Ben had returned to the galley kitchen with a blanket but then asked Kristen if it was
really necessary given
the fever that Lucas seemed to display at the moment.
"I just want to lay it over him while we carry him through the freezing corridors, Ben" Kristen explained. "Nathan
could we use your quarters for the time being? Normally I would use the infirmary at Med Bay but I think the
room might be too cold at the moment. We need to make him more comfortable and then start attempting to
bring his temperature down slowly. If we leave it any longer, it could get too high and cause more problems for
Lucas. If we bring it down too quick, his core body temperature could do an about face and that's not good for
him either."
"Lucas" Bridger said again gently as he persisted with the attempts to rouse the unconscious teenager. He knew
that the boy probably couldn't hear him, but he needed to do something, for his own peace of mine.
"Let's move him" Kristen said softly as she recognized Bridger's need to make sure that the boy was alright.
"Be careful now and lift him gently" she added as she watched Ben lift up Lucas's shoulders and Bridger his legs and feet.
Lucas made a small moan as he was lifted from the cold hard floor and Ben and the Captain stopped dead in their
tracks, hoping that the boy would open his eyes. To there disappointment, Lucas fell back into the dark void that
still enveloped him and he made no other sounds to suggest that he was aware of their administrations.
Kristen opened the door to Bridger's cabin and was thankful that the room felt warm as they walked into it from
the cold corridors of the ship. Kristen then went about removing the old bedding from the bunk and replacing
it with fresh linen and a new woollen blanket. She too needed to feel that she was at least making an effort to
make the boy more comfortable.
After only a few minutes, Kristen announced to Ben and Nathan that the bed was ready. The two men carried
the still slumbering teenager over to the bed and laid him on his side on the fresh blanket. Bridger to fuss over
Lucas and made sure that the pillow was snugly underneath Lucas's head. Ben went about removing his friend's
sneakers and laying them under the bed.
While Bridger and Ben settled Lucas on the bed, Kristen quickly went back to the Med Bay and grabbed her
bag and everything she thought they would need. She grabbed a few pieces of cloth and a large basin as well.
By the time Kristen re-entered the Captain's quarters, Ben and Bridger had removed Lucas's jeans and left
him in his shirt and boxer shorts. They had turned Lucas onto his back. This seemed to make the raspy sound
of his breathing even more noticeable. His breathing was shallow and very wheezy. His forehead was covered
in droplets of sweat that had started to run down the side of his face and drip off onto the pillow already.
Kristen instructed Ben to fill the basin with cold water and bring it back to her. She hated the very idea of using
freezing cold water at these cold temperatures, but it was the only sure way of bringing Lucas temperature down
slowly. If the temperature didn't abate after time it may be that they would have to resort to harsher methods
such as submersion in a bath tub of tepid water, but for now they would try and use cold compresses made up
of the cloths and the water to bring down his fever.
"Isn't there any drugs that you can use Doc" Ben asked as he thought the methods being used by Kristen were
a little primitive to say the least. He expected that Kristen would use any of the modern remedies to her advantage
and they would see their young friend cured within a few hours and him up and walking around again good as new.
"No Ben, like I said before, we need to take this nice and slow. I think that Lucas might be on the verge of getting
something as severe as Pneumonia. If we try too many drugs or wonder medicines, they could interfere even more
with his breathing. I don't like the sound of his breathing as it is and I don't want to constrict his chest anymore with
the effect of artificial substances. I know this is hard to see. It is going to be a long haul for us all. Especially for
Lucas. Somehow he single-handedly took care of us all. Don't ask me how but he did. Now we need to stick by
him and help him get back on his feet again." Kristen said as she continued her doctoring to Lucas.
Kristen did all the normal medical checks to start of with. She ran her hands down Lucas's limp arms and legs, checking
for any other external signs of injury that they might have missed and may be the cause of his temperature. She found
nothing. She cracked open each of his eyelids in turn only to see the pupils dull and unresponsive to the small pencil
like torch light that she exposed them to. There was a little dilation when the light was used but that was probably only
a reflex she told the other two as they watched on in silence.
