Jungle Fever
a Lost story
by Meg
Part I: Jack From where he sat on the beach, Jack Sheppard watched as the others in the camp milled about taking care of various chores. It had been raining for the past forty-eight hours and now that the sun was out everyone in the camp was taking the opportunity to hang their belongings out to dry. The sun was a pleasant change and Jack was not going to miss the chance to bask in the warmth.
Jack sighed and moved his gaze to the ocean that lay before him. Back home he had always taken the ocean for granted. Sure, it was a beautiful sight but it was always just there. At home it provided nothing of importance except for the occasional tuna, salmon, or other sea creature he might have as part of a meal. Now the ocean had become more to him and everyone else trapped with him. The ocean now played a significantly larger role in his life. It still provided him with food while at the same time it was a great stretch of blue nothingness, a barrier that separated the castaways from civilization and the life they left behind.
Jack closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, the fresh ocean air filling his lungs. Even without opening his eyes, Jack could sense the shadow that fell upon him. He had wandered on down the beach away from the camp to be alone but someone had found him. He was about to look at who had decided to join him when the tickling sensation that had woken him earlier that morning decided to return. Squinting his watery eyes up toward the sun he took in another deep breath which escaped him just as quickly in the form of a sneeze. "Ih-shhhh!" It was wet and he groaned slightly and knew a cold was setting in. "Eh- chhhh!"
"You're going to get sunburned, you know."
Jack sniffled and wiped his eyes on the cuff of his shirt as he turned to finally see who was watching him.
"You left camp before anyone else woke up." Kate said coming to sit down beside him on the damp sand. "Is there a reason or do you just want to be alone?"
"No, not really. I just needed to...think."
"Hmm." Kate took up a handful of sand and ran it through her fingers. "Isn't your ass getting wet? The sand is still damp from the rain." Jack chuckled softly before coughing into his fist. "Hey, are you feeling all right? Your cough sounds pretty bad."
"I think I'm coming down with something." He looked down at the sand and picked up his own handful. "I didn't want to infect the others anymore than I already have so I came down here to be alone."
Kate looked at him and gave a small smile. "That's very considerate of you." With that Kate stood up and brushed the sand from her shorts. "Well, I have some work to do but if you start to get lonely you come and see me." Jack nodded and watched as Kate walked back to camp.
"Why do you have to be such a jerk, Sawyer?" Kate shouted as Sawyer snapped the medical supplies case closed. "I know you have some cold medicine in there."
"I want to know why whenever anyone needs anything they come to me, expecting me to have the answer to their problems." Sawyer smirked, setting the case on a crate behind him.
"That's because you've hoarded everything! You've taken things that aren't yours and expect people to do God knows what to get them back." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
Sawyer turned around and walked to his cot. "Hey, I'm an opportunist, what can I say. I see an opportunity to advance in life and I take it." He slid his shades down over his eyes and propped his feet up on the case he had just put down.
"Jack has done so much for everyone in the camp. All of us owe him, including you. I thought you would jump to the chance to get on his good side."
"Oh, so all this has to do with Jack?" Sawyer raised the sunglasses just above his eyes and looked at Kate. "And what may I ask is wrong with the Good Doctor?"
Kate didn't return Sawyer's glance, instead keeping her eyes fixed on the medical supplies case. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She said as Sawyer swung his legs around, picked up the case and put in on his lap.
"I can't help him if I don't know what's wrong or what he needs."
Kate wet her lips. "He's been coughing and sneezing so I assume he's got a cold or something." She sighed.
"That's all? Hmmm...Let's see what we've got here..." Sawyer opened the case again and looked inside. "I don't see any cold medicine at the moment..." Kate knew Sawyer could be a bastard and pretend to have things when he didn't and pretend not to have things when he did. He had done the same in the past with Shannon's inhalers.
"Screw you, Sawyer." Kate said and was turning to leave the tent when he called out to her.
"Oh, wait, I found something that might help." He held up a plastic bottle of red liquid. "Cough syrup. I think this might help." He tossed the bottle to Kate.
"Thanks." She said quietly studying the bottle.
"I'll take you up on your offer later, Freckles." Sawyer said, laying back on his bed once again, smirking.
As she made her way back down the beach to where she left Jack, Kate saw that someone else had found his hiding place and had come to visit him. Sun was crouched down next to Jack, spreading some sort of cream on his chest. Kate came up behind and watched for a moment as Sun finished. She noticed that Jack looked at lot more worn out and that his nose was redder than when she last saw him.
"Is that the same stuff you made for Shannon, when she had her asthma attack?" Kate asked and both Sun and Jack looked up at Kate.
"It helps you breathe." Sun explained, handing the coconut bowl to Kate.
