CHAPTER 12
Jack sat on the edge of the waterfall, staring up at the late evening skies above. A breeze blew, but the weather was not particularly cold – it never was around here, and yet it still chilled him to the bone. He had stayed a while talking with Locke, trying to get to the bottom of what was troubling him, but to no avail. Locke was still insisting that he was well on the road to recovery. After a while Jack had insisted Locke needed to rest and had given him something to help him sleep. At first the man had refused it as he had done earlier, but Jack could detect the pain in his voice and had deduced, without too much effort, that the sleep he had managed to grab earlier in the day had been broken and restless.
Finally Locke had relented, and he had sat with him for what had felt like hours after he had taken the medication – until he was sure that the man really was asleep.
If nothing else rest could only help to speed up the rate of his recovery, even if the relief from his pain would only be temporary.
Now he sat alone, lost in a trail of his own thoughts and contemplations… it was not often he got a moment like this to himself and he was not sure whether he liked it or not. The sound of the waterfall soothed him, he was so exhausted that had his thoughts not been so troubled it might have lulled him to sleep… but it was also far too quiet at the caves tonight, and it unnerved him. It made him wander what kind of storm might be brewing beneath the smoke screen of tranquillity.
"Hey, you OK?"
Jack turned, startled, to see Hurley approaching him. He greeted the man with a friendly, if not slightly forced, smile.
"Hey yourself." He said, and nodded. "I'm fine."
"You sure dude? You look a bit…" Hurley paused, obviously trying to think of the correct phrasing. "Out of it…"
"Just a little tired." Jack smiled. "What with Locke and Charlie, and now Sawyer, I've had a lot to think about lately. I guess I can't have been sleeping properly."
"I just came up here to fill some of these." Hurley said indicating a rucksack full of empty water bottles. "I don't suppose you could give me a hand in filling them all could you?" He asked.
"Sure." Jack said before he had even thought about it, as Hurley began to unload the bottles and started filling the first one. There were eight of them in total. Jack didn't know whether they were all for Hurley himself or whether he was planning on sharing them around as he very often did. On the first evening of the crash it had been Hurley who had taken it upon himself to distribute food and water to the hungry survivors – a job he still sometimes took upon himself to do, especially if someone was sick or unable to get up to the caves themselves for water. He had helped Claire out in this way many a time during her pregnancy, and his kindness hadn't escaped Jack's notice.
As Jack began filling the bottles he sought comfort in the monotony of the whole process and it was not until he was onto filling his fourth bottle that he heard the sound of someone else approaching. He turned, this time to see Dexter – a young man Jack had treated several times for severe dehydration during their first few days on the island.
"Hello Jack." Dexter greeted him rather formally. Jack assumed this was due to the fact that they hadn't actually spoken much since those first few days – Dexter living as he did at the beach and Jack at the caves – but at least he had abandoned addressing him as 'Doctor' at last.
"Hi, Dexter isn't it?" Jack asked, knowing his name but trying to start up a conversation with the young man.
"That's right." Dexter nodded. "I just came up to get some water… I… I…" Suddenly Dexter swayed and fell, fortunately Jack noticed just in time to pre-empt what was about to happen and sprang forward to catch him before he hit the ground.
"Dude, what's up with him?" Hurley asked Jack as he lowered Dexter to the ground.
"I don't know." Jack told him, all traces of his previous exhaustion gone now as he switched back into doctor mode. At a second glance Dexter still appeared fully conscious however, and his cheeks began to glow and burn with embarrassment.
"Sorry…" The young man apologised. "I don't know what came over me."
"How do you feel now?" Jack asked him.
"I never felt ill or anything in the first place." Dexter replied. "Just fuzzy all of a sudden. Normally when that's about to happen I can tell."
Jack placed his hand to Dexter's forehead to check his temperature. He pulled it away quite quickly, looking concerned. "You're burning up!" He told him.
"I told you I feel fine." Dexter responded, standing up.
Jack followed his lead, still looking concerned. He was about to question Dexter further when he heard he's name being called from elsewhere.
"Jack! JACK!"
"I'm here." He called. As he turned Dexter managed to slip away unnoticed – he obviously didn't want anything further to do with Jack, despite the fact that he had only been trying to help. Kate came running out of one of nearby caves where Sawyer was supposed to be resting.
"Jack, it's Sawyer!" Kate exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked her.
"I don't know." Kate replied. "Something's really wrong… we had an argument."
"What happened?" He pressed.
"He seemed unable to catch his breath." Kate explained, tears in her eyes as she spoke. "But then he appeared to recover… and now he won't stop vomiting."
"I'm coming!" Jack said jumping up, but Kate did not move. "Kate I'm going to need your help." Jack indicated for her to follow.
"It's my fault… it's all my fault…"
He didn't hear as Kate muttered something under her breath as she followed…
