Jack sat by Kate's bedside for over twelve hours waiting for her to wake up. He was vaguely aware of Sawyer, Sayid and Locke dealing with the disaster from earlier in the day in the main room but none of that mattered to him as he watched Kate continue to battle a raging fever. After hours of trying to get her fever to subside, Kate finally began to stir.

"Kate, are you awake? Can you hear me?" Jack asked frantically when he saw her eyes fluttering.

"Jack?" Kate asked as her eyes flashed open

"I'm here Kate, everything is ok."

"Jack…it's too bright." Kate said as she quickly shut her eyes again

"What? Kate what do you mean?"

"My head hurts, please turn the lights off."

"Kate, you can see the light?" Jack asked as he began to feel a seed of hope growing.

"I see it and it's making my head hurt worse, please turn it off."

"Ok, Kate, I will, I promise but I need you to open your eyes and let me look at them first, can you do that?" Jack asked, hating to cause her pain but needing desperately to understand what was going on with her.

"I guess," Kate replied with uncertainty as she slowly opened her eyes.

Jack took the flashlight off the table by the bed and shined it in each of Kate's eyes. He felt his own eyes feel with tears when he saw her eyes respond to the light.

"Kate, can you see anything besides light? Can you make out shapes and colors?" Jack asked, needing to know the extent of her vision.

"Jack…I can see…I can see everything!" Kate said with glee, having just realized what was happening.

Jack immediately pulled her into a hug, "Kate, that's fantastic!"

"I'm not blind…I'm not useless…everything is going to be ok." Kate sighed with relief

"Kate, I'm so happy you can see again, but you were never useless. Do you understand that you saved my life today? You are unbelievable, always."

"Oh Jack, that really happened? That wasn't a dream?" Kate asked, realizing that three of her friends were now dead

"I'm afraid so, but I still have no idea why. And I have no idea how you did what you did to save me."

"I heard the gunshots and I knew you were in trouble and I knew I had to do something, I couldn't just hide here while you died. I remember firing the gun and then knowing that you were alive but everything else is a little fuzzy after that."

"Yeah, you passed out after that when your fever got out of control again. You've been asleep for over twelve hours now."

"Oh…"

"But don't worry, I think it was just the stress getting to you. You're still really weak and we have to be careful that you don't push yourself too hard or else this will keep happening. We just have to be careful. And you have to listen to your doctor." Jack said with a slight smile

"You mean my overprotective boyfriend who likes to boss my around by saying Doctor's Orders?"

"That would be me."

"Well Dr. Boyfriend, my head is still really hurting, can you please turn the lights off now?"

"Oh right, the lights." Jack said as he jumped up to turn off the lights.

"Here, take some more medicine for your headache, we want to make sure it doesn't get any worse." Jack said as he handed her thepills

"Yeah, I'll do whatever I have to to keep it from being like before," Kate said, cringing at the memory of her earlier bought of intense pain.

"Hey doc, we could use you out here," Sawyer said as he came into the room.

"Well, look who awake, the hero of the hour," Sawyer said when he realized that Kate was awake.

"Hey Sawyer," Kate replied quietly.

"Don't mean to interrupt, but we need the doc, we gotta figure out what our game plan is here."

"I want to come too." Kate said emphatically.

"Kate, remember what we just talked about? You need to rest and take it easy, no getting worked up right now."

"Jack, three of my friends just died and you almost died too, not to mention that I'm pretty sure I've almost died this week. There is no way that I manage to not be worked up. Please don't exclude for being sick. You told me I'm not useless, but maybe you were just saying that…" Kate said with a sudden sense of dejection.

"Kate, of course I meant that. You're right, you should be included in this game plan, you are still taking care of all of us, even while sick. But you have to promise me that you'll tell me if you get tired or your headache gets worse or ANYTHING."

"Ok, I can promise that." Kate said, happy to be allowed to be part of the decision making process once again.

"Doc, you sure it's a good idea? I mean, I know she ain't useless but maybe she needs to stay put for a while, let her figure out how to…you know, how to survive without being able to see."

"Sawyer, I can see now!" Kate exclaimed happily

"Well hot damn, why didn't nobody feel the need to share that tidbit with me? What're you laying around for then? Get yourself up and get to work woman!"

Jack moved to help Kate out of bed and wrapped his arm around her to support her once she was standing. However, she instantly began to sway, after not having been on her feet in so long. Sawyer immediately moved to her other side to help Jack support her and the three of them slowly made their way into the main room.

