"Catch a falling star and put in your pocket, shhh Aaron, it's okay, mommy's here." Claire rocked the cradle back and forth with a gentle hand. Back and forth, evenly, not too fast or too slow. Aaron's wails faded to small whimpers. "That's it," Claire smiled in encouragement and relief, "Go to sleep, Aaron." she whispered.
Aaron's eyelids closed at last, and Claire let out a sigh of relief. She let go of the cradle and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Her arm was sore from all the rocking and she stretched it as much as she could. A cool breeze blew through their tent, whipping the tarp back, and Claire shivered, hugging her arms. She glanced at her only blanket and then back at Aaron. Will he be warm enough? Claire decided that he wouldn't, and tucked the blanket around Aaron's sleeping body. Aaron's fist curled around the blanket and he slept on.
Claire yawned, then laid down on her makeshift bed. Another gust intruded her tent and hit Claire in the face. She shivered again and rubbed her arm. Aaron whimpered in his sleep as his blanket fluttered in the breeze. Claire peered around the tent until her eyes fell on an old maternity dress. She wrapped it around her shoulder's, relishing what little warmth it gave her.
"Claire?" Claire raised her head to see Charlie standing just outside her tent, holding a blanket. Although it was dark, Claire could make out the bruise from where Locke had hit him. The memory of Charlie taking her baby was freshly burnt into her mind.
"What do want, Charlie?" Claire asked while positioning herself in front of Aaron. Charlie spotted her movements and guilt overcame his features.
"I just thought, you might be needing a blanket. It's cold out, so..." His voice trailed. "Well, here." Charlie put the blanket on the ground and lingered for a moment, smiling at Aaron's sleeping form. "I'll uh, I'll see you later Claire." Claire watched Charlie turn to leave and knew she could not leave everything at that. She was angry of course, but something about his defeated expression made her feel that, in his own way, Charlie had Aaron's safety at heart.
"Charlie. Wait." Charlie paused and Claire mentally scolded herself for what she was about to do. She decided that couldn't help it. Charlie looked back into her eyes and she let it all burst out. "I don't-hate you, Charlie. I mean, I-"
"I know, Claire." Charlie replied in a pained voice. He smiled sadly and left without another word, leaving Claire more confused then ever.
"Wake her up. She's no use to us like this."
Claire's body felt like a weight pulling her down into a surreal world of faded memories, nightmares, and nothingness. She couldn't move or even speak without her world being submerged into a crushing darkness she couldn't escape. Claire faded in and out of consciousness while disembodied voices around her spoke in whispers in words she couldn't understand.
Just as Claire was about to give in to the darkness, light came through. So did the pain. Claire groaned as she felt her whole body ache and throb in protest. Her eyes opened and she was momentarily blinded. She squinted and tried to make out any shape to give her a sense of where she was. I'm in a room that could be anywhere, my arms are strapped down, and my head aches.
As her sense grew sharper, Claire was horribly reminded of the Dharma hospital room Ethan had taken her to. It seemed as though someone had gone to great lengths to replicate it. The same medicine cabinet sat in the corner, she was in the same chair, and someone she didn't recognize was watching her through the same window in the door. It was too similar. Claire half expected to see Ethan strolling in wearing an oversized lab coat to give her a check-up.
The girl outside the door noticed she Claire was awake. She smiled in the most innocent of ways and then pulled out a phone. The girl, who seemed to care more about taking a self-portrait then standing guard, didn't notice when Claire wrenched her right wrist from its restraint. Claire tasted blood in her mouth and realized that she had bit her tongue. With her eyes locked on the now texting guard, Claire undid the other restraint.
Claire crept over to the door and felt the handle. Hardly believing her luck, the door was unlocked. Claire paused and every instinct told her that something was wrong. Why would Eloise post such an incompetent person at the door? Why would she make it so easy to get free? After three years of evading the others, Claire had grown suspicious of everything. There's a point to this. They want me to leave. Claire opened the door and the texting guard raised her head.
"Good, you're up. I can take my break now." The guard smiled in relief. She slipped her phone back into her pocket.
"Who're you?" Claire asked.
"I'm Taylor. "Shall I take you to him them?" Claire nodded, dreading what was to come. Please no, please, don't be hurt. She followed Taylor down an identical hall to the one in the Staff station until they stopped at a room.
"Go right in." Claire turned; Taylor was back on her phone, leaning against the wall.
"Why am I here? Why was it so easy to get free?" Claire asked. Her feet seemed glued to the floor, while her eyes were glued to the door.
"Eloise wants you to see him." Taylor eyed Claire's raw wrists and smirked. "You know you could have just asked and would have unlocked your cuffs for you." Taylor said nothing more, leaving Claire more confused than before. Her resolve wavered and she turned to the door.
Claire stepped inside the room, leaving her strength in the hallway. The sickly smell of antiseptic greeted her like a blow to the face. The room was dark, so dark that Claire struggled to make a misshapen form in front of her. Her eyes adjusted and what her imagination had told her was the pillar of smoke that haunted her dreams became a hospital bed. Lying on the bed, unconscious and frail was Charlie, her Charlie. Claire toppled backward and extended her hand against the wall to catch her fall. Her whole world was spinning, zooming around one central point, that barely recognizable face of the man she loved.
