By Allegra
See Part One for disclaimers etc.
Feedback greatly appreciated.
"Sir, I think I can hear something!"
Katie looked up from the sonar threads she had been gently feeding through the crevices of the rock, tugging at the her headphones.
Bridger snatched them from her and listened carefully, "It could just be more loose rocks but we're not taking any chances."
He motioned to the evacuation team, "Work faster but be careful. We may have victims directly behind this barrier."
Hitchcock was half way through tracing another sonar fibre into the cracks, when someone or something pulled on it from the other side. She pulled back in shock, only to hear a voice she could barely believe to be true, "Can anyone out there hear me? My name is Lieutenant Benjamin Krieg of the UEO seaQuest. Can you hear me?"
Katie had been so afraid when she had heard about the cave in. God knows she and Ben had spent a lot of time bickering and fighting; there had even been days when she had wanted him dead. In spite of all that, nothing compared to the terrible wrenching fear and heartache she had endured when Olafsson had explained the situation.
Relief flooded through her brain and she could feel tears threatening to well up before she swallowed them back and retrieved the microphone thread from her case. Within seconds, it was through and she said, "Ben? Ben, is that you?"
"Katie? Thank God!"
Bridger silenced the evacuation team as Katie pulled herself together and back into commander mode, asking all the appropriate questions in a rescue situation.
"Are you hurt?"
The voice echoed as it bounced back, distorting Krieg's voice, but she could clearly distinguish, "...okay."
Nathan knew that Hitchcock was only following procedure, but it took all his self restraint not to run over and grab the microphone from her to find out whether Lucas was there. Of course, it wasn't long before Katie asked, "How many more are trapped with you?"
"Just Westphalen, Lucas and, uh, Cleo. The doctor is fine but, uh, Lucas is in pretty bad shape, commander. The quicker you get through this wall the better."
Bridger took a deep breath; that was all he needed to know. It was not the information he had been hoping to receive but at least he could begin to deal with it now.
Katie inquired, "And Cleo?"
At first, there was no response from the other end, and she flexed the cable gently, "Ben? What about Cleo?"
Eventually, his voice sailed back to them, suddenly diminished and quiet. "She's dead."
Silence coated the rescue team. Few of them had known Cleo, but the impact those words had on the group was indescribable. Her death was a brutal reminder of how lucky the others had been, how easily their lives could be stolen and how quickly they needed to get to Lucas.
"Ben, where are they?"
"The cave got split in two. The others are in the back half."
Katie breathed a sigh of relief. At least there was one reason to be happy. If no one was directly behind the wall, it made their job easier to just bulldoze the wall and get through.
"Ben, stay with them. We'll be coming through on full power."
Ben reluctantly agreed although, if truth be told, the last place he wanted to be was huddled beside Lucas when he felt so helpless. If the boy stopped breathing, there was absolutely nothing he could do to help, except offer to do chest compressions when what he really needed was a life support machine. It was torture, one which Ben knew Kristin must share, and as morale officer, the least he could do was try to keep her spirits up.
Half an hour later, there was an almighty crash, and Ben peered through the hole to see Captain Bridger climbing through a gap in the entrance. The bright light from the corridor was blinding and the lieutenant had to raise his hands to block it out for a moment before suddenly some of the rocks above the entrance fell to take their predecessor's place.
"Captain?"
Bridger turned just in time to see the medic taking a step back from the entrance as his way was barred.
"Damn it!"
Anger and annoyance was replaced quickly by a mixture of concern and gratitude that he was at least in a position to find out what was going on for himself. It wouldn't be more than a few minutes before the team outside managed to recreate the hole and get the medics back in here. He placed two firm hands on Krieg's shoulders, grateful to find his man safe.
"Lieutenant, thank God! Where's Kristin?"
"I'm in here, Nathan!"
The voice was like music to the captain's ears. He felt as if it had been aeons since they had last spoken; it was just unfortunate that the reunion had to be in such unwelcome circumstances. He scrambled through the narrow hole which the pair had made and couldn't resist the grin which was spreading from ear to ear.
"Kristin!"
She smiled, but Bridger's relief was short lived when his gaze followed hers to the boy lying beside her. The teenager was pinned face down to the rocky floor, looking as if an entire mountain range had just fallen on him. Ben stood aside and gave the captain room to sit down, tracing a hand lightly down the side of Lucas' face.
"Lucas? Wake up, kiddo."
At first there was no response at all, and under the coolness of his skin, Nathan could almost be led to believe that the boy was dead.
Sluggishly, Lucas' senses came to life. He could clearly feel someone's hand against his cheek, a rough hand unlike Dr. Westphalen's, hot and steady against his flesh. It would be so much easier for him to just sleep and ignore the activity around him, settle back into the encroaching womb of complete lack of sensation.
Still, the rational and sensible part of his mind was just about functioning, telling him that he was in trouble and must cling to the real world, to the people who he knew were trying to help him. Resigned to this knowledge, Lucas anchored himself to the voice guiding him.