"It's made from eucalyptus leaves." Jack breathed in deep then coughed. "Maybe I shouldn't have done that so soon. Thank you, Sun." Jack said buttoning his shirt when Sun had finished.
Sun nodded and stood. "Jin will be angry if he finds me here. I should go." And she left to find her husband.
"I got you something." Kate said, pulling the bottle of medicine from her pocket before joining Jack on the sand once again. "I thought you could use some of this."
Jack took the bottle from Kate. "How'd you get this from Sawyer?"
Kate shrugged. "He'll want something in return, eventually." She mentally hoped that Sawyer would drop the "screw you" remark.
"Well I appreciate that, very much. Thank you." He looked at the bottle and frowned. "The instructions have been torn off the label. Hmmm...I think it's two tablespoons for adults over twelve." He took the plastic cap off the top and poured the correct dosage.
"Adults over twelve?" She laughed. "I thought you weren't that kind of doctor." Kate said as Jack downed the medicine.
Jack coughed and wiped his mouth. "I'm not. But I've learned a thing or two about over the counter medicine in my life as well. Hopefully this will help, though." Jack rubbed his nose and winced. "God, the salty air isn't helping me either. You wouldn't happen to have a tissue on you, would you?" He flashed her a quick smile before his eyes snapped shut. "Hu-IHShoo! HuShoo!"
"Bless." From the groan that followed the sneeze, Kate could see he was getting tired.
"Thanks."
Kate looked down at the bowl she held in her hands "So is this stuff helping at all?"
"It's better than nothing. It's nature's Vapor Rub."
She dipped her fingers into the substance and brought a dab up to her nose. "Smells good." And she rubbed some on her own chest.
"When I was little my mom used that stuff on me when I was sick." Jack looked out over the ocean, thoughtfully. "I couldn't understand then why I had to go see another doctor when I was sick. Why my father couldn't take care of me."
"He wasn't that kind of doctor either, was he?"
Jack nodded his head. "My mother had to explain that to me every time I asked. My father wasn't around most of the time anyway. I didn't understand why he didn't want to show up when I was sick to take care of me. Out of all his patients I thought I'd be the one he'd most like to help."
The sun was beginning to set and the last remaining rays of light cast long shadows over everything on the island. Jack shivered a bit, noticing the drop in temperature.
"It's getting dark." Kate commented. "We should get back to camp. Locke went hunting today so dinner is probably ready." She stood and held her hand out to Jack. "There will be a nice warm fire going." He took her hand and she helped him up and together they walked back to camp to join the others.
Part II: Charlie "There's one! Right there, get it!"
Try as he might Charlie was not having much luck at fishing. It wasn't exactly fishing, though, it was more like spear fishing. No, on second thought it was more like throw-a-sharpened-stick-in-the- water-when-you-see-a-fish-and-hope-you-hit-something fishing. Charlie was gearing up to throw the stick again when a large wave crashed in front of him nearly causing him to fall.
"Screw this, dude." Hurley was standing next to Charlie in the water, leaning on his own stick. "We're not catching anything."
Just then, a little bit further down the shore, there was a loud splash. Both Hurley and Charlie looked to where the sound had come from. Michael and Jin had thrown a net into the water and were now dragging their catch in.
Hurley shook his head and trudged for the beach. "Forget this."
"Maybe you're right." Charlie agreed and was turning to follow Hurley when an urge to sneeze overtook him. He paused mid-step as he freely let out a "Huh-shhooo! Eh-chh!" into the air in front of him. Just then, another wave washed came up behind him, this time succeeding in knocking him down. "Ah! Bloody hell!"
Hurley looked back, noticing that Charlie wasn't behind him. "Charlie?" The wave receded back into the ocean for a moment, long enough for Charlie to stand up. "Dude, you okay? You can't turn your back to the ocean like that."
Charlie frowned and angrily threw his stick into some bushes. "Great, thanks." He coughed and rubbed his nose, hoping he didn't swallow too much sea water. Now soaking wet, Charlie made his way down the beach toward the camp.
Further down the beach near the camp, Claire lay on her towel in the sun. Having heard the commotion coming from the fishermen, she had turned her attention in the direction the noise was coming from. The high afternoon sun was bright and right in her eyes so she had to tip her khaki bucket hat down for shade so she could see.
"Charlie!" She called, as he came within earshot. As he made his way over Claire began to laugh at the state he was in.
"What's so funny?" Charlie asked, stopping in front of her.
"You've got sand all over." She giggled. Charlie looked down and noticed all the sand that had stuck to his wet clothes. "Come here." He stepped forward and Claire reached up to help brush the sand off. "Not a good day fishing, huh?"
