AN: Please Review :)
I can't believe this is happening…
Lee paced nervously outside of the operating room where Dr. Coddle and several nurses were working intensely to save Kara Thrace's life. When he had first learned about her accident, he had immediately dropped everything he had been doing before bolting as fast as he could to the infirmary, determined to be by her side. The very moment he had burst through the doors, he had struggled to control his emotions when he had first viewed the full extent of Kara's injuries. She had been lying motionless on a stretcher with her short blonde hair fanned wildly behind her head and she wore a lifeless expression on her face. Blood had been trickling out of her mouth and nose and her pale skin had appeared to be cold and gray. Closing his eyes slowly, Lee bowed his head before silently pleading with the gods to allow Kara to open her beautiful pale green eyes so that she could tell him that everything was going to be alright. Despite his heartfelt prayer, Lee knew that he had to face reality and acknowledge that the chances of the blonde Vipor pilot ever gaining consciousness again was slim to none.
Before the doctor had started the operation, Lee had been warned that Kara's injuries were very serious and life threatening, and that he should brace himself in case things took a very possible turn for the worst. After the doctor's warning, the last conversation Lee had with Kara the day before has slowly began to surface and replay in his head.
"Was there ever a time you hoped that there would be a chance for you and I to be more the Starbucks and Apollo? Haven't you ever wished that we could be Kara and Lee?"
When Lee had walked away from Kara that day, he had closed the door on all the possibilities of what could and should have been, and he had been determined to work things out with his wife. Even though he knew that they would never be anything more then just good friends, there wasn't anything in the universe that Lee wasn't willing to do for Kara. Closing his eyes, he realized that he couldn't begin to imagine what his life would be like if he lost her. Dealing with his brother's death had been excruciating and painful enough, but Lee knew for a fact that Kara's death would completely destroy him. She had always played a major role in his life, but Lee didn't realize just how much he cared about her until that very moment.
Before Lee could think any further on the matter, he was jerked back to the present by the sound of the operating room's door opening. Rising to his feet, he watched anxiously as the doctor stepped into the waiting area with a weary look on his aged face. Almost immediately, Lee felt his heart slowly plummet into the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Swallowing anxiously, he looked up and faced the ship's physician with a grave look on the surface of his blue eyes.
"How is she doing, doctor?" Lee asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
The doctor sighed before looking up from his medical charts with a ghost of a smile on his lips.
"Kara is one tough cookie. It's a miracle that she survived the fall, and she pulled through the surgery without any complications. Her vitals are stable and we manage to decrease the swelling in her brain to prevent hemorrhaging. From all of her injuries, I have to tell you that she is very fortunate to not have broken her neck from the impact of the fall. Right now, Thrace is resting peacefully and I expect that she won't gain consciousness at least for another several hours. I have done all that I can for Kara, and now we must wait. The next twenty four hours are critical," he informed solemnly.
Despite being overwhelmed and consumed with the severity of Kara's injuries, Dr. Coddle hadn't forgotten that there had been another woman involved in the incident. One who's medical condition was also a cause of great concern to him. Turning away from the window overlooking the recovery room, he faced Lee once more.
"How's Dualla doing?" he asked gruffly.
Lee sighed heavily and shook his head.
"From what I heard, she wasn't injured during the incident, thank gods," he said softly, "I don't know what I would have done if she had been hurt as well."
Dr. Coddle frowned confused.
"What do you mean, you heard? Where is she?" he asked startled.
"My father had her detained. He wanted to speak to her about the accident personally," he informed softly.
The doctor's eyes widened in surprise.
"Detained? For what?" he demanded, his aging face filled with confusion.
Lee narrowed his eyes defensively as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"You know the protocols. Every accident has to be investigated aboard this ship, and this incident is no exception," he replied stiffly.
The doctor stared at the Major stunned and slightly angry.
"Don't you think there ought to be an exception in this case? Anastasia shouldn't be treated as a suspect, she should be treated like your wife. What is there to investigate? Dee was only there when the accident happened. It's absurd to think that she may have been involved in any kind of way," Coddle protested.
Judging from Lee's callous and bitter attitude, it was more then obvious to Coddle that the young major wasn't aware of his wife's current condition or else he would have been far more concerned about her being detained. The doctor also suspected that there was some unspoken reason as to why Lee had chosen to rush to the side of Kara, instead of fulfilling his husbandly duties and being with his wife who was, in his opinion, wrongly incarcerated. Even though he made it a personal policy to keep his nose out of other people's personal affair and to mind his own business, deep down he couldn't ignore the feeling that there was something very wrong with the situation he was playing out in front of him. While Coddle knew he had a duty to respect patient doctor confidentiality, he also realized he had an obligation to protect his patients, and that included the unborn ones as well.
"Why are you suddenly so concerned about my wife, doctor?" Lee asked feeling slightly annoyed.