Bridger coaxed the boy back from the brink of unconsciousness, watching as he flinched a little under the man's touch. Without warning, his blue eyes opened and stared into the gloom ahead of him. A small grunt of pain escaped his lips, barely perceptible, but Nathan could see from the boy's face how much he felt the burden of that rock on his leg. His upper right leg was completely obscured and the white hue of the teenager's skin was a good indication of how much blood he was losing.
"Lucas, it's Captain Bridger."
Lucas tried to move his head to see his captain but instead found himself fighting another onslaught of throbbing agony tearing through every inch of his body. He gasped as he tried to control the nausea which followed. The last thing he wanted was to vomit all over the place; he might be lying there for quite some time.
"Hey, kiddo. Easy now."
Lucas strained his eyes in the gloom. "Captain? Is that, is that really you?"
Nathan looked anxiously at Kristin, who returned a knowing glance. Lucas seemed barely aware of his surroundings anymore and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep him coherent.
"Yes, Lucas, it's really me."
"Are we going back to seaQuest?"
The voice was so desperate and hopeful that it nearly broke Bridger's heart to tell him the truth.
"Just as soon as we can get you out of here."
"I feel sick."
Nathan opened his mouth to say something, but Kristin moved him aside and knelt beside the boy while she checked his pulse. He flinched away, wincing as she examined the gash to his head then placed one of the empty water containers, which had been cut in half, beside him.
"Here you go, sweetheart."
She turned to the captain, "What's going on out there? How long do you think it will be before we can move him?"
"They're working on it as we speak. The hole I got through closed up behind me, but if they can move those, they might be able to lever some larger rocks out of the way."
No sooner had he spoken than a medic appeared through the hole followed by another. They brought bright torches which they hung near where Lucas was stuck. Kristin jumped to attention. Now that she had some equipment, she could make herself a bit more useful.
Snatching some supplies from the medic's hands, she began to assess his condition properly. Perhaps fortunately, considering all the pushing and pulling going on, Lucas had closed his eyes and didn't seem to be conscious of the hands working over him. Kristin supported his head while a medic placed an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, but the small cloud of air signifying his breathing was not encouraging. She decided to hold back on the pain killers while he was unconscious, it would only make him drowsier and they weren't in a position to take that risk.
A second later, the PAL which Bridger had brought with him chirruped. "Yes?"
Hitchcock's tinny sounding voice came over, "Captain, we've got a situation back here."
Nathan didn't want to leave Lucas if possible, so he moved a few steps from where the medics were working and asked, "Yes? What kind of situation?"
"Well, there is a heavy iron door sealing the entrance. It is the only place where we stand a chance of getting the excavation machinery through. The door is still intact. It would take us hours to get through with the cutters, but the key pad and codes seem to be intact. If someone with the password could get in..."
Bridger nodded to the empty air, "Hold on a minute. I'll ask Westphalen."
Kristin was checking Lucas' pulse again, her face drawn into sharp angles of worry and determination. She looked up at Nathan.
"Nathan, we need to move him soon. Even with the med kit there isn't much we can do to help him."
"Do you know the codes to get in here? The ones for the main door. They've uncovered the door and if we could get the codes, he'd be out of here in a second."
Kristin shook her head, uncertainly. "No, only Wagner knew them...and Cleo, but..." She glanced over at the inert body of the girl covered up at the side of the room like a piece of left luggage at the airport.
Bridger cursed Wagner's stupidity under his breath, then paused, "What about Lucas?"
Westphalen's face brightened, "He did spend a great deal of time in here with her. If anyone would remember something like that, it would be Lucas."
She looked over at where the boy was lying, her confidence dwindling. "I'll try and wake him up."
The captain did not have a lot of faith in this plan but it was the best they could hope for at the moment. If Lucas didn't know, they could be waiting hours before Wagner could be tracked down and it was even less likely that he would co-operate with them. Kristin explained the situation to the medics, who reluctantly left the boy's side and let the captain come through. He took Lucas' hand in his own and rubbed it gently, willing him back to them. Kristin rummaged through the med kit and produced a vial of liquid and began depositing it into a syringe.
"This should wake him up a bit. It'll kick start his system, but not for long. You'll have to get the information fast."
Nathan nodded, mutely. He hated having to do this, but it might be their best hope. He asked, "Is it dangerous?"
Kristin raised her eyebrows, "Well, I wouldn't normally recommend it, but given our options..."
Bridger held the boy's slender arm as the doctor inserted the syringe into the tender flesh on the inside of his elbow, then gently removed the oxygen mask from his face.
"Lucas? Wake up, Lucas."
Groggily, the boy opened his eyes and Nathan smiled in relief.
"Hey, Lucas, I need you to do something for me."
At first, the teenager didn't respond, so Bridger continued, "Do you remember the door at the entrance to the cave?"
He nodded, weakly.
"Good, that's good. Now, do you remember the codes, the numbers that went into the keypad?"
In the fuzzy haze which he had once called a mind, Lucas tried to remember what the captain was talking about. Keypads, numbers - it sort of made sense to him, but he didn't know how to start finding the words to speak. Westphalen's hand squeezed his own, and he struggled to think back over what had happened since before the cave in. It felt like so long ago, as if someone were asking him to recall events which had occurred when he was in kindergarten. His mind plodded steadily over the previous day and the day before that, hazily recreating the first moment that he had set foot in the mine with Cleo.
