On the short walk from the beach to the hatch, Kate fell asleep in Jack's arms. Jack was terribly worried about Kate, knowing how strong and independent she usually was and how weak she had been when he found her. Jack knew that he had to get Kate's fever down and soon. He kept a frenzied pace until he reached the hatch. He burst the door open in such a frantic manner that he startled Sayid and Ana Lucia, who were keep watch over Henry Gale and the button in the hatch. Once they saw that Jack was carrying a practically unconscious Kate, Sayid jumped up to assist.
"Jack, what happened?" Sayid asked
"She's sick, she's burning up, we have to get her fever down and soon." Jack responded.
Jack carried Kate into the small bedroom and laid her on the bed.
"Sayid, can you bring me a bowl of cool water and a cloth?"
"Of course, Jack" Sayid turned and left the room to retrieve the items Jack had requested.
Jack then turned his attention fully on Kate, noticing that she was paler than she had been when they left the beach and that her fever had also risen.
"Kate, can you wake up for me? I need you to help me out, come on now, wake up."
Jack tried to wake Kate up but he wasn't having any luck and his anxiety was increasing rapidly. He reached out and tried to gently shake her awake but got no result. Sayid then returned with the water and cloth that Jack had requested.
"Thanks Sayid, now can you look and see if there is a thermometer in here anywhere? I really need to get an accurate reading of her temperature."
Sayid began to look through all of the medical supplies located in the hatch while Jack dipped the cloth in the cool water and began running it across Kate's face. He spoke gently to Kate as he did so, trying to bring her out of her sleep.
"Come on Kate, I know you're tired, you have every right to be tired, you're always doing things for other people, but I need you to wake up right now, just for a few minutes so I can know how you're feeling. Come on Kate, I need to see your beautiful eyes."
Sayid returned carrying a thermometer that looked as if it were fifty years old, and in all honesty, it probably was, but Jack was grateful for it nonetheless. He carefully stuck it under Kate's tongue and waited to get a reading.
"104.1, we can't let her fever get any higher. A degree higher and there is the possibility of irreversible brain damage. We can't let that happen, not to her." Jack stated in the direction of Sayid but was more a declaration to himself.
"How do we get her fever down Jack?" Sayid questioned
"We are going to have to put her in the shower. Can you go turn the water on to a cool temperature? Not too cold though, we don't want to send her into shock."
"Of course" Sayid replied before walking out of the room.
Jack turned his attention back to Kate, speaking to her unconscious form once again while gently removing her shoes and socks. "Kate, we have to get your fever down so we need to cool your body by putting you in chilly water. It'll be a bit of a shock at first, but you'll be ok, I promise, you'll be ok." Jack picked her up and carried her into the small bathroom where Sayid was waiting for them with the shower running. Jack stepped into the shower holding Kate, both of them still in their clothes. As soon as the cold water hit Kate's skin, she began to stir. She tried to remove herself from Jack's grasp and get out of reach of the cold water, but Jack held her tightly, refusing to let her get away from the cool stream.
"Kate, I know it's uncomfortable but it's necessary. It's just for a few minutes and then we can get out, I promise, shh, it's ok. You're going to be ok."
Jack sat in the shower with Kate trying to figure out what could be plaguing her small body that would cause a fever of such epic proportions. The more Jack tried to come up with an answer, the more distraught he became.
Sayid watched from his spot by the door as Jack attempted to help the island's own fugitive. Sayid, along with everyone else on the island, save Jack and Kate, knew that Kate held a very special place in Jack's heart and vice versa. It was written all over his face at that moment. Sayid was aware that Jack cared about everyone on the island, undoubtedly more than anyone else. Jack was constantly looking after everyone else, often at the expense of his own wellbeing. However, in this moment, it was obvious that he was agonized over the situation with Kate in a way that he would not be over any of the other castaways.
"Jack, what do you think is wrong with her?" he quietly asked the doctor.
"I don't know. There are a thousand things that I know of that it could be and a thousand more unknown tropical diseases that could infest this island. Without talking to her, knowing more of her symptoms, seeing blood work…I just don't know." Jack replied in an anguished voice.
After several minutes of sitting in the shower with Kate, trying to calm her, and softly conversing with Sayid, Jack decided it was time to get her out of the water. He slowly stood up and Sayid handed him a towel to dry the two of them off with. Jack took great care drying Kate off and then carried her back into the bedroom. As he passed Ana Lucia in the hallway, he briefly acknowledged her presence, only to ask her to retrieve dry clothes for Kate. Though it had once seemed that Jack and Ana Lucia were close, in that moment, it was obvious that in a choice between Kate and Ana Lucia, Jack's heart and mind belonged only with Kate. Jack sat with Kate on his lap until Ana Lucia returned, to prevent the bed from getting wet. As they waited, he returned the thermometer to her mouth and got an updated reading on her temperature. He let out a small sigh as he saw that it had gone down a bit, to 103.5. Not much improvement, but some nonetheless. Ana Lucia returned then with dry clothes for both Jack and Kate. Jack nodded in thanks to her but had no other words to offer her at the moment and she silently slipped out of the room. With the drop in her temperature, Kate was beginning to regain a sense of her surroundings. Jack saw her slowly opening her eyes just as he was in the process of putting dry clothes on her.