"I am just concerned about her health. Given her delicate condition, I wanted to make sure that she was ok. I can only imagine how stress she must be feeling after this whole ideal, and in her current condition, too much stress could be dangerous," he warned quietly.
"What delicate condition?" Lee asked confused.
Realizing that there was no other way around the truth, The doctor sighed before deciding to come clean.
"Sir, I'm pleased to tell you are going to be a father. Dualla is two weeks pregnant," he informed with a smile.
Those six words caused Lee's eyes widened and his mouth to drop open in shock. He was so stunned that he was left completely speechless. He couldn't believe his ears. Dee was pregnant and he was going to be a father! His first initial reaction was joy. He couldn't believe that he was finally going to have a family of his own. He realized that finding Earth and Dee becoming pregnant was a sign that he was meant to save his marriage. Now that his wife was preparing to give him his first child, he was more then ready to put all the pain and hurt of his friendship with Kara behind him, and start over fresh. He was thinking about whether he would have a son or daughter when he suddenly began to feel guilty over his excitement. While he was ecstatic over the fact that Anastasia was finally about to be the mother of his firstborn child, his mood was slightly dampened as he wished that Kara was conscious and well to share in the good news with him.
"When did she find out?" he asked when he had managed to find his voice again.
"Just this morning. She came in complaining of being fatigue and nausea thought she may have had contracted a stomach virus. Instead, she's just been eating for two," the doctor said amused.
"That's why I think it's important that Dee be released. She needs to be examined to make sure that her stress hasn't caused any problems with the baby. With your permission, Major, I would like to put in a request to the Admiral to see her as soon as possible," he requested.
Lee nodded quickly.
"Go ahead, doctor," he murmured before watching the doctor disappear back into his office leaving him alone in the observation room.
Before he could wrap his mind around the stunning news he had just received about his wife, he heard footsteps approaching and looking up, he tensed slightly when he noticed Sam Anders, Kara Thrace's husband heading in his direction.
"Sam," Lee started as he stared sadly at the other man, "I'm very sorry for what happened to Kara."
Sam stared at the other man unable to hide the contempt and disgust that he felt for the infamous Apollo. When he had first approached the infirmary, he had been desperate to see his wife and find out more about her condition, but when he saw Lee, his immediate grief instantly turned into red hot anger.
It wasn't bad enough that his wife was in the infirmary fighting for her life, but the fact that Lee was by her side when it wasn't his place made him absolutely infuriated. It was more then clear that the Major had problems with boundaries, but this time he went too far. Kara was his wife, not Lee's and Sam felt that not only did the other man have no right being there, but he was completely disrespected and insulted by the other man's presence.
"I would ask what the hell are you doing here, but I guess I really shouldn't be too surprised. After all, it's not like you have a wife of your own to be concerned over," Sam said coolly.
Lee could tell that Sam was less then pleased to see him, and while he felt as if he had ever right to be at Kara's side, he was going to try his best to avoid a confrontation with Anders.
"I'm not here to cause any trouble. I because of my genuine concern for Kara. Nothing more, nothing less," he assured quietly.
The expression on Sam's face showed that he didn't believe any of the words that had just came out of Lee's mouth, and deep down the Major knew that he couldn't blame Sam. With all of the drama and tension that bad been building between them for the past few weeks, it came as no surprise that Sam would harbor and show hostility toward the man who had made unintentionally complications inside of his marriage.
"What about your concern for Dualla?" he asked abruptly, "Or do you even care?"
"Excuse me?" Lee demanded narrowing his eyes evenly.
"Your wife is being held under arrest pending an investigation into the accident and instead of being there with her, you are here with my wife," Sam pointed out coldly.
Lee felt his eyes narrow in annoyance as Sam's words struck a nerve. While he could understand how his actions regarding his wife could be seen as cold and uncaring, the truth was that he had been so concerned with Kara, he didn't have a chance to think about Dee. On some level, he realized that was very wrong, but with everything going on, he didn't have time to think about it.
"I know that I should have probably have gone to see Dee, but when I learned that Kara had been seriously injured, I had to see whether or not she was okay," he said defensively.
Sam shook his head and surprised Lee when he laughed bitterly.
"The irony of it all that why you are down here looking after my wife, another man is looking after of yours," he said with a dark smile on his lips.
Lee tensed, but he knew that the other man was only lashing out at him because of his grief, and despite Lee not appreciating what Sam was so blatantly insinuating, he decided to be the bigger man, and let it go.
"I can see that this a very difficult time for you, and I understand. I will give you your privacy to be alone with Kara," Lee mumbled before turning to walk away.
Sam turned away from the window that looked into the room where Kara was lying unconscious, and glowered at Lee with disdain and quiet raged dancing across the surface of his blue eyes.
"Well that's the first honorable thing you have done in a long time, Adema. I was beginning to think that you didn't know what it meant respect a marriage," he said harshly.
