Like Orchids
Rated PG-13
When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was the smell of alcohol. He wrinkled his nose and tried to turn his head away from the source, but was stopped by a sharp pain in his collarbone. He winced and eased himself back into the mattress with a groan. He attempted to shift in the bed, only to be met with a series of protests from his injuries. He peeled his eyes open and blinked as the harsh light sent daggers into his head. He vaguely recalled the accident responsible for his current state, or at least he recalled sitting in his viper, spinning very, very fast.
Concussion, broken collarbone, not too bad. He lifted his head slightly and drew in his breath. Oh yeah, maybe a couple of broken ribs. He tried to stretch and sucked his breath in again. Broken leg. Lee Adama, he thought dryly to himself, intergalactic whipping boy. He decided that future movement was not currently in his best interests, and concentrated on blinking enough to soothe his burning eyes.
The curtain surrounding his bed in Life Station flew back and Doc Cottle filled his field of vision.
"I'm beginning to think you're sweet on me, Apollo. How many times do I have to fix you before you stop trying to get dead?" The doctor pulled back the sheet and gave his patient the once over. "Glad you're awake. Now maybe your family will give me some peace." He pulled the sheet back up and left, dragging the curtain closed as he went. Lee closed his eyes and drifted off.
He felt her before he heard or saw her, and his eyes flew open. He cursed at the harsh light, and at himself for looking right at the damn thing again. He took a deep breath to prepare himself.
"He'll be fine. It's going to take awhile for him to heal, he really did a number on himself this time, but he should be good as new in a few weeks."
"Thank gods. Did you call his dad?"
"One of the nurses did, he'll be down in a few minutes. Keep it down when you yell at your man in there. I've got sick people in the other beds." Lee braced himself. The curtain came open again in a dramatic swoop. She covered the distance to his bedside in two strides. He met her eyes, and before she could control it, he saw all the worry, concern and relief she was about to cover in anger. She sighed in resignation, sank to the chair next to his bed, took his hand and held it to her cheek.
"I'm glad you woke up. I missed you." She kissed his palm and let her tears roll down her cheeks. "Doc says you're going to be fine." When she said the words aloud, she finally believed them, and her tears fell harder. She put her face in her hands and sobbed, he stroked her hair until she couldn't cry anymore. She wiped her face awkwardly with the sleeve of her sweatshirt and looked at him. He mustered up a tiny grin and she laughed. "Don't use the Adama grin on me, flyboy. It won't work this time."
The curtain rustled as the commander entered the small area. Kara turned her smile to him and reached out to squeeze his hand. "You Adama men are going to be the death of me." She rose and kissed Lee gently on the lips and ran her hand through his hair. "I'll be back. Love you," she whispered into his ear.
"Me too," his voice was raspy and coarse. He looked up at her and she felt her tears starting again. She turned and left before the Old Man could see her cry.
The senior Adama settled in the chair and smiled at his son. "Good to see your eyes open. Kara was worried sick." His eyes twinkled slightly. "Tore up your ship pretty good. I think I can hear Tyrol screaming from here." He continued making small talk until he saw Lee's eyes get heavy. A nurse came in with a hypodermic and injected it into his IV. He stayed until he knew Lee was asleep. He paused at the curtain and looked back. "Love you, son," he whispered.
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The next morning when he woke up, he didn't need to move to feel the pain. Ugh. He felt like a giant bruise. He gritted his teeth and changed position slightly, trying to relieve some of the stiffness that had settled in around his battered joints. He tried to rub his face with his good hand, but flinched when his fingers came in contact with a large bandage on his cheek. Frak, Adama, what didn't you hurt? He forced himself to move again, until he found a position that was halfway tolerable. He sighed and tried to relax into the pillow.
"Mornin'," she whispered into his ear a few minutes later. Pain be damned, he thought, as he enjoyed the shiver it sent through him. He gingerly turned his head to her and smiled. He tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry. You are so beautiful in the morning. Gods, I love you so much it scares me. Please don't ever leave me here to do this without you. She leaned in farther and kissed him lightly. She smiled as she looked into his eyes and felt his thoughts. "I love you, too."
She stepped back and turned from him to rummage through a bag she had placed on the chair by the bed. He allowed himself to gaze over the curve of her hips and beyond. She looked over her shoulder at him, winked and shimmied slightly. He grinned and blushed in response. She turned back to him with a stack of towels and a few toiletries that she placed on the tray at the foot of his bed. He looked at her expectantly. She rolled the table closer to him and revealed a small tub of soapy water.
"Sponge bath?" She grinned wickedly at him and he choked on a laugh. "No offense, sir, but you stink." Gently she reached behind his head to untie his gown. His right arm was taped to his chest to support his collarbone, so she only had to work the sleeve over one shoulder. She pulled it forward slightly, until she could work his shoulder loose, and then removed it. She covered his stomach with a towel and pulled the blankets up over his lower half. She dipped a sponge into the water and gently began washing the part of his chest not covered in tape. She quickly patted his skin with another towel and moved to his arm. She squeezed a tiny bit of lotion that he instantly recognized as hers into her hands before rubbing them over his freshly washed skin. He inhaled the heady scent of orchids. She placed feather kisses on each of his exposed injuries. Moving the towel as she went, she washed his stomach and the leg not in a cast. He sighed contentedly as she moved the sponge, the towel and finally her hands over his tender flesh. He heard her emit a low chuckle as she moved the towel from the only area she hadn't attended to, and he forgot all about the pain as her hands and the sponge brought him a great deal of pleasure.