Nathan coaxed him on, aware that the effects of Westphalen's drug would only last for a short while longer and Lucas needed that information more than he knew.
"Come on, kiddo. I know you can do it. Try real hard."
Lucas was trying. His brain was working overtime to remember and still they were pushing him harder. Fighting a brutal wave of nausea, he whispered, "Five, zero..."
His voice trailed off as his eyes began to drift closed. Nathan reached down and ran a hand over the boy's damp forehead, sharply altering the tone of his voice, "Lucas. Lucas, come on, I need those codes."
He didn't enjoy adopting such a military and insensitive attitude, but it was imperative that they get those codes or Lucas would be contending with a lot worse than some hurt feelings and a bit of mental pressure. Responding tiredly to the captain's insistent voice, Lucas opened his eyes, glazed blue meeting fiery brown.
"Five zero what?"
The boy frowned in concentration, his mind wavering over the question, the words blurring into an incomprehensible pattern of odd rhythms. He opened his mouth and uttered something which his brain told him were words but which were already disintegrating into empty air...and then he couldn't think any longer and there was nothing.
Nathan tried to shake the boy awake again, his heart racing in his chest with fear that he had lost him.
"Lucas, can you hear me? Talk to me, Lucas!"
The boy's eyes closed, his mouth still moving with a final formed word before Kristin quickly shoved the captain aside.
"That's it, Nathan. No more. He needs oxygen and rest."
"But the numbers...!"
She snapped, "Oh, Nathan, what about the numbers?! He can barely comprehend where he is, let alone what happened two days ago or the wretched password to some door!"
She carefully replaced the oxygen mask and took Lucas' pulse again, reacting in horror as she felt it throb sluggishly beneath her fingers. This was not looking good.
Bridger had rarely felt this helpless and now he felt close to tears. Not only had he failed to extract the information he needed but his last words to the boy had been spoken harshly. No! He was damned if the child was going to die with those final words spoken in hasty anger and frustration. Lucas was going to live and no wall of rock was going to stand in his way. Jumping to his feet, he felt the adrenaline coursing through his body, willing him on. Reaching for his PAL, he barked, "Commander Hitchcock. Try five, zero, six, five, three."
"Yes, sir," came the reply. Ben and Nathan moved to the hole leading into the front chamber and waited with bated breath to see the result.
Bridger had little hope of it being successful, but right now hope and a prayer was about all they had to live on and since the religious Lieutenant O'Neill wasn't with them...
There was a snapping sound followed by a whirring noise and, with effort and the aid of a crow bar, the doors to the mine entrance slid slowly open. Barely had the two men been given the chance to acknowledge what was happening, than there was a sudden flurry of activity and the full rescue team were forming a human chain and passing parts of equipment through, moving rocks aside to allow the digger access. Ben was the first to react, giving a hand wherever possible while Nathan found himself simply standing there, unable to see where he fitted into this equation. His mind and heart were rooted firmly in the adjacent chamber with the young man fighting for his life.
With the new advantage of electrical equipment, the rock barrier was removed with care as far away from the injured victim as possible, then the team repositioned near the boulder trapping Lucas' leg. Now that she knew he would be able to get full medical attention, Kristin decided to knock the boy out completely before they tried to move him. The pain would be undeniably the most painful experience he could ever endure and it would be equally traumatic and life-threatening to leave him awake as it would be to give him an anaesthetic which would depress his breathing further.
Administering the injection into the bruised arm which she could almost encircle between thumb and fore finger, the doctor couldn't help the sudden overwhelming urge she had to cry. She had been holding herself together for so many hours, playing the leader for Ben and Lucas. Every particle of her body had been focused intently on keeping the poor boy alive, but now her rational mind took over again and she was forced to reconcile herself with the truth of what he now faced. If anyone came into an emergency room with a trauma like this, her first reaction would be to notify the morgue by the end of the evening. Why should Lucas be any different simply because she willed it so? Because she loved him? God had never looked as kindly on her brother or Bridger's wife and son. Strong arms suddenly encircled her shoulders and Kristin didn't need to look to know that it was Nathan cradling her against him and giving her strength to go on.
The pair watched in numbed silence as the boulder was secured and carefully lifted away from Lucas' upper right leg. Ignorance to the gravity of his wounds gave way to horrifying knowledge of what the boy had been facing since the collapse. His upper leg was an ugly patchwork of bruises and blood oozing slowly and congealing against the torn flesh. The medics jumped immediately into action, applying gauze pads to the wounds and securing a padded brace around the leg from hip to toe.
Kristin took the neck brace and carefully manoeuvred it around the boy's neck before they gently rolled Lucas onto his back and the backboard they had brought.
No time was wasted in getting Lucas out of the mine and back to seaQuest, leaving the rest of the team to deal with Cleo's body and begin the search for some kind of explanation for the sudden cave in.
Throughout the frenzy, Dr. Olafsson had kept a modest distance, affecting concern without overstepping into suspicion. Now that the principal crew members had returned to seaQuest, he could creep forward again. He could feel his heart racing nineteen to the dozen, no doubt a result of anger and fear. True, it had not been the most intricately thought out plan, but he had been careful enough to make sure that no one could survive that cave-in.
