AN: After a not-so-brief load of real life stuff getting in the way, I finally managed to finish this one up! Hope you all like it. I have no medical experience whatsoever so please be patient with any errors I may have made and feel free to let me know about anything major I screwed up.
I would like to thank Setivalen for betaing this for me, her insights and comments were incredibly helpful. I would also like to thank everyone else who volunteered to take it on, I hope you continue to read and please feel free to send me any comments/criticisms you may have about the fic.
Chapter 12
It felt like an eternity before they reached the Life Station. By then, Kara had stopped seizing and was lying still on the gurney with her eyes closed. Everything was a blur of sights and sounds as Lee desperately tried to hold on to something, to feel some sort of hope or relief, as he gazed down at her face. Alarmingly, the flush in her cheeks only made the dark circles under her eyes look more hollow; her sickly, ragged, shallow gasps of breath echoed wetly in Lee's ears. He felt the fog closing in around him again as he helplessly watched her struggle for air.
The medic, Ishay, called for the doctor as they wheeled Kara's gurney into one of the trauma areas..
"Doc's in the O.R. with Staryn," someone shouted back from behind a privacy curtain.
"Frak. Okay, Captain, open that third drawer," the medic pointed at a large metal cabinet behind Lee, "and grab a half dozen or so of the chemical ice packs. Lieutenant, you hold her arm down in case she starts seizing again. I need to start an IV." Ishay pointed at Kara's right arm for her planned insertion site since her left hand was visibly swollen and bruised.
Helo gently placed his hand on Kara's right arm. Immediately, she cried out, her eyes flashing open, her struggles resuming.
"Gods damn it Kara, hold still," Helo said through clenched teeth as he struggled to push her shoulders back onto the gurney. Lee dumped the ice packs on the table next to the medic and moved to face Helo over the gurney.
"What are you doing? They poured acid on that arm!" Lee cried. "It probably hurt like frak when you grabbed her," he snapped, the memory of Zarek's man gleefully running the dropper up and down over her skin making him shudder.
Helo's eyes went wide with surprise, "What? Acid? Oh frak me!" His mind reeled at the thought. "I didn't grab her," he hissed, guilt wrenching in his gut as he stared down at her face, twisted in pain and desperate fury. "I was just trying to…" he trailed off as he struggled to restrain his friend without causing her any further pain.
Kara thrashed wildly, cursing at the men as they tried to hold her down so the medic could get the line in.
"Talk to her, son," Bill Adama's low voice cut through the clamour.
"What?" Lee looked up. Momentarily distracted, he let Kara's hand slip out of his grasp. His head snapped back as her fist landed just above his left eye. If he hadn't been so worried, Lee might have been amused by the fact that they were right back where they'd spent most of their relationship: Lee trying to get Kara to do what she was supposed to while she cursed at him and threw punches.
"Talk to her, let her know where she is," Commander Adama repeated.
Lee caught Kara's hand before she struck out again and managed to lean in close, trying to put his face in her eye line. "Hey Kara," he said softly, "It's okay. It's me. It's Lee."
Lee watched as Kara's eyes, bright with fever, flashed across his face without any sign of recognition.
"No! No! Stop!... Lee don't let them! Please Lee… don't let her near my eyes!" she begged, flailing violently, her cries drowning out Lee's calming tones.
"Kara," he tried again, "it's okay, it's just Ishay, the medic. You're alright. You're home on Galactica."
"Nooooo-" Kara cried, choking on the attempt. She continued to fight Lee and Helo, all the while gagging and gasping as she struggled to force air into her lungs.
Lee looked helplessly at his father.
"Lieutenant Thrace," the Commander barked, "stand down!"
Kara froze, her eyes wide and wild. After a heartbeat, she looked around fearfully. Her eyes fell on Lee's and their gazes locked . Her face crumpled. "Lee?" she gasped, "Lee? I – they…"
"Shhhh," he murmured as he stroked hair off her forehead. "You're home now Kara. You're home."
Ishay looked at the Commander questioningly. "How did you…?"
"She's a soldier," he said simply, "down to the bone."
Oblivious to anything other than Kara, Lee bent over her once more, longing to simply take her in his arms and cuddle and soothe her until the haunted look left her eyes. "Ishay is going to take care of you now," Lee said softly, trying to keep the tears that had knotted in his throat from slipping into his voice.