When he was settled in the bed in a fresh gown, she brought him water. He sipped greedily, grateful for each drop on his parched tongue. He smiled at her broadly, ignoring the pain in his cheek. "Thanks, Nurse Kara."
"I aim to please." She grinned back at him and kissed him gently. "The nurse gave me this." She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out his wedding ring. She slipped it on his finger. "Don't want anyone around here but me giving you sponge baths." She kissed his hand at the silver band. "Oh yeah! I have something else." She fumbled in the bag again and pulled out a music chip and portable player. "I have to go, listen to this, so you don't forget me." She grinned and slipped the headphones over his ears. He smiled at her when he recognized the melody.
"We danced to this," he whispered as he closed his eyes. He dreamt of their wedding night on cloud nine, the way she felt in his arms as they moved around the dance floor and how she had smelled like orchids.
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This time, when his eyelids fluttered open, the light did not immediately make his head throb, and he took it to be a good sign. He shifted slightly and noted that it wasn't as painful as the last time he had tried to move. He cleared his eyes with the heel of his hand and looked around. Kara had apparently taken all of her sponge bath supplies with her when she left, all that remained on the tray was a fresh glass of water. He took a long sip and rubbed at the stiffness in his neck.
She burst into the curtain with a giggle and two-year-old in tow.
"Daddy!" The toddler held out his arms and Kara gently placed him on Lee's bed before she flopped down in the chair. His sweatshirt barely covered her rapidly expanding stomach, and when she leaned back in the chair he ran his finger lightly over the line of flesh that was exposed. She put her hands over his and smiled at him. He felt a flutter under his hand and grinned at her.
"She's busy."
"You're telling me? She's been spinning like a test pilot all day. Marcus has been dragging me around the ship since lunch, insisting that we talk to every single person on board. Between the two of them, I feel like I've been running a marathon." The youngest Adama looks up at his mother with an identical grin to the one on his father's face.
"No more grin! I can't take it anymore!" She threw her hands in the air. "I'm outnumbered." She laughed and scooped Marcus onto her hip. "Thank gods this one is a girl, or I wouldn't stand a chance. Get some rest, flyboy. We love you, all two and three quarters of us." His family headed out of the curtain when she turned to him. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes. He pushed himself up on his elbows and tried unsuccessfully to speak. Kara, what's wrong? He searched her face, suddenly scared and chilled to the bone.
"It's almost time, Lee. Don't forget us." He tried to call out to her as she walked away, but his voice never came.
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He dreamed he was running towards them, but they never got any closer. He tried to yell out to her, to warn her, but his voice was stuck in his throat. He ran and ran, but he couldn't run fast enough.
He was in his Viper, spinning out of control. The cockpit was filling with blood and one by one, the stars surrounding him in sky flashed and burned out. As the darkness engulfed him in his dream, he smelled orchids.
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When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was the smell of alcohol. He wrinkled his nose and tried to turn his head away from the source, but was stopped by a sharp pain in his collarbone. He winced and eased himself back into the mattress with a groan. He attempted to shift in the bed, only to be met with a series of protests from his injuries. He peeled his eyes open and blinked as the harsh light sent daggers into his head. He vaguely recalled the accident responsible for his current state, or at least he recalled sitting in his viper, spinning very, very fast.
His father was sitting by his bed, holding his hand. The Old Man looked up, and Lee was shocked to see him openly crying, and then it hit him.
There was no Viper. There was no crash.
They were on Cloud Nine, playing in the artificial sunlight; Marcus loved it, he chased Kara around the grassy courtyard, collapsing in the grass with laugher every few steps. He went to get Kara a glass of water, but he stopped on the way back and took a sip himself. He watched her for a moment as she picked Marcus up from the grass and spun them around in circles. He was almost halfway to them when the tall blonde came up behind Kara. He ran and screamed her name, willing the gods to get him to her faster. The blonde turned to look at him, with her head cocked to the side. She took a few steps to place herself between him and his family. He tried to push past her, but she sent him reeling. He jumped to his feet and called for Kara, moving towards her as fast as he could. He stopped in his tracks when he saw them; he knew he was too late. He fell to his knees beside them when the cylon struck him for the second time.
There was no Viper. There was no crash.
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His father squeezed his hand tightly. "I'm so sorry, son."
Lee fell apart.
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His body healed, and he was dismissed from Life Station after a few weeks. He sat in the chair by the bed silently and waited for his father to come walk him back to his quarters.
"Hey, you don't want to forget that," the young nurse tells him, pointing to a shelf on the wall behind the bed. He turned to her, to tell her that he didn't have any belongings here, when his eyes landed on the small piece of metal. The nurse continued. "That's a chip player isn't it? I'd imagine those are pretty valuable these days." She scooped it up and handed it to him. He held it, amazed, for a few minutes before he slipped the earphones on. He didn't need to hit play to know which song he would hear.
The End