"If you wanna call it fishing." Charlie grumbled, the sand sticking fast to his wet clothes. His nose had started tickling since he woke up, made worse by the salt water and sand he had been in contact with. He had been able to resist the tickle earlier but now it's presence wanted to be known for some reason. "Eh-Chishh! Hehh- CHShhhh!"
"Bless you." Claire sighed and gave up trying to brush the sand away. "I give up. It's only sand."
"Yeah. Sand, sand all around. No way to escape it really is there?" And he kicked at the ground with his foot for emphasis. Finally, he gave up as well and wiped his hands on the front of his pants before heading further down the beach. "I'm going to go make some lunch. Are you hungry?"
"A little." She rubbed her bulging stomach.
"Well, I'll bring you back something, all right?" He waited until she nodded her head before making his way to the heart of the camp. Once he was there, Charlie sought out Shannon who was sitting in a chair reading a magazine in the shade. "Do you know if there was any food left from dinner last night?"
Shannon looked up from her book. "I think so. You might want to go find Boone and Locke though, they'd be the ones who would take care of that sort of thing." Charlie nodded thanks and Shannon when back to her reading.
Charlie wandered past Shannon and into the forest beyond the camp to find Boone and Locke. Once entering the vegetation his nose started to bother him more and he had to stifle some sneezes into the crook of his arm. After a few minutes of trudging along in the jungle Charlie found the clearing where Locke and Boone were working.
"Hey guys." Charlie said coming up behind the two.
"Did you come to help?" Locke asked pulling out a knife and cutting a vine that they had wrapped around a tree limb.
Charlie rubbed the back of his neck and sniffled. "Uh, not exactly. I was wondering if there was any meat left from dinner last night."
"No, but we've got something a little fresher." Locke placed the knife back in his pocket and pointed upward toward the tree top.
Charlie looked to where Locke was pointing and saw a dead boar hanging from the vine. For a moment Charlie thought he was going to throw up and felt more sick than he did already. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath that helped calm his stomach.
"We can help you get some down if you'd like." Boone offered, taking the severed vine from Locke and lowering the carcass.
Locke untied and lifted the boar from the trap they had set and brought it over to a makeshift table he had made. "How much you want?" He asked Charlie.
Charlie was worrying about the tickle that had returned in his nose and didn't hear. "What's that?"
"How big of a piece do you want?"
"Uh, I don't really know." Charlie ran the backside of his hand underneath his nose and sniffled. All he knew was that he was hungry and Claire said she wanted some as well. And although he had never spent so much time with a woman as pregnant as Claire he had heard rumors as to how much one could eat.
"I'll cut you a fair enough slice." Locke said, pulling out his knife again, preparing the kill for cooking.
"So what have you been doing all afternoon?" Boone asked, taking a drink from his water bottle. "You look exhausted."
"Tried fishing again with Hurley." Charlie answered, trying not to look over as to what Locke was doing. Instead he turned his focus back on the tickle in his nose. "Eh..." He was lost in the sensation and couldn't make out what Boone was saying to him anymore, concentrating more on his breathing. "Eh-Chshhhh! Hh-Ishh" He groaned and swallowed, the sneezing had hurt his throat.
"Are you all right there, Charlie?" Locke looked back from his work.
"Yeah." Charlie offered wiping his eyes on his sweatshirt sleeve. "Just got some sand or something up my nose."
"Okay. Got your meat for you." Locke turned, a clean cut of boar in his hands. "I guess we should find something to wrap this up in, huh?" Boone nodded and went back into the bushes for a moment, coming back out with a large banana leaf in his hand. "Good, this should do nicely." And just like a butcher, Locke wrapped the slice up for Charlie and handed it to him.
Charlie looked at the package and smiled. "Thanks."
After making another stop to the drinking pool for some water, Charlie made his way to the small garden Kate and Sun had planted on the outskirts of the camp. Looking through the sprouts, Charlie eventually found what he was looking for and gathered them along with the rest of his supplies.
Charlie sat himself in front of the fire pit that had been erected on the beach and looked over what he had gathered. Setting them out neatly, he prepared what he needed to make his meal.
The fire felt nice and comforting to Charlie as he sat by it waiting for the meat to cook. It was the first time in a long while Charlie had cooked for someone other than himself and he wanted to make sure he got it right. When he was in Drive Shaft he hardly ever had to cook. Being in a popular rock band had a lot of perks to it. Free food, women, drugs...
Charlie shook his head. He remembered getting high in the small bathroom on the plane right before the crash and shivered. That was one thing he regretted most. His brother, Liam, had kicked his addiction, settled down, started a family. Why couldn't he? *A little late now, don't ya think?* He said to himself, adding the sprouts to the water he had boiled.
Once the meat was thoroughly cooked he took it down off the skewer and cut it into small, bite-sized pieces then added them to the water and other ingredients he had poured into two bowls. The meal he had prepared didn't look too bad if he had anything to say about it. It was certainly edible and that was good enough for him, he thought and made his way back to Claire.