His cold insult caused Lee to stop dead in his tracks.
Lee could see that whatever Sam was angry and bitter over, it had something to do with Lee's relationship with Kara. While Lee had closed the door on a possibility of a relationship with the blonde days earlier, he could see that Anders thought it was still opened. He opened his mouth to attempt to clarify the situation, but Sam cut him off rudely.
"You think that you are such a man of honor and integrity, don't you Adeama? You walk around this ship like you are the golden boy for truth and the protector of all things innocent, but everyone knows that you don't practice what you preach," he sad hotly.
"We both know that this isn't the time or place to hash out whatever tension is between you and me, but if you have something to say to me, you should say it if will make you feel better," Lee said curtly.
Sam smirked and moved closer to Lee with a cold look in his eyes.
"This may come as a shock to you, but Kara tells me a lot more then you think. I know about the conversation the two of you had yesterday. You know, the one when you asked her if she thought that if the two of you actually had a future together," he said hotly.
The fact that Karl knew about the conversation between himself and Kara completely took Lee by surprise.
"I was just trying to do the right thing," Lee said weakly.
Sam scoffed rudely.
The right thing would have been for you to have that conversation with Dee, and not my wife," he snapped angrily.
Lee sighed heavily. The conversation was taking a turn for the worse, and as bad as wanted to avoid an confrontation with the other man, he knew that it was inevitable.
"Kara and I both needed to talk about what was needed to be done in order to save both of our marriages," Lee stammered.
"The solution isn't all that complicated. Kara should have told you to stay out of our marriage a long time ago, but she finally admitted that she was confused about the unspoken feelings between the two of you. The day you decided that your marriage was worth working out, I decided that I wanted a divorce," he informed stiffly.
Sam's admission caused shockwaves to wash over Lee, and he felt his eyes widened in disbelief.
"What?" he asked stunned, "Why?"
"Believe it or not, Adema, some of us aren't okay with playing second best. Kara was more concerned with saving your marriage, then she was with saving her own. What I find ironic and somewhat amusing is that why are here looking after my wife, another man is looking after yours," he said slyly.
Sam's blithe statement caught Lee completely off guard and it immediately struck a nerve. He realized what Sam was hinting at and he didn't like it.
"What do you mean another man is looking after my wife? Contrary to the rumors, my wife is not running around on me behind my back. We are expecting our first child. She wouldn't do that," he growled.
Lee's explosive statement was quickly followed by a long moment of tense silence. An variety of emotions flashed across Sam Ander's face, but the strongest of those emotions was surprise and disbelief.
"Wow, Dee's pregnant? I guess congratulations is an order to you or to whoever the father may be," he sneered maliciously.
"You watch your frakkin mouth, Sam. That's my wife you are talking about," Lee hissed infuriated.
Sam smiled wickedly appearing unfazed by Lee's rage.
"I genuinely like Dee as a person. Truth be told, if Karl hadn't stepped up to the plate when he did, I would have definitely showed that wife of yours what it feels like to be with a real man," he with a twisted grin on his face.
Unable to take anymore of Sam's vicious verbal attacks, Lee lunged at him and shoved him against the wall cocking his fist back angrily. He had every intentions on striking the other man when he felt someone grab him roughly from behind, before shoving him several feet away from Sam. Lee narrowed his eyes feeling frustrated as he glared at Dr. Coddle who had intervened.
"Break it up, you two," the doctor growled menacingly, "If you two want to trade blows, take it away from my infirmary."
Sam smirked staring at evenly at Lee.
"You're not worth it. Kara needs me at her side, not you. I'm fully ware that I may lose my wife to this senseless tragedy, but you already lost your wife to another man. A man who actually deserves Dee, and will do right by her. Someday later on your life, you will look back on this moment and realize that you made a terrible mistake losing her, but by then it will be too late. For the record, I don't think you ever deserved her," he said quietly with anger shadowing his handsome face before he turned his back towards Lee, and headed into the Recovery room to sit at his wife's bedside.
Still seething from their conversation, Lee watched through the observation room window as Sam pulled up a chair next to Kara's bed. Despite the fact that Sam was wanting a divorce from her, Lee could tell that Sam truly loved Kara, and the pain and heartbreak on his face showed that Sam still cared a great deal about her. Not wanting to watch the scene anymore, he turned a way from the window and closed his eyes before inhaling sharply. Even though the confrontation between him and Sam had ended abruptly, Lee still was bothered by the accusations that the other man had made. He never suspected that the baby couldn't be his, but now that he was considering the possibility, he felt flustered and sick to his stomach. If Dee had in fact cheated on him, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who she had shared a bed with .He knew that if Sam had been telling the truth, Lee knew that he would never forgive her, and their marriage would be destroyed. As he stormed out of the infirmary, Lee only had one thing on his mind. He didn't care how he had to do it, but he was determined to get answers he was looking for from his wife, one way... or another.