Soul of my soul
Chapter Nine : Weight of the ocean on your shoulders
Day 1
He was tiny. While the doctors assured he was healthy, she just couldn't fathom his size. Tiny fingers held around her own they didn't know anything about the world. It broke heart in a way. Amelia stared down at her baby with wide eyes. There he was in her arms all shiny and new. She was now the keeper of this little soul, despite her parent's desire for her to be otherwise. At her own young age Amelia had resolve beyond her years. He was hers and that was absolute.
Day 7
Bonding was difficult. The baby cried and she felt nothing but anxiety. She couldn't work out what he wanted because she didn't know how to read her baby. Her mother was no help; she would float around spitting venom at her daughter while she cried in her room with her distressed little boy. Her father was away, working hard as always oblivious to his wife's cunning. In the night the housekeeper would show her how to change him and encouraged her to breast feed, something her own mother slapped her for attempting after they had left the hospital.
Day 180
He was too small. The winter was bitter and this baby should not be so small. The old woman was relentless with her abuse. Picking, picking at her every move like a vulture to a corpse. Sooner or later, Amelia would cave. She would give her son away to a family who would love him and raise him as their own. Or not, the old woman didn't care. All she could see when she looked at this baby was a problem that needed a solution. If her daughter cannot see she could not look after this baby, she would force her to see. It was obvious by the child's size she could not. It was all her own fault for being such a slut. She would do this for as long as it takes. Until her daughter understands she cannot have a future with a baby. What collage would accept her when her time was divided between her studies and her baby? What man would want that if her were to marry her? She could afford a nanny, but Amelia was stubborn and insisted on doing it all herself. She will learn, she will want for things she can't have because of this little bastard child. Then she would surely learn.
Day 1050
Amelia stood out by the lake. It was frozen with a delicate layer of ice; still as the air, it deceived the eye by hiding the current below. Her tears thickened with the cold as they slipped down her face. Her face was numb from the biting cold. Her little boy was quiet. He shifted in his layers of warmth but did not make a sound. Standing by her side he clung to her leg with his little mitten covered hands. He could sense his mothers' unease. She breathed deeply. The air was sharp and crisp as it filled her lungs. She began to feel cold on the inside again, like she had for so long. She stepped forward and onto the ice. It reacted instantly to her weight, splitting aggressively and moaning loud. It did not give. Amelia felt adrenaline rush through her veins and she began to shake from it. She smiled nervously and walked out onto the ice. She was some distance out before turning to Jed who waited on the solid bank. She smiled at him but her eyes were red, full with tears. She waved for him to come to her. Jed knew by instinct that it was not safe but his mothers face was confusing. He stayed in his spot. She gave a little laugh at his refusal before waving in bigger motions and smiling wider. He trusted his mother. He steadily took a small step onto the ice.
A voice echoed loud across the snow covered property. It was her father. He could see her from the house and knew as soon as he lay eyes on Amelia what her intentions were. He was running, fighting the thick snow, screaming to her. His eyes were blurred with tears and his legs burned. Behind him the house keeper chased, crying out to Amelia, to Jed. From a distant window, the sound of the cries caught the old woman's attention. She watched it all happen from her window, motionless, tears streaming down her face that was cold as stone.
Please no! The words were desperately cried from a voice with such force it cracked at the air. Amelia watched the people who loved her run to her. She needed them to run so much faster, she knew they would not be there soon enough. Her little boy cautiously took small steps to his broken mother. She smiled joyously. The hold the old woman had over them would soon be gone. Released in a flash of ice, cold and then darkness. She would finally understand, this freedom was to be her happiness and soon the old woman would have nothing.
Her father struggled to stop as he reached the ice. He cried out to Jed. The push in his voice made the little boy stop dead in his tracks. He begged him to come to pappy. His attention shifted to his daughter with the sound of the ice giving. He cried what are you doing? Don't do this. We love you. Please don't do this. She watched him through hollow eyes. It was too late; there was nothing left in her for him, she knew he loved her but it was from a distance and never close enough to shield her. Jed, confused by all the yelling began to cry, his little heart didn't understand. There was a loud noise that sounded like a whip cracking as the ice gave under Amelia's feet and she disappeared into the freezing water, rapidly swept below and down stream. They would find her later, but not as they remembered her. The maid who had been chasing behind ran out onto the ice without a second thought, scooping up the toddler and in a swift movement pushed him through the air to his grandfather before she too disappeared. Cries and screams that only come from a place of helplessness, of such powerful and sudden loss echoed in the little boy's ears, burning a very clear memory into his innocent mind. This memory he would never share with anyone else.
