Chapter 17

That evening it was still light when Jack returned to the caves. His lack of sleep the night before and the day's emergency had taken its toll on his tired body, but he was pleased to see Kate waiting for him as he came up the path from the beach. She was smiling warmly as she soaked her dark hair in the water from the waterfall, recoiling slightly with the shock of its unexpected chill.

"Hey." She grinned as he approached her.

"You'll give yourself a fever if you carry on like that." Jack observed, eyeing critically the half full bottle of water which she was now holding.

"I'm such a mess." Kate pointed out as Jack smiled back at her, removing the bottle firmly from her loose grip as he held her – drawing her closer to him as he tipped its remaining contents away, causing the pool of water to splash and ripple violently at his feet.

"You look great." He reassured her as their lips locked in a brief moment of passion before they pulled away, embracing each other tightly.

"How's Dexter?" Kate asked.

"He's doing well." Jack told her with a brief nod of his head, indicating that he was feeling positive about his progress. "He won't be up and around for a while yet, but the drip worked so with fluids we should begin to notice an improvement in his condition within a day or so."

"That's good." Kate smiled absent mindedly as she felt the heat of Jack's warm torso against her damp face, and snuggled her head in closer to his body – rejoicing in the moment of uninterrupted contact between the two. They continued to sit in silence for a while until Jack noticed that Kate appeared to be falling asleep and he delicately stroked her soft cheek as he tried to wake her gently.

"You look exhausted." He commented as she opened her eyes. "Go and get some rest Kate. I need to check on Sawyer and Locke anyway. Sawyer's wounds will need dressing by now." Jack knew full well why Kate still appeared so tired and was immediately consumed with guilt with the knowledge that the drugs he had given her the night before had still fully not worked their way out of her system.

"Are you sure?" She asked him drowsily as she looked up at him with lazy eyes. "You don't need any help with anything?"

"Kate I'm sure I can handle things." Jack smiled down at her as he helped her up.

"What about Sawyer?" She asked as an after-thought as she staggered unsteadily on her feet, watching with a slight smile as Jack struggled to steady himself, trying not to topple over on top of Kate.

"Sorry." She apologised.

"I don't think he's in any state to give me much trouble." Jack explained, as he kissed her passionately on the lips. Then watching her walk groggily away he swiftly turning his attentions to his two patients – forcing himself not to think about the traumatic events of the night before… having to believe that what he had done had been the right thing to do.