Westward
Bound (part 4)
Setup: Takes place just over 2 weeks after part 2.
On the road back to Devon.
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Voice of Alonzo "It's been more then 2 weeks
since Julia and I left the group to return to Devon. We are making great time;
we should be back to the ship in a day or so. Julia spirits are higher then I have seen them in a long time. I am
concerned that she is setting herself up for disappointment. What if there is
organ damage or the anti-dote doesn't work. I am not sure that Julia would be
able to handle it. I'm not sure any one
of us will be able to handle it."
"Want me to drive
for a while?" Julia offered.
"Naw, I'm fine.
You rest some more."
"Yeah, I didn't
get much sleep last night."
"I didn't hear
you complaining last night." Alonzo countered.
"Oh, I'm not
complaining, just stating a fact. Do you think that we'll make it to the ship
tonight?"
"Probably not,
but maybe tomorrow, if not, then definitely the day after."
"What if
grendlers got into the ship, or penal colonist, or …"
"Julia that ship
has been there for years. No one has gotten into it, nothing has happened to
it. So please stop worrying"
"I'll try. I
wonder how the others are? I have enjoyed our time alone together but I do miss
the others." Julia stated.
"I know what you
mean. I haven't spent this much time with anyone in a long time. I haven't had a chance to get close to
anyone in a lot of years. I was always sleep jumping. When I got back into a
port, everyone had moved on with their lives, I really hadn't."
"Do you regret
making this trip?" Julia questioned.
"No. There are parts
of the trip I regret but overall I am glad I came." Alonzo replied honestly.
"What about you?"
"Like you, there
are some things I regret. Actually there are a lot of things I regret. But I've
gained a lot here. Things that I could never achieved back on the stations."
"So it looks like
G889 has been good for both of us." Alonzo stated.
"Yes, it does."
Their
conversation shifted to other things and soon they set up camp for the night.
Julia had insisted that they get an early start the next morning. She wanted to
reach the ship as soon as possible. They were on the road shortly after sun
up. As they had been doing since they
left the group, they took breaks only long enough for rest and the recharging
of the rail. By night fall, they had managed to reach the ship.
"See, I told you
it would be fine." Alonzo taunted.
"Can we go inside
tonight?" Julia asked.
"Don't see why
not, but I would suggest we just check on Devon tonight. You should wait until
you are rested before you try to bring her around."
"OK," Julia
agreed.
The two entered
the ship. Alonzo immediately brought up some additional light as Julia checked
Devon's vitals. "Everything checks out fine." Julia stated.
"Good, let's set
up for the night. Then we can make sure everything is ready for tomorrow."
Julia rose early
the next morning. "Alonzo, are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll
ever be. Please remember, no matter what happens, you did your best. That is
all Devon ever asked anyone to do."
"Thanks, I try and remember that."
Once inside the
ship, Julia prepared the anti-dote as Alonzo started to bring Devon out of cold
sleep. When the chamber doors opened, Alonzo caught Devon and laid her on the
table. Julia quickly applied the
anti-dote.
"How long till we
know if it's working" questioned Alonzo.
"I'm not sure.
Her vitals are stable. That's encouraging." Julia replied as she ran her glove
over Devon.
"How will you
know if there is any organ damage?"
"My glove should
be able to determine if there is any damage. Right now her body is still trying
to get rid of the toxin." For the next few hours, Julia monitored Devon's vital
signs. She was very encouraged to see
that they were slowly but steadily improving. Four hours after applying the
anti-dote, Devon began to regain consciousness.
"Julia, what are
you still doing here?" a weak Devon Adair asked. Noticing Alonzo but no one
else, Devon asked, "Where is everybody, how long have I been unconscious?"
"Well, you been
unconscious for 9 weeks or so. As to where everyone is, they're on the road to
New Pacifica." Alonzo supplied the information with a huge grin on his face.
"How's Uly? What
are you doing here? How…"
"Devon slow
down," Julia admonished. "Uly was fine when we last saw him. John and True are
doing a great job of taking care of him. Of course Yale is lending a hand as
well. As to what we are doing here,
about 3 weeks ago we discovered what was wrong with you so we came back to cure
you."
"So what was
wrong? When will we rejoin the others?" Devon questioned.
Julia could tell
that Devon was very weak. "Sleep now, regain your strength. Then we'll tell you
everything."
Devon tried to
protest but she was much too tired. Soon she drifted off to sleep. Alonzo came
over to Julia and wrapped his arms around her. "So, she's going to be alright?"