"Freckles, I know this is just what you always fantasized about, having two good looking men wrapped around your finger." Sawyer said, in an attempt to joke with her

"Sawyer, did you just call Jack good looking? I always thought you were more of a ladies man." Kate said with smile, finally feeling well enough to make a joke.

"Well, someone's feeling a little frisky today."

Jack helped Kate sit down on the couch as Sayid and Locke moved to join them.

"Good to see you up Kate." Sayid said when he saw her.

"Thank you."

"So, does anybody wanna let me know what the hell is going on in this place? Who was that psycho who convinced Mike to go all Rambo on Ana Lucia and Libby?"

"He had to be one of them, one of the Others," Locke spoke up

"Yeah but they didn't seem too interested in getting him back." Jack said

"Guys, have you told everyone else about this? Does…does Hurley know?" Kate asked suddenly

"Ah shit, Montezuma had himself a crush on poor ole Libby didn't he?" Sawyer said in his best attempt at sympathy

"He's going to be devastated," Kate replied

Just as she finished speaking, Hurley came into the room carrying blankets.

"Woah, what's going on? Kate, dude your awake!" Hurley said with excitement

The others looked up at him with sympathy written all over their faces.

"Hurley, come sit down for a minute," Jack said

"Dude, I can't, Libby is waiting for me. She should be here though, have you guys seen her?"

"Hurley…" Kate started but couldn't bring herself to finish

"Hurley, Libby is here but something happened…" Jack tried.

"What do you mean? Is she sick too? She was fine earlier?"

"Hugo, Libby's dead. Michael shot her and Ana Lucia earlier." Sawyer finally spoke up

"Dude, I know you have a twisted sense of humor, but that's not even close to funny, that's just wrong."

"Hurley, he is not joking." Sayid replied.

"What? No, that doesn't make any sense, Michael is one of us, he's good, he wouldn't do that."

"Hurley, it seems like Henry Gale convinced him to do so and then Henry shot Michael and Kate shot Henry before he could shot the rest of us." We moved Libby into the other room if you want a minute to say goodbye." Jack told Hurley sympathetically.

Hurley stood up but began to cry. Kate tried to stand to comfort him but she got too dizzy and fell back down on the couch. Jack moved to check on her and Sawyer, realizing that no one else was going to, moved to comfort Hurley the best way he could.

"Let's go Hugo, I'll take you to her." Sawyer said as he moved to guide Hurley into the next room.

After they left, Locke spoke up, "We need to tell the rest about what has happened."

"Yes, and then we need to gather all the guns and go after the others." Sayid stated

"No, that's not the best idea. We don't need to go looking for trouble."

"This coming from the man who wanted to start an army only last week?" Sayid scoffed

"We interacted with one of them and three of us are dead. The cost is too high. We mind our own business and revisit this if they come back." Jack said adamantly

"Jack, we can't just sit here waiting for them to strike us, we have to act now."

"I think Jack is right, we would be risking more lives to move to try something now." Kate said in support of Jack

"No, that's not the plan, I know what I am talking about. We move on them now or we have no hope." Sayid said with anger.

"Well, obviously I don't have the military training you do, but then again, none of us do, so if you are planning an attack, you might want to consider that. And you also might want to consider that you'll have to do it without me." Jack replied, equally angry

"Without you? You mean if we don't follow your plan you're out? Just like that?" Locke asked

"I didn't appoint myself leader here. As a matter of fact, it was you Locke, who told me to step up and be the leader these people need! And I've done that! I've taken care of everyone to the best of my ability! But obviously I fail at that because Boone is dead, Shannon is dead, and now Libby, Ana Lucia, and Michael are dead too! So maybe it's time for someone else to step up. You make the decisions now. The only decision I'm making is to stay here and help Kate. If anyone else needs medical help, I'll provide it, but otherwise, I'm out. I'm done with the fighting and the decision making!" Jack said as he paced around the room, obviously losing his temper and letting out frustration that had been building up for quite a while.

Before anyone could respond to his rant, Kate spoke up, "Jack, I'm getting dizzy, I think I need to lie down."

Jack's frustration immediately melted away and his concern for Kate once again took over. "Ok, let's get you back to bed then," he said as he helped her stand. But once again, Kate swayed upon standing and this time Jack moved to pick her up. He then took her into the bedroom.

After they left, Sayid and Locke looked at each other before speaking. "You know that he is the one who must lead this group. You and I can make plans, but the people follow Jack." Locke explained.

"Yes, I know, so we must find some way to convince him of what must be done." Sayid responded.

"I think the only way he could be convinced is if the Others attacked Kate." Locke said with glint in his eyes.