000
Cold water was streaming quickly through a split in the cockpit window framed with blood. The temperature jogged the memory of Jed's last winter in Buffalo and in his unconscious state he dreamed of the last time he saw her face. A low pitch alert buzzed from his silent cockpit before a hissing sounded from the outside of the Spectre. He slowly opened his eyes that were damp with tears, his head ached fiercely and everything was blurry. A heavy vibration jolted the vessel and the console before him lit up. SeaQuest had remotely restarted the vehicle and initiated the emergency eject to the surface. Once free from the body of the vessel the cockpit rushed towards the surface. The force of the sudden ascent pressed against Jed and he woke further. The sunlight swirling at the surface rushed toward him. The cockpit broke through softly and bobbed gently in the small waves. The water rolled off the rounded hull and as soon as it was clear Jed fumbled to opened it using an emergency release lever. Fresh air flooded in and he breathed it gratefully which created a rattling in his chest. Touching an uncoordinated hand to his forehead, he could feel sharp surface pain and slippery flesh. Looking at his fingertips, they were covered in blood. From what he could tell he was bleeding quite badly and probably had a concussion. What he couldn't tell was that his face was covered in blood. Closing his eyes again Jed let his head flop backwards against his seat.
He thought briefly that he heard a woman's voice, but was unsure if it was his memory or reality. With his eyes closed he concentrated on any sound that filled his ears. Then he heard it again. Sitting up awkwardly he looked out into the glaring sunlight. He could see a silhouette of a woman waving her arms. It was lieutenant commander Heiko Kimura and she looked like she had her entire sub fighter, not just the cockpit. Fighting to stay conscience Jed waved in return before his arm became very heavy, like it was made of lead. A deep pain rose from his stomach into his chest and suddenly he felt so sleepy.
What felt like a few seconds of nothing were actually several minutes of lost consciousness and upon opening his eyes Jed was greeted by the sight of Heiko leaning over him, tending to his head injury. He didn't say a word; he moved only his eyes as he watched her shift above him. Seeing he had woken, Heiko spoke to Jed but now he couldn't make out her words. Heiko could see he was having trouble breathing, making a sickly gurgling sound and as he opened his mouth and tried to speak she noticed blood lined his lips. Unzipping his jumpsuit she placed her hand under his shirt and applied some pressure to his stomach. All Jed could hear then was he own voice crying out from the pain before he fell back into darkness.
000
Med bay was a mess. Dr. Perry and her team were at capacity. The unusual attack had seen more injuries then normal simply because the pilots got thrown around in their fighters. Broken bones, concussion and internal injuries were time consuming to treat. There we casualties too. A young lieutenant who showed great talent and a mustang officer with excellent tactical experience were defenceless in their subs and were torn apart like paper. There was no chance of even recovering their bodies for their families to mourn and honour.
This is the scene Jed opened his eyes briefly to before succumbing again to the warm darkness that kept pulling him back in. He had internal injuries. Bleeding out from the inside he needed a blood transfusion and surgery. By some form of misfortune Jed's blood type was O-. While he could donate universally to others he himself needed the same matching blood type which made up about 10% of the world population, seaQuest simply did not have enough on hand.
Dr. Perry, as a sort of last resort ran a cross matching reference on all crew medical files in hope of finding a suitable match onboard, otherwise she would have to risk giving Jed an AB enzyme treated blood substitute which could have adverse effects if his body did not accept it. She made a mental note to put in a request for a larger supply of uncommon blood types as she waited for her system to generate some good news.
