The next day he realized that the others had been right. He had a sharp pain in his back, and his body ached everywhere. He was awake before the others, and looking at the clock, he decided that he had time to take a shower before Tony needed to get ready for his shift. He thought the hot water might make him feel better.
He quietly headed into the bathroom, and immersed himself in the hot water. It did help. He dried himself in the shower and reached out to put on his robe.
He realized suddenly that he was exhausted. All he had done was get up and shower, and he felt as though he'd run a marathon.
He sat for a few minutes, waiting vainly for more energy.
He tried to reach for his chair, but his hands were shaking too much. He knew that he would fall if he tried to lift himself now.
There was a knock at the door.
"Hey, you doin' okay?"
"Um... Tony..." was all he managed to say before the door flew open and Tony and Dagwood rushed in, both staring at him, concerned.
"That was a little dramatic."
"We was worried about you. What's up?"
"I think I overdid it yesterday. I can't get back in the chair. I'm sorry."
Tony looked unconcerned.
"Hey, it's no problem, that's what we're here for, ain't it, Dagwood? C'mon, let's get you out of here before you freeze your ass off!"
Dagwood lifted him gently back in the chair and looked at him quizzically.
"Why are you shaking?"
"I don't know, I'm sorry."
"Hey, stop saying your sorry! Nothin' to be sorry about. He's shaking because he's so skinny and he can't do too much right now. He'll be better once he bulks up a little. In the meantime, he has us to help him, doesn't he, Dagwood?"
"Yes. Would you like to get back into bed?"
"I only just got out of it," Lucas grumbled.
"That's a yes, Dagwood."
Lucas scowled as Dagwood lifted him back onto his bed. Tony looked at him thoughtfully.
"Hey Big Guy, could you go and get us some breakfast? Thanks!"
As Dagwood left, Tony moved over and sat on Lucas' bed and pulled the sheets back over him.
"Listen, I know this is hard for you, but you gotta trust us and let us help you, okay?"
Lucas looked at him. "Of course I trust you! It's just..."
"It's just?"
"All I did was get out of bed and take a shower. And I'm exhausted. Look at me!"
He held up a shaking hand. Tony pushed it back to the bed.
"Yeah, you're exhausted. You remember Doctor Perry gave us this long speech before you moved back here, about how hard everything will seem and how tired you gonna be? You remember that, genius boy, huh?"
"Of course, it's just..."
"It's just you didn't think it would apply to you. Congratulations, you've finally found something you have to work at! Yesterday, you overdid things, and today you take a shower and you're wiped. So, you take things a bit easier, and tomorrow, you take a shower and eat breakfast, and then you're wiped. And maybe next week, you shower and have breakfast and you'll be fine. And in a month, you'll be zooming around like a mad thing. Give yourself some time, you'll get there. In the meantime, take it easy on yourself and on us. You're our friend, we want to help."
"Makes us feel good to be able to look after you a little." He was serious for a moment. "We were really scared a few times, we couldn't help you, and we almost lost you. Let us take of you for a while, okay?"
"Okay. I'm sorry, Tony."
"And stop saying you're sorry. Except to Dagwood! He's trying really hard, and you were kinda mean to him."
Lucas looked guilty.
"You're right, I'm sor... I'll behave better. Thanks Tony."
"No problem. Now that we've had our little talk, will you be okay here on your own for a while? I gotta get to my shift."
"No problem. Thanks again."
Tony was right, he thought. He'd only been out of the med-bay two days and he was already complaining and being difficult. He would get better, it would just take time. He was just so used to being quick at everything, he'd never before had to take the time to learn things slowly.
Tony was right, too, about the rest of it. By the end of the week, he did have a little more energy and was starting to feel better. But by then, a new problem had arisen.
When seaQuest next pulled into the harbor at New Cape Quest, it was as ready for repairs as the crew was for their next shore leave. Everyone was to get ten days of R&R for Christmas, and after the grueling events of the past couple of months, they all needed the break.
There was, however, one small problem.
When they had been discussing Lucas' care, it had been arranged that Tim would be happy to look after Lucas during shore leaves. Now they encountered their first setback.
All the stress and sleeplessness of the past few weeks had led to many of the crew members becoming a little run down, and Tim was no exception. As a result, Tim had developed a small cold - nothing serious, normally, but with the poor state of Lucas' health, Doctor Perry was emphatic that he would not be socializing with any sick crewmembers. She had been doing everything she could to keep him away from infections, and that included not allowing him to spend two weeks with his sick friend.
Which left them with the problem of where he could go.
There were no shortage of volunteers, but they all knew that Lucas would be suspicious of an invitation from Commander Ford or Lonnie, and he was unlikely to want to spend his shore leave with any of the sincere but casual acquaintances that made up the rest of the crew.
Tony, Dagwood and Lucas had spent many shore leaves together before, but it had been a long time since they'd been back to their base, and everyone knew how much Tony had missed his family and was looking forward to visiting them. He'd been talking about it long before the accident, and it didn't seem fair to ask him to cancel it, especially when he'd been spending so much time helping Lucas everyday.
Lucas was doing much better, but no-one felt comfortable with the idea of him staying in a hotel room somewhere, with only Dagwood to help him if anything happened. It was only a week since he had been released from the med-bay, and he was still in the early stages of recovery.
So they were all relieved when Tony slammed his lunch tray down next to Lucas and said, "Hey, Lucas, Dagwood, how d'ya like to spend shore leave with my folks? My Aunt Angie has invited us all to go stay at her house! My parents are gonna be staying there, and she's got plenty of room for everyone."
"I thought it was Cousin Angie?"
"Naw, Cousin Angie is Aunt Rose's girl. She's married with kids now, she moved away. This is Aunt Angie, she's real nice, you'll like her. Has two boys, Ricky and Eddie, twins, they're seventeen, and Gina, she's only fifteen. So what d'ya think?"
Dagwood looked up, pleased. "I'd like that!"
Lucas looked a little more uncertain. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"Why, what else were you planning?"
"I thought I could find a motel for me and Dagwood, if he'd like to join me."
"Why d'ya wanna go to a motel? You don't think Aunt Angie has a nice enough place?"
"It's not that, Tony. It's just all of this... you know." He gestured to the chair.
Tony grinned. "That's the best part! You can have Great Aunt Irene's room, she was in a chair so it's all set up for you!"
"But what about Irene?"
"Oh, she died two years ago. Isn't that great?!"
Lucas grinned. "Not for Great Aunt Irene."
Tony grinned back. "So, you coming?"
Lucas became serious again. "Are you sure? It's a lot of hassle for your family, I'm not anyone's idea of a perfect house guest. And you've got to be sick of me by now." His tone became grim. "I know I am."
Since Lucas had been allowed to stay, he had tried not to complain or show anything less than gratitude. Lately though, Tony and the others were starting to notice that he was increasingly frustrated and depressed, and his moods seemed to swing back and forth like a pendulum.
Doctor Perry said that Lucas would be better once he started to talk about his feelings, but they all knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't willingly do that.
Tony didn't want him to follow this train of thought.
"No, I've been telling them all about you, they're dyin' to meet you... both," he added, so Dagwood wouldn't feel excluded. "We'll have great time, c'mon, you'll have fun."
Seeing Lucas was still hesitant, he decided to bring out the big guns.
"Dagwood would like to go, but I don't think he'll come if you don't."
Lucas knew that this was the truth. Dagwood looked excited at the thought of staying with a family, but he wouldn't leave Lucas on his own. He admitted defeat.
"If you're sure they want me there..."