Instead, he found himself confronted with the very real fear of discovery. Not only had all three of the UEO people been ferried out alive, he also had to contend with the fact that he had killed two guards. Eventually, someone would ask questions and the finger would ultimately point back to him. Cursing under his breath, Olafsson's mind wandered back to the greedy man who had got him involved in this in the first place. Eric Wagner was the whole reason why he was now a murderer and a bad one at that."Excuse me, sir. Are you boarding the shuttle?"
The doctor was pulled rudely from his reflections by the question. He turned to a fresh-faced young crew member, smiling in reassurance at him as if he were some train wreck victim. Collecting himself, he stammered, "Uh, yes, I'll...yes, I am."
The crewman led the way to the shuttle amid profuse apologies for the fact that he would have to share the cabin with a corpse.
Olafsson pretended to be only mildly affected by the proposition and sat down, breathing a sigh of relief. As soon as he hit top side there were a million different places where he could run and hide until all of this died down. Wagner was already being held in custody over the rock operations. Hopefully, the UEO would accept one conviction as sufficient recompense. Of course, Olafsson was under no illusions that Eric wouldn't wail to the high heavens about his cohorts and how he was only a duped sidekick, fooled into working with him. Great minds think alike and the doctor could think of no better course of action if their places were reversed.
Mulling over the possible refuges he could seek once they reached dry land, the doctor inadvertently looked over at the body bag resting on the opposite bench. It startled him more than he had expected. The black plastic stretched slightly over the stiffening form beneath its folds, a face and body which he had seen many times during his visits to the MEDS station. Cleo had been one of those simpering girls who had disgusted him at first with her coy smiles and meek demeanour, such stuff as feminine traps are made of.
By their third meeting, however, he began to find a sort of paedophilic appeal in her, a lolita waiting for some discipline. Olafsson had grown to like her. It was just a shame she had died before he had been given the opportunity to make her acquaintance properly. Oh well, her death would have been quick, probably, and there was no point in crying over spilled milk. He mourned her passing in a detached sort of way but the doctor's heart was blackened with deceit and bitterness. He had no generosity to spare for a dead girl. He simply wanted to be back on firm ground where he belonged.
Nathan was bustled through the doors of the medbay where Kristin drew him aside.
"There's a lot of work to be done here. You should get some rest. He'll be in the operating theatre for quite some time. I promise I'll call for you if anything happens."
Bridger knew better than to protest. Kristin was one of the best doctors he had ever seen and, given the choice, he would rather she was working on Lucas than anyone else.
He nodded and watched as she darted into the emergency area where Nathan could already see the boy hooked up to a number of machines with at least two IVs trailing from his limp wrist, an oximeter clipped over one slender finger. A nurse was cutting off his trousers which exposed the crushed leg while another forced his mouth open and ran an intubation tube down the teenager's throat.
Kristin glanced up at the door, noticing the captain's anxious face staring in, but she made no move to get rid of him. She knew him too well to expect him to leave on command and, considering the man's relationship with Lucas, perhaps it was better for him to see all of this for himself rather than have it catalogued later on. She busied herself with the IVs, barking orders in various directions.
"Get me six units of packed cells, a CBC, Chem-7 and six units of O-neg!"
Another emergency doctor examined Lucas' leg.
"He's got a fracture of the upper femur and it looks like a comminuted fracture of the pelvic bone. Prep him for surgery. I want him prepped and ready in five."
Bridger watched, horrified, as Lucas was prodded and pulled, injected and tested without so much as a flicker of awareness of what was going on. His face looked even paler than it had done under the sickly glow of the torches in the mine, and the contusions covering his body were painfully visible under the bright, strip lighting of the medbay. Head lolling lifelessly to one side, Lucas was wheeled hurriedly off towards the operating theatre.
Nathan released a weary sigh. His work was done, now he had no choice but to wait.
Katie paused outside Ben Krieg's quarters, her fist paused to knock on the door. Since the team had managed to rescue Lucas from the cave, she had barely had time to think let alone worry about her former husband's state of mind. Every move had become a flurry of commands and automatic responses, but now that she was given some reflection time, she knew full well what kind of reaction Ben would be having to the situation.
Katie had learned the hard way that he was much more sensitive than she had imagined and being trapped in there with the sick and the dying would have had a greater impact on him than he would ever let on. He would adopt his usual, casual and jovial manner around the rest of the crew, cracking jokes, when underneath it all, he was hurting. Still, it was hard to know how to react. Katie knew so much about him but they had broken up long ago and their positions were very different now. Did she still have the right to treat him the same way she had when they were married? It was difficult to know where to draw the line, nothing like making a friend among the ranks after joining the crew. In that scenario, the rules had already been drawn up and everyone knew exactly at what point friendships moved into forbidden territory. With Ben, Katie never knew how to react.
She peered through the small window of his room and all doubt fell away with the sorrowful expression on his face. He was lying on his bed, hands clasped behind his head while his eyes stared vacantly at the ceiling panels above him.
Katie knocked on the door and opened it, not waiting for a reply. Ben looked at her and stood up quickly, swinging his legs onto the floor in one swift movement.
