"Claire—" Jack walked over to her purposefully. She had seemed flustered all day, "What's wrong?"
She glanced at him, then back down at the baby in her lap. "Oh, um, it's Charlie."
"What about Charlie?" Jack asked with concern.
"He, ah, got upset about something this morning and walked away. He's not back yet, and I'm getting worried."
"Upset about what, Claire? Did you two have a fight?"
"No! God no!" Claire laid her baby down on a blanket, "It was his sister."
"Sister? He's never mentioned a sister. Said he had no one who would care. Remember, during the cave in?"
"Ya, I do. She died shortly before…all this."
"Was she on the plane?"
"I don't think so."
Jack looked at the ground, thinking. Charlie, he knew, would take anything as an excuse to relapse. He knew that he'd have to be careful confronting him this time. He'd have to have evidence, otherwise Charlie would just get mad and deny it all.
Charlie moaned with pleasure and inhaled more of the intoxicating heroin. When his nose was full of the powder, he rubbed it on his gums feverishly, relishing the euphoria. What was wrong with feeling this good? Why had he ever agreed to stop before? High as the sky, Charlie staggered further out into the jungle. It was all of a sudden sunset again, and the red light filtered through the trees like blood dripping through a colander. "You all everybody!" he sang in a falsetto, nearly plowing into a tree, a giddy grin stretching his face grotesquely. Who cared where he ended up? He certainly didn't care about getting lost or eaten or any of those petty types of things. Charlie had his heroin, and that's all he needed to make his body sing.
"Where's Locke?" Jack asked no one in particular, storming off down the beach.
"Jack, what's going on?" Claire followed, carrying Aaron.
"I need to find Locke."
"I'm right here." John said, stepping out of the undergrowth, "What can I do for you?"
"We gotta go find Charlie." Jack's jaw was set, his eyes steely.
"Why do you need to find him so bad!" Claire was beginning to panic. She was missing something. She was sure of it. "He's just upset about his sister!"
Locke caught on quickly. "He must have found the plane."
Jack nodded shortly.
"What does that have to do with anything!" shrieked Claire, "What's wrong with Charlie!"
"Claire," Jack said, "I need you to stay here and keep an eye out for Charlie. If he comes back, don't let him leave again, no matter what state he's in, all right?"
"I'm not waiting here!" she was furious now. She had a right to know what the hell was going on. "Sun can watch Aaron." And with that she stomped off to find the Korean woman.
Always the opportunist, Sawyer sauntered over. "What's got Miss Mommy all upset?"
"Nothing." Jack said, stuffing water bottles into a backpack.
"Didn't look like 'nothing' to me, Doc." Sawyer looked around cooly, "I don't see her beloved Has-Been anywhere around. Must be all over him."
"Sawyer, for once, just shut up." Jack said wearily.
Claire had grabbed a backpack and water. Over Sawyer's shoulder, Jack saw her go stomping into the jungle. He brushed past Sawyer, who bristled angrily, and went after her. Locke fell in step as they plowed into the trees. A few soft words to Claire calmed her down sufficiently to make her see that Locke would be able to track Charlie far better than she could.