Chapter 10
Nathan looked at his watch for what seemed like the three-hundredth time, having tried to keep himself distracted ever since leaving MedBay. It had been almost fourteen hours. To be honest, he wasn't certain what time it was when he actually fell asleep last night. When he stopped by that morning to see how Kristin was doing before reporting for duty she was still sleeping. He recalled Levin's words. Her core temperature is finally back to normal, but she has a few cracked ribs, some water in her lungs, and some very nasty bruises. Really, she just needs to rest.
Nathan was deep in his thoughts. You could have lost her. He subconsciously combed his fingers through his hair and scratched the back of his head. His PAL unit chirped and he answered it quickly.
"Bridger here."
"Captain, I thought I should let you know Dr. Westphalen is waking up."
His heart leaped with joy. "I'll be right there." He looked over at Commander Ford. "Commander, you have the helm."
"Aye, Cap." He smiled, knowing the Captain had been waiting for that call from Levin ever since their shift started.
Nathan walked briskly towards MedBay, trying not to crash into anyone or anything as he made his way through the halls and towards his destination. He walked into MedBay and looked around but couldn't see Kristin.
"How is she, Joshua?"
"Hard to tell, sir. She seems to be hanging in there. No signs of pneumonia or secondary infections.I managed to remove the remnants of the crystal she had in her throat and she had some strange contact lenses on. We'll have to take a closer look at all of it. She's also hyperchloremic."
"What does that mean?"
"He has unusually high amounts of sodium and chloride ions in her blood. I've put her on a sodium bicarbonate IV infusion."
"What does that do, Joshua?"
"It'll hopefully help her kidneys flush out the extra chloride ions. Right now, she's very weak and dehydrated. But she should be okay once we stabilize the electrolyte levels and she gets plenty of rest. Mostly, her ribs need time to heal."
Nathan let out of relieved breath.
"Can I see her?"
"Yeah, just keep it short. She needs to take it easy."
Nathan smiled. "Will do."
He knocked on the door and waited for her response to come in. When he opened the door he saw her on the bed, staring blankly at one of the monitors nearby. The moment he walked in, she turned swiftly to meet his gaze and smiled. "Hello, Nathan."
"Kris..." He didn't hesitate to walk towards her, grab her hands in his and sit down in the chair next to her bed. "How are you feeling?" He could tell she was struggling to hold back tears, no matter how hard she tried to keep the smile going.
She nodded her head. "I'm fine. Maybe a bit sore around my ribs...but...I can manage. I've been thinking. I can't fully explain how it all works but I have some idea. Joshua managed to take out what was left of the crystal and if I just can figure out its molecular structure I could maybe recreate it. I think Elijah found a way to break down the hydrogen from the water molecules and have the crystal filter pure oxygen...I think the sodium and chloride ions get absorbed into the bloodstream somehow by binding to one of the crystal's ions but I'm not sure what those are...it would explain my fatigue and dehydration. I'll have to correct for that somehow to minimize the side effects of hyperchloremia but if I could just..."
Nathan noticed her ranting, realizing that she was focusing on the science instead of dealing with what happened and facing her emotions. He quickly interrupted her. "Kristin, as amazing as all that is, you will have plenty of time to study this in the future..look, I know you're just putting on a brave front right now but you don't have to. The only thing you need to do is focus on getting better. I mean..you were kidnapped, for God's sake. You were forced to breathe underwater...an entire building exploded around you, almost crushing you to death...and you essentially drowned trying to get back to us. Hell, I'm amazed to see you breathing right now in front of me." There was genuine concern in his voice.
She stared at him knowingly, trying to maintain her composure, but it was no use as the tears threatened to pour out. She allowed herself to let out an accepting sigh and could barely find the strength to whisper his name. "Nathan." As if sensing her floodgates were about to open, he leaned in to wrap her in a gentle hug, noticing her wincing slightly in pain and releasing her a bit to make sure she was comfortable. She started sobbing softly into his shoulder as he tried to comfort her as best as he could.
"It's all right, Kristin. You're going to be okay."
"Yeah...thanks to you." She pulled her head back from his shoulder. "Sorry, I've gotten you drenched." She let out an embarrassed giggle, wiping away at the tear drops that now adorned the SeaQuest logo on his uniform.
"That's alright. It's not as bad as my last uniform. I'm still drying that one out from jumping in the moon pool." He chuckled trying to ease the tension, but felt he made it more awkward so he cleared his throat and continued. "Kristin, you have no idea how happy I am to see you back here, but you know as well as I do that you need to rest right now."