"Katie? What can I do you for? Some lovely stockings or perhaps a side of nice, red beef?"
If the commander had not known better, she would have been fooled into believing him completely unperturbed by the events only a few hours in the history books. But she did know better.
She smiled, "This isn't World War II, you know...and you don't have to pretend for me, Ben."
He looked at her in faint surprise but she saw the flicker of relief that he didn't have to play the part anymore.
"Uh, what are you talking about?"
Katie didn't need to answer the question. She had simply caught him off guard, but he understood her. She took his hands between her own and sat down on the bed, drawing him down beside her.
"Talk to me."
It was clear that he was still closed up, almost unclear as to his own emotions. He opened his hands in a gesture of indifference, "I'm not quite sure what you want me to say."Katie nodded and waited. It would come, it would just take a bit of time...and a little coaxing.
"I can't imagine how awful it must have been, trapped in that cave with barely any light, unable to do a thing to help yourself."Ben snorted, derisively. "Yeah, I was pretty useless."
"I don't believe that. You looked after Lucas, you helped us get you out."
"No, Kristin took care of Lucas. I just stood there like a lump, fetching things when she needed them."
Katie licked her lips, carefully selecting the words to say.
"Don't underestimate yourself, Ben. You're an asset to this boat. There's a good reason why you were chosen as morale officer. Whatever you did in there, nobody could have done more."
Ben turned his head, sharply, to look at his ex-wife. Even after all these years, she still knew exactly what to say and she was trying so hard to make him feel better.
"Thanks, but..." he laughed, humourlessly, "...you don't know that."
Hitchcock rubbed his leg in reassurance, hoping her touch might bring some comfort, quietly adding, "I know you."
"Yeah and look where that information got you."
He shook his head, glumly, then stood up and began pacing the room. Katie could see the frustration building in the tense bunching of his muscles. Then, in a torrent, he released everything.
"God, I couldn't do a damned thing to help him, Katie! Do you know what that feels like?! That poor kid was dying and Cleo was lying dead a few feet away and I did nothing. I couldn't, I didn't know how!"
His voice trembled, choked up with renewed sorrow and bitter memories of the incident. Katie went to him, her hand lightly grazing his arm.
"Because there wasn't anything, Ben."
He shook his head, vehemently, as the unwelcome tears welled, but she continued.
"Sometimes it's easier to beat yourself up than it is to accept that you did everything you could given the circumstances. You have to be the one to step to the fore and see which one you are. I know you're stronger than that, Ben. Don't give in to it."
Ben raised his eyes to her, grief clearly etched on every inch of his face.
"I just can't get it out of my head, her face. She looked like she was sleeping."
Katie desperately wanted to take him in her arms, hug him like she had done years ago.
Softy, he asked, "What if he doesn't make it?"
Katie cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to hold her steady gaze, and firmly told him, "Lucas is in safe hands now. He's getting the best medical attention we could ask for, and he's got all his friends rallying round to support him. He'll pull through, he'll be okay."
She wasn't entirely sure where these prophetic words came from and the commander hoped them to be true. Just voicing her prayers somehow made them seem a possibility, a reality to be gripped hold of and brought to anchor.
Katie pulled Ben towards her and spontaneously kissed him on the cheek, "Get some rest and I'll ask medbay to let you know as soon as there is some news."
Ben nodded, still feeling dispirited, but slightly the better for the commander's pep talk. He surrendered himself to the wise assurance harnessed in those piercing blue eyes. There was a time when his heart had pounded just for a flicker of recognition from those eyes, some glimmer of reciprocal affection to tell him he had a chance. Katie Hitchcock had always been the best at anything she put her mind to; there were no limits to her power when she chose. Ben found himself wondering what had gone wrong between them. Had they really just been in love with an abstract idea of themselves, an unattainable happiness embodied in the perfect team? The brightest and the best working side by side.
As if in a dream, Ben felt his fingers tangled in Katie's dark locks, her breath hot and frenzied against his neck. God, was this really happening?
"Oh, Ben," she breathed, nuzzling his ear. His lips found hers and the lieutenant found himself sinking into delicious softness.
Dimly, a part of him knew that this was wrong, inappropriate, but it had gone too far to pull out now. Ben kept waiting for Katie to pull away and tell him to stop but the kiss continued.
Finally, as abruptly as the passion had begun, the commander took her cue and pushed Krieg gently away from her. She passed a hand guiltily over her mouth.
"Oh, God, Ben...we, uh, this isn't right. We can't..."
Ben attempted a short laugh but it resulted in a stilted cackle. He ran one hand through his hair and replied a bit too quickly, "Yeah, you're right, absolutely right. Uh, rest? Isn't that what you said?"
Katie nodded emphatically.
"Yes, get some sleep. I'll, uh, I'll go...now."
Backing towards the door, she slipped out into the corridor.
Nathan awoke to the sound of the medbay doors opening and swinging wildly on their hinges as staff passed hurriedly through. Whether he was just coming out of a deep slumber or whether it was the first time the doors had been in use since he had fallen asleep, the captain couldn't be sure, but his senses were alert the instant his eyes snapped open. The bench he had taken up residence on was hardly the most comfortable spot he could have chosen and his neck was a painful reminder of how bent up he had been for the past few...minutes? Hours?
