapter...I realize there hasn't been much Jate yet...right now, I'm just getting to the 'core' of the story...where everything actually happens which'll probably involve more characters, surrounding around Jack and Kate.Anyways, I hope I did a fair job of keeping the characters well...in character.Reviews are greatly appreciated!