"Hey Kate, come on, wake up now. Are you awake?" He asked, softly rubbing her cheek.
"Jack?" Kate asked weakly
"Yeah Kate, it's me, how are you feeling?" Jack asked her as he placed a t-shirt over head and positioned her back in the bed.
"Jack?" Kate asked again even fainter than before.
"Kate I'm right here, I'm with you, just like I told you I would be. But it's really important right now that you tell me how you are feeling. I need to know so I can help you feel better."
"Jack, I'm going to be sick." Kate murmured. Jack didn't even have time to react before the contents of Kate's small breakfast were regurgitated onto the floor of the bedroom. Kate fell back against the pillows in the bed once she finished throwing up. Sayid moved into the room to assist in cleaning the mess while Jack continued to focus his attention on Kate.
"Jack, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I didn't know I was going to be sick." Kate whispered in apology for the mess she had made.
"Kate, don't even think about that, it's not a big deal, we'll take care of it. Do you feel any better now that you've gotten in out of your system?" Jack asked her patiently.
"Not really, I still feel nauseous and my head is killing me. I've never had a headache this bad in my life, Jack. It feels like my head is going to explode.
"Ok, I'm going to give you something to help with your headache as soon as you can answer a few more questions for me, ok?" Jack asked her. At this point, Jack had completely taken on the role of doctor and was determined to figure out what was making Kate sick so that he could make her well.
"Ok," Kate agreed, even though Jack could already see her eyelids beginning to droop again.
"Come on, Kate, stay awake for me, please. Have you been drinking enough water and eating regularly?"
Kate gave a small "yes" in response.
"Did anything happen on your hike with Claire that could have made you sick?"
Kate didn't even register that Jack knew of her hike when she had tried to keep it a secret from him. She was too weak and tired to care at this point. She simply shook her head "no" and thought no more of it.
"Does anything besides your head and your stomach hurt?" Jack continued with his questioning.
All of the sudden Kate began to shiver, as if a sudden burst of cool air had entered the room, when in fact, no such thing had happened. Jack pulled a blanket up over her but she continued to shiver and did not answer his question.
"Kate?" He asked hoping to prompt an answer to his previous question
"Jack, I'm so cold," was her only response. In a matter of seconds, Jack watched her go from completely still to shaking almost as violently as if she were having a seizure. Jack began piling all of the blankets he could find on her but still her shivering didn't subside.
"JJJJaacckkkk, I cccan't ssstopp ssshhhakkinnng." Kate mumbled through her chattering teeth.
"I know, sweetheart, I know." Jack replied as he ran his large hand across her delicate face. Neither Jack nor Kate realized that he had just called her sweetheart, but Sayid who was watching from the corner, definitely took note of it.
"Jackkkk, eeeeverythingggg hurts, my my my, wwhhoolleee body." Kate eventually managed to state through her frenzied shivering.
"Shhh," Jack tried to soothe her, but with little success. Finally, realizing that he was going to be unable to stop her shivering from where he was, Jack climbed into bed with Kate and pulled her back to his chest, wrapping his arms and legs around her small body. From this position, Jack was able to hold Kate closely enough to help control the shaking, though it was not enough to make it stop. "Shh, Kate, I've got you and I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. Just relax, you're ok." Jack whispered softly into her ear.
Looking up, Jack addressed Sayid, "Go look through the medicine, find anything that is a fever reducer, Tylenol, Advil, anything, and quickly!" Sayid immediately ran off to comply with Jack's request. As Jack and Kate were left alone in the room, Kate turned her head to look into Jack's eyes. Jack was immediately unnerved by the vacant look in her eyes, almost as if she didn't know where she was or what was happening. He also noticed her eyes beginning to drift shut.
"Kate, don't fall asleep, not yet!" He stated loudly enough to jar her from her near restful state. Sayid returned then with a bottle of Tylenol and water, which he handed to Jack.
Jack helped Kate sit up and gave her a few of the Tylenol and some water, which she swallowed without much fight. Jack then lowered Kate and himself back to the mattress, where she was asleep within sixty seconds. Jack was highly concerned by her high fever, vomiting, and shivering but her inability to stay awake for more than a couple of minutes was causing him the greatest worry. And with no more than Tylenol to give her at the moment, Jack knew that combating even the simplest of symptoms could be a life threatening challenge, and Kate definitely had more than that simplest of symptoms.
Jack continued to lay with Kate, even after she had fallen asleep again. Sayid once again noticed the special manner with which Jack dealt with Kate. Clearing his throat, he looked in Jack's direction and asked "Do you have any better idea now of what this might be? Do we need to be concerned about an epidemic here?"
Jack looked up and said," We are stranded on a tropical island, there are millions of disease carrying pests on this island, aside from all of the supernatural things we have encountered thus far. High fever, vomiting, headache, chills, those are symptoms of almost every tropic disease known to man and probably most that aren't yet known," Jack declared, with an obvious edge to his tone.
Sayid could tell from the look in Jack's eyes that this wasn't the entirety of what he was thinking. "There are thousands of possibilities, but you have idea of what this might be, don't you? You have your suspicions and are afraid to admit them? Is it that bad?"
Jack looked Sayid straight in the eye at this point and Sayid could see the fear and panic there. "Yes, I have my suspicions and yes I am afraid Sayid...I think she has malaria," Jack responded in a shaky voice.