Kristen put a thermometer in Lucas's mouth under his tongue and left it there while she finished the rest of her routine
examination. She noted that the glands under the teenager's chin were a little enlarged, probably due to whatever
infection was causing these symptoms she assumed. When she placed her stethoscope onto Lucas's chest she was
very concerned about the rattles and noises that she heard coming from the lungs. Whilst they didn't have the
signature wet sounds of Pneumonia right away, they sounded very restricted and somewhat laboured. She imagined
that Lucas would be complaining about his chest being incredibly sore if he were awake to answer her query.
She pulled the stethoscope away from her ears and only frowned more when he removed the thermometer from
Lucas's mouth and saw the reading that was present. 102% Very warm indeed.
"We need to make up a roster" Kristen said as she tried to work out in her head the best way to tackle Lucas illness.
Although Lucas had been a one man band whilst the rest of them were sick, at the moment with Commander Ford
leading Ortiz and O'Neill in leading the rogue submarine back with them, they didn't have the man power that would
normally be a luxury on a vessel this big.
Bridger did some thinking of his own on this point and finally informed all the crew that Ben, himself and Kristen
would take care of Lucas while the other three remained in charge of making sure that the boat made it's way
back steadily towards the mainland and medical help for Lucas. It would take approximately 27 hours to return
along the same route they had come when they first started this mission. That 27 hours would mostly be spent
awake tending to their respective chores.
Ben didn't even hesitate when he was told that he would be needed to help look after Lucas. He was almost
insistent that he do it all himself until he was subtly reminded about what happened to a certain crew member
who tried that already. Bridger and Kristen still had pale faces themselves and reluctantly admitted to needing
a few extra hours of sleep themselves. Ben sprung into action and demanded that if the roster was going to
work then both of them had to go and get some rest themselves.
Kristen showed Ben how to make up the cold compresses and apply them to the pressure points on Lucas.
Then he made sure that Bridger was laying down on the couch in his own quarters ready to go to sleep himself
before she too headed back to her bed for a couple of hours. Both of them made Ben promise to get them
if anything in Lucas's condition should change. He promised them verbally that he would, but secretly he knew
that he wouldn't be waking them anytime soon.
The crew on the Bridge felt very guilty that they weren't more of a positive force in helping Lucas getting better,
but Ben assured them that they would be kept up to date with Lucas's progress.
For the next two hours, Ben Krieg sat on a chair beside the Captain's bed, lovingly and gently sponging Lucas
down with the cold compresses. On one occasion it looked as though Lucas might be actually waking up,
but to Ben's dismay the teenager only mumbled a few incoherent words and then tumbled back into the darkness
he had fallen into. Ben didn't know if his administrations were helping very much. On a number of occasions he
had felt the boy's forehead after applying the cold compresses, but no sooner had the area been cooled by the
cool, damp cloth, the heat would slowly creep back through the skin and burn again almost immediately. He
didn't stop however and hoped that there would be some improvement in his friend soon.
Four hours after Kristen had been sent to bed, she woke again and now too did her bit to try and bring down
Lucas's persistent temperature. After a while she was happy enough that the temperature didn't seem to be
increasing at all, but by the same token, it didn't seem to be decreasing any either despite all of their efforts.
Into the last hour of her roster, Kristen had been tending to Lucas the same as before when the teenager appeared
to be showing some signs of waking up. Lucas moved his head around on the pillowed and began mumbling
in his sleep again. The mumbling got louder and the movements became more determined.
Finally after what seemed an eternity, with Kristen holding her breath the whole time. She was secretly willing
Lucas to wake up and talk to them and tell her that he felt better, but on hind sight it was probably better if the
boy woke slowly and naturally and was able to gain stock of what still ached and what didn't.