The Charlie that told corny jokes to win Claire's favor and would willingly sleep without a blanket as long as she was warm was gone. The Charlie that brought her an empty jar and told her it was peanut butter was lost. He was replaced by someone who had lost all will to survive, someone who lived for the darkness that took away the pain.
Claire began to hyperventilate. Every instinct in her told her to run, to hide from these people like she had for three years. There has to be an escape somewhere, Claire thought. She found that her hand was inches from the doorknob. No, Claire steadied herself. No. I'm better than this. He needs me.
She took a deep breathe, and using every ounce of strength she had, moved to the bed. Her hands found his cold ones and grasped them tightly. She shook his shoulder gently, the way a mother would a child, but nothing happened.
"You can't wake him up that way," a voice called from behind. Eloise flicked on a lights which that Claire had overlooked. She held up a syringe. "You'll need this." Eloise strolled over the bed and inserted the needle into an IV in Charlie's arm. Claire was in too much of a shock to wonder what Eloise was doing. Eloise pressed down on the plunger and smiled at Claire like she was her favorite grandchild. Claire wasn't fooled. She saw the icy glare masked behind the bright smile. This was a woman who got what she wanted.
"It just takes a moment." She smiled. "We don't have much time, so let me get to the point. When he wakes, ask him for the location of the island. You see, Charlie has been most uncooperative on the matter." Here, Eloise gave her head a small shake like she was a school teacher handing back a bad report. "I believe you can help me in this area more than any of your friends can. Well, he is beginning to wake. I'll leave you to it, shall I?"
Claire whipped around back to Charlie. "Charlie? Charlie can you hear me?" she whispered and patted his face with her hand. "Charlie, wake up!"
Charlie's eyes creaked open. Claire sighed in relief.
"You've come to see me again?" He muttered in a horse voice, "I thought we agreed last that you'd stop." He seemed both disappointed and relieved. Claire's mind raced; what had they been giving him to make him hallucinate her?
"Charlie? Charlie, it's me. I'm really here." She smiled through her tears and he smiled back. But his smile was sad, like he knew he didn't have any more strength to fight seeing her.
"You always say that. I think I'm starting to believe you." He laughed to himself and then looked at her to share in the joke. He frowned when she didn't.
"Charlie," she gave his shoulders a little shake, "I am really here. I came to help you, Charlie, to save you." Claire laughed at how ridiculous she sounded.
"Ah. So we're going with, 'I'm here to rescue you', then?" Claire sighed in exasperation. Charlie closed his eyes and his head drooped. Claire shook his shoulders again. He oened his eyes, but when he looked at her, it seemed like he was looking right past her.
"Charlie! Listen. It's important that you listen to me. Do you know where the island is?"
"No. I've told you over and over Claire that I don't know where it is. I moved it, and disappeared, how could I know?" He shook his head, then let it flop onto the pillow.
"Charlie, please!" Claire begged. "If you know anything you need to tell me!" Her sanity was waning; Claire could feel the urge to turn around and fight growing stronger. Charlie was there, but he wasn't with her. His disoriention increased by the second and Claire knew she didn't have much time left.
"Can I ask you something?" Charlie asked, ignoring her pleas, "If you're real, how'd you get here?" He squinted his eyes at her, unwilling to believe. Claire pushed down her panic and took a deep breath. This, she could do. claire had been rehersing what to tell Charlie since she found out he was alive.
"Desmond's boat. He started having visions that you were alive, and took us with him to find you. Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Ben, Hurley, Desmond, Penny, they all came." Claire was holding Charlie's hand so tight, it was turning purple. She relaxed her grip while Charlie contemplated her story. At this, his eyes widened.
"Des was able to get back to Penny?" he wondered.
"Yeah, they had a son. Charlie. They ... named him after you." Charlie took this in; Claire could see him struggling over believing her. Silence passed between them.
"How'd you lot get off that island?" Charlie scoffed after a few minutes, "Desmond's boat?" He glared at her, wanting her to admit thst she was lying. Tears fell down Claire's face. This wasn't the Charlie she knew. This new Charlie was cynical, angry, untrusting. Just like I was. Claire thought.
"A plane. The plane they came back on. It's a really long story. Look Charlie, we need to get you out of here." she whispered. Charlie nodded, going along with what he must have thought was a dream. Claire put her hand behind his back and tried to prop him up.
"I wouldn't try that." Eloise's voice chided over an intercom. Claire gave out a choked sob and let Charlie back down. Charlie sighed as if he was expecting this.
"It would seem, Ms. Littleton, that you have failed, you are no longer of use to me at the moment, I expected-" the voice was cut off mid-sentence. Claire hand froze in mid-air.
Another, different voice came over the intercom. "Hey there Blondie, ... how're you and the has-been... doin? The Dr. Pepper ... has exploded." Sawyer said in between large huffs for breath. Claire racked her mind. What was Sawyer taking about?
"Dr. Pepper?" She murmured. Her eyes widened. "Jack."