"Yes, it looks
like there is no organ damage. She is weak due to the toxin but that should
subside in a day or two. She is so much better that I had hoped she'd be." The
joy and relief were evident in Julia's voice and smile. "I just wish we could
let the others know."
"Yeah, but we are
to far away. They'll know soon enough. Why don't you take a rest while Devon
sleeps? I know that once she is awake that you won't rest. Don't worry, I keep
an eye on her for you"
Julia reluctantly
agreed. "If she show signs of waking up or if any of anything happens, you come
get me."
Alonzo promised.
For the next day, Julia and Alonzo took turns watching over Devon. She was
slowly regaining her strength. Finally she was allowed to sit up.
"So, what was wrong with me?" Devon asked.
"You were
poisoned by a thorn." Julia stated.
"A thorn?" At
first Devon was confused, then her face slowly began to get pink. "Um, how did
you figure it was a thorn?"
"I had a dream,"
Alonzo stated.
The pinks in Devon's
cheeks deepened. "Please tell me that the terrians told you," Devon pleaded.
"Sorry, I saw how
it happened" Alonzo's cheeks had also begun to get a little pink. Devon let out
a groan and dropped her head into her hands.
"Don't worry no
one else knows. When I told Danziger about the dream," another small groan
escaped from Devon's lips. Alonzo continued, "He figured out that the bush that
you got stuck with must be close by. Danz told everyone, how did he put it? Oh
yeah, you were participating in a form of communication. I just loved that. Of
course, everyone else took it to mean that we were arguing when it happened.
You secret is safe with us. I just can't believe that we didn't know anything
was going on." Alonzo paused, then continued. "So how long has it been going
on?"
"John didn't tell
you?" Devon asked.
"Well, we
actually didn't have a chance to talk about it. One we knew about the thorn and
Julia found the anti-dote, we were pretty busy preparing to leave."
"I can't believe
that you came back for me and left the rest without a doctor. I don't mean to
sound ungrateful, because I'm not. It's just hard to believe."
"Well, we took a
vote. Seems that everyone wants you back with us as soon as possible. " Julia
replied. She then proceeded to fill in Devon on what happened since she had
fallen ill.
Alonzo
interrupted Julia, "So Devon, you never answered my question. How long have you
and John been together?"
"Why don't you
ask John when we rejoin the others."
Alonzo
mumbled, "I knew you were going to say
that."
Devon ignored
Alonzo. "So how soon till we leave? How soon to we meet up with the others?
"Well, I would
like you to rest for a week or so," Julia stated.
"A week!" Devon
exclaimed. "I'm fine. I can be ready to leave tomorrow." When Julia went to
interrupt, Devon stopped her. "I know that you are concerned that I'm not
strong enough but I tell you I feel fine. The best medicine for me would be to
see my son."
Devon and Julia
compromised, both grudgingly, that in 3 days they would leave to join the
others. And only under the condition that Devon continued to improve and her
vitals were strong before they left.
Julia warned
Alonzo, "Do not torment Devon about her relationship with John." After
receiving Alonzo reluctant acceptance, Julia continued. "They will be enough
time for that when Devon is fully recovered. But promise me that you won't do it in front of the others."
"Don't worry I
won't. I'm really happy the two of them are together. I think that they'll make
a good couple. I also realize that there are some in the group that might not
be happy to hear that they're a couple. Not that they don't want them to be
happy, just that they will think that they've lost a second opinion. "
"I honestly can't
see either one or them giving in to the other."
"Yeah, they're
going to have an interesting relationship. I just hope that the group doesn't
ruin it for them. You know, I honestly can't remember seeing a change in Devon
and John relationship. Sure when we all got sick everyone was concerned about
everyone else but I don't recall them treating each other any differently."
"That just
supports your theory that even if they are a couple, John is always going to
voice his opinion. And Devon will always voice hers."
"Boy, am I going
to enjoy hassling Danziger." Alonzo stated with a wicked grin.
"Just remember
that punch he gave you in the spider caves. " Julia paused for a moment. "You
don't think they were together then, do you"
"Naw, I don't
think so. Or else John would have hit me harder", Alonzo rubbed his jaw. "Maybe
I'll go a little easy with teasing him."
Devon continued
to gain strength over the next three days. The trio packed up their belongings
and secured the ship. After one last
look around, they started their journey to rejoin their friends.
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END OF PART
4