Kristin let out a sigh and leaned her head back on the pillow. "You're right. I'm not a very good patient, but even I can admit I need some time to deal with all this." She paused and looked away, not wanting to face the truth. "I was so scared, Nathan. I truly thought that he was going to hide me away forever and I would never see anyone again. I resigned myself to the idea that I was going to be his... his plaything." She looked back at his face. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't found me."
He held her hands in his. "Everyone helped to track you down. It took a bit of time, but we figured it out eventually. I just wish it had been sooner."
"Yeah, me too." She smiled sarcastically, trying to make light of the situation. "I just...I don't know what would have led Elijah to do something like this."
"Well, according to Lucas, this guy had a major crush on you for years."
"Yes, he was always a bit strange...but...I wonder where he got the funding for his research. It doesn't strike me that he was working on this alone. Or how he got those two men to help him out."
"Well, those men are in UEO custody so we will find out all we can about it. Don.t you worry about that."
Kristin nodded. "I just...I never thought he would stoop so low as to murder people." She thought for a moment and let out another sigh. "I can't believe he actually thought this little invention would win me over somehow. He was parading me in front of some men trying to get them to make him an offer for the technology. I felt so...cheap." She lowered her head down shamefully. "I played along just to buy you some time, but deep down I had no idea what to do. And the moment he set off the bomb, I thought for sure that was it." She looked into back up at him. "I expected to die in that place."
The look in her eyes broke his heart and he tightened his grip on her hands reassuringly. "Kristin, I can't begin to imagine what it must have felt like for you, but I can tell you everyone on this boat was doing their damnedest to try and find you. Krieg searched through pages upon pages of inventory lists for those stupid tails, Katie called every underwater lab known within hundreds of miles, Lucas was finding everything he could about this bastard online, which is actually very limited in the last few years. Every last one of us was working to get to you as quickly as possible. Between your being kidnapped, then thinking you had blown up in the explosion...and then seeing you swimming towards the ship and watching you take what I thought was your last breath..." Nathan stopped, shaking his head at the memories. "I don't want to ever feel that way again. I thought I'd lost you." He cleared his throat, surprised by his own admission.
Kristin shut her eyes, silently reliving the events and taking a deep breath.
"Nathan, would you mind telling me how I made it back to the ship? I don't remember much."
Nathan noticed she wanted to avoid any more talk of Woodward. He struggled a bit to get the words out. "Well, you appeared to have run out of air just as you were almost here and Darwin managed to catch you on his back and carry you through the doors and to the moon pool. I jumped in and everyone helped to carry you out of the water." He took a deep breath as he remembered. "I don't think I've ever been so scared, but eventually my instincts kicked in and I performed CPR until you coughed up the water and Levin took over. You were so pale and cold, Kris..."
Kristin quietly absorbed the information but he could tell she was holding back tears. Nathan thought it best to change the subject, as he was having trouble concentrating as well.
"You know, Lucas has been asking nonstop about you. You should've seen him. He was right behind me running through the halls when we saw that Darwin was bringing you in. In fact, the whole crew was right there when Joshua took you into Medbay. I wouldn't be surprised if they are all lining up to see you as we speak. You should get ready."
She gave a weak smile. She looked into his eyes, reality setting in. "Thank you for bringing me back to life."
He reached a hand on her cheek and gently rubbed it with his thumb. "I should be thanking you for the same thing." He leaned in a bit closer, both of them catching their breath, anticipating what was about to happen. Their lips barely brushed in a featherlight kiss when there was a loud knock at the door. Nathan abruptly pulled back, looking at the entrance as Lucas opened the door and stuck his head in.
"Doc! You're awake!"
"Yes and you, young man, should learn to wait until someone answers before you open the door.." Kristin mockingly scorned Lucas, but let out a big smile and held out her arms when she noticed the look on his face. "Oh come here, sweetheart."
He ran towards her and wrapped her in a firm but gentle hug. She could see Nathan over Lucas' shoulder and he gave her a smile and a wink, both knowing they had much more to talk about.
Nathan stopped at the door and looked back. "I'd better be getting back to the Bridge. I'm sure everyone will be glad to hear you're awake.."
"Thanks for stopping by, Captain." She tried to keep her composure as Lucas released her from his grasp.
"Just be sure to get some rest. Lucas, don't disturb her for too long." Nathan walked out of the room, but glanced back before he closed the door to see Kristin smiling and chatting with Lucas. As he walked out of Medbay he ran into Lt. Commander Hitchcock walking briskly the other way, followed by Lt. Krieg and Chief Crocker. Katie spoke up first.
