Disclaimer- Ya know this part. If not, go all the way back to chapter 1!
Personal Note- Thanks to Zev, love ya man! And really sorry to keep people waiting with
these short chapters! Dag and Jer- thanks for being there for me. Thanks to KL,
remember folks my English is not this perfect- Thanks KL for betaing!
Meaning of Life
By the untalented JOxER
Chapter 7
A low moan from the sleeping form in the bed startled Ben awake. He quickly looked up
to see what was wrong. Ben was relieved when it turned out to be nothing. Well, nothing
more than a grumpy teenager reluctantly greeting the morning.
Sensing someone nearby, Lucas opened his eyes and glanced towards Ben.
"Hey, Ben, what brings you here?" Lucas inquired, sarcastically.
"You, silly!" Ben smiled, delighted to see Lucas' attitude returning.
"Are you the only one here?" Lucas asked, hesitantly, peering up at Ben with serious
eyes, tinged with a touch of sadness. He knew it was stupid to ask - they didn't really care
about him, he was just an annoying teen stuck on a ship full of adults - but he hadn't been
able to stop the words from leaving his mouth. Some part of him had to ask - that
aggravating part of him that still had faith someone in the world could care about him.
"Lucas, the hospital wouldn't allow the whole seaQuest crew to clog their halls. The
captain, and Doc, and I refused to leave." Ben saw disbelief on the kid's face. "See for
yourself...behind me, next to the door."
Still doubtful, Lucas lifted his head to peek over Ben's shoulder. Just like the Lieutenant
had said, the captain and Kristen were asleep in some chairs near the door. The captain
looked exhausted. Even in his sleep, his face was creased with worry. Her head resting on
the captain's shoulder, Kristen had bags under her eyes. A warm feeling of happiness
surged through Lucas as he watched the couple sleep. Returning to Ben, he noticed the
look of 'I told you so' on the Lieutenant's face and tossed the man a chagrined smile as he
settled back onto his pillow.
"Lucas, you ok?" Ben anxiously inquired as a soft moan escaped from the teenager.
"Yeah, it just hurts sometimes. Ben, can I have some water?"
"Sure."
The Lieutenant scurried into bathroom and quickly filled a Dixie cup to the rim.
Unfortunately, in eagerness to get the water back to Lucas, Ben moved a little too fast
and the cup was more than half empty by the time he reached the bed.
"Here you go, Lucas."
"Thanks, Ben," Lucas responded, chuckling as he noticed that the cup was nearly empty.
"Just do that 30 more times and I might actually get some." The teenager laughed again,
causing some slight pain, but he was too amused to care. As a look of bewilderment
spread across Ben's face, Lucas held the cup up for him to see. "Ben, the cup is almost
empty. There's only a few drops left."
"Hey, Lucas! You're looking it at this the wrong way. Remember... we went through this
- the cup is half full!"
Lucas was surprised that Ben remembered.
--Shore leave 6 months ago--
Ben rushed out of the shuttle about to carry him to freedom. He had big plans for his 2-
week shore leave, but in his excitement, he'd left his wallet in his quarters. Quickly
recovering the errant wallet, the Lieutenant was hurrying back to the shuttle when he
heard voices coming from the direction of the moon pool. Ben paused. No one was
supposed to be there. The science crew had already gone upworld. In fact, nearly
everyone had left the seaQuest. There was only a skeleton crew still onboard, and there
wasn't any reason for any of them to be near the moon pool. His curiosity got the better of
him and Ben decided to check it out. As he neared the moon pool, the voices became
clearer.
"Lucas play."
"Yes, Darwin, Lucas play for 2 weeks."
Ben was shocked. Lucas was still there! No, it couldn't be. Peeking into the moon pool
area, he saw that it was true. Lucas was near the pool with the vocorder in his hand, and
Darwin was swimming around in joyful circles. Lucas had plans for his shore leave, why
would he stay?