Returning Kara's intense stare, he slipped his hand over hers and gently stroked his thumb over her soft skin. That sense of contact, the warmth of that simple physical connection, wove its way through the haze of fear and grief, wrapping itself around his chilled heart and relieving some of the pressure that continued to weigh down his chest.
Kara seemed to nod in understanding, then struggled to catch her breath for a moment before a deep hacking cough overtook her entire body. Her face contorted in pain, her eyes locked on Lee's as another wet cough rose in her aching chest. A series of coughs followed, one after another, deepening until the fit possessed her and she could barely even gasp between violent bursts. She twisted futilely, trying to lessen the agony as each cough ripped through her.
Lee looked to Ishay expectantly, panicked and twitching with the desire to run into the OR himself and haul the doctor out by the neck.
"Someone tell the doc that we need him out here ASAP!" Ishay shouted out the doorway of the trauma room.
"Wilco that," came the reply of a male voice, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.
Slipping behind Lee in the tight space, Ishay abandoned the attempted IV insertion momentarily, instead setting up an oxygen tank and reaching to slip the breathing mask over Kara's mouth and nose. Kara flinched away from Ishay's hands, a bright flash of fear streaking across her face.
Lee squeezed Kara's hand gently, moving his face back into her line of sight, "Easy, that's just Ishay, she's putting that mask on you to help you breathe okay?"
Kara's stared at him in confusion.
"It's alright, just trust me, okay?" he asked.
After another cough tore its way from Kara's breast, she nodded silently, turning her head back towards Ishay.
The coughing fit slowly subsided, but it had clearly taken its toll on Kara's strength. She had to fight to drag each breath in and out through lungs choked with phlegm. The soggy gurgling sound of her breathing echoed ominously through the quiet room. Her face now had a waxy sheen of sweat and she'd lost even the unnatural flush of fever from her cheeks. Laying back with eyes drifting closed, the pale grey of Kara's skin was only worsened by the frightening, bluish tinge in her lips.
After what felt like an eternity to Lee, Kara's eyes blinked open and looked up at him again. She met his gaze and held it briefly. Seeing the anguish and confusion swirling in those deep pools of green, Lee felt his chest constrict even tighter. Oh Kara, we'll get you through this. I promise.
Speaking softly in her ear, he answered the unspoken request he saw in her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, Kara. I'm staying right here with you, I promise."
She nodded slightly, relief washing some of the desperation from her eyes.
"Okay," he said firmly, nodding back.
Her stare drifted away from his face then, unfocused eyes shifting towards the ceiling, as she continued to fight for air.
Ishay moved to Kara's left side. She'd determined it was the better option to try for the IV insertion, given her new awareness of the burns covering her patient's other arm. Efficiently cutting away the flight suit sleeve above her damaged hand, Ishay successfully put in the line and hooked up a bag of saline. Next, she activated the cold packs Lee had taken out, placing them around Kara's neck, armpits and groin to try and control her temperature and prevent another seizure.
"Can't you give her something to help her breathe?" Lee asked desperately, watching as Kara struggled. Her eyelids fluttered open and closed as her gaze wandered around the room without landing anything.
Ishay shook her head. "Not until Doc Cottle gets here. I can give her a mild analgesic but that's about it," she said calmly as she flashed a small pen light in Kara's eyes. "We have aspirators with meds, but if she needs surgery, any medication I give her for her breathing now could cause complications with the anaesthetic later. We can intubate, if her condition deteriorates much further, but right now she's managing well enough on her own."
Ishay smoothly reached for the main zipper of Kara's flightsuit. Kara resisted weakly but quickly gave up, her eye drifting closed again.
"Frak me!" the medic cursed as she opened the suit and caught sight of the marred skin beneath the stained fabric.
Helo recognised the odd, slightly sweet, burnt smell from Kara's cell but his eyes widened as he caught sight of its source. The thought of the burns on her arm had been bad enough to turn his stomach, but at the sight of her chest, he could barely keep his last meal safely in place.
Lee sucked air in through his teeth. Tearing his eyes away from the blisters and angry red welts that criss-crossed her bruised and mottled flesh, he looked into Kara's face, reminding himself that she needed him to stay present, stay with her.
Ignoring flashing thoughts of slowing turning a dull and rusty knife deeply embedded in Tom Zarek's throat, Lee stroked Kara's hair and talked to her soothingly. She drifted in and out, mumbling and crying out softly whenever she had enough breath to do so. The medic gently attached heart monitor leads to Kara's chest, carefully placing them between the welts and burns. The resultant reassuring beep of the machines seemed to echo across the Life Station, where it had become almost too quiet. After a another minute or two, Kara appeared to relax, her hand going limp in Lee's gentle clasp. He looked up questioningly at Ishay, but before he could say anything, Kara's hand suddenly clamped down on his like a vice.