"Is it true, sir? She's awake?"
"Yes, Lucas is in there with her right now. She's going to be fine. Go on. But try not to overwhelm her. She still needs her rest. If Levin kicks you out, you listen."
They all smiled, their faces relieved. "Yes, sir."
Meanwhile in another unidentified location...
The hum of computers and various large machines filled the air in the dark laboratory. A tall, lanky man walked inside to find another man in a lab coat hunched over a microscope on a singular table in the middle of the room. He approached hesitantly.
"Sir. I have some news."
The man slowly lifted his head from the scope. "Good or bad?"
"Um..."
"Just let it out, Samuels." The man's deep, tired voice showed he knew the news was not good and Samuels took a deep gulp before continuing.
"Well, we finally tracked down Woodward...unfortunately, it seems he's caused a bit of trouble."
"Trouble? Define trouble." The larger man was already losing patience and getting a bit angry.
"He deleted the files and stole our prototypes for the undercover Breathers project and tried to sell it to an unknown confederation."
"What?!" The man slammed his fist on the table in anger. "What about the others who were working on the project with him?"
"They weren't expected to come to work this weekend. My men just found them dead in their homes not long ago."
The man let out a frustrated sigh. "So we don't have any records or personnel from the Breathers project?"
"No, sir. I'm afraid everything is gone." Samuels cleared his throat, knowing there was more to say. "It seems he was planning this for a while. Nobody on our side knew about it until it was too late. He even managed to somehow blow up the Lockhart Underwater Observatory in the process."
He pulled out a portable vidlink and played the call between Woodward and two unidentifiable men showing off a woman breathing underwater dressed as a mermaid and talking about selling the technology.
The anger seethed on the large man's face as he watched what was going on. "So...Woodward tried to sell what is technically my product?! And are those Johnson and Richards helping him?"
"He bribed them. Johnson actually contacted us. He realized that Woodward was out of control and decided to send us some information in the hopes of stopping him. He was the one who submitted the videos, but by the time we received them, the Observatory was already in pieces."
"The little cheat! I'm going to make Woodward pay for this."
"Actually, Woodward is dead, sir."
"Damn! Lucky for him. He suffered a fate far better than what I would have had in store for him." He let out an angry sigh. "What about Johnson and Richards?"
"They are under UEO custody."
"Make sure they don't talk."
"Yes sir. Our guys in the UEO are already on it." The mercenary nodded, knowingly.
"Do we know who Woodward was talking to?"
"Not yet, sir. But we have a few people working right now to identify the two men in the video. They are going through our contacts in the black markets."
"And what about the woman? Who is she? Is she dead too?"
"No, sir. Woodward apparently knew her from his younger days. Seems he kidnapped her and was holding her against her will. Johnson mentioned he was obsessed with her. Her name is Kristin Westphalen. She's the chief medical doctor and the head scientist aboard the SeaQuest."
Samuels handed him a file folder with photos and some papers to browse as he continued. "We have more videos for you to take a look at. Apparently he called the Captain of the SeaQuest to gloat after he somehow kidnapped her off the ship."
The large man focused on the papers in front of him. "So...the esteemed Captain and crew of the SeaQuest is aware of the existence of the crystals?"
"Yes, sir."
"And it seems this Westphalen woman will no doubt have remnants of one of them. There is hope for us yet. Tell me, Samuels...do you think Woodward might have mentioned us to her or the SeaQuest?"
"No sir. Based on the communications and what Johnson reported briefly he seemed to be acting on his own and taking the credit, but...she is a witness, sir. As are most of the SeaQuest crew. And the UEO will no doubt investigate."
"But there is no trace of Woodward leading back here, correct?"
"No. We checked and made sure of that before the project started."
"Then I want you to double check. Make sure all tracks are clear. I don't want the UEO sniffing around here."
The man pondered the file in his hand for a bit before a wicked smile broke through. "So...she's a doctor and a scientist? Impressive resumé indeed. And she knows about and has first-hand experience with the crystal. Dare I say she is not bad to look at either. Hmmm...you know, we seem to have a recent opening for a scientist on our team. We'll need someone to recover our work." He ruminated out loud and smiled knowingly. "Perhaps we should make the lovely doctor an offer she can't refuse."
A/N: So I decided to extend this story after all. I hope I haven't lost many readers. I know it's been a while. But I am encouraged by other authors posting in our small and humble Fandom and I love hearing your feedback. So please read and review and let me know that you are still following along and enjoy what I'm doing. I get pretty busy but my muse never sleeps. Just takes a while to sit down and put it all in writing. :) Thanks for sticking with me.