Any Crash You Can Walk Away From
By Adalanta
Disclaimer: See previous disclaimer in Part One.
Author's Note: Wow! Thank you very much for all the reviews! I'm so glad that you all are enjoying the story and hope that you will like the last parts just as well. Please, let me know what you think. Thanks! Oh, and Iblis – Commander Adama's in this one. Enjoy!
Part Three
"Starbuck!"
Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace raised her head at the low, familiar voice. She'd been staring at the floor for the last…well, she didn't really know how long she'd been at Life Station – though it felt entirely too long. Automatically rising from the chair at her superior's approach, she couldn't hide her wince as sore and aching muscles came to life, protesting vehemently. She hadn't thought to call the Commander and inform him about his son but apparently someone else had.
"How is he?" Commander William Adama, Captain of the Battlestar Galactica, fixed her with an intense stare, eyes full of concern.
"I don't know, sir," she sighed, leaning back against the wall, suddenly too tired to remain standing straight. "They haven't told me anything since we arrived here. That was," a quick glance down at her watch, "four hours ago."
The Commander's voice was hushed as he repeated, "Four hours?"
"Yes, sir." It didn't look good, she knew that but at this point no news was better than hearing the worst. Kara shuddered at the thought. She'd lost her planet and her entire squadron – almost everyone she knew all in one day. Lords, please don't take Lee, too, she pleaded silently.
They stood there in silence for a few moments lost in their own thoughts before the Commander glanced over at her and cleared his throat. "Sit down, Starbuck, before you fall down," he ordered kindly, and she gratefully complied without comment.
"What happened, Kara?" he asked quietly, sitting down heavily beside her. "Tigh saw Lee's name on the latest casualty list that came though CIC but it didn't give any specifics, just that he was wounded."
Her heart ached at the thought of him finding out about Lee in such a callous way and instantly began to apologize. "I'm sorry, Commander, I should have sent word –"
"There is nothing to apologize for, Kara," he interrupted. "With things as they are, this is the earliest I could have gotten away regardless of when I found out about Lee."
The comment was brutally honest. As Commander, Adama had to see to all ship-related problems and the Galactica's welfare before he could see to his own personal matters. Even though it was his duty, she could still see how much the admission cost him. Lee is all he has left. To have to put everything else before his own son's welfare... She was thankful not to be in his position. The so-called "burden" of command never seemed as clear to Kara as it was at that moment.
Starbuck nodded in understanding and then filled the Commander in on what had happened, from ramming Lee's plane and bringing him onboard to the disastrous journey to Life Station and his ultimate collapse. She did well maintaining her emotions, reporting the events in a clear, detached manner, until she neared the end. Her voice faltering, she stopped for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. "I thought Lee had a concussion and that he could make it to Life Station without a problem, but then he started acting odd. He didn't know where he was or what was going on. And then he…he just…collapsed," she swallowed hard, hearing his piercing scream echoing in her mind, "and started seizing." She finally shifted her gaze from the floor to meet the Commander's eyes. "I didn't even see the blood until I was trying to hold him still –"
She paused mid-sentence when he raised his hand, suddenly afraid that her words had been too much, that his burden had grown too heavy to hear anymore. Then she noticed that he was looking over her shoulder and turned quickly to see a doctor walking towards them.
"Commander Adama, sir, I'm Dr. Reynolds," the middle-aged man held out his hand to shake the Commander's. "I've been handling Captain Adama's case since he arrived." The doctor glanced over at Starbuck, clearly hesitant to speak in front of anyone without consent.
"This is Lieutenant Thrace," Adama immediately introduced her, obviously trying to speed up the proceedings. "You are our resident neurosurgeon, if I'm not mistaken." Although the Commander's voice was calm, the word 'neurosurgeon' sent a chill through Kara's body.
Dr. Reynolds nodded. "That's correct, sir. When Captain Adama first arrived here, he was suffering from convulsions, shock, and was bleeding from his right ear. He had two more seizures before we could find the right level of anticonvulsants to administer but once we had him stabilized, we ran several tests that revealed the problem." The doctor paused for a split second before going on. "Captain Adama has a skull fracture and has intracranial bleeding."
Skull fracture? Kara repeated numbly to herself, her heart sinking low into her stomach, leaving her feeling physically sick. Three months before, one of the rookies in her squadron had made an emergency landing and had cracked his head hard when he'd touched down. He'd seemed fine for nearly a day…until he'd dropped like a rock in the middle of the bunkroom – and died an hour later in Life Station. The cause of death: skull fracture and massive internal bleeding.
It's not enough that we stare death in the face every time we climb into a cockpit. Now we have it creeping up silently from behind hours later when we're in the clear, she thought, her mental voice tinged with sarcasm. Sarcasm had always been her way of dealing when things got tough. Now it kept her afloat just when she felt ready to drown in her fears.
