In honor of World Malaria Day 2012

As soon as Jack voiced his suspicions, the fear almost overwhelmed him.

"Malaria?" Sayid asked

Jack was struggling to stay composed at this point. He was searching his brain for a way to turn off the fear and be a doctor. He knew that if he was going to help Kate, he couldn't let the fear consume him. He shook his head and answered Sayid, "Yes, that's what her symptoms seem to indicate, although I've never seen a case of it myself. It's not something you see much of at an upscale suburban hospital in the US. But I should have known to expect something like this. We're on a tropical island in the South Pacific. There are mosquitoes everywhere, we've all been bitten."

"So you are saying we could all end up with it?" Sayid questioned

"It's possible, but not likely. We just need to keep a close eye on everyone else and make sure we do something before the symptoms get as bad as Kate's if it shows up in someone else." Jack replied

Kate's shivering was beginning to die down at and Jack noticed that her fever seemed to be getting a little lower. He moved to get up from the bed where he had been laying with her.

"We have to figure out how to treat this. They don't really teach you how to treat tropical diseases while stranded on a tropical island with virtually no medical supplies in med school. But I have to figure out how to help her. We need to control her fever and keep her hydrated. Sayid, I need you to go to the beach and get Sawyer and Sun and bring them back, quickly."

"Of course," Sayid responded and then rushed out of the room. After Sayid left, Jack moved a chair over by the bed and took Kate's hand. He felt useless at the moment, having nothing to help her but a cool cloth. Sawyer had taken all of the meds that he had collected when he ransacked the armory a few days earlier. The only medicine he had now was what was with him in his backpack, where Sayid found the Tylenol he had given Kate earlier. Jack had always felt a sense of animosity toward Sawyer but in this moment, he didn't think he had ever hated anyone with as much passion as he hated Sawyer. If only he had those medicines, he could be helping Kate right now instead of sitting by helplessly. But Jack also knew that there were no anti-malaria drugs in that stash. All he could hope for was something to keep her fever down, something to help with the nausea and most importantly, something to help with her pain. He also knew that he had to keep her hydrated, which meant getting her awake occasionally, which Jack remembered from med school, was often hard to do with malaria patients. Jack continued to sit by Kate's bedside, lost in his thoughts, waiting for Sayid to return with Sawyer and Sun.

Ana Lucia looked into the room, hoping for a chance to talk to Jack but when she saw the way Jack was looking at Kate, saw the pure terror in his eyes, and the way he was holding her hand, Ana Lucia knew that there was nothing for her to say and she returned to the other room to take care of the computer.

Meanwhile, Sayid ran through the jungle until he reached the beach camp. It didn't take him long to locate Sun, who was sitting outside with Claire and Aaron.

"Sun, I need you to come with me to the hatch right away. Jack needs your help, Kate is sick." Sayid rushed out.

"Kate is sick? What is wrong with her?" Sun inquired

"Jack isn't sure but he is extremely worried, he thinks she might have malaria."

"Malaria?" Claire and Sun both exclaimed at the same time.

"Yes, she has an extremely high fever and is having headaches. Jack needs someone to help him and he asked for you, Sun."

"Of course I'll help him." Sun replied as she rose to accompany Sayid back to the hatch.

"There is one more we must convince to join us," Sayid informed her as they walked toward Sawyer's tent

"Sawyer?" Sun asked

"Yes, we need him because he has all of the medicine."

Sawyer was sitting outside his tent, in his normal location, laid back with a book in his hand.

"Well if it ain't Suddam himself and he's brought Yoko Ono with him." Sawyer said as they approached him.

"Sawyer, we don't have time for your remarks today. You need to come with us back to the hatch."

"Well hold on now Suddam, I don't know if you noticed, but this hear ain't no commie-ville. I don't NEED to do anything, cept sit here and finish my book." Sawyer retorted

"You need to come with us because Kate is sick and I don't think you want to sit here and wait for her to die."

At the sound of Kate's name in the same sentence with the word die, Sawyer was on his feet. "What are ya talking about? What's wrong with her? Where is she? Where's the doc? Ain't he with her, playing hero? What does she need me for?" Sawyer rambled.

"She is with Jack in the hatch. He thinks she has malaria. She is really ill Sawyer and you have all of the medicine." Sayid explained

"Oh shit, I didn't even think about that. Let's go" All three of them then took off into the jungle towards the hatch.

Jack was still holding Kate's hand and trying to figure out the best course of action when the three burst into the hatch. Jack stepped out of the room where Kate was still sleeping and met the others in the main room. Jack immediately turned on Sawyer. "Kate is sick, really sick, the kind of sick that causes people to DIE. And there is nothing I can do to help her because I don't have any medicine to give her. Not that there was ever an abundance here, but what little there is that could help her, I don't have because you are on some insane power trip. She was crying out in pain and I couldn't stop it! If she dies because I couldn't help her, so help me, I'll kill you." Jack spat out, letting his frustrations get the best of him.

Sawyer was momentarily stunned by Jack's outburst. Of course he loved to push Jack's buttons, to do anything to get under his skin, and he loved to hold the upper hand in any game and by having the guns and meds, he definitely had the upper hand now, but he never considered that this could come at the expense of Kate. The thought of her crying out in pain with nothing to help was nearly enough to send him to his knees, though he would never let anyone know that. He also wasn't about to apologize to Jack for taking the upper hand, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let Kate suffer or die because of him. He simply nodded his head and said "I'll get them," and then rushed out of the hatch to retrieve the drugs as quickly as he could.

