Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style:

Step Through the Looking Glass 37

"I'm not that hungry." Helen looked at the tray Tegan sat in front of her.

"Sorry." Tegan picked up the saucer with the sandwich off the tray. "That's mine."

"Peanut butter, wasn't there something better?"

"It's protein, it sticks to you and I'm really not hungry."

"Yet you haven't eaten all day." Helen eyed her.

"You've been sleeping, you wouldn't know if I have."

"You forget I have eyes everywhere."

"Kate came by while I was gone, didn't she?" She had been by around seven and tried to get Tegan to eat, it was now after ten.

"She did. You did a nice job on her sutures. I doubt it will even leave a scar which is surprising for a military doctor." Helen took a bite of her stew.

"I learned my suture technique from a plastic surgeon, although they aren't always that neat when I'm in the field. And they aren't as clean as they were when I had both my hands."

"You seem to do pretty well with that one."

"I got lucky, even on my earth there wasn't another prosthetic that came close to it."

"If being invaded by those things could be considered lucky."

Tegan nodded and put the sandwich in her chair. "I think positive things can happen in the face of negative ones."

"Like you being here."

"I don't follow." She shook her head.

"You saved my life, had you not been here I would have suffocated or bled out. And I thank you for that."

"It was nothing." Tegan shook her head.

"I beg to differ. I am indebted to you."

"I think we can call it even."

"You're injuries were not life threatening." Helen pointed out.

"Maybe not, but you're giving me a new life."

"I'm doing no such thing." Helen picked up her lemonade. "You're doing that yourself. I'm just giving you the opportunity to prove your knowledge. The rest is up to you."

"An opportunity for which I can never hope to repay you."

"You already have. Ten fold."

"I didn't do anything anyone else wouldn't have done."

"I doubt that very much." Helen pointed to the untouched sandwich. "Now eat and you can remove this chest tube when you're done."

Tegan walked in and pulled up Helen's latest x-rays up on the screen. "It looks good but I want you to stay overnight at least, so I can keep a close eye on you."

Helen nodded hoping to set the precedent for how patients should act.

Tegan removed the chest tube and put an airtight dressing over it. She held up a syringe of Morphine.

"No, but I will take some Motrin."

"Something stronger?"

Helen thought for a second. "Lorcet then."

"Very well." Tegan came back a few minutes later with the requested pill.

"How'd you get into the med locker?" Helen took the pill with a gulp of water.

"Henry gave me temporary access. If it's a problem –"

"It's perfectly fine." Helen cut her off. "So tell me a little about you."

"There really isn't much to tell."

""Yeah, I don't know. I'm sure you've got lots of interesting stories."

Tegan shrugged with her eyebrows.

"Well if you won't tell me of the adventures of Major Kiser MD, then maybe you can sing me to sleep?"

Tegan blushed, a crimson tide sweeping up from her chest causing Helen to grin. She couldn't help but think blushing became her. She thought it was cute.

"It was a one time thing."

"Oh come on, humor an 'old' lady." When the room had grown beyond silent Helen spoke again. "Have you ever sung professionally?"

"Not exactly, I started singing when I was in grade school to pass the evenings, and then in college I joined an acapella group that preformed. When I was stationed at USARIID I got together with two other women and a male friend from my college days, actually the same neurosurgeon who helped with the surgery for my arm, and we created a group called the Knight-n-Gales. We did a lot of acapella, sang in a nightclub, did some events like weddings when it didn't conflict with our schedules. And for the last year, year and a half I've sung on the weekends I was home in a bar which was brought on by a dare from my CO during karaoke one night."

"See." Helen yawned. "I knew you were good. I bet you could record an album."

"I just do cover songs." She blushed again, but not as deeply.

"Still." Helen's eyelids drooped as she tried to fight the sleepiness brought on by the pain medication.

"'Lay down, your sweet and weary head. Night has fallen, you've come to journey's end. Sleep now, and dream of the ones who came before.'"

Helen sighed at the beautiful voice singing 'Into the West'. She was asleep before Tegan even reached the middle of the song.

A/N: Lyrics from "Into The West" from LOTR Return of the King writter by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox.