Sam slowly took a seat behind her new desk. She was in her new office at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. It felt so good to be involved in academic physics once again. In fact, it felt as though she was in one prolonged dream. Of course, most of the kids paid little attention to the lectures, and barely half bothered to even turn up for seminars, but it felt rewarding all the same.
She liked her colleagues too, although each of them had quirks which grated on her somewhat. For instance, the man snorting derisively at some test papers behind the desk to her right, had a tendency to put people down during debates. He tended to believe that he was right all the time, and if anyone contradicted his views, that they were always wrong, even when proven otherwise. Also, he kept making unwelcome advances on her and calling her 'blondie' and 'blue eyes'. Other than that, she found that he had a brilliant mind, but that he was too clinical for his own good.
To her left, there was a man who repeatedly blew his nose and occasionally spilled things over the papers on his desk. She had learned that he had gained a reputation for returning stained papers to his students. She liked him despite his clumsiness, because he had quite a vivid imagination; although there were times when his imagination ran away with him and he would think up all kinds of irrational implausibility.
Then there was the man who didn't seem to have his own desk, and used hers the few times he actually needed one. He was socially awkward and tended to mutter things in is own language when annoyed. He was exceptional at Chess, but seemed to attract most of the ire and sarcastic comments of the man on her right. Evidently, the two of them had some kind of a history, or the man on her right was perhaps intimidated by his abilities.
Despite the job being relatively easier than say, a research position, or anything else that used more of her abilities, she felt a strange feeling in that office, as though she had finally found a place to be. Her colleagues may be either jackasses, clumsy, or socially awkward, but it felt right, as though the three of them were in on some big secret. Quite what secret, she didn't know.
Sam glanced at her watch and resumed typing at her computer. If she was honest with herself, while she loved teaching, and while she loved working at the University, she felt unchallenged and underused. But it felt great to be a part of passing on her knowledge to the next generation, even if most of them weren't paying attention.
A particularly loud snort drew her attention to the man on her right again. He was now glancing at a paper and at his computer screen. Sam frowned, slightly annoyed that he couldn't work as quietly as everyone else. She asked, "Distracted by MySpace again?"
The man looked at her and then sneered. He said, "As if. You know Latimer's nephew? The big kid who always has a phone call during a class?"
She rolled her eyes and said, "That's narrowed it down to most of them."
"His father's some big shot Air Force General..."
"Um, I haven't been in the Air Force for a long time... and even if I was still there, it doesn't mean I'd know every single officer, ever."
He shook his head. "Whatever. Big tall kid with a million and one hoops, and whose only hobbies seem to be yelling at people."
She narrowed her eyes as she slowly realised who he was talking about. She said, surprised, "Oh, Henry Landry?"
"That's the fella..." He snorted again as he looked at his computer screen, back at the paper, and then at Sam. He said, "Well, that astronomy paper I've got my kids doing... he's literally copied and pasted most of it from Google. I knew there was something wrong when he was using different words for the same terms and acronyms suddenly popped up without any explanation. You know, for a rich kid, he's kinda stupid. He could at least have made it all one font and made some attempt to disguise the fact that, with the exception of his name and student number, it's totally plagiarised."
She looked in the direction of the man on her left when he said something. He said, "You're going to have to put your foot down. It's setting a bad example if he gets away with things just because his Dad's a General and his uncle's the college president."
The man on her right snorted once again. He said, "Try telling that to Dean Brown-Nose. As long as big Daddy General is the biggest donor, we've gotta put up with this stuff."
Sam frowned in disbelief. She said, "That isn't right... why bother even attending if he's going to just buy his way through college?"
The man on her right shot her a withering look. He sighed and said patronisingly, "You see, Blondie... he has to attend otherwise it makes a mockery of the whole system."
"Surely this is making a mockery of the system."
He paused, as though he realised something. He then said, "Yes, but at least he's showing up, I guess." He sighed. "You know what? I think I'm gonna fail him right now. Dean hasn't shouted at me all morning."
"He shouted at you when you walked in."
"That was quite a while ago. I can't remember much of it." He put the paper down, and looked at Sam. "So... what are you doing tonight, Blue Eyes?"
The man on her left shook his head as he returned to marking his papers. Sam glared at the man on her right coldly. She said, "Grading papers and changing diapers, Rodney. You're welcome to do the last one."
He was about to say something when the door suddenly opened wide. They all looked up in surprise, partially expecting to see their other colleague, and expecting him to have another verbal brainstorm in his native language. Instead, Daniel was there with a tired Maddie in his arms. Sam instantly got up, realising that something was wrong; judging by the panicked expression on his face and that he appeared to be hastily dressed.
Sam's heart pounded in her chest when she thought that there was something wrong with Maddie. Before she could ask, Daniel shook his head as though he had sensed the way her thoughts had gone. He said, "Maddie's fine." He paused, as though scared to say what he had come to tell her. He then said,
"Sam... it's Mitchell. He's..."
Ignoring Rodney's remarks, Sam turned back to her other colleague. She said, "Bill, can you cancel my classes today? I have to go."
Bill nodded, looking worried. He said, "Sure. Go on. I'll sort it out."
Sam didn't let Daniel finish what he was going to say. She sprinted past him, running down the corridor and then up a couple of flights of stairs. She didn't care that Daniel couldn't keep up with her as a single thought obscured everything else.
Her worries were confirmed when she sighted an emotionless Tessa being helped out of a room by a colleague. Sam nodded at the colleague, and said, "It's okay, Doctor Balinsky."
Balinsky nodded, not sure of what to say as he hung back helplessly. Sam instantly hugged Tessa, and she whispered, "Honey, I'm so sorry."
Tessa's emotionless façade crumbled and she burst into tears. She clung onto her sister-in-law as though scared that if she let her go, she could lose everyone else in her life too. She said between sobs, "He left me. He said he wouldn't. He promised he'd come back. He promised."
Sam held onto her tighter as she too began to cry. The possibility had always been there that she would lose Cam one day. But he was a brother to her, and she had been much closer to him in recent years than even with her own brother.
Some time had passed. She was aware of Balinsky leaving at some point. Daniel hushed a now upset Maddie. Sam finally let Tessa go, and Daniel approached them. Heartbroken to see his sister and his wife so upset, he touched Sam's shoulder. Sam looked at him, and he said quietly,
"He's not dead, Sam."
Tessa looked up at him in earnest through her tears. Daniel glanced at his sister and continued, "There was a skirmish with enemy forces over Basra and his plane came down, killing his co-pilot. They haven't told me much else... but they're flying him to Colorado Springs today. He should be at Peterson base by the evening. From there, they'll move him to the Academy Hospital."
The two women stared at him for a moment. They then hugged each other and started crying all other again; this time for a slightly different reason. Still holding Maddie, Daniel rubbed Tessa's back and hugged Sam.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
He could hear sounds. There were people talking. Once every so often, he was prodded with something or other. Ordinarily, he would have protested... but it felt as though he had no control over his body. All he could see was black, as though his eyes weren't working; his ears clearly were. Perhaps he was dreaming. He had to admit that his dreams didn't usually involve being prodded by people he couldn't see.
The last thing he remembered, he was flying. It had just been a simple reconnaissance mission. The next thing he knew, they had come under fire. It had all happened so fast. The fighter had taken a hit; they had lost a turbine. There was nothing quite as scary as the safest thing in the sky suddenly tumbling downwards towards the Earth. He couldn't even eject to safety.
He still felt it now: that sharp sickening feeling as they plummeted. He remembered there being some broken glass and some flames. His co-pilot Banks wasn't answering him. Where was he? There was an explosion, and then nothing until he slowly became aware of there being people around him.
It suddenly dawned on him where he must be. He was in a hospital. That was all he could work out. His panic lessened as he figured then that the people who were poking him were presumably qualified to do so.
He must have crashed. Shit. That would put a dent in his flying career. Flying was all he had. Panic grew again as he made a stark realisation. What if he had lost his legs? His father had lost his legs in a crash and he had never been the same again. He couldn't do that; he couldn't lose being in the Air Force. He didn't know what he would be but he knew that Tessa didn't deserve being burdened with him.
Suddenly there was light. He thought for a moment that he was having a flashback. However, his eyes soon focussed on what appeared to be a nurse next to his bed. She appeared to be changing his saline drip. She was saying something but he wasn't sure what. She was smiling so it can't have been serious. She was also very pretty.
It was daylight outside from what he could see through the window. How long had he been here? He was about to try his hand at speaking when he closed his eyes and it was dark again.
When there was light again, there was a doctor and a nurse leaning over him. It was becoming harder to breath properly. Was he dying? They seemed to be doing something to his chest; he wasn't quite sure what. He heard the nurse say,
"Respiration is weak."
The doctor then said, "He's bleeding internally. I need an ultrasound…"
That sounded bad. He felt himself slipping back into the darkness but this time he tried to fight against it. The doctor and the nurse, and whatever they were doing, were soon forgotten as all became dark.
He opened his eyes again and there was an Air Force officer standing by his bed. He recognised him from somewhere but he didn't know where. The officer said, "First Lieutenant Adam Banks's body was recovered at 0843 this morning... I'm sorry, Major."
He thought he had only blinked. This time, however, it appeared to be Christmas. There was a rather gaudy model of a snowman and some other stuff. He was about to wonder how much time had passed when he noticed who was in the room. His mother was there and she looked really worried. Just how badly injured was he? Dammit. She was upset. She had had to visit his father the same way... maybe he too would never walk again.
She said, "Oh my. Cameron?"
Yeah, he was in trouble. She only called him that when he had been bad or was hurt. He became keenly aware that there was something down his throat but for some reason he wasn't choking on it. He wanted to tell her he was okay, even if he didn't believe it himself.
She too disappeared as everything gave way to the darkness.
He then became aware of the doctor talking to him. The drip seemed to have moved to his right where before it had been on his left when he remembered vaguely a nurse adjusting it. It didn't appear to be Christmas any more. Where was everyone? Had Tess come to see him? He hated the idea of her seeing him like this but he needed to see her.
The doctor was still talking. "... make the chance of you walking quite slim. But with physiotherapy, hopefully…"
Shit, he was going to be just like his Dad. He closed his eyes.
He opened them again and his chest immediately started aching. There she was. He had dreamed about her for so many nights. She appeared to be reading something. Typical. He had missed her like crazy. He blinked and was surprised when he still saw her rather than completely different people. He tried to speak but found himself unable to. He saw the door open and Tess looked up. There was Sam. Sam noticed that he was watching and soon Tess did. They both went to his bedside, asking him so many questions that he couldn't focus on any one question.
All he could focus on, however, was that Tess seemed to have put some weight on. She was pregnant. How long had he been out? Had she moved on with her life? Was she happy?
Before he could wonder any more, his surrogate sister and his girlfriend faded into the darkness.
When he opened his eyes again, there was a group of Air Force officers in dress blues. What, they having a funeral for him right now? He frowned as he concentrated on what the one at the front was saying.
"The Congressional Medal of Honour is the highest award for valour in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States of America. On behalf of the President…"
Oh goody, he was getting a medal.
He blinked, and the Air Force officers were gone. He was aware of someone holding his hand. He tried to look up but everything started hurting again. They had definitely drugged him. The pain felt dull yet still intense. He wanted to go to sleep again; this was too much. He gradually became aware that someone was speaking to him, and then that that someone was Tess.
She moved her chair forward so he could see her. She was definitely a sight for sore eyes, although his eyes still remained sore.
"... I was thinking we could name him after your co-pilot and maybe Grandpa." She smiled as she smoothed his forehead, but he could see that she was barely holding onto her emotions. She said, "I'm betting he'll have your eyes."
His eyes moved and he could see that she was quite big. She saw where his gaze was and she held his hand again. She asked him, "Do you want to feel your son?"
A son? She was... Oh my. She must have been pregnant before he had left for Iraq. He wanted to smile. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her and dance around the room. But he couldn't. He might never walk again, let alone dance. He wasn't even sure he'd leave the hospital.
She slowly moved his hand so that it was resting on her bump. He closed his eyes, and then opened them suddenly on feeling something move. His son had just kicked him. He smiled, or at least he thought he had smiled.
He looked up at Tess to see that she was crying. She held his hand to her face and he closed his eyes as he felt her skin for the first time in however-long. A resolve grew within him. He made a silent promise to her and to his unborn child.
Screw the doctor. He was going to walk again.