"Ahhhhh!" Lee groaned in pain, snatching his hand away.
All thoughts of his hand scattered as he watched another seizure take over Kara's body. This one was more vicious than the last. Her neck craned up at an odd angle as her back arched sharply, lifting her torso clear off the gurney. Despite the injuries they'd sustained, her hands curled into awkward claws and pounded against her chest while her eyes rolled back in their sockets. Her entire body started twitching and jerking with the tension of her contracted muscles. A low gurgling sound drifted out of Kara's throat as the monitors beeped wildly.
"Keep her on the gurney!" the medic shouted. Lee worked with Helo to keep Kara from falling off as her body strained against itself. Ishay moved like lightning to fill a syringe with medication, but before she could administer it, Kara's seizing stopped and she lay eerily still on the gurney. The monitors, however, continued to scream in alarming tones. Suddenly, a single steady tone from the heart monitor cut through the other sounds, sending an almost visible wave of fear through the men clustered around the bed. They stared in horror at the flat line on the visual display.
"MOVE!" the medic yelled as she pushed past Lee to grab the crash cart that stood off to one side. Flipping switches and preparing the paddles Ishay looked over at Helo. "Get that O2 mask back on her. Your emerg certification up to date?" Helo nodded as he scrambled to replace the plastic mask on Kara's still face. "Good," Ishay continued, "so you know how to use this?" She asked, picking up a plastic pump that sat on the crash cart. Again, Helo nodded.
The medic tossed the pump to him, "Looks like she's given up breathing on her own so you'll have to bag her and make sure the oxygen from the tank is reaching her lungs. But for godssake, make sure you let go when I tell you to."
Karl scrambled to secure the pump to the oxygen mask and begin pumping.
Hearing the bizarrely friendly chirp which indicated the machine was ready, Ishay quickly placed the paddles on Kara's chest. "Hands off," she ordered, just before hitting the triggers.
Lee's heart trembled in his throat as he watched Kara's body jump sharply under the paddles. The monotonous single beep from the monitor did not change. The medic repeated the shock, cursing under her breath.
Come on Kara, Lee begged. Not like this. No response. Another violent shock. You can fight this, you are not leaving me like this. He felt his body flinch as hers recoiled from another application of the defibrillator paddles. I am not losing you again. Please, Kara!... Kara! Lee screamed at her in his head, terror closing in on him until all he could hear was the steady tone from the monitor and all he could see was her pale, still face. Ishay backed off from Kara's body, staring sadly at the monitor.
Suddenly, the line on the visual display lifted and the steady tone was replaced by a slow but steady beep. Gods be praised, thought Ishay as she sighed heavily and returned the paddles to their cradle on the cart and waved at Helo to let him know he could stop pumping.
Lee blinked rapidly. She's back, he thought quickly, letting out a deep sigh of relief as he watch Helo carefully detach the hand pump. Kara moved slightly, a faint groan slipping past her parched lips. Lee could see her eyes moving slowly behind closed lids, but she didn't open them.
The medic struggled to listen to her patient's chest without touching any of the wounds with
her stethoscope. She made notes on a chart as she listened to both the breath sounds and the heartbeat. Both were too rapid and too shallow. Where is the frakking doc? She cursed inwardly. Ishay knew he was working on a man who needed him too but it was killing her to stand here, unable to do anything. Lords of Kobol, if you see it fit, please let him get here before– she was interrupted by the answer to her prayers.
Doc Cottle breezed into the trauma room, his usual unlit cigarette clamped between his lips. Pulling on fresh gloves as he cast an eye over the Commander, he quipped angrily "Did I rescind my order for bed rest or did you find yourself another Doc?"
Bill simply gestured at the form on the gurney. "It's Kara."
"What?" the doctor's head snapped around. "Why didn't someone tell me she was here?"
"You were in surgery, Sir," Ishay answered as Cottle stepped in, absently pushing past Helo and sending him stumbling aside.
