Title: AM Date With An Airlock
Prompt: recovery
Word count: 200
She can barely hold her body upright against the couch. She's gone pale in the last fifteen minutes and the lines around her eyes have crawled deeper into their purple pillows.
Bill keeps his silence. She already snapped at him for suggesting an early end to the meeting.
She tries to reach for the water on the table and gasps when the attempt proves both exhausting and painful.
He hands it to her wordlessly, looking down at his report so as not to see the embarrassment in her eyes.
When she hands it back, he can't ignore the tremor wracking her too pale hand.
Wordlessly, he stands and takes the report she's holding. Her questioning look turns to horror when he bends down and scoops her into his arms.
She pounds on his chest in protest all the way to his rack. The blows are harmless but buoy his heart tremendously. Two weeks ago, she couldn't even spare the strength to lift her head.
"This is humiliating, Admiral. I'm the president of the Twelve Colonies."
"And you'll live to airlock me for it if you want. But wait for the morning. Rest now."
"Alright. In the morning."
"Goodnight, Madame President."