Desperate to escape her thoughts, she focused instead on the man before her. Dr. Reynolds looked utterly exhausted, his face lined and eyes bloodshot. Despite all the commotion and upheaval, however, he appeared calm and steady. And in this crisis, that's exactly what we need most.
Dr. Reynolds cleared his throat to continue. "Once we identified the problem, we rushed Captain Adama into surgery. We were able to close the fracture and thereby prevent any additional bleeding, as well as drain the blood that had been putting pressure on the brain and causing the seizures."
"So what does that mean?" Kara interrupted, unable to remain silent a minute longer. "Is Lee, I mean, Captain Adama, going to be alright?"
"Well," the doctor smiled, "he's going to have a terrible headache for the next few days and be quite sore from the seizures, but he should make a complete recovery."
Kara grinned at the news, too drained from the day's events to do anything more expressive. Glancing at the Commander, she saw him give a heartfelt sigh of relief and smile for the first time since the morning when she'd jogged by him in the corridor. Was that just yesterday morning? she found herself wondering in disbelief. So much has happened since then that it seems like a whole other lifetime.
"Thank you, Dr. Reynolds." Though the words were simple, Commander Adama's gratitude was readily apparent.
The doctor nodded and smiled gently once more. "You're welcome, sir. My staff is getting the Captain settled in as we speak so you should be able to see him in a few minutes – although it's doubtful that he will have come out of the anesthesia by then. I'll send a nurse out when everything is ready. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to check in on a few other patients." Dr. Reynolds turned to leave, hesitated a moment, and then turned back around, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Commander, I would never presume to tell you to do anything, but I do have a request to make. After the Captain is released from this facility, I ask that you please stress the importance of seeking prompt medical attention to him. I'll tell him myself, of course, but I've learned over the years that pilots – especially Viper pilots –" here he shot a quick, sharp look at Starbuck, "tend to ignore medical advice. If he had come in as soon as it had happened –"
Starbuck couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Hey, wait a minute! We got here as soon as we could," she said angrily. "We would have been here in fifteen minutes, but we had a hell of a time making it with all the damage the ship has taken. I know forty-five minutes is a long time –"
"Forty-five minutes? I'm not talking about minutes here, Lieutenant. I'm talking hours – nine or ten at the very least."
"What?"
"Captain Adama's skull has been leaking blood for at least nine hours judging by the amount of blood we found and the size of the fracture."
Kara shook her head in confusion. "But he just hit his head when we landed…less than an hour before he arrived here."
"Then the injury had to have occurred before. Your landing didn't cause the fracture – something else did."
The Commander finally spoke up after listening silently to the rapid exchange of words. "Doctor, my son just came back aboard ship a short time before the latest attack. I have no knowledge of what happened during the time before that could have caused such an injury."
"Unfortunately, I do." A woman's voice spoke up directly behind them.
Twisting around, Starbuck came face to face with a woman she'd never seen before, a rarity even onboard a ship as large as the Galactica. Professionally dressed, the woman exuded an air of confidence and determination that Kara immediately noticed as she walked straight towards Commander Adama without the slightest bit of hesitation. A young man with dark curly hair trailed a few steps behind her, clearly an aide of some kind. Glancing over at her commanding officer, it was obvious he knew who the woman was. It was also obvious that he was not thrilled to see her.
"Commander Adama," the woman nodded in greeting.
"Madame President," the Commander replied.
Madame President! What the frak – ? Completely stunned, the Lieutenant could only stare in shock at the person before her who now held the highest office in all the colonies.
The woman smiled sadly, "I'm sorry to disturb you, Commander. Colonel Tigh was reluctant to inform me of your whereabouts, but I insisted and he finally directed me here. I didn't realize that you were here on personal matters. If you don't mind me asking, how is Captain Apollo?"
"He has a skull fracture and intracranial bleeding but he's going to be fine." Adama summarized his son's injuries quickly. "Madame President, what did you mean earlier? Do you know what happened to my son?"
"Yes, I believe I do," the President spoke softly, her brown eyes dark with concern. "Did Captain Apollo tell you how he managed to save our ship?" At the Commander's answering nod, she continued. "The electromagnetic pulse knocked out everything on the ship, electronics and passengers alike. When the ship's Captain and I regained consciousness and realized that Apollo must have done something to stop the attack, we immediately went down below to check on him. When we arrived, Captain Apollo was lying on the floor a few feet away from the pulse generators he had been manipulating. He was just waking up – I can only imagine how much more powerful the pulse was that close – and seemed disoriented. His speech was slurred, and he stammered several times while explaining what he had done, but other than his balance being off, he appeared to be fine. I assumed that his symptoms were caused by his proximity to the pulse." She paused briefly, her expression pained, as she met and held the Commander's eyes. "I'm sorry, Commander Adama. I was wrong. If I had known the Captain was injured, I would have done everything in my power to help him."