"Gods be damned, that boy could have waited until I'd assessed - " his breath caught as he took in Kara's wounds. His eyes skimming quickly over her as he listened to the medic's report, he noted her injuries: the swollen hand and obviously broken fingers, the burns on her chest and arm, the black eye, the broken nose and even the slight swelling under the leg of her flightsuit that housed the knee he'd already operated on twice. Her laboured breathing concerned him most, along with her temperature and the seizures. He nodded as Ishay continued, listening with one ear while gently exploring and prodding Kara's chest and abdomen. Her eyes drifted open at his touch but her gaze still wandered around the room without landing on anything
"Well, she's obviously got a nasty infection of some kind. Let's get started with 20 cc's of spectracillin." Ishay quickly prepared a syringe and injected it into the I.V. line. The doc placed his own stethoscope on Kara's chest, looking her in the face and smiling gently. "Now, young lady, I thought I told you to stay the frak out of my Life Station after that last surgery."
Hearing his voice, her drifting eyes finally rested on the doctor, and Kara's face softened in recognition. She tried to smile, her breath coming in short gasps before she faded out again.
The Doc frowned as he moved his stethoscope to listen to different areas of her chest and abdomen. He snapped out numbers and abbreviations for the nurse to take down.
Lee watched his smooth efficiency with renewed panic building in his chest.
Placing the scope around his neck, Cottle gently probed his patient's abdomen. Kara gasped in pain and awoke once again.
"Frak you, Zarek," she hissed at the doctor as she resuming her thrashing. She continued to choke out curses and push at the doctor's hands but Lee could see her strength had waned
Stepping back in the hopes it would calm his patient, Cottle spoke in low voice, "We need to operate, now. It's risky with her fever so high and the rampant infection, but there's too much fluid in her lungs and I think she's got some serious internal bleeding that is increasing the pressure in her chest cavity and making it even harder for her to breathe," the doctor said to the Commander before firing off a list of instructions to the medic.
Bill nodded, waiting until the doctor was done and Ishay had begun collecting a blood sample from Kara. "How bad is it, Doc?" he asked, squinting at the other man through the wire-rimmed spectacles that had slipped slightly down his nose.
"I won't know for sure until we get her in there and are able to get a full picture of her condition but I'd say right now that between her temperature, the injuries, the malnutrition and the dehydration, she's going to need every bit of that fighting spirit of hers just to make it through the next few hours."
Feeling the doctor's words slicing neatly through the tatters of hope he'd been clinging to, Lee closed his eyes. Bill nodded again with a sad countenance as he watched his anguished son standing helplessly over the young woman they'd both grown so close to.
"We need to get her prepped for surgery. Everyone out!" Cottle barked, uncomfortable with the emotions swirling between the three men and the girl on the bed.
Lee looked up. Leave Kara? He'd only just gotten her back. I can't leave her. I promised.
"Captain, that means you too."
"But I - " he stammered as he squeezed Kara's hand. The cold fist that had wrapped around his chest when he'd first seen her on the video display, seen her curled up alone on the floor, squeezed even tighter. She looked so small, so frail and vulnerable, lying quietly on the gurney. The only sign she was alive was the slight movement of her chest and the faint fogging of the plastic oxygen mask as her shallow breaths came and went but it was enough for him. Kara was alive and she was home. He hated to leave her alone once again but he knew there was no point in fighting with Cottle, promise or no promise. As he prepared to leave her side, his thoughts swirled. Memories, thoughts and emotions tangled in his head until he felt himself fighting for his own breath beneath the weight.
"Lieutenant would you please escort the Captain out?" Cottle asked Helo brusquely, knowing the young man wouldn't leave on his own and that every minute they wasted was going to make his work that much harder.
Helo limped awkwardly to stand behind Lee. He patted his shoulder, "C'mon Apollo, let's let the Doc do his thing."
Lee turned his head, startled, as if he'd forgotten anyone else was in the room.
"We gotta go so they can take care of Kara," Helo said a second time, quietly, giving his friend's shoulder a tug towards the door.
Lee nodded absently. He bent down over Kara's still form. "I gottta go, but I'll be back, okay, Kara? I promise. I'll see you soon" he whispered urgently, begging her to forgive his departure. Needing more, needing her to know she had to keep fighting, he fell into the familiar pattern of their relationship and his voice became more firm. "You hang in there. You're going to get through this, do you hear me?" he demanded, his voice breaking. "Starbuck? Do you copy? You hang in there and don't you dare let those frakkers win this."