After sometime thinking her lab computer made a polite, positive beep. There were currently three crew members with suitable blood, and thankfully none of them were in med bay with life threatening injuries. In addition to this good news, not only did she find a few matches, genotyping revealed one of them was the very closest match possible, sharing genetic information. This was something only possible by family relation and this percentage of shared genetics, only possible through direct inheritance. This information was very interesting and had the potential to present real, complex problems between crew involved. Dr. Perry would remember to discuss it later with the captain, but right now she had to get Lucas Wolenczak down to med bay to commence the blood transfusion.
000
Lucas was slouched in a soft chair beside Jed, his head was buried deep in his palm and he was drifting to sleep. He watched Jed with sleepy eyes breath slow and steady. Lawrence always pressed that it was important to donate blood because of their type but Lucas simply hated it. He had a tendency to unconscientiously hold his breath as the process began which would either knock him out cold or leave him disorientated and dizzy. He would also convince himself of the sensation of the blood leaving his body, which un-nerved him. Today however, he was completely calm about it. He had felt mildly light headed during the transfusion but let himself ignore it as he gave several units of blood, most which were used in Jed's surgery that thankfully went perfectly.
Hours had passed since the attack and med bay was quiet again. Awash with an ambient blue light it deceived anyone of the chaos experienced earlier. Most of the crew had been sent back to their quarters with their treated wounds and now only about half a dozen remained in the elaborate intensive care units. Nursing staff tended their patients while curiously watching Lucas stay by what they thought was a strangers' side.
Making a tired sigh, Jed shifted slightly. He was uncomfortable he could tell that much. He didn't feel any pain but his body did feel like it had a large something, like an imaginary mass pushing against his skin from the inside. He opened his eyes and stared at the grated ceiling. After a few more moments of morphine induced unawareness, Jed noticed fingertips touching the top of his hand. It was Lucas. He was slumped in a chair next to the bed asleep with his arm across the void between the bed and arm of the chair. It was physical contact in the form of subtle comfort but it was limited, just enough to feel Lucas was there. Jed gazed at the motionless interaction for a long time. He thought he was imagining it. As if out of instinct Lucas woke abruptly to find Jed awake. He smiled relieved and it was genuine.
"What happened?" Jed asked in a dry voice as he struggled to swallow, the breathing tubes he had down his throat during surgery left it feeling raw and scratchy.
"Rapid deceleration, did a bit of damage to your insides." Lucas said softly. He leaned in a little so Jed didn't have to talk with much volume.
"How… how did we get away?" Jed continued before licking his lips awkwardly and closing his eyes.
"We didn't, they let us go." Lucas' voice sounded flat, almost ungrateful. They were let go alright, but not before the Macronesian captain devastated the sub fighters. It had been a very long, intense day, but Lucas would tell him about it later.
"But…" Jed had spent all the energy his body would give him and the morphine put him back to sleep. Lucas waited but Jed was out again. Settling back into his chair again, Lucas took it as a positive sign Jed had been talking, even if it was only a few words.
000
"Lieutenant," a thick brawny voice spoke from behind Lucas. Lucas breathed deep through his nose as he pulled himself upright and came out of his light sleep. Hudson moved into Lucas' peripheral vision. His arms were folded behind his back, but it wasn't a strong posture, more the result of habit. His shoulders were relaxed and he tilted his head to look Lucas in the face, rather then stare down his nose. Lucas still hunched down slightly under the older man's gaze as he looked up. Hudson's face was neutral, Lucas couldn't read him.
"Dr. Perry has brought something to my attention," Although he spoke soft, his voice still had a strong bass to it. It made it sound like he was talking louder then he actually was. Lucas didn't say anything; he just stared up submissively waiting for Hudson to continue.
Hudson didn't say anything else. He simply gestured his head with a nod towards Jed. Lucas followed the movement before looking down at his hands which were fidgeting without him willing them too. Hudson caught the movement and raised a single eyebrow; he was not aware of any of the circumstances surrounding this situation and was very eager to change that. He wasn't angry, so to say, but more concerned about finding out just what the hell was going on.
"My quarter's lieutenant, I believe we need to talk." Hudson softly ordered before turning on his heal and with a steady stride left med bay. Lucas stood slowly, his eyes trained on Jed. He touched the top of his hand lightly with the very tips of his fingers. Sighing he left to follow his captain.
