Empty Spaces
Kristin stood at the open window, indifferent to the wind tossed rain that was splattering her. The dark gloomy sky reflected her mood as the memories of the morning's ceremony washed over her.
It was still hard to believe, even after all this time. seaQuest was gone, vanished from the face of the earth. Her friends, Tim, Miguel, Lucas. Nathan. That one hurt the most. Nathan. After everything they had shared, been through, she didn't have anything to remind her of their relationship. All she had left was empty spaces.
A cup appeared in front of her and an arm slipped around her waist. "Are you feeling better, Kristin?" Katie Hitchcock asked tentatively, not wanting to upset the Doctor.
Taking the steaming mug, Kristin carefully sipped the hot tea, using the time to gather herself into some sort of normalcy. This morning had been down right embarrassing, swooning like some twelve year old. One moment, she had been standing at the dedication ceremony for the seaQuest Memorial, and the next minute she found herself laying on the ground looking up at a circle of concerned faces.
Kristin, catching a glimpse of Ben and Manilow standing in the background, looked into the concerned eyes of her friend. Katie was lucky, she thought to herself. Her love story had turned into a dream come true when she had remarried Krieg. At one point in her life, Kristin had thought that she, too, would have a fairy tale ending. The period of time when she and Nathan had lived together while he was building seaQuest number two had been one of the sweetest time of her life. They had formed a pseudo family, with Lucas, and were happy being together.
"I'm fine, Katie. It all caught up to me, that's all. I guess I still held onto some belief that they would be found, that it was a misunderstanding and then I finally realized...." she turned to the window again as her voice dropped to a whisper, "that he's gone."
The hardest part was that their last goodbye had not been a happy goodbye. It had been the same old argument. Nathan asking her to come back to seaQuest, making promises, explaining why a long distance relationship wouldn't work. She had been frightened. Nathan was married to the sea - you could take the man out of the sea but not the sea out of the man. Knowing that he would not be content if he had to retire, leave his beloved seaQuest before HE was ready to leave, she had resisted and taken the Director position. Nathan had been furious but she had thought it was the best thing for both of them at the time, letting them each pursue their separate dreams. There would be time later to fulfill their dream of being together. Now there would be no time.
Fiddling with the edge of the curtain, Katie stared out into the storm. "He still loved you, you know. The Captain," she added, as if there had been some question. "Whenever I called, or visited, he and Lucas would always tell stories of when you three were sharing the house between boats. They were always making each other laugh with a private joke. Drove me crazy." She stole a quick look at the Doctor, gauging her reaction. It had been a shock for all of them but at least she still had Ben safe and sound with her. She couldn't imagine how she would feel if he had disappeared. "Lucas told me what happened."
"Did I do the right thing?" Kristin whispered, second guessing herself once again.
Katie contemplated her answer for a minute, making sure she worded herself correctly. She gave Kristin a comforting pat and said sympathetically, "I think you did what you both needed at the time. Nobody could have expected this." With that, she turned, leaving the Doctor to solitude of the pouring rain.