"Welcome back." Ellie sleep-laden voice reverberated off the makeshift walls of the tent. Kate, who was creeping around in the dark trying to find her bed, almost jumped out of her skin.

"I thought you were sleeping." She whispered, trying to think of a reasonable explanation for why she herself was awake.

"Well that much is obvious." Ellie yawned, snuggling down underneath the airline blanket she used as a quilt.

"Yeah...about that..." Kate stumbled over her words.

"You and Jack really should forget about this whole secrecy thing." Ellie paused and coughed, "Everyone knows anyway."

"They do?" Kate asked, genuinely shocked. As far as she was aware, it was only Ellie and Noah who knew that she and Jack were now officially 'an item'. They weren't public about it; apart from the day of Ellie and Noah's first date when they had held hands across the beach – there hadn't even been the slightest hint of a public display of affection. And they were careful not to discuss 'relationship' stuff; i.e. their recent night time rendez-vous in Jack's tent, within earshot of anyone. Even in her half-asleep state, Ellie knew that Kate's mind was whirring; trying to understand how everyone could know about her and Jack.

"You two may think you're good at the whole secrets thing, but really? Just made it more obvious. People played along cos they thought it was what you wanted." All this was said from a strange disembodied voice; Ellie had now buried herself right underneath the blanket and was curled into a ball. "Look at it this way, at least you get to have an all-nighter rather than a booty call." Kate was shocked, but had to laugh. However, her laughing was stopped abruptly by a hacking cough coming from Ellie's bed.

"You don't sound too good." She said, crouching beside Ellie and pulling away the blanket. All she could see in the darkness was the shawdowy outline of Ellie's body, shivering.

"I'm just cold. It's nothing." Ellie murmered, before coughing again.

"Yeah, sure." Kate said. She reached out a hand and felt around for Ellie's forehead.

"That was my eye. And that's my ear." Mumbled Ellie.

"It's dark." Kate replied, her palm finally making contact with Ellie's forehead. Her burning hot forehead.

"Sweetie, are you feeling ok?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

"Yes." Ellie lied, followed by another hacking cough. "Sort of."

"Hold on a sec. I'm gonna go get Jack. Wait here." Kate left hurriedly, retracing her steps to Jack's tent, and leaving Ellie muttering "That's a shame, I was planning on bunny hopping my way to Venezuela. Guess I'll have to do your thing instead."

Jack entered the tent white-knight style; complete with blinding flash of light, courtesy of the emergency flashlight he had brought with him. He knelt beside Ellie's bed and felt her forehead. His palm felt refreshingly cool; Ellie hadn't realised she had a fever until she had felt the cold skin of Kate's palm.

"Hey." He said in a low, soothing voice.

"You don't need to do the doctor voice, there's nothing wrong with me." Jack shot a worried look at Kate; "How long has she been like this?"

"I don't know. I just got back, didn't I? But she was fine this evening, and sleeping normally when I left."

"I'm not sick. I'm cold. Very very cold." Ellie mumbled, closing her eyes and pulling her blanket tightly over her so that it covered her head. Jack pulled it down slightly, so that he could see her face clearly. He felt her forehead again,

"She's got a definite fever, maybe 103? It could be higher but it's hard to tell. And her lips are dry, she's dehydrated." He said to Kate. And then to Ellie; "What did you have to eat today?"

"Food." Ellie replied sarcastically. She opened her eyes and and when she saw Jack and Kate's worried expressions she relented. "Fruit; mangoes and guava. A bit of fish. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Does anything hurt?" Jack asked her.

"I'm achey. And it feels like I've got cotton wool instead of brains." Her eyes closed again.

"It's probably a virus. I'm gonna fetch you some more water, and then Kate and I'll keep an eye on you tonight. If you're not feeling better by morning I'll find you something that can help."

"Ok. But on one condition." Ellie said, stifling a small yawn.

"What?" Jack asked, wondering what she was going to say.

"The babysitter and the doctor aren't allowed to make out while the patient's trying to sleep." Ellie said. Jack and Kate watched her silently as she drifted off into sleep, then looked at each other and laughed; quietly so as not to wake her.

Two things were different the next morning. The first was that Jack and Kate became public; even though almost everyone on the island had already guessed. They decided not to make any kind of announcement and instead were more subtle; walking out of Kate and Ellie's tent holding hands, and sharing a passionate kiss by the water trough seemed to ensure that everyone who saw them got the message. And those who didn't witness the event were updated by those who had almost immediately.

The second thing was that Sawyer and Ellie started talking again. As soon as he found out Ellie had been sick the night before, Sawyer had grabbed her locket from his tent and bolted towards hers. Without knocking he burst through the makeshift opening, only to find her wide awake, fully dressed in shorts and a tank-top and sat cross legged on her bed; making an attempt to french braid her hair. When she saw him, she grinned at him.

"Hi." She shook her head, allowing her hair to fall naturally around her shoulders.

"Hey. You're ok?" Sawyer answered, slightly bewildered to find her not at death's door.

"What, you only wanted to talk to me if I was sick? I should probably be offended but I'm touched that you care."

"What're you goin' on about now Driftwood?"

"Only that you've been ignoring me for practically the last, I don't know, month ?"

"I have not. I've just been busy. So have you" he ended his statement in an accusatory tone.

"Are you jealous? Seriously? You're jealous 'cos I wanted to hang out with someone else for a while?"

"I am not jealous. Why would I be jealous?"

"Because you're my BFF." Ellie giggled, suddenly finding the situation hilarious. Sawyer looked confused. "Best friend forever?" Ellie asked,

"Yeah..right." Sawyer answered in his usual manner. "Anyway. I found this...a while ago. You want it back?" he asked her, holding out the locket. For a brief moment, a look of sad recognition flitted across Ellie's face, but before Sawyer could register the it, it was replaced by a small but pretty smile.

"I would love to have it back." She said, understanding that Sawyer's offer of her locket was his strange mode of an apology; and a confession that he had missed her. If she thought about it she had missed him too; not that she didn't enjoy spending time with Noah, but Sawyer was different. Brutally honest yet strangely intuitive. She could relax in his company. It was nice.

Ellie stood up and took the locket from Sawyer, undoing the clasp and placing it around her neck. She still wore the 'Ellie' name necklace that she had been wearing on her first day on the island – she never took it off, but she was glad she had her locket.

"So." She said, stepping past Sawyer and into the sunlight, "Do I look more like my mom or my dad?"

So that was chapter 16...