She was rewarded with her patience and efforts when a pair of bright sky blue eyes slowly opened and stared
back at her. Lucas stared at her for quite a few minutes until his brain told him exactly what had been going on.
He tried to smile at her but it quickly turned into a grimace as his muscles protested about the amount of effort it
took just to do that.
"Hi there" Kristen said in a whisper. "How are you feeling?"
Lucas wanted to answer her, but found that his mouth was incredibly dry and raw. He motioned to Kristen for
a drink of water and then felt a small cup held to his lips so that he could drink the cool refreshing liquid and quench
his thirst and the fire that burned in his throat. When he was finished he pushed the cup away and gave Kristen
a look of gratitude and thanks.
"My chest hurts really bad" he admitted as he put a hand to his chest as a coughing fit began to burn his chest.
Kristen rubbed his bad gently, trying to ease the boy's pain but she felt a little helpless as she watched him
cough and cough until he was out of breath and exhausted again.
"Lucas Wolenczak, if you weren't feeling so poorly, I would take you and put you over my knee, young man and
give you a much needed spanking." Kristen said with mock sternness. "Do you know what you have done to yourself?"
Lucas only smirked back at her "Sorry, but there wasn't any other option. You were all sick. You all needed
someone to care for you. I guess that somebody had to be me. I am always being told that I don't take on
enough responsibility. I saw this as my opportunity to show you all that I could handle a difficult situation."
he continued but then broke off suddenly into another coughing fit again.
Kristen put her hand to his forehead again and noted that the temperature was still there. It didn't feel quite
as warm but maybe that just what she wanted to believe. She could see the dark rings of fatigue and the
paleness of his face and gestured for him to lay back down and get some more rest. "I'll still be here when
you wake up" she reassured him as she caressed his hair and gently massaged his temples as he fell back to
sleep.
Bridger woke after another two hours and demanded to know why he hadn't been woken at the scheduled
time. Kristen assured him that she intended to wake him but then proceeded to tell him about Lucas waking
up for a short period of time and needing to assess his condition while he was awake. Bridger wasn't totally
convinced by her explanation but he believed it enough for the time being.
Bridger was a relieved to hear that Lucas had been awake and able to talk to Kristen. The doctor reminded
him that it didn't mean the teenager was healed by any stretch of the imagination. The temperature in Lucas
was still present and the cough was growing steadily worse, but she was confident now that they would be
able to get the teenager back to mainland safely and to medical attention. She told Bridger that she thought
it would be a good idea if Nathan took a couple of weeks vacation with Lucas and took the boy back to
his remote island for recuperation.
Bridger convinced Kristen that he would behave himself and continue looking after Lucas while she got some
rest herself. Kristen reminded him of the remedies they had been employing and what to look for if he thought
the symptoms in Lucas were getting any worse. Like Ben he promised her to call if needed but had no intentions
of doing so.
Bridger sat on the chair beside Lucas and began thinking over the last couple of days. He looked down at the
slumbering teenager and wondered how the kid had been able to do what he did. The kid had virtually taken care
of the entire crew while they were all sick. Some how he had also managed to thwart an attempt to take over the
SeaQuest. Sometimes this kid was just simply amazing.
Gazing down at the innocence in Lucas's sleeping face he was reminded as well about how much he truly loved
the kid. There wasn't a moment that went by these days when Bridger wasn't wondering where the kid was
or what he was doing. It had been different with his own son Robert. Regretfully different. There had been times
when Robert felt so distant to him that he sometimes thought he barely knew his son anymore. It had been his
fault as well. It had been him to drive up the walls that barricaded him off from the rest of his family. When he
finally made the decisions to tear down the walls in frustration of losing the only family he had ever had, it was
too late and Robert was gone. He never had the chance to say how sorry he was for being so evasive and
uncaring. He had lost the precious years that had been spent feeling bitter or angry and being too involved
at his job to even see what was going on.