"Where have you been?"
"Fixing our lunch, of course." Charlie smiled to himself and reached into his pocket, bringing out two wooden spoons that Locke had showed him how to carve.
"What's all this?" Claire asked as Charlie handed her a bowl and spoon.
"You said you were hungry and I was in the mood for something warm so here we are."
Claire brought the bowl up to her nose and breathed in. "Smells good. What is it?"
"I think it's supposed to be some kind of soup or broth." Charlie shrugged and took a whiff for himself. He couldn't smell anything, much to his disappointment. "It's probably not the best thing in the world but you work with what you've got." He looked over at her taking a bite full and waited for her approval.
"Hmmm. It's a nice change of pace from the fish and pork we've been eating since we got here." She laughed and took another bite.
Charlie nodded and swallowed his own bite. "Well there's some of that in there as well. The pork I mean, if that's what you wanna call it."
Claire smiled again and tilted her bowl up to finish with a slurp. "That was a nice surprise. Thank you, Charlie."
"You're welcome." Charlie tilted his own bowl and followed suit.
Part III: Boone Boone looked down at his wrist; he had been rubbing it for sometime without realizing. Faint pink burns marked his wrists where Locke had tied his hands behind his back. At the time Boone didn't know why Locke had done it: knocking Boone unconscious, tying him to a tree trunk, sticking the knife in the ground barely out of his reach. Locke had told him that his sister had too much control over his life. Locke had told him "with the proper motivation" he could free himself. Then Locke left.
"You ready to do this?"
"Hmm?" Boone looked up and saw that Locke was ready to go; rope in one hand, knife in the other. "Oh, yeah. Sure." Boone pulled out his own knife and followed Locke deeper into the jungle.
After walking for several minutes in silence they finally stopped in a small clearing. "I think this is a good spot. Here," Locke tossed the rope to Boone. "You know what to do."
Boone nodded and climbed up the nearest tree, its branches overshadowing the clearing, and secured one end of the rope before sending the free end down back to Locke.
"I hope this works. We haven't had much luck the past few days and Shannon is getting crabby."
Locke didn't look up and continued to ready the rope. "Don't worry about her. She seems able to take care of herself pretty well."
"I guess you're right." Shannon did have a way of getting what she wanted. Granted, it was mostly through other's hard work, dispensable boyfriends, or their parent's money, but Shannon almost always managed to manipulate and get what she wanted in the end. But the jungle was a far cry from the posh tennis clubs they were used to back home. It might take her a while to adapt, but there was no doubt in Boone's mind that his sister would find some way to find a new person to leech off of.
"All right. We're ready."
Boone nodded, turned, and made his way alone into the trees. Trudging back and forth through the vegetation, he had made a visible pathway to where he needed to go and followed it without much trouble. Knowing he was close to the watering hole, adrenaline started rushing through Boone's system. He was pumped. He was ready. Boone crouched down in the tall grass and listened.
He heard nothing.
Boone sighed and decided to sit down for a moment, sometimes these things took a while. After sitting for a few moments Boone began to sniffle and his eyes began to water. He had no known allergies and he had hidden in the grass a few times before and had never had problems. Then again he had never actually sat down in the grass for any measurable amount of time as he was doing now. Boone groaned rubbed at his eyes, a slight tickle starting to form in the back of his nose. This was not a good sign.
All of a sudden, a soft grunt was heard from the other side of the grass. Parting some of the grass Boone snuck a peek at his potential target. A large brown boar had come to the small pond to drink, a male by the looks of it, its sharp off-white tusks glinting in the sunlight.
Boone swallowed as he got into a crouching position. His hand hovered above his knife, ready to jump out when a sneeze struck him. Feeling it build Boone tried to stifle it the best he could into his arm. "Heshhh!" Expecting the boar to have gone, Boone slowly lowered his arm and peered through the grass once again.
The animal was still there. It appeared not to have noticed the noise in the grass behind him and went on drinking.
From his hiding place Boone released a silent sigh of relief. Despite how much better he felt, the tickle was still not gone from his nose. He wrinkled his nose in an attempt to ward off the next impending sneeze for as long as he could while studying the creature and planning his ambush.
Finally he figured out what he was going to do. The only problem now was working up enough courage to go through with it. Boone steadied himself and took a deep breath. "Eh-Chsss! Ihshh!" Which came back out as a couple of sneezes.
Realizing his mistake, Boone quickly looked up at the boar again. This time it had heard the noise, its ears pricked up, swiveling around, trying to find the source of the disturbance. "No," he hissed under his breath. He had lost the advantage of a total surprise attack. The camp was counting on his success for food and he'd be damned if he let this opportunity get away from him completely. Reaching for the butt of his knife, he prepared himself once again. This time he was going to do it.