Nathan looked up at the wall clock and then checked it against his own wrist watch, but neither observation did much good. Since he had heard about the cave in, besides speed, time had seemed of little consequence, and he had no idea what time they had returned to seaQuest or when Lucas had been taken into the operating theatre.
He was impatient to know what was going on in there and, as captain of the boat, he could easily find out without raising any suspicions. He had every right to know what was happening in each corner of seaQuest, whether the doctors liked it or not. If he was perfectly honest with himself, most of Nathan's frustration stemmed from the fact that no matter how many questions he asked or orders he doled out, he had no control over what the outcome of Lucas' operation would be. He didn't like to be out of the loop and he would snag the first doctor who made the error of walking in his direction. Fortunately for the spider, it wasn't long before the first fly came a little too close, this time in the form of an emergency room nurse.
"Excuse me."
The petite, blonde woman stopped short and smiled, graciously.
"Yes, sir."
Her disarming demeanour made Bridger feel momentarily guilty for his uncharacteristically aggressive tone.
"Uh, I was wondering if you knew what was happening with Lucas Wolenczak."
"The boy in the OR?"
"Yes. How's he doing?"
Nathan craned his neck towards the imposing doors leading into that forbidden territory. "It seems like he's been in there a long time."
The nurse patted him, condescendingly on the arm and smiled that smile again.
"His injuries were quite severe. Five hours is common for an operation in a case such as this. I wouldn't worry."
Bridger's gratitude for her friendliness was beginning to sour into annoyance. He wanted answers not the usual fobbing off given to anxious relatives.
"Well, I am worried and I would like a prognosis."
The nurse's smile dipped a little before she regained her composure, taking in the captain's authoritative air.
"I'll go and see what I can find out for you, sir."
"Thank you. Much appreciated."
That done, Nathan began to feel a bit queasy. He had run into this headlong and he felt like he had just turned down a path from which there was no turning back. Before he had been free to make up his own conclusion to the tale, make an educated guess at what he would find in that room, but now even that small control had been taken out of his hands. He was at the mercy of the doctors and perhaps even God. He began pacing to and fro in front of the swing doors, his brown eyes wandering aimlessly around the grim emergency room which was filled with reminders of how fragile life could be.
Defibrillator paddles, hundreds of drugs, scalpels, intubation equipment - it was all there to save lives, just bits of plastic and strange, medicinal substances mixed together to jump start an ailing vessel. Thousands of people died in rooms like these every day, people someone cared about...
"Nathan?"
Bridger whirled around to face Kristin Westphalen, his brown eyes studying every detail of her face to translate their meaning. What did that sudden crease in her forehead signify? Was that good or bad?
"Kristin, thank God! Finally, someone who can give me some answers."
He was about to embark on a rant when the doors of the OR swung open and a couple of nurses pushed a gurney through. Lucas' thin frame was barely invisible beneath the swathes of bloodied gauze and medical equipment, IV lines and blood pressure monitors as he was moved towards the recovery area, a nurse squeezing the airbag which was helping to keep him alive. Nathan made to follow but Kristin rested a hand against his chest.
"They're just moving him to recovery. Come and sit down."
She steered the shocked captain back towards the chairs and sat down beside him, adopting her customary doctor manner.
"Well, the head wound was not serious, just a bit sore from the impact of being thrown to the floor. The neck of the femur bone was fractured and we've inserted a metal plate into his leg in order to fix the bone fragments in place."
"A metal plate?"
"Yes, it's important for his leg to be immobilized. Whether it will remain permanently in his leg or not is uncertain. We'll just have to see how Lucas responds."
Westphalen took a deep breath and continued.
"The only other serious injury, apart from the obvious blood loss involved, is a comminuted fracture of his pelvic bone. That seems to have been the principal point of impact between the rock and his body. Now, a comminuted fracture means that the bone has essentially been smashed to pieces, resulting in soft tissue damage around the site. Fortunately, the nature of the fracture in this case means that we've been able to realign the pieces by external manipulation. We'll cast it and put him in traction for a while, just to be on the safe side and avoid any overriding or impact between the fragments. He has a great deal of bruising but, luckily, the force didn't damage any vital organs."
Squeezing the captain's hand, Kristin relaxed now that she had delivered the prognosis.
"Nathan, I have a good feeling about this. Lucas has a will of iron. I'm sure he'll pull through."
Bridger nodded. Now he knew. There were no more uncertainties and the tightening band around his chest was suddenly released and he sighed deeply, dropping his head momentarily into his hands.
"Can I see him?"
"Give them a chance to get his leg set up. Don't forget that he lost a great deal of blood during the ordeal. He's got some healing to do, Nathan."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
Kristin smiled winningly and set off in the direction of her office to make notes. The fact that she was so calm when the captain knew full well how much she cared about the boy, made him feel infinitely better.
Bridger had walked the length of decking outside medbay for so long that he was certain the floor level must have dropped. Even steel planks couldn't withstand the emotional torment he was putting them through, oozing it from every pore of his body. He barely even looked up as Kristin approached him, her body simply blurring into the activities of the bay which excluded him.
"Nathan, you can see him now."