"Hey, Lucas! What are you still doing here?" Ben asked, startling the teen.
"Lucas play with Darwin. Lucas here to play." Darwin said, with help from the vocorder
in Lucas' hand.
"Ben! I thought, well, you said you had plans and.... what are you doing here?"
"I asked you first."
Lucas looked down, not ready to tell Ben the truth. "I decided to stay. You?"
"Lucas, I'm not buying it. For the past month, all I heard from you was how much you
wanted your shore leave. Now, you're telling me you've change your mind and are just
gonna stay on the boat for the next two weeks. Come on, kid! What's going on?"
"YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW! FINE! I was going to stay with my mom, but she
canceled at the last minute. All right! My dad is on vacation and my mom is too busy for
me. I don't have anywhere else to go! I hope that answers your question, Ben!" Lucas
shouted, angrily.
Ben was aghast. He'd never understood how parents could be so callous towards a great
kid like Lucas. The teen had become the younger brother Ben never had. He'd do just
about anything for the kid.
"But why didn't you tell Doc or the Captain. Or me?"
"Because..."
Ben needed more of an explanation than that. "Because of what?"
Lucas was on the verge of breaking down. He glanced briefly at the Lieutenant standing
in front of him before settling his gaze on the dolphin swimming in the moon pool.
"Because you guys were busy. Why would you want me around? I just get in the way."
Ben's heart was breaking, but he was glad he was the one that was hearing this, instead of
the Captain. The old man would have blown a vein. "That's your parents talking, kid. You
don't get in the way, we love having you around."
"Yeah right, only when something goes wrong with the computers," Lucas responded,
dejectedly. It was difficult to believe that anyone could care about him. Why would
they?
"What makes you say that? You know what...never mind. Are you packed?"
"What do you mean?" Lucas shot back, eyeing Ben dubiously.
"What a genius! Do..you..have..your..stuff..packed?" Ben replied, slowly and precisely
enunciating each word.
"Yeah...bag's sitting on my bunk," he admitted, a little reluctantly.
Ben responded with an 'ok' sign before abruptly departing, leaving Lucas without a clue
to what he was up to. With a quick shrug, the teen returned to his conservation with
Darwin, only to be interrupted again by a persistent tugging on his shirt.
"Ben! What are you doing?"
"Come on, kid! You're coming with me."
"Ben...?" Lucas whined as Ben dragged him to the shuttle and sat him down. "What is
this, Ben? Can't go alone on a shuttle ride?"
"Well, I have nothing to do during my shore leave and I was thinking... you know I
haven't been to Disney World in a while. I'll look stupid going there by myself, but
dragging a kid there is a perfect excuse."
"Really? I thought you had plans. Look, don't drop them because of me."
"Look, I rather spend my time with you, kid. I like being around you."
"Thanks, Ben. I like it, too."
"Great! Hey, I grabbed the last coke from the mess. Split it with me?" Ben held up the
coke can.
"Sure!" Lucas grabbed the coke and chugged nearly the whole can in one gulp. Smirking,
he handed back the can back to the Lieutenant. Taking it, Ben gave it a shake.
"Hey, you, the can's half empty!"
"Ben, don't be so negative. Look at this situation in a good way - the can is half full,"
Lucas responded, barely managing to get it all out before bursting into laughter that
quickly infected Ben.
"Half full my ass," Ben whispered just as they began to regain control, sending them both
into another fit of laughter.
-- --
"What! You thought I'd forget? That was the best shore leave I ever had! Really, Lucas!"
Ben stated, noticing the shocked statement on the kid's face.
"Yeah, until the girl you tried to pick up at the restaurant told you bug off and, then,
pored cold soda on your lap when you kept hitting on her."
"That was not funny, boy."
"Oh yes it was, man!"