After Robert died and then Carol, Bridger found himself putting up the same walls around himself once more.
He had built them higher and stronger than ever before this time and assured himself that nobody would ever
break through them again. He had imprisoned himself to his loneliness and solitude. His punishment for all
the years he wasted he told himself.
Then, only about three years ago, a blond-haired, blue eyed kid turned up out of nowhere and changed all of
that in a second. He had felt drawn to Lucas the first time he met him. Even if the first conversation he had
with the teenager was one full of mirth and attitude. He wouldn't give the last three years of love and caring
for anything else in the world. He thought he had found another reason to go on with life. He thought he had
been given a second chance and he wasn't about to screw that opportunity up this time.
While Bridger reminisced about his relationship with Lucas, he sponged the boy's chest and forehead in an
attempt to chase away the sickness that currently plagued him. No matter how tough things got in this world
for Lucas, the kid always bounced back. He rarely thought of himself first and was always there to lend a
hand when needed. These were traits that must have been born with Lucas because God knew that he didn't
get any such teachings from his unworthy parents Lawrence and Cynthia Wolenczak. It was ridiculous to think
that the two most undeserving people in the world had produced one of the kindest and loving people Bridger
had ever come across. They really were opposites.
Somewhere during his shift, Bridger must have dozed off in his chair. He had failed to see that Lucas was waking
up again.
Lucas woke slowly again and smiled when he saw his Dad asleep in the chair beside him. He then began to worry
about his Dad and wonder how long Bridger had been sitting there in the chair watching over him. The last time
he had awoken he remembered talking to Kristen. He could see that the two of them still had pale faces. He had
a need to go to the bathroom but didn't want to wake his Dad up to ask him for assistance.
He sat on the bed in silence for a few minutes, trying to judge whether or not he was capable of making the
short trip on his own. He moved his muscles about slowly and noted the aching in them and the stiffness. It was
bearable he told himself and wouldn't possibly stop him from walking across the room to the small en-suite that
was on the other side of the room.
Very slowly and carefully, Lucas sat himself up on the bed and swung his legs over the side. He waited temporarily
until the slight giddiness that resulted eased. He looked back over at Bridger and was thankful that his movements
on the bed hadn't woken his Dad. He would be back on the bed before anybody even knew he was gone.
Lucas now attempted to put both bare feet firmly on the floor and stand up erect. He did this without realising that
the sudden change in position would send the blood rushing to his head again and renew the dizziness. He was
worried that he would make some sort of noise to wake Bridger and so clamped his teeth shut and closed his eyes
while he waited for the dizziness to disappear. After only a few second, he was satisfied that the giddiness wasn't
going to go away for good, but he felt confident enough to make it across the other side of the room.
Lucas took the first shaky step and then added another. His body was sore and aching but gave him a false sense
of being on the way to okay. He didn't feel as hot as the first time he had woken up with Kristen and assumed
that his illness was going to be short lived. He couldn't have been more wrong. As he took the next few steps,
he made the fatal mistake of putting three or four quick steps together in quick succession. The result was a huge
wave of dizziness engulfing him suddenly half-way across the room and making him fall to the floor on his knees.
He groaned a little to loudly as he tried to stop the whirly-gig his mind was on and put his hands to the sides of his
head to stop the spinning sensation.
Bridger had unfortunately heard the groans and gasped out loud as he glanced quickly firstly at the bed an then
turning around after finding Lucas missing and seeing the teenager halfway across the room on his knees.
Bridger cursed himself severely for having fallen asleep and not being there for the kid when he woke up.
He walked over to the teenager and knelt down in front of him and gently grabbed a hold of the hands at the
side of his head.
"Are you okay?" he asked trying not to berate the teenager for his little unaided trip while still sick.
"Not really" Lucas admitted. "Feel a little giddy. But need to go to the bathroom" he said and gave his
worst grin in return.