She led the way to the recovery area and then stopped short of the doors.
"Now, I don't want you to be alarmed. Lucas is on a respirator just to help him until he is a bit stronger and he looks rather the worse for wear, but I promise he's on the mend."
The captain was only half listening, already craning his neck to see where the boy was. He had heard the spiel before and he'd seen Lucas brought out from the OR, so it couldn't get much worse than that.
In the extraordinary silence which smothered the room in comparison to the hub of noise next door, Nathan found himself more shocked at the teenager's state than he had expected. With the trauma team and the emergency doctors working him over, it was funny how one's mind made up the rest of the picture.
In the flurry of movement, even though Lucas had been unconscious the entire time, it felt as if he were doing something, fighting for himself and helping the doctors in their job. Now that he was resting quietly, surrounded by monitors supporting his breathing, his fluid intake and nutrition, Lucas looked more helpless than before. Gone was the kid who was constantly getting into mischief or asking for favours. He had been replaced with mechanical sounds, hissing air and the steady beep of the EKG; there was only the physical, battered shell of that child.
He surveyed the cherubic face, marred by the gash which had begun to spread a mottled patch of bruising down his temple and cheek. It was difficult to imagine that Lucas could be oblivious to the immense pain his body must still be feeling, dulled only by heavy, efficient drugs. The boy looked incredibly fragile and Nathan was almost afraid simply to hold his hand in case he broke the bones.
He carefully arranged Lucas' fingers so as not to dislodge the IV line, lacing them through his own. He grimly noted the stark difference in their body temperatures. Lucas' skin was still somewhat chilled beneath his, the skin almost translucent, showing blue veins networking through the young flesh.
He lost track of how long he sat with the boy, knowing that there was little chance of him waking any time soon, but unable to leave his side. There was nowhere Nathan would rather be than sitting in the uncomfortable, plastic medbay chair, his back aching from the awkward angle. Eventually, though, Kristin came in to check Lucas over herself, despite other nurses checking his vital signs regularly.
"Nathan, we're going to move him to another room now. Medbay's quiet at the moment, so I'll haggle another bed for you so you can stay with him." "Thanks, Kristin."
He released Lucas' hand and followed as the gurney was transferred. The teenager's leg was carefully repositioned and the IVs checked to make sure nothing had come loose. Kristin made a few notes on his chart at the foot of the bed and placed a hand on Nathan's shoulder. "He's heavily sedated and the anaesthetic won't wear off for a good few hours. Get some rest. I don't want to come back here to find you still sitting here or Lucas won't be the only one in traction." Her tone was severe but Bridger could see the twinkle in the doctor's eyes as she spoke. He glanced over at the second bed made up nearby and decided that he would soon wake up if there was any unforeseen change in the teenager's condition.
Nathan waited until the room was deserted again and he was left alone with Lucas. He reached out to run a hand through the boy's blonde hair then bent down to kiss him lightly on the forehead.
"Goodnight, kiddo. I'm right here when you need me."
He had no idea if Lucas knew that he was there at all, but the captain could only hope that somewhere beneath the beeping monitors and drugs racing through his system, the boy could sense some comfort.
Dr. Eric Wagner paced the small room which he had come to acknowledge as a prison cell but which he was constantly reminded by staff was only a halfway house until they figured out what was going on. He couldn't stand being cooped up like this. No number of days stuck down on the research station compared to one second of this comfortable, carpeted suite. It was this discomfort which highlighted how guilty he knew himself to be. He kept telling himself that he wasn't guilty, that he had no reason to be so tense, but Eric could never lie to himself. Lies and deception were exactly what had got him into this mess in the first place. He had stubbornly stood by his decision to remain silent until the UEO forced him to talk. There was no point in volunteering information.
News had come early in the morning that a cave-in had occurred at the MEDS station, resulting in only one death. The statistics were all he needed to know that Olafsson had failed in eliminating the opposition. Now it was only a matter of time before his plans were unveiled and neither scientist would have a leg to stand on. They would pick apart his plans, take away his dignity and well-earned reputation. Oh yes, it was only a matter of time now before the inevitable.
One day dragged into the next and Bridger rarely left Lucas' side even though the boy seemed to have made little progress. So, it was with some surprise that Nathan looked up from his book when a weak cough issued from the ailing figure in the bed.
"Lucas?"
He dropped the novel without a moment's thought and grabbed the boy's hand which was feebly reaching for his face. His head tossed from side to side, weakly. The teen's eyes were still closed but his brow was drawn into a furrow of pain and confusion, then the cough escalated into a strangled choke as he fought the tube running down his oesophagus.
Catching his other flailing arm, Bridger restrained Lucas as best he could.
"Lucas, it's okay. Relax, just relax now. It's all right, you're safe."
The boy struggled weakly in his arms for a moment before Bridger's voice reached him and his eyes finally slid open for the first time in days. Nathan smiled, "Hey, kiddo. You're okay."
Lucas fought his way from beneath the drug-induced haze. He recognized the man's face, but he didn't know where he was...or who he was. Suddenly, panic set in. He had no idea what was happening to him so how could he be okay. He had tried to speak but he couldn't.