Lucas and Ben laughed as they remember the great time they'd had. The noise woke the
captain. Smiling as he watched the pair enjoying the morning, Nathan thought about what
a great morning it really was. It was wonderful to see Lucas laugh again. Boy, it has been
awhile. Kristen was still asleep, her head still resting on his shoulder, and Nathan gently
shook her awake. After giving her a moment to regain her senses, the pair moved to
Lucas' bedside.
"What so funny over here?" Nathan queried.
"Disney World memories," Ben answered, which started he and Lucas laughing again,
but it ended abruptly when Lucas let out a small cry.
"Lucas! What is it," Kristen asked, anxiously.
"Nothing, Dr. Westphalen, it just hurts when I laugh," Lucas assured. Nothing specific
was bothering him, except that he didn't really understand why everything hurt so much.
"Lucas, do you remember what happen to you?" Nathan questioned.
"No...I..I... don't really remember much, Captain. What happen?" Lucas hated lying to the
man. He remembered every event of that day - from the beating to the truck hitting him -
but he couldn't risk saying the wrong thing. Lucas had to know what his father had told
them.
"You were hit by a truck, Lucas. Your father said that you crossing the street. The truck
didn't see you in the dark and he hit you."
"I'm sorry Captain, I don't remember. What's the damage, Doc?"
"Well, as you know, you broke your leg and some ribs. I'm certain that its your ribs and
the sutures in your side that hurt when you laugh. The sutures are a result of damage to
your spleen. The internal bleeding was serious enough that it had to be removed, and
you've been unconscious for the past five days as a result of a concussion. Doctor
Chambers plans to keep you here a week to two weeks. Today, they're just letting you
getting some rest, but by tomorrow, the nurses are going to try to get you up and moving
around. Hopefully, you'll also get the catheter removed.
"The what!" Lucas hadn't noticed the catheter. Discreetly peeking under his sheets, he
saw the tube coming out from beneath his gown and connecting to a small bag on his
bed.
"Don't worry about it, Lucas," Ben assured Lucas, making a valiant effort not to smile.
"Yeah, sure. Easy for you to say, you don't have THAT thing in you!"
The trio began to laugh, along with Lucas. The laughter was interrupted by a soft knock
at the door. It was Jesse.
"Hello. Am I interrupting anything? I can always come back," Jesse said, turning around
to leave.
"No, it is okay, Jesse. Come in."
Jesse quickly turned around, smiling ear to ear. He was carrying a small package of Jell-
O and a plastic spoon. Heading around to the far side of Lucas' bed, the youngster
carefully sat down next to Lucas.
"Hello, Lucas, how are you doing?" Jesse inquired, thoughtfully.
"Um, Jesse, right?" Jesse nodded, and Lucas continued. "I'm feeling better."
"Great! I'm hoping that you're better company then the other kids here. They're boring!
Hey, we're neighbors, you know. Want some Jell-O?" Jesse offered, but Lucas declined.
Jesse graciously offered some to the others, as well, but didn't have any takers.
"Jesse, where'd you get Jell-O at 8 am?"
"After Alex dragged me back to my room, I snuck off to the cafeteria, got some Jell-O,
and came back to my room. I snagged five packages. I could go back and get more if you
guys want some?"
"Hey, you're my kind of guy," Lucas teased, smiling at Jesse. They seemed to click. "So,
Jesse, how old are you?"
"I'm 10! Gonna be 11 in a couple of weeks. You?"
"16. I swear you look a lot older."
Jesse just smiled at the compliment as he stuffed more strawberry Jell-O into his mouth.
The Captain, Kristen, and Ben stood by passively watching as the two kids chatted.
"Hey, I never did catch your names," Jesse pointed out, switching his focus to the adults.
"I'm Lt. Ben Krieg, the lady over there is Dr. Kristen Westphalen, and the man next to her
is our captain, Captain Nathan Bridger."
"CAPTAIN! Of what?"
"The seaQuest."
"Oooh, the submarine. Right?" After a nod from the captain, Jesse quickly turned to talk
to Lucas again. "You live in a submarine? That must be very cool!"