His voice rose slightly, the commanding tone she'd required of the newly appointed CAG all those weeks ago coming naturally now as he gave her his orders, "You are going to call the ball, sight the trap and nail this landing, Lieutenant-" Lee's voice caught once again but he pressed on forcefully. "Failure is not an option. You will roll the hard six and you will get your bird back on the deck in one piece. Do you get me, pilot? Do you get me?" he felt his control slipping as tears blurred his vision and his voice faltered. He took a deep shaky breath, trying to suppress the sobs that he felt building in his chest.
Blinking away the tears, he brushed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Good hunting Kara," he murmured before he stood up and reluctantly let go of her hand.
As her fingers fell away, he felt his heart stutter. The warmth the contact had brought was now replaced by a chilling emptiness. Standing only a foot away from her, he ached with the suddenness of the renewed separation. Helo nudged him gently towards the door. Drifting, empty and numb, Lee felt himself following his friend's prodding and realized he was moving away from her once again.
No! Stay with her, hold her, keep her here. Don't leave her! A voice inside his head screamed, pleading with him to turn back and cling to her side. He ignored it, resolutely forcing himself to do what needed to be done. She needs me and I need her but right now, she needs medical attention more, he reminded himself, fruitlessly trying to silence the voice.
"Commander, you get your sorry butt back in that bed and don't move it until I say so or I'll have them put restraints on you," Cottle snapped at Bill who nodded wearily and waved his hand in acquiescence. He wouldn't admit it, but he was at the end of his rope and was only too glad to be ordered to rest.
"Captain Adama, get the Commander to his bed and see that he takes the meds on his table," the doctor ordered, knowing the young man needed something to do. Having him look after his father was the only way to make sure Apollo wouldn't be hovering just outside the curtain the whole time.
Lee nodded absently. His mind, spent with emotion and strain, fell back on his training and automatically moved to follow the order. The old man wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders, as much to comfort the young man as to support himself.
Having previously noticed Lieutenant Agathon's pronounced limp as he moved around the table to where Apollo was standing, Cottle wasn't surprised to see the blood-soaked field bandage haphazardly wrapped around his thigh. The doc put a hand on Helo's chest as he passed by and looked up into his face with concern. "You should have said something," he said sharply.
Helo looked confused for a moment before glancing down at his leg. He shrugged, "It's not that bad."
"That the same leg I had to patch up after your little holiday on Caprica?"
Helo nodded grimly.
"Well, after you make sure the Commander is in his bed and has taken his meds, get one of the nurses to look at it, will ya?" Cottle said irritably. Gods damn pilots, always thinking they're invincible, always fighting me every step of the way.
He glanced back at the other pilot in his care. This one, though, I only hope she keeps fighting. Glancing back at Helo, Cottle fired one last threatening glare at the tall officer.
Helo again nodded wearily in response and left the room to let the doctor and medic do their work.
Following the Adamas back to the other side of the Life Station, Helo watched silently as Lee helped his father onto the bed before dutifully holding out the small paper cup holding his pills.
Bill took them with a deep swallow of water from the glass Lee also held out. Laying back on the bed, he closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. Opening them, he saw Lee still standing close by, his face frozen, his eyes staring blankly off into space.
"Lee."
His son jerked at the sound of his name, his face twisted in pain and shock.
"Sit down, son," Bill said affectionately, reaching out to squeeze Lee's hand.
"No, I… I really should…" Lee tried to think of what he should be doing, where he should be but all he could think of was Kara's face as he left her, so still and vacant.
"Damn it Captain, if I have to lie here in this bed, you can sit in the gods-damned chair. And that's an order!" the Commander hissed, knowing his tone was harsh but also knowing it was the only way to get Lee to listen to him. He couldn't let his son run out of here; couldn't let Lee run away from him as he had been doing every time they'd come close to talking about Kara during the past few weeks.
Feeling as if he were moving on autopilot, Lee did as he was told and crumpled more than sat into the visitor's chair next to his father. Resting his elbows on his knees, his head fell into his hands. As his eyes closed, emotions washed over him, tearing him away and pulling him under.
A deep wracking sob emanated from his chest. He gasped, trying to relieve some of the intense pressure, but images of Kara, images of her before all this, kept swimming up through his mind only to be replaced by more recent images that slammed through him.
The grin plastered across her face after her first solo viper flight in training. Her ashen and battered face when he found her on the rescue raptor.
Her laughter as she spun easily around him to score on the pyramid court. Her eye rolling back into her head just before she started twitching on the gurney.
The intensely focused look on her face as her viper screamed by his, chasing a raider. Those burns etched on her chest.
Her eyes dancing as she revealed a winning triad hand. Her poor mangled hand, all swollen and twisted.