Jack took a moment to rein in his anger before turning to address Sun. "Sun, thank you for coming. Kate, I think she has malaria. There's no way I can tell for sure, but it's what her symptoms are indicating. I don't want you near her in case that's not what this is and it's contagious but I need your help. The drugs we have are limited, even with what Sawyer has. I need you to find anything you can in the jungle or in your garden that can help with pain or nausea or fever. You know plants in a way that I don't, so anything you can find to help, please."

"Of course Jack, I can think of a few things that might be helpful, I'll go collect those now." Sun responded and then turned to leave.

Jack then left Sayid and Ana Lucia and returned to Kate. He immediately put his hand on her forehead to check her temperature again. He noticed that it had risen once again. Jack retrieved the bowl of water and cloth and once again began to wipe her face and neck with the cool water. As he was doing so, he began to talk to her softly. It was something he had seen nurses and family members doing at the hospital where he worked in LA and had noticed that his patients who had someone talk to them seemed to recover much more quickly than those who didn't.

"Hey Kate, I'm back, I just stepped out to talk to Sawyer and Sun. Sawyer has gone to get some more medicine for you so hopefully we can help you get better soon. I think he was really concerned about you, but don't tell him that I told you. We need you to get better Kate. You're like the glue that keeps everything together here. I need you to get better. You make being stranded here bearable. So please, be ok."

Just as Jack was finishing his monologue, Sawyer returned carrying all of the medicine he had taken a few days ago. "Here, just take it." Sawyer said as he shoved the items at Jack. "How is she?"

"Her fever's just gone up again; I'm trying to get it back down. Hopefully there is something here that can help her, but at this point I just don't know." Jack's previous ire had been far overshadowed by his fear and concern for Kate by the time Sawyer returned. Jack immediately began to go through the medicine, separating out what he needed for Kate. Sawyer leaned over squeezed Kate's hand, "Feel better soon Freckles, we got some unfinished business to take care of when you wake up." With that, he turned and left the room.

Jack was able to find several drugs that might be helpful in his attempt to treat Kate's illness. There were antibiotics, which Jack knew was considered a last resort in treating malaria patients when nothing else was available, but at this point he was thrilled to find that. He also found some painkillers which he could give her if the intense headaches returned. He found an anti-nausea medication and he also found iron pills, which was a stroke of luck since anemia is one of the main problems cause by malaria and the iron could help with that. Jack was somewhat relieved by the items he found. He needed to get some of the drugs, especially the antibiotics into Kate immediately.

"Kate, wake up, come on now, I need you to wake up." Jack placed his hand on Kate's shoulder and tried to rouse her from her sleep but she didn't make any sign of waking. Jack put his hand behind her back and gently raised her up. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Kate, you need to take some medicine, it'll help you feel better, I promise, can you please wake up for me? I really need to see your pretty eyes now."

Kate eyes began to open slowly. Her eyes were wondering around, not seeming to focus on anything.

"Hey Kate! I'm glad you're awake," Jack smiled, relieved at seeing her awake. "Can you take some medicine for me now?" Kate turned her groggy eyes on Jack when she heard his voice.

"Jack? What's going on?"

"Kate, you're pretty sick, but it's nothing for you to be worried about. But I do need you to take some medicine." Jack told her as he handed her two pills and a glass of water. Kate took the pills and quickly swallowed them, as Jack held her up.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, I need to get up, there are things that need to be done." Kate tried to get out of bed but was too weak to even sit up on her own.

Jack gently pushed Kate back against the pillows. "Kate, you're sick, too sick to be getting out of bed right now. Just relax and let me take care of you."

Kate's eyes were already beginning to slide shut again. "But Jack," she feebly tried to protest.

"No buts Kate, I'm a doctor and my orders are for you to stay in bed. I promise that I won't let things fall apart while you rest. I've got your back, remember?"

"Ok"

"Before you go back to sleep though, I need to know how you are really feeling. I know you don't feel fine."

"Achy and tired and too hot."

"Does your head still hurt? Are you nauseous?" Jack asked, trying to figure out just how bad her symptoms were.

"My head still hurts; it's like a pressure building up and about to explode. I don't feel so nauseous anymore though."

"Ok, well then I'm going to give you a painkiller too so that hopefully that'll take care of it, ok?"

"Sure, you're the doctor," Kate replied

Jack handed her another pill which she took before settled back against the pillows.

"Jack, what's wrong with me? Tell me the truth. You look scared."

Jack sighed, he hadn't wanted to tell her what was wrong, he didn't want to scare her. But he couldn't lie to her either. "Kate, I can't be sure because I have no way to test for it, but I think you have malaria. Have you noticed any mosquito bites in the last few weeks?"

"Yeah I guess, but malaria? That's bad isn't it?" Kate seemed genuinely concerned for her own well being for the first time since Jack had met her.

"It is pretty bad but you don't need to worry, I promise that I'm going to take care of you. I won't let you down, you're too important," Jack confessed

"I know you won't, I trust you Jack," Kate whispered just before her eyes slide shut once again.