"At times, it can be cool," Lucas replied
"What do you mean _at times_, it would rock! Living under the sea!" Jesse began singing
the words to 'Under the Sea'. Lucas laughed and joined in the little song by humming the
Disney classic.
Before long, Nathan found himself distracted by the unhappy growls of his stomach, but
he didn't want to leave until he was sure that Lucas was going to be fine. His stomach
was becoming increasingly insistent, however.
"Lucas, if you don't mind, we re going to get something to eat. There is a nice restaurant
near the hospital. We won't be gone long, okay."
"Go and eat, Captain. I'll be okay. Where am I gonna go?"
"Hey, you know the mall isn't that far away, maybe we can wheel you out of here and.. .."
Jesse playful whispered to Lucas.
"Maybe we should call Nurse Alex and tell him that Jesse's here," Nathan threatened,
eyeing the kid mischievously as he spoke to Kristen. Jesse made a scared face, but then
broke into a smile.
"Be right back," Kristen reassured, kissing Lucas and mussing Jesse's hair.
"Yeah, what she said," Ben added.
As the three adults left the room, the two patients began talking. They chatted about
everything - everything kids talk about - from their favorite movies to their favorites
sports. They discovered that they didn't share the same team or movie choices, but they
did share one common interest- the ocean. Jesse never had seen the ocean, much less an
ocean animal, but that hadn't stopped the young lad from reading everything he could
about the ocean. Just as the discussion made its way to a dolphin named Darwin, a nurse
entered the room.
"Oh, no!" Jesse cried, recognizing the giant nurse. It was Alex.
"Jesse, we've been over this. The cafeteria worker said that she saw a little boy taking
Jell-O from the frig. So I asked myself 'who loves Jell-O that much' and you know
what?" Jesse shrugged his shoulders. "I thought about you. I've checked your room and
there are four empty packages of Jell-O by your bed. So, mister, you're guilty of Jell-O
theft!"
"Come on, Alex, I'm an addict!" Jesse argued, shooting the nurse puppy eyes as Lucas
tried to hide his amusement.
"Nope, sir, I am not buying it! Now, come on, mister, blood work was due ten minutes
ago."
"It's not 9 yet," Jesse whined as Alex picked up him and settled him into a wheelchair.
Alex showed him his watch. Jesse was correct. It wasn't 9 am, it was 9:15. "Oops, guess I
really do talk too much. Sorry, Lucas, I gotta split. See you at lunch?" Lucas nodded, and
Jesse waved his goodbye as Alex pushed him out the door.
As the door slid shut, Lucas found himself alone with his thoughts. He thought about
Jesse. He was a weird little kid, but such a great character that Lucas found it impossible
not to find him entertaining. There were few people that could make Lucas laugh, so he
really enjoyed having Jesse around. Then, Lucas' thoughts shifted to the Captain and Ben.
They really seem to care about him. Ben acted like a child at times, but he loved pulling
pranks with the Lieutenant and seeing what they could come up with when they put both
their minds into it. The captain was like the father he always wished he had.
The thought made Lucas think about his real father, sending a cold shiver down his spine.
Soon, tears were welling up in his eyes and tricking down his cheeks. Lucas had never
been able to hate his father as much as wanted to. Afterall, he brought the beatings on
himself. Lucas was certain that it had to his fault. He always did something to make to
provoke his father into striking that first blow. He knew it was because he'd done
something wrong - that was why his dad hit him - even if he couldn't always figure out
what exactly it was that he'd done. He closed his eyes for awhile, just so the tears could
fade away.
Hearing a noise at the door, Lucas quickly wiped his eyes. Even before he look up, he
could feel someone there, just standing, looking at him. Lucas rubbed his eyes again
before glancing over to see who it was. His chest seized and he found himself unable to
breath as his brain instantly recognized the familiar form.
"Hello, Lucas, how are you feeling?"
"B-better, d-da-dad."