Bridger stroked the boy's hand and sat down on the edge of the bed, finally grateful for Lucas' thin frame. He could see the fear etched markedly on the young face.
"There's a tube in your throat to help you breathe, so just relax."
He wasn't quite sure what else to say. What he really needed was Dr. Westphalen.
"Will you be okay while I go and get Dr. Westphalen?"
Lucas' nod was barely perceptible but after so many days of complete immobility, Bridger had come to understand even the slightest muscular contraction with ease. He squeezed the boy's hand once more before quickly ducking out to Kristin's office.
She checked the monitors, recorded a few notes and shone a torch into the boy's eyes.
"That's much better. Now, Lucas, I'm going to remove the tube from your throat. I need you to take a really deep breath on my count and then I'll pull it out. Can you do that?"
Lucas nodded. He didn't feel strong enough to do anything but he dearly wanted to be rid of that tube and be able to speak. The doctor unhooked the machine and counted.
Lucas breathed in deeply, ignoring the sharp pain which the action inspired and Kristin quickly pulled the tube out, leaving him gagging and gasping for breath.
He felt like he couldn't breathe anymore and panic set in once more. Westphalen leaned over him, placing a placating hand on his cheek and forcing him to meet her gaze.
"Take a deep breath, in - out, all right? In and out. That's it."
She helped him steady his erratic gasps and the boy slowly settled, much to Bridger's relief.
In the captain's head, he had imagined that Lucas would wake up with a mischievous grin and some wise crack or other. Even when he had seen the boy wheeled out of the OR hooked up to tubes with countless stitches and bruises all over his body, he couldn't reconcile him as the same boy. Now that he was awake, there was no denying that it was Lucas lying there, but it was an altered Lucas, one whom Bridger had never seen before and hoped never to see again after this incident.
He took the boy's hand in his own once again and Lucas' glazed, drowsy eyes wandered in his direction.
"Hi there."
The teen didn't respond at first but strained to speak which Kristin instantly put a stop to.
"Don't waste your energy on talking. There'll be plenty of time for that later."
Lucas nodded, tiredly, and allowed his fatigued eyelids to close. Within a moment, he was fast asleep again. Kristin stroked blonde strands of hair away from his face and looked at the relieved expression on the captain's face, quietly saying, "There, what did I tell you? He'll be right as rain before you know it."
"I hope so."
"But Nathan..."
She paused, glancing over at Lucas again, before nodding towards the door. Once they were out of the boy's earshot, whether he was asleep or not, Kristin continued, "About Cleo. I think it would be best to wait until he is stronger before we tell him what happened. It would only be counteractive at this stage. Depression is common after major trauma or operations and Lucas will be especially susceptible at this time."
Nathan nodded, his eyes wandering back to the slight form fast asleep a few feet away.
"I wish we could just keep it from him, but as soon as he's awake enough, he's going to ask."
"Then, of course you'll have to tell him, but let me know straight away. We may have to alter his medication. Now, what about his parents? Have they been contacted yet?"
Nathan looked momentarily stunned before pulling himself together.
"Damn it, I completely forgot to tell O'Neill to find them. In all the commotion..."
Kristin rubbed his arm, "...you forgot. Don't worry. You were just preoccupied with Lucas. It's only natural. I think he's more important to you than he is to his parents."
"Well, either way, I have a duty to notify them. I'd better go and sort that out."
He thumbed in Lucas' direction. "You'll let me know if..."
"Of course. Go! And Nathan?" He turned back, "Get some rest."
Commander Hitchcock was relieved to receive orders which sent her off to engineering for a while. She had been unable to concentrate fully on anything since the accident. First it had been concern for Lucas which kept her mind unfocused but now it was aggravated by the awkward situation with Ben. It was affecting her work in a way which could be dangerous and while Katie was glad to be off the bridge, she also hoped her ineptness had not been noticed by Ford.
She prided herself on doing a good job and it angered her to think that someone might be influenced by this unusual behaviour. To add to her woes, all of this was hampered by guilt that she had been kissing Ben when Lucas was fighting for his life in medbay. Her problems were so paltry alongside his own suffering and yet it consumed her with every breath she took.
It was difficult to know how to react around Ben anymore. The kiss they had shared was passionate and fiery, not the kind of kiss one could simply dismiss as a consequence of the heat of the moment. On the other hand, fraught emotions were running high on the boat currently and the close-knit bridge crew's reactions were hardly natural. Whatever had happened with Ben was nothing more than desperate comfort in troubled times, seeking a familiar shoulder to cry on.
Their friendship had strengthened since the beginning of the seaQuest's first tour, offering the pair a chance to establish a new relationship based on their common loves as opposed to the countless other factors which drove them apart in marriage. Perhaps that was exactly the problem. Without the constant reminders of how much they annoyed each other, it was easy to slip back into the emotions which they had felt way back at the academy - respect and sexual attraction triggered deep within them.
No, Katie chided herself. What was she thinking? She didn't respect Ben anymore. She cared about him, yes, but when it came to naval matters, she could outdo him on every count. So, what else could explain that kiss? The feelings which still coursed through her body now?
Throwing down the spanner she had been unsuccessfully using on some engine components, Katie decided that talking it over with Krieg once and for all was the only logical solution.