First chapter has been redone as of 12-18-2014. This chapter has not yet been edited.
Chapter 10
Taylor scooped Rebecca up in silence and carried her back to the rover amidst the screeching and firing weapons. Just as he was only feet away, the last of the Slashers had been either killed or driven away. Everyone stared at them in silence as Taylor slipped her into the back seat. Wash walked up to Taylor and put a hand on his arm just as he started climbing into the rover in a stunned silence. He froze and stared at her with hollow eyes. After a few seconds his horror faded into understanding and a mask of control slipped over his pain.
"Continue ahead." He said in a stern voice. The soldiers around him seemed relieved at the return of his voice and stopped fidgeting from the uncomfortable silence. He continued to shout out more orders while Wash leaned into the rover to check on her sister. She was shocked at how still she was lying there as was not very happy at how pale she was either. Wash waited for Taylor to rush back to the rover and she called out,
"I'm coming with you."
Taylor nodded stiffly and jumped into the rover without another word. Wash slipped in the back seat with her sister just as he started to drive away through the bustling soldiers. As Wash stripped off Rebecca's chest plate her heart sank. The Slasher's barb had been so massive that there was nothing she could do to help her sister out here in the field. Everything depended on how quickly they could get her back to the colony. As they neared Terra Nova Rebecca started to shiver, she was going into shock. Wash quickly scooped her sister into her arms and fought back the tears. Time was running out.
She saw Taylor steal a glance back at them and his face was grim. He shouted commands into the radio and the colony came into sight with the front gate rising. They sped through the gate and Taylor didn't stop until he made it to the infirmary. He flew out of the rover and gently plucked Rebecca from her sister's arms. He ran inside and put her down on the table Elizabeth was directing him to. He lingered for only a moment and stared down on Rebecca's pale body and Elizabeth said sharply,
"Commander!"
He instantly lurched backwards and watched Elizabeth and her team work on Rebecca, with Wash by his side. Instantly they hooked her up with iv's for blood and fluids, the scanners were working double time, while Elizabeth was forced to use slightly more primitive methods for speed's sake. She ended up using the defibrillator two times before their work on Rebecca slowed down. Elizabeth finally turned around and wiped her brow with the back of her arm, to avoid the blood on her gloves. Taylor started at the blood before asking,
"So?"
Elizabeth spoke as she was stripping off the bloody gloves and scrubs,
"She is extremely weak and rather unstable. She lost a lot of blood and I don't expect her to regain consciousness for at least another several hours. Luckily, Rebecca seems tough so I can give a slightly better prognosis. That Slasher left a lot of internal damage, she'll be weak for the next few weeks, and she will have a lot of internal scarring. We'll work on mending the exterior scar when she stabilizes. The very worst is over, now we just wait." Her eyes flickered back and forth from Wash to Taylor. She cleared he throat carefully and asked,
"When should I be expecting the plants?" Taylor looked up at Elizabeth and said,
"Maybe another hour or two, Malcolm seemed a little unsure of himself. Jim can handle himself and the others. You have nothing to worry about."
Elizabeth nodded and turned back to Rebecca. She reached down and gently touched the gauze that encased her torso, adjusting it slightly and whispered,
"Poor girl," before walking off to work on her other patients.
Hours later, Elizabeth was still waiting to see if Rebecca could pull through her awful injury. She was also anxiously waiting for the others to return so she could start making the vaccine. They should have been back over 30 minutes ago. Wash sat by her sister's bed, not sure if she should reach out to take her cold and motionless hand. Taylor stood back a little, desperately wanting to reach over to Rebecca and hold her until she woke up. Wash turned to Taylor with red and watery eyes. She whispered,
"How long have you two…?"
She stopped with a soft choking sound and hung her head. Taylor remained silent until Wash composed herself and looked back up at him. Taylor turned his gaze back to Rebecca's unconscious form and said,
"You know."
Wash took in a slow shaky breath.
"What?"