With one quick wipe of his eyes Boone jumped out of the bushes, scaring the animal. The first couple seconds of attack were the most important as Boone had to chase the animal in the direction he wanted it to go. The first couple seconds were also the most dangerous as the animal could just as easily charge and impale someone on its sharp tusks.
The boar looked Boone in the eyes for a moment before turning and running. Much to his surprise and good luck, the boar ran in the direction Locke was waiting. Boone chased after it. "John!" he called to out to Locke to signal the boar was coming. "John!" Boone was quickly running out of breath. The stinging allergic tears had made their way back to his eyes, blurring his vision. But Boone kept running, hoping Locke had heard him and was ready.
Boone was so concentrated on running that he didn't even know he had tripped until he landed face flat on the ground. "Locke! Ehchuhh!" Boone strained from his position on the ground. "He's coming!" Boone groaned and rolled over onto his back. There was nothing he could do now. He rubbed at his face, his hands now covered in mud left streaks of dirt in their wake. "No...Heh-shuhh! Hehh-chushh!"
"Boone!"
"Did you get him?" Boone asked Locke from his spot on the ground.
"No, he stopped before he got to me and ran into the thicket."
Boone sniffled and stood up, wiping his hands on his pants. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I'll be more prepared next time."
Locke waved his hand at him in dismissal. "It's all right. I don't think it's you, anyway. The animals are getting wise to our presence on the island. We've been hunting too often." Locke ran his index finger along the blade of his knife before placing it back in its holder. "I think we should take a break and come up with a new strategy."
Boone nodded in agreement. He certainly could use a break. "Where you going?" He asked, watching as Locke made his way past him, deeper into the jungle.
"I'm going to go check on that other trap we set the other day. See if we caught anything there."
"Well, wait a minute for me to catch my breath and I'll go with you."
"It's no big deal, really. I doubt we caught anything. Besides, you look like you could use a little rest." With that he turned and left Boone in the clearing.
Boone stumbled out of the jungle to find his sister with Sayid. The two of them had been reading over some papers Sayid had brought back with him from an excursion deep in the forest in search of a transmitter. Sayid said he had been caught and tortured by a French woman, taken to an underground bunker she had built. When the woman had finally released him, Sayid had taken some of her papers with him. The papers were all in French but Shannon knew a little of the language and agreed to help Sayid translate.
"Boone, you look disgusting." Shannon wrinkled her nose at the sight of her brother. "Did you manage to catch anything today?"
Boone sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No, Shannon, not today."
"It's the third day in a row that you've not come back with any food."
"I know."
"I'm getting hungry, Boone. What do you expect me to-"
"I know, Shannon!" Boone fumed. He walked around to where his things lay and sat down, opening a bottle of water and taking a much needed drink.
Boone wanted to yell at his sister. He wanted to tell her that hunting wasn't as easy as she thought. That if she were so hungry she should go out and try to catch her own food. But no. She would never do that. He wanted to tell her to ask her new boyfriend to go get her something to eat. But Boone knew Shannon would never do that either.
Sayid wasn't much for helping with the hunting but he was good for other things like keeping Sawyer in order. Sawyer, like Boone, was afraid of Sayid but unlike Sawyer, Sayid had never physically hurt him in anyway. At least not yet.
Boone swallowed a mouthful of water and stole a glance at Sayid and Shannon sitting together. Shannon was lying on her stomach, giggling at something. Sayid, a little smile on his face, wrote notes in a small notebook as Shannon talked. Boone frowned. He wasn't going to say anything of course. Locke had warned him not to pick a fight with Sayid. Boone didn't know what to think of Sayid yet, not knowing what his intention's with his sister were. Locke insisted Sayid would be a strong and valuable resource in the future.
Boone took another long gulp of water and coughed as he swallowed. "Heh-EIShh! HehShhh!" Boone groaned. His throat burned and his eyes watered. The bad signs continued.
"You sneeze like a girl, Boone." He opened his eyes to see Shannon and Sayid staring at him; a light pink blush colored Shannon's cheeks. "You're not getting sick again, are you?" Boone didn't respond. Afraid he would say something he might later regret, he instead stood up and walked away.
Boone didn't know at first why Locke had tied him to a tree, hands bound behind his back, spread a strange hallucinogenic concoction on his head, and left him in the middle of nowhere. Out there all by himself, though, Boone had come to realize how much he loved his step-sister and how much he would do for her.
Walking along the path to the drinking pool, Boone looked down at his hands again. There were no blood stains. It had all been a dream; some kind of vision. But it seemed so real at the time: holding Shannon's lifeless body on the rocks where the monster had dropped her, her precious warm lifeblood pooling around them.