Adama held the President's gaze for a moment, searching her eyes for something. Honesty? Integrity? Starbuck didn't know for certain, but she knew that he eventually found what he was looking for and seemed satisfied. "Ms. Roslin, I appreciate your honesty in this situation. I want you to know that I don't hold you responsible. What happened to Lee was an accident, something that happened beyond our control."
Kara clenched her teeth at the word 'accident,' her stomach twisting at the memories it evoked. An 'accident' – that's what Zak's death had been called. And now one had nearly taken Lee. How many more pilots are we going to lose from 'accidents?' she wondered. There are so few of us left.
The doctor standing next to Kara shifted a bit, breaking the silence that had fallen over the small group. "Madame President, my name is Dr. Reynolds. I've been handling Captain Adama's case." The President shook the man's hand. "From what you've said, I'm certain the Captain's skull fracture was caused by the force of his landing, not from the electromagnetic pulse itself. And, if you'll excuse me for saying so, you couldn't have done anything for him even if you had known about his injury unless you could have found a neurosurgeon to operate – which is highly unlikely." Dr. Reynolds turned to the Galactica's Captain and smiled. "Now, I'm going to check on Captain Adama and see if the nurses have him settled in. I'll send a nurse out for you as soon as he's ready." With that, the doctor walked back down the hall and disappeared through one of the doors.
For the second time that day, Kara found herself not knowing what to say or do. (The first time had been when she'd been lying under her Viper and had heard Lee Adama's familiar voice – when he was supposedly dead.) It was obvious to Kara that President Roslin had come onboard the Galactica to speak with the Commander, just as it was equally obvious that the Commander was reluctant to leave without seeing for himself that his son was alright. If it had been only the Commander and herself present, she would have felt comfortable suggesting something to him. But the new President was an unknown. So far, she seemed like an honest and responsible person, but…Kara was still hesitant.
"Commander Adama," the President quietly broke the silence. "I know that this is a bad time, and I apologize for intruding upon you. I know you must be very worried about your son. We can meet another time. When you see Captain Apollo, please pass along my wishes for a quick recovery." She turned to leave.
"Madame President," the Commander stopped her before she could move away. "The matter must be important for you to leave Colonial One and board the Galactica so soon after the jump."
"It is, Commander."
Nodding, he looked over at Kara who was leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed, watching the conversation between the two most important people in the fleet. "Starbuck, tell Lee that I'll be by to see him as soon as the President and I are finished meeting."
"Yes, sir." Kara could tell that the Commander didn't want to leave, but once again, duty had to come first. She understood, and she would make sure than Lee did as well. "Commander, depending on how long your meeting is, you might still make it back before Lee wakes up." It wasn't much comfort, but it was the best Starbuck could do at the time.
The older man seemed to understand what she was trying to do and a careworn smile creased his lined face. "Thank you," he said softly.
"I appreciate your willingness to stay here, Lieutenant…?" President Roslin's voice trailed off as she met Kara's eyes for the first time, flickering briefly up and down her uniform.
"Lieutenant Thrace, ma'am. And I was going to stay here with Lee anyway," she replied, automatically straightening up, wincing slightly as she moved several sore muscles in her shoulders and back.
"Are you alright?"
"Excuse me?" The question came out of nowhere, leaving Kara at a loss as to what exactly the other woman was talking about.
"Your uniform has blood all over it, Lieutenant." the President clarified. "Are you wounded?"
"Oh." Kara looked down at her uniform, noticing the dried bloodstains that covered her torso and arms for the first time. She hadn't realized before how bad it looked and couldn't help glancing apologetically at the Commander. It was his son's blood, after all, and even though he hadn't mentioned it, it had to have disturbed him. "It's not my blood, ma'am. I'm fine," she replied shortly, swallowing uncomfortably. Blood usually didn't faze her. Well, I guess it depends on whose blood it is and how it got there. I'm glad somebody thought to mention it before I showed up at Lee's side with his blood all over me. Now that would be a frakking way to wake up.
"I'm glad to hear that." President Roslin looked over at the Commander. "Well, I supposed we'd best be going. Billy," she turned towards the young man still standing silently slightly behind her and to her right. "What were the exact numbers again that we were discussing on the shuttle?" The President and the Commander moved off towards the Commander's quarters, followed closely by the President's aide.
"And once again, all I can do is wait," Kara muttered to herself, plopping down in the chair with a heavy thud, and peered down at her flight suit. "Well, at least I can do something about that without leaving." Unzipping her flight suit halfway, she pulled her arms out and rolled the close-fitting suit down, tying it around her waist with a sigh. That done, she stretched her legs out in front of her, closed her eyes, and waited for the nurse to take her to Lee.
TBC…
