Title: FeverCh. 1/7

Pairings: S/S hints of J/K, C/C

Rating: PG13

Warnings: Character death

Summary: an illness strikes the survivors.

Author's Note:Thanks to purple-goose and islandpalm for all their encouragement and for understanding how difficult it is for me to write even angst-y Shayid.LOL!

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of these characters. I write for fun, and not for profit.

Fever (mild Shayid, hints of J/K, C/C) PG13

It started with Sawyer.

"Hey Doc," he said to Jack late one afternoon, "You got anything for a headache?"

"Still wearing your glasses, Sawyer?" Jack asked, not looking up from the suitcase full of supplies harvested from the tail section he was going through.

"Yeah, man, but I can't even read today." Sawyer rubbed his eyes. "Had it when I woke up and it just keeps gettin' worse. Stomach don't feel too good neither."

"Touch of the flu, maybe, or food poisoning," Jack said, "What have you been eating?"

"Where you been, Doc? I been eatin' the same thing all of us been eatin' fish, fruit, more fish, more fruit. Ain't like Locke's out huntin' up anymore boar, now, is it?"

I'm not passing out the aspirin on a whim, but Sun might know something that would help."

"Been there, done that. I ain't takin' no moreof Madame Mao's heebie jeebie herbs," Sawyer scoffed.

"Suffer then, I guess," Jack shook his head. He thought the time on the raft and drifting in the ocean with a bullet wound might have softened Sawyer's attitude on life, but no such luck. He turned his attention back to the supplies. There had been another first aid kit and more luggage in the rear of the plane, and he wanted to take an inventory of everything. Then a stray thought hit him.

"Wait!" Jack called after Sawyer, "Let me take a look at that shoulder, make sure it isn't infected."

Sawyer grudgingly removed his shirt and Jack examined the entrance and exit wounds. Both were healing nicely, with no sign of the redness or swelling that would indicate an infection. But the southerner's skin felt warm to the touch.

"I think you have a fever," Jack told him. "I don't want you going back to the beach. Stay here for a sec, I'll be right back." Jack headed to the infirmary to dig up one or two of the precious aspirin.

Shannon stopped him on his way into the cave. "Sayid's sick," she said, looking over her shoulder.

"Do not bother Jack. I am not sick," Sayid came up behind her. "It is only a headache. I am not sick."

Shannon rolled her eyes, "He was lying down in the middle of the day," She appealed to Jack.

The doctor observed Sayid carefully. His eyes had a glassy look, and he was sweating, although it was cool near the entrance to the caves. It was hard to tell with his dark skin, but the Iraqi looked pale to Jack.

"How's your stomach?" Jack asked.

"Not so good. But probably just bad fruit."

Warning bells went off in Jack's head, but they turned to screaming sirens a moment later when Charlie ran up, frantic.

"It's Claire," he gasped, "She's fainted, or something...quick, Jack, you've got to come!"

Jack turned to Shannon, pointing to Sayid he said, "Make him lie back down. Sawyer, too, he's over there. Get them inside the cave. Get some water, make sure they drink it," he touched her shoulder, "Do you understand?" Shannon nodded.

To his surprise, when she walked away, Sayid followed without argument. He really must be sick, Jack thought.

"Come on, Jack!" Charlie called, impatient. Jack grabbed two water bottles and followed him.

Kate walked up beside him. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. We've got some sick people. I need to take a look at Claire, she's fainted. Sawyer's not feeling well, Sayid, either."

"What do you think it is?"

"It could be food poisoning, but I don't think that's likely. We've all been eating the same thing for weeks now." Jack said. "It may be a virus. We're going to need lots of water. I'm almost out of aspirin and antibiotics won't work on a virus."

"Do you think they brought it with them? From the other side of the island?"

"We don't need to blame anyone right now, Kate. I have to see Claire. Can you go fill some water bottles? And see if Ana knows if there was any aspirin at their old camp. I can't find any in the supplies we brought back." He thought he saw Kate's shoulders tense at the mention of Ana's name, but there was no time to deal with her dislike of the woman at the moment.

Kate reluctantly left to comply and Jack stepped into the cave. Charlie sat looking worriedly at Claire. "She seemed to come to for a minute," he told Jack, "But nothing she said made sense."

Not good, thought Jack. "Where's Aaron?"

"I gave him to Sun. She's watching him."

"When was the last time he nursed?"

"I dunno, I was washing clothes with Hurley and found her when I got back. Aaron was sleeping," Charlie sighed. "Don't worry, we'll all know when he's hungry. What'll we do then?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Jack felt Claire's forehead. It was hot and dry. "She has a high fever. We need to get it down and she needs water," Jack gave Charlie one of the water bottles. "Sit her up, get her to drink some of this, as much as you can."

"Jack?"

He looked up to see a blond woman at the entrance to the cave. One of the tail section survivors. He was surprised she even knew his name. With all of the confusion of the return of the rafters, the so far unsuccessful search for Walt, and the not so smooth addition of these other survivors to the camp, no one had much time for small talk and introductions.

"One of the women I'm sharing a shelter with... Rose?" she said. "I think she's sick. At first I thought she was just tired, but I'm starting to get worried. She won't get up, and she feels hot."

Jack ran his hands over his face. This was quickly turning into more than he could handle by himself. "I'll come take a look as soon as I'm done here. Do you have any water...?" Jack wished he could remember her name.

"I'm Libby," she smiled. "I'll go get some."

Jack thanked her and turned back to Claire. Charlie had managed to sit her up and give her some water. Now she was rolling and tossing, muttering something about Aaron and trying to get up. He told Charlie to keep her lying down and stepped outside the cave. He saw Kate and Libby coming with the water.

"Thanks," he said. Taking a bottle from Kate, he drank thirstily.

"Libby," he said, "See if you can get Hurley, or one of the other guys to help you bring Rose here. We'll bunk her down with Claire for now."

"I'll go with her," Kate offered.

"Okay," Jack said. "And ask around, see if anyone else is feeling sick. I think we should triage here; keep the sickest people in one place."

He shook his head. As if that will make any difference, he thought. If this thing was contagious, and it sure as hell looked like it, they had all been exposed. All of their resources and patience had been pushed to the limit with the arrival of the tail section survivors. Despite his objections, a few people had returned to the beach. Others had cleared some of the understory from around the caves and set up make-shift shelters there. The caves were crowded, cool, and damp from all the rain making it much easier for disease to spread.

Jack knelt by the entrance to the infirmary and looked around the clearing. This was what he had dreaded, ever since the crash. Some kind of epidemic was his worst nightmare. He had thought about it a lot. He was a surgeon, not a communicable disease expert. He didn't know where to begin. And once again, they were all looking to him for answers. He tried not to think about the word QUARANTINE stamped on the inside door of the hatch. He tried not to think of the hatch at all. Perhaps Sayid and Hurley had been right. They never should have opened it.