"Why didn't you wake me and ask for help?" Bridger asked him genuinely.
"Me?, asked for help" Lucas said in mock reply "Now that's unheard of in Lucas Wolenczak's dictionary"
he said. Bridger could only nod in agreement as he knew only to well the boy's stubbornness about
independence. It had been instilled in him to be independent from an early age and he supposed that old
habits were hard to break sometimes.
Bridger helped Lucas to his feet and helped him to the bathroom. He allowed the teenager his privacy and
waited outside until the boy was ready to head back to bed.
They had no sooner gotten Lucas settled back in the bed when Ben and Kristen made a reappearance to
see how the teenager was doing. They were both unsurprised and alarmed at Bridger's explanation of
Lucas's little expedition on his own. Kristen had a few choice words on her lips about obeying doctor's
orders, but she held them back as she looked back and saw the sheepish look on Lucas's face.
"How are you feeling now?" Kristen asked as she sat down on the side of the bed and recommenced some
of her routine checks.
"My chest still feels really sore and my throat feels raw, but I don't feel so hot anymore" Lucas replied as
Kristen put her hand to his forehead to check out his theory. She was pleased to note that there was
a drop in temperature. There was still a little warmth there, but the diagnosis was suddenly looking much
better.
"I just don't understand why I feel so tired all the time though" Lucas complained as he yawned widely
and felt the stinging in his eyes that signalled he was ready to go back to sleep. He couldn't believe that
his body was ready to give out again after such a short span of time awake. He had only just woken up
hadn't he?
"Lucas, you put your body through a lot over the last few days. It got to the point where you collapsed
from physical exhaustion. You need to rest to rejuvenate your system. It is going to take quite a few days
rest to get over this. When we get back to the mainland I want to put you on a heavy course of antibiotics
to get rid of that nasty chest infection you have. Until then, I suggest you take another nice long nap and
I will bring you something to eat later on." Kristen said. "If you don't stay put this time, I will get Ben
here to sit on you." she said with a laugh. Everybody else laughed as well but Ben was serious about keeping
his friend in bed just like the doctor ordered.
Everybody was happy to see Lucas give in a little and lay himself back down on the soft mattress and turn on
his side in an attempt to go back to sleep. He was trying to think of a clever line to say back to them but
halfway through that thought, sleep overtook him once more.
"Is he going to be alright?" Bridger asked with still that inch of concern in his voice.
"He still needs some medical attention for that chest of his. I don't want him going out into the cold without
being rugged up first. He isn't out of the woods just yet and these cold temperatures could trigger off his fever
again. Let's just take it slow and make sure that he does the right things, shall we." Kristen said as she watched
Lucas sleep. Even now the boy coughed involuntarily while in his sleep. The cough sounded harsh on his lungs.
Bridger had excused himself to go and check on the rest of the crew. He was happy to hear that the rogue
submarine seemed to be behaving itself for the most since surrendering. He told the crew to keep a close eye
on it and note any changes to him. He proceeded to fill the others in on Lucas waking up and feeling slightly
better but still needing to take care of his chest.
On the rogue submarine, William Murphy was trying to figure out where he went wrong with his plan. No matter
how he went back and forth over the careful planning he had done in the months leading up to this campaign, there
was one fly in the ointment that kept coming up in his mind that he hadn't accounted for – Lucas Wolenczak.
Everything would have worked out just like he wanted it to if that kid hadn't interfered. He wanted to get back
at them all somehow, but he knew making his move now would be a fatal mistake. He would need to wait until
they made it back to the mainland.
He looked down at the table in front of him and picked up a small black dot. It was a tracker. It was small in
size but would be powerful enough to track any movements of the target within a given radius. It would be
useful enough for his purpose. He just had to think of an idea of how to plant it on the kid without him or anybody
else knowing about it.
ENJOYING SO FAR ???????????