"Never give up hope."
"Same goes for you, Laura."
Laura thinks about that for a bit and then mumbles, "Alright." She puts her hand on the armrest of the chair and nods to Bill to help her up. She hates when illness defeats her, but she is just getting too weak.
Bill gives Laura his hand and helps her stand up from the chair. It breaks his heart to know that this is one of the last times that he will ever see Laura again. She stumbles, but he catches her. He brings his hand up to her chin and turns her to face him. They look into each other's eyes in silence, both trying to figure out what the other is thinking. Laura has always been able to see behind the "Admiral Mask" but today she is having trouble. She doesn't know if it because she is just too weak, or because he is doing everything he can to prevent her from knowing what he is thinking. Bill, however, can see right through that "Presidential Mask" that Laura hides in. He knows she is in a lot of pain, not just the pain from her cancer. He can see it in her eyes, where her true feelings can always be seen. So he does the one thing that he can think of, he kisses her. Her lips are dry and rough, but they still give in to the touch of Bill Adama. He is as gentle as he can be. And just like that, it is done.
Bill slowly pulls away and sees that Laura still has her eyes closed. A smile is stretching across her face and he can tell that there are tears built up in her eyes. Laura thinks, 'I can't let him see me cry like this. I have to look strong. I am just going to keep my eyes closed until I can get myself under control.' Even though her eyes are closed, a tear is still released and it makes its way down her cheek. Bill smiles and gently brushes his rough finger across her face to wipe the tear off. She opens her eyes and finds that Bill is staring directly at her, no, not at her, in her.
Billy then steps near them and is about to take Laura's arm when Bill stops him by saying, "I'll help her. You can go on and get ready for bed." Billy looks at Laura, who smiles at him and nods her head.
"Alright, but I expect you to take care of her," Billy says, not even caring that he is speaking to the Admiral. He loves her like a mom, and wants nothing bad to happen to her. It is bad enough watching her suffer and become so weak like this. He knows that she hates to show her weakness, especially to the Admiral, she wants to show him that she is strong. The Admiral already knows that she is strong, Billy can see it in his eyes, but she doesn't like making him watch her suffer. She just can't do that to him. Billy can see that they care for each other. They have more than just a friendship, they have something special.
As Bill is helping Laura into her "private room", she says something that doesn't actually surprise Bill, "Bill, you know, you don't have to do this," but what comes next is what surprises Bill, "I already know how much you care about me."
At that, Bill suddenly stops, almost making Laura fall as if she doesn't already feel like falling, and is silent. He doesn't know what to say. He is at a loss for words, the admiral. Finally, he recovers from his shocked state, and says something that makes Laura at a loss for words, "Well, I do care about you, a lot, but I didn't realize that I showed it that much. Ever since Kobol I have felt differently about you. After that, I thought maybe it was because I had just gotten shot and I wanted my family back together, and I also thought that the feeling was going to go away, but it never did. You know, I do think of you as part of my family."
Laura clears her throat because she is fighting back tears and she starts to say something, but then she can't quite get it out, so instead she says, "You can take me to the bathroom. I am going to get ready for bed. But, can you stay outside the door for me to be sure that I am okay."
"Sure." Bill leads Laura over to the bathroom and stands outside of her door. Bill realizes that he hasn't heard a faucet running or a toilet flushing for the last five minutes, so he knocks on the door. "Laura. Laura, are you okay?" He becomes nervous. 'What should I do if she doesn't answer?'
"I'm…I'm fine," Laura answers, but her voice is shaky and soft. He thinks her voice sounds like she is crying.
"Laura, open this door right now."
"I can't. Just give me a minute."
"No, I want you to open this frakkin door right now." It was seldom that he used rough language while talking to Laura, but when he did, it certainly got her listening.
"Alright." He slowly hears the lock being undone and he walks in. What he sees brings tears to his eyes. Laura is sitting on the floor against the wall with her knees tucked up next to her chest. She is crying and a complete mess, but he will never say that to her.
"Oh Laura. What am I going to do with you?" He sits down next to her while groaning because of his old age and puts his arm around her. He is not as young or as thin as he once was. She leans her head against his broad shoulder and continues crying, his uniform shoulder getting all soaked with tears. "What's wrong, Laura?"
"Bill, why did you kiss me? I mean, it wasn't bad, but it was so unexpected and I'm dying." This brought on another wave of tears. She was shaking so bad that Bill pulled her in closer and held her tighter.
"I kissed you…" Bill clears his throat to get the lump that is forming out of it. "I kissed you because I felt that it was right. I thought you needed it, and I know I needed it. It was just, the moment was right. I felt like I needed to do that for you, to give you strength and I needed strength." And just to prove his point, he leans over and kisses her through her hair.
"Thank you." She wipes her tears off her face with her hand even though she is still crying, while Bill stands up. He doesn't even bother holding his hand out for her, he knows she is too weak to even pull herself up like that. So, he bends down to grab her waist, and he pulls her up. Laura giggles a little at that, not one of her laughs that he adores, but just a little one so she doesn't go into a full-fledged coughing fit.
Once he helps her walk just outside the bathroom door, he leans over, puts one arm under her knees and the other around her back, and lifts her up. Now this makes her really laugh, that one that he adores, and she is certainly surprised when she doesn't start coughing. Bill is also very happy that she doesn't start coughing while in his arms because he doesn't think his back could take it.
He carries Laura to her bed and gently sets her down. He pulls the blankets up over her and sits down on the edge of the bed. He leans down and kisses her forehead. He then says, "The other day I asked you what I could get for you, and you said a new body. But tonight, I am asking you that same question and I want you to answer me seriously. So, is there really anything I can get you? If it is anywhere in the fleet, I will get it for you."
"Bill, you. You are what you can get for me." And what surprises Laura, is that he doesn't argue. He simply takes everything off except his tanks and his underwear, and he gets in bed with her. He opens his arms up to her and she snuggles into him deeply. He lays his arm in between her stomach and her chest and she gives his hand a weak squeeze. He kisses her on her neck and he can practically hear her smiling.
"Good night, Laura."
"Good night."
She weakly twists herself in his arms to face him and says, "Thank you, for being you."
She can feel his warmth radiating off of him onto her and she can feel the tingling sensation that she is getting on her neck from his breathing. All of a sudden, she feels soft, gentle lips touching hers and she smiles, but says nothing.
Bill waits until he thinks that she is asleep and whispers, "I love you, Laura," not realizing that she is still partly awake.
He starts to feel wetness on his tanks, so he looks at Laura and sees that she is crying softly.
"What's wrong?" Bill has no idea why she has started crying, she was just asleep a few seconds ago, or so he thought.
"I didn't know you felt that way about me," Laura says while crying, "I'm so sorry for making you watch me die like this."
Bill finally understands why she is crying. He now knows that she wasn't asleep when he said that. He kisses her again but with a little bit more meaning.
"I love you too, Bill."
He wraps his arms more sturdily around her fragile body and thinks, 'This is the most beautiful woman I have ever known, even if she is dying.' Her last thought before she surrenders to sleep is that she loves this man and she will until the very day she dies.
That night, wrapped in Bill's arms, Laura didn't suffer any of her usual shivering, coughing fits, or the aching pain in her left breast. She slept comfortably, fitting perfectly against Bill's body. They both knew they were meant to be together.
Should I continue this? Please review! Reviews=Love!