What Kate Does

Dogen explains to Jack what's happening to Sayid. An "infection." A darkness that grows. It starts with the heart. Then it takes everything. "It happened to your sister too." Claire. Claire is infected. For years. Alone in the jungle.

Jack refuses to believe it. Sayid is Sayid. But the signs are there. Sayid is calmer. Colder. Something has changed behind his eyes. Dogen knows it. The entire temple knows it.

Kate heads into the jungle. She's looking for Sawyer. He's gone back to the DHARMA barracks. The house he shared with Juliet. He opens a drawer. A ring. He was going to propose. He throws the ring into the ocean. Kate watches. She understands. Sawyer is broken.

In the other reality, Kate is on the run. She hijacks a taxi. Claire is in the back seat. Kate drops her off. Then comes back. Guilt. She takes Claire to the hospital. The adoptive family canceled. Claire is alone. Kate stays.

At the hospital, the doctor's name is Ethan Goodspeed. "I don't want to stick you if I don't have to." Cosmic irony. The man who kidnapped Claire on the island is here her caring physician.

Kate does what she always does. She runs. But this time, she comes back. In both realities. Kate learns to stay.