No, none of it had been real. But it made Boone realize that he had more control over his life than he originally thought. And in a strange way Locke had shown him that. In the few short weeks that he had been on the island, Boone had grown up a lot and for that he was thankful.
Part IV: Sawyer He felt something warm and wet slide over his face. Not knowing what it was, he quickly opened his eyes and was met with the upside down snout of a golden Labrador in his face.
"Get out of my face, you stupid mutt." Sawyer pushed the dog away and sat up. He was on the ground. He didn't fall asleep on the ground, that much he knew. But he also didn't remember falling out of his bed during the night either. Sawyer groaned and ran his hand over his face. "What are you lookin' at?" He growled then immediately regretted it as his throat began to ache. "Ow." Sawyer leaned his head back on his cot and closed his eyes. A dull throb had begun in the back of his head and was surely going to make its presence known more as the day progressed.
"Why are you still here?" He asked the dog who was staring at him, happily wagging his tail. "That's it," Sawyer stood up and quickly grabbed the dog by the collar. "Out." He led the dog out of the tent and out onto the beach. He scanned the beach looking for Walt. He found the boy on the edge of the camp, near the forest line, setting up a backgammon board.
"Victor here decided to give me a nice wake-up call this morning." Sawyer said, handing the dog off to Walt.
Walt looked up from his board. "His name is Vincent."
"Whatever," Sawyer said looking down at what Walt had been doing. "So, you gonna play chess or something?"
Walt shook his head. "It's backgammon. Mister Locke is going to help me work on strategy today." He said, placing the black and white pieces in their positions.
"Uh-huh." Sawyer rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. "You do that." Without another word or notice he turned and left. As he made his way back down the beach his nose began to run more profusely and his sniffling became more frequent so that by the time he reached his tent he desperately needed to blow his nose.
Sawyer pulled the medical supply case out from under his bed and opened it in hopes of finding some tissues or a handkerchief of some kind. Coming up empty handed, Sawyer frowned and slammed the case shut, just in time to turn his head and catch a sneeze into his shoulder. "hehhh-Chhhh! Son of a bit-Chihh" Sawyer groaned and started looking for something else he could use to blow his nose with.
He opened his suitcase and rummaged through it knowing full well he hadn't packed a handkerchief of any sort. Needing something though, he continued to search through his things until he found an old undershirt. It would have to do, he thought as he looked at it for a second and shrugged before bringing it up to his face as another series of sneezes struck him. "IhhShuhhh! EhhSchh!ehhh-Chhh!"
Sawyer sighed in relief and sat down on his bed to blow his nose. The material of the undershirt still smelled faintly of fabric softener. He buried his face in a dry spot and breathed in as deeply as he could to savor the scent. The feeling was short lived, however, as another tickle attacked him. "ehhShhiff! hehhChh!"
He felt hot, lightheaded, and tired as he cleared his head with another nose blow. Slowly moving to his bed he sat down and caught his breath. The relative softness of the makeshift mattress to the ground where he had spent the night was too inviting and he soon found himself lying down, his eyes quickly losing the fight to stay open.
Sawyer's sleep turned out to be uncomfortable in his sneezy condition and it didn't take long before he was wide awake once more, trying in vain to get back to sleep. He tried all sorts of positions to while trying to get comfortable, his left side, his right side, his back, his stomach, all the while the tickly sensations threatened his nose. Finally, after several minutes, frustrated grunts, and failed attempts later, Sawyer gave up.
Feeling even hotter and angry then he had before, Sawyer grabbed his hanky of an undershirt and decided to take a walk around the corner of the beach, away from the eyes of the other castaways. The sun was hot and beat down on everything that was unfortunate not to be in the shade relentlessly. He was hot and sweaty when he got there, but eventually Sawyer found the part of the beach he was looking for. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sawyer shed his clothes and gave his nose another good blow before stepping into the surf.
The waves felt cool and refreshing crashing against his skin. He waded in until his feet could no longer reach the bottom then dipped his head under the water. Coming up out in the ocean he let himself bob for a few moments. He was alone and could relax for the first time in a long while. He closed his eyes and put his arms and legs out to float. Now laying on his back, he put his head down, the sun warming his face.
After a few minutes of peace, Sawyer got the feeling he was being watched. Righting himself in the water, Sawyer dove under and made his way toward shore. It wasn't until he came up for air that he noticed Kate standing off to the side of his gaze. Damn. It wasn't the first time she had found him doing this, skinny dipping. Sawyer had tried to change his swimming location on a couple of occasions but she had always found him. Not that he was disappointed, she seemed to enjoy watching him and he didn't mind the addition to the beautiful scenery, but in his present state all he wanted to be was alone.