The mildly shocked but amused look on her face as he pulled back from kissing her upon her return from Caprica. The terror in her voice and her eyes as she'd tried to fight him off when he was carrying her to the Life Station.
The content smile on her glowing face after they'd made love the night before she disappeared. The look of terror that leapt across her face when she'd been awakened by those men in her cell.
Rage rose up in his throat like searing bile, the heat of it warring with the icy cold of fear that had wrapped around him hours ago and had slowly seeped in to saturate his body and soul. The emotions swamped his senses, twisting and pulling at him until he couldn't think, couldn't move.
Suddenly, through the dark chaos that had taken over his thoughts, he felt a gentle hand stroking his hair. The feeling tweaked a distant memory.
He heard a voice murmuring familiar words. The voice was deeper now and rougher than it had been, the last time he'd heard it saying those words, but it was achingly familiar. Lee felt himself relax, the sound of his father's voice reciting the prayer acting like a medicine that started to clear his thoughts and gently led him back from the darkness.
Bill lay in his bed, not knowing what to do when he'd heard that desperate sob but knowing he needed to do something. His boy was in pain and he could almost feel Lee slipping away from him. So he did the one thing he'd always done with his boys when they were small, every night when he'd been home and as often as he could over the wireless when he was away. He sat with him and recited the Lords' prayer.
Not being a particularly religious man, he'd started it out of a sense of parental duty and cultural habit: a child should say his prayers before bed. But it had become more than that to Bill. More than an exercise in spirituality, it had become his moment with his boys. A quiet moment they shared without having to do or say anything else. He'd missed it when they'd gradually slipped out of the habit as his sons had gotten older and his career had taken off.
Slipping right back into it as if he'd never stopped, Bill finished the child's version of traditional prayer. Sensing, that Lee wasn't ready to finish, though, he began again. He was relieved when he heard his son echoing him faintly, murmuring along with him, just as he had when he was small. Starting the prayer a third time, Bill shifted into the slightly longer version that adults were meant to repeat thirteen times, once for each of the thirteen tribes of Kobol.
After the first couple of lines Bill heard Helo, who was still standing at the foot of the bed, join in softly, followed by others from around the ward. Their individual voices merged into one as they recited the ancient words. Adama lay there, stroking his son's head tenderly, repeating the familiar words and finding peace in their message of hope and support as well as in the quiet joining of voices and souls.
"So say we all," he said, for the thirteenth time, hearing it echo around the room.
"So say we all," Lee repeated softly. He drew a deep shuddering breath and scrubbed at his face with the heels of his hands. Looking up, he saw his father's face raw with worry and pain.
"Dad, I - " his voice caught and broke. The darkness had receded but the rage of emotions still threatened to pull him back under.
"I know son, I know," his father nodded gently, resting his hand on Lee's cheek. The boy's eyes pleaded with him for help as Lee struggled to maintain control. Bill had never seen this kind of emotion in those eyes.
Those blue eyes that were all Carolanne. Bill had never been able to see any part of himself in them until now; until that look of desperate control barely blanketing a storm of grief and anger brought back the image he'd stared at in his own mirror, the morning of his youngest son's funeral.
Recognising his own emotional shortcomings in his son's face, Bill felt his heart shatter. He'd failed Lee. Somewhere along the line, perhaps all the way along the line, he had utterly failed his son.
Lee had been a sensitive and caring boy, but Commander Adama had wanted him to become a tough and efficient officer, not a thoughtful and compassionate man. Carolanne had understood Lee, had let him be who he needed to be, while Bill had pushed both boys into being what he wanted them to be.
Wishing his ex-wife were here to help their son through this was pointless but he caught himself doing it anyway. Pushing away his instinct to slip into old habits and draw a safe curtain of formality between him and his son, Bill gently stroked his thumb over the swelling that had started where Kara's fist had landed just over Lee's eye. Bill knew he couldn't undo the past but he could, and would, do whatever was possible to ease the torment obviously tearing Lee apart.
"Helo, why don't you go get that leg looked after?" the Commander asked the Lieutenant softly, his eyes never leaving his son's face.
Recognising the unspoken request for privacy, Helo limped away from the bed, shutting the curtain around it carefully as he left.
Bill sat up and gathered Lee into his arms. Feeling his son let go as wrenching sobs wracked his body, the Commander tightened his grip and gently rocked Lee as he hadn't since the boy had been too small to remember it ever even happened.
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