"I saw you." Taylor said quietly. Wash took another slow breath and finally reached up to Rebecca's hand. Gently, she held it for just a moment before getting up and walking away without a backward glance. Taylor watched her leave and he quickly walked up to Rebecca and grabbed her hand. He glanced around the infirmary to see if anyone was watching him before leaning down to carefully kiss her on the forehead. As he pulled away from her, he reached down and brushed the scar on her face with his hand. Elizabeth walked up behind him and softly called his name. He slowly pulled away from Rebecca and turned to Elizabeth expectantly.
"Commander, we're having an issue with some nervous citizens."
Sure enough, Taylor could hear voices rising down the infirmary and he quickly turned from Elizabeth and walked into the commotion. As Taylor came into view, the two men who were becoming hysterical staggered back with wide eyes and silenced themselves. Taylor looked them down and asked calmly,
"Now, what seems to be the problem?"
The man closest to him rushed to speak,
"We're sick, with that virus and no one will treat us!"
"Why aren't they being treated then?" Taylor asked Elizabeth. She looked at him and said carefully,
"They're not sick with this virus Commander, these men are overreacting, they only think they have it. We cannot treat them, and either way there isn't anything we can do until I get the plants to make the vaccine." Taylor nodded and sent the men off. He looked outside of the infirmary and rubbed his brow with a sigh. There was a rather large line of people who also thought they had the virus. It was still dark out and his mind was plagued with concern for Rebecca, but he had to deal with the hysterical colony. He walked into the doorway and commanded everyone's attention. He said,
"Everyone, please go back to your homes and get some sleep. When we get what we need to make enough vaccine for every person in Terra Nova you will be informed and given everything that you will need. It won't be long now, I just ask for your patience and cooperation. Thank you."
Slowly the line left and the worries and questions were calmed and answered. Just as Taylor was about to check on Rebecca once more, the men finally drove back into the colony. Malcolm was the first out of the rover. He ran into the infirmary with a big bag filled with the thistle. On the way in he nodded at Taylor and disappeared with Elizabeth into the lab. The others filled out of the rover and Jim was the first to walk up to him. He looked at Taylor with a strange look and asked,
"How is she?"
"We're still waiting."
Jim hesitated, but he put a hand on Taylor's shoulder and nodded before walking into the infirmary. Taylor then wondered how many others figured out that he had feelings for Rebecca. For the moment it seemed to be just Jim and his wife and he took a note of that. Guzman reported to him and soon left to round up the sickest civilians for the first doses of the cure. That was when he noticed unusual noises coming out of the infirmary. Fearing the worst he ran inside and his heart jumped when he saw the small crowd around Rebecca's bed. The defibrillator went off before he reached her and the commotion died down once more. The crowd dispersed and Elizabeth was in front of him once more,
"Her heart stopped for a moment, but we brought her back. It should be another few hours until we can relax." She excused herself and went back into the lab. Taylor never left Rebecca's side until Elizabeth and Malcolm returned with grins on their faces.
"We got it!"
"What time is it?"
"Almost morning Commander, it's nearly half past five. We can start treating the patients now."
"Good, good. Guzman should have been bringing in the sickest of the colonists." Taylor stood up and after glancing at Rebecca he found Guzman and they started the treatments. At last one weight was lifted off of Taylor's chest. None had died from the virus, although patient zero came very close.
Still only hours later, Taylor was hovering in the infirmary to keep a distant eye on Rebecca. Wash had just come back and went to sit with her sister after giving Taylor a slightly forgiving nod. He was relieved that she had at least somewhat accepted their choice and was willing to look past it to be with her sister. Finally, Taylor heard Wash yell out,
"Elizabeth, She's awake!"
Taylor was instantly by her side and breathed his first sigh of relief. Rebecca grimaced and reached over to the bandages covering her chest. She tilted her head back and sighed. Eventually, weeks went by with Rebecca confined to the infirmary. Taylor came to check on her one day and she said quietly,
"Let's go."
"Rebecca, you haven't been cleared to leave." After a quick pained glare she retorted,
"I feel fine, really." Taylor sighed and knew that she would never let this go. He helped her up and led her to the door. She shook him off as best as she could and said,
"I can do this Taylor."
As Taylor walked with Rebecca out of the infirmary she smiled at the sun and fresh air. Then she looked over to Taylor and he even found himself smiling with her. Gently, he took her hand in his and together they walked out into the colony.