"Don't a man deserve a little privacy?" He asked her, making his way closer to shore while at the same time remembering to keep his distance.
Kate crossed her arms over her chest. "Come on now. If I didn't know any better I'd say you liked the company."
Sawyer stopped and ducked his head underwater. He came up with a mouthful of seawater which he swished around in his mouth before spitting out. "I'm afraid to ask but what makes you say something like that?"
Kate blushed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
He never noticed how clear the water was. "Oh." Sawyer looked down, the white-untanned skin of the lower part of his body stood out in sharp contrast to the clear blue water. "Well," Sawyer began, making his way out of the water,"you can't blame a man for enjoying a pretty face, either. Can you?"
"Exhibitionist." Kate made a face and turned her head as he slipped on his jeans. "Do you really have to swim like that so...so out in the open?"
Sawyer laughed. "Out in the open? Well, this is about as open as it gets. You know back in civilization people pay lots of money to come to places like this. Places where they can have privacy; let everything hang out if they want."
"Hmmm...Nudist camps. Have you ever been to one?"
Sawyer was tickled at the question. "Funny you should ask. Why, do you like what you see." He smiled. "No. Actually I haven't. Does that surprise you, Freckles?" He picked up his undershirt and rubbed his nose.
Kate shrugged and turned to face him. "I don't know." She didn't know what to say. Up close he looked tired, his nose was slightly pink and chapped, eyes red and a bit bloodshot. Thinking it wasn't all from the seawater she decided to ask, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He told her, the lower portion of his face hidden in the shirt.
Kate raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing with that shirt?" She reached for the shirt before Sawyer took a step back out of her reach.
"I don't think you wanna touch this thing." He snuffled and turned his own face away, feeling the ever-present tickle creeping up again. "Ehh-Hshhh! Ehhh-IhhShh!" He groaned and wiped at his nose, hoping Kate would have gone out of disgust.
When he had finished, Sawyer turned back around to find that Kate had not gone; instead standing where he had last seen her. "Bless." "Thanks." Sawyer said, stuffing the soiled shirt into his back pocket he began to make his way toward the camp.
"You sound pretty bad, Sawyer. How long have you been feeling like this?" Kate hurried after him.
Sawyer stopped walked and sighed. "Oh, great. Here it comes. You know, I knew this was coming." He huffed, hands on his hips, waiting. "Don't talk to me like that. You should be grateful someone is trying to help you out. God knows you aren't."
Sawyer suddenly felt warmer. "Have you really been hangin' around that doctor so much that he's taught you everything he knows? Huh?" He shoved his hands in his pockets, and continued walking.
"No, but maybe you should consider going to see Jack." She grabbed his arm to stop him from going further. "Sawyer, you're burning up." She said after running the back of her hand against his cheek.
"Kate, you don't wanna do this." Sawyer took her by the wrist. "Don't." He warned and stormed off without her.
Back under the shade of his tent, Sawyer had begun to feel a little cooler but there was no kidding himself that he didn't have a fever anymore. Sawyer groaned as he studied the thermometer again. He slowly swung his legs over the side of the cot and reached down and gently placed the thermometer back into the supplies case.
Taking a minute, he rested his bent elbows on his thighs, put his head in his hands and began massaging his temples. There was a loud thundering sound in his ears that wouldn't go away and, if at all possible, seemed to be getting louder.
Sawyer looked up and reached over to lift the yellow flap of his tent. "You," he sniffled, "I thought I told you never to come back." He watched as the yellow lab trotted over to him. The dog stopped short and sat down in front of him, tail wagging. "What do you want? I don't have any food." Sawyer pleaded, but the dog stayed put. "Fine. Just don't lick me, okay?" Sawyer gave up for the time being and laid back down.
No more than a minute later, a sharp whistle pieced the air, causing Sawyer to clutch his head and moan. Vincent's ears pricked up at the sound and in a second's time, the dog had bounded out of the tent. Thankful to be alone again, Sawyer reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and lit it while wiping at his nose with the undershirt. The tickles, like the headaches, wouldn't leave and seemed to get worse as the day went on.
"Ehh-Shh! hehhh-IHShh! EHshhhhh!"
"Those are some pretty big sneezes you've got there."
Sawyer looked up and groaned; Jack and Kate had made their way into his tent.
"Why don't we see if we can find out what's causing them." Jack smiled and ducked his head, making his way deeper into the tent.
"And who do I owe this lovely house call to?" Sawyer glared at Kate who stood in the corner, arms crossed over her chest.
"Kate came to me and said you weren't sounding very well." Jack bent down and reached for the case. Realizing what Jack was going for, Sawyer kicked the case back under his bed. "All right then." Jack sighed. "If you want to play like that would you at least let me take a look at you?"
Sawyer looked at Kate for a moment before reluctantly submitting. "If you think it'll do any good, Doc."
Jack pulled up a crate and sat down in front of Sawyer who now sat on the end of his bed as if it were a makeshift examination table.
"Okay, first things first: you have to put that cigarette out." Jack made a grab for the cigarette but Sawyer was fast and took one last puff before throwing it down in the sand. "That should help your congestion," Jack smirked "How long have you had these symptoms?"
"Uh, I dounno. I couple of days maybe." Sawyer shifted in his seat, beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"Mmm-hmm." Jack scooted closer and pulled a small pen light out of his pocket. "Do you have any allergies?" He asked, shining the light in Sawyer's eyes.
"No," Sawyer brought his hand up and blocked the light. "Is all that really necessary?"
"Don't be such a bastard, Sawyer." Kate said from the corner. "Let Jack work. He knows what he's doing."
Jack looked over his shoulder. "Thank you, Kate. Now, I know there should be a thermometer in that case of yours. Do you mind if I take a look?" Sawyer nodded his head, once in his life too tired to complain. Jack reached down, picked up the case, and opened it. "Look at all the things you've got here. A whole mini-pharmacy. I hope you won't continue to be selfish."
"Just what are you accusing me of?"
Jack didn't reply, having found what he was looking for. "Here, put this under your tongue and close your mouth." He held out the thermometer to Sawyer who took it from him.
"What, is this some specialized doctor doohickey?" He mocked sarcastically. "I know how to use one of these things. Unless you'd like to take it some place else; then I'd want Kate to help me."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Shut up."
"Keep your mouth shut, all right? I'll tell you when the reading's done." Jack stood and motioned for Kate to follow him out of the tent.
"What's wrong with him?" Kate asked once they were outside.
"Nothing more than a simple cold." Jack grinned, wiping his hands on his pants. "I think he's got a bit of a fever but nothing too serious. He'll get over it quickly with enough fluids and rest. It'll do us all good to take a break from his comments."
"Sticking that thermometer in his mouth sure took care of that." Kate laughed. "Maybe we should go check on him, you know see what he's up to."
Jack nodded and lead Kate back to the tent.
"Okay, let's see how bad it is." Jack said, and slid the glass out of Sawyer's mouth. He held it up to the light and shook his head at the reading before shaking it to clear the mercury.
"What did it say?"
"What I expected it say. Nothing too bad."
A brief flash of anger crossed Sawyers face, but was quickly replaced by the desperately sneezy expression he had worn on and off throughout the day. "Hehh-Chhhh! Ehhh-ehhHuhshh!" In-between the sneezes, Sawyer made an attempt to pull the undershirt out from under him but eventually gave up and opted to cover his face with his hands instead. "heh-ehhhCHH! heh-Chihh! ehhhShhhh!" Once the sneezing had subsided, Sawyer finally managed to grab for the shirt which he quickly put to use.
"What's that you're using to blow your nose?" Jack asked, eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"It's an undershirt." Kate offered.
"An undershirt?" The satisfied smirk was back on Jack's face. "I have something that's far more comfortable than that." He reached into his pocket and produced a real handkerchief. "The fabric softener on that shirt probably isn't helping your nose any. You can borrow this one if you'd like." Sawyer looked at Jack who nodded. "Remember, I said borrow. I'd like it back someday, if you don't mind."
Sawyer nodded, accepting the handkerchief from Jack and continuing to blow his nose. "Oh, I almost forgot. I have something else that...belongs to you." Jack reached into his pocket once again, this time coming back out with a bottle of red cough syrup. "Son of a bitch, I really could have used that today." Sawyer grumbled and took the bottle from Jack.
"I appreciate you sharing your things with me, Sawyer, when I was sick." Jack said, a little sarcasim of his own creeping into the words.
Sawyer opened the bottle and began pouring a dosage. "Yeah, whatever."
"You know how much and how often to take that, don't you? There isn't much left and you don't want to overdose." Jack asked, readying himself to leave. "Come and see me if you start to feel worse, okay?"
Sawyer just nodded and downed the liquid. "Can I get some peace and quiet now, for once today?" Sawyer sighed and put the cap back on the bottle before putting it away with the rest of the supplies.
Jack nodded and left the tent. Kate stood in the corner a moment longer, watching as Sawyer got back into bed. "Feel better," she whispered, before turning and leaving.
END
JJ Abrams and his posse, to whom I owe many hours of entertainment, own everything.
Kinda nervous about all this but I finally worked up the courage to bite the bullet and post something new. Lost is going to be in reruns for another four weeks or so and I'm already having withdrawal so I wrote this after staring at my Matthew Fox desktop wallpaper. Don't know how good this is but...Anyway enjoy!