Yay! It's finally done.

Thanks Teresa – I'll look for an Aussie psychiatrist, but only if he makes house calls cos otherwise I can't be bothered. Too many other things to do, like write silly stories! Anyway my kids think I'm a lost cause already.

Thankyou so much to everyone who reviewed. I hope you enjoyed it. Now maybe I can turn off the Pink Floyd and get some sleep. And dream up another plot…..hmmmm.

Chapter Eleven

Lucas was unbelievably bored. He lay back on the pillows and stared at the ceiling. There were tiny rows of dots in whatever material it was made of and he began running calculations in his head by multiplying each row by the next. It didn't take long before this game stopped being distracting and he sighed and rolled over onto his side. It didn't matter which way he lay, it still hurt. He was severely bruised over a large portion of his body and there were some serious gashes from the rocks. The chest drain had been removed but it still hurt whenever he tried to take a deep breath.

He looked over at the captain and wondered for the four hundredth time when he was going to wake up. He had been told about the surgery and the prognosis but nothing really mattered except to hear the captain's voice again. More than anything he wanted to hear his own name. He wanted to know he hadn't been forgotten.

"How selfish is that?" he thought. "All I can think about is that he remembers me." Lucas felt a sudden flare of anger but didn't understand what it was he was angry about. He pushed the feeling aside and gingerly sat up before slowly climbing out of bed. It had been three days since he first woke up and he had drifted in and out of sleep for much of the time.

Voices had come and gone over that time and he remembered some of the conversations but not all. The only constant thing he remembered was that each time he woke up and looked expectantly over at the captain he was still unconscious. A nagging voice kept whispering in his ear that maybe he would never wake up but Lucas refused to listen to it.

He pulled the chair up next to the bed and took in the details before him. A bandage was swathed around his head and Lucas knew it covered a multitude of stitches and a metal plate. He took in the captain's weathered features and recalled how he had looked after the last seizure. He shuddered at the thought and looked away. Bridger's arm had been plastered and Lucas remembered how the captain had asked him if Kristin taught him to put a splint on.

"He remembered her name!" he thought angrily. Lucas sat back in the chair with a start. "Where did that come from?"

Not trusting his own voice, Lucas sat silently and stared at his friend's face. "Do I mean so little to you that you could forget me?"

Tears began to well in his eyes and Lucas angrily wiped them away. He knew he was being irrational but he couldn't help it. He took hold of the captain's hand and ran his finger over the large academy ring he always wore.

"Robert would have had one of these too. Like father, like son." He drifted away on that train of thought and was startled when he felt his fingers being squeezed.

Lucas looked up and almost laughed out loud when he realised the captain was watching him.

"Hey, Kiddo," he whispered before closing his eyes again.

Lucas grabbed the buzzer beside the bed and seconds later Kristin came running through the doors.

"What's wrong?" she demanded to know.

"He woke up! Just for a couple of seconds but he woke up!"

Lucas grinned at her as she began checking monitor readouts again. "He knows me!"

"Hey Lucas; glad to see you're awake. We came by earlier but you were busy snoring." Miguel smiled as he winked at Tim.

"I don't snore!"

"Uh, I hate to tell you but you do." The two men exchanged glances and started laughing.

"Maybe you need a snoring monitor to add to the collection here." Tim gestured at the assortment of equipment around the room.

Lucas rolled his eyes and just shook his head at them.

"Seriously though, how are you doing?" Tim asked.

"I'm so bored. Kristin won't let me have my laptop and there's nothing to do in here. I just want to get out of here."

"You need to rest young man and that includes your mind," Kristin said as she came through the door.

"How does she do that?" Lucas whispered. "Question her orders and she appears!"

As Kristin turned her back Lucas saluted her and the others had to smother a laugh.

"When's Captain Bridger coming back?" Lucas asked, hoping to focus her attention on someone else.

"As soon as Doctor Jacobs is finished with him. I'll go and see what's keeping them." She said as she walked back out through the doors.

"How many more times are they going to run the same tests?" Lucas asked impatiently.

"It's only been four days Lucas. Kristin said they're happy with the captain's progress but it's going to take some time before he's fully recovered."

Lucas wasn't really listening as his two friends continued on the conversation. He was concerned with just how long it was going to take for Captain Bridger to be back to normal. He had only been allowed out of bed two days ago for the first time and he seemed to be unsure of most of the details of their ordeal. Lucas had held back from discussing it with him, mainly because he didn't really want to relive it himself.

Lucas was jolted out of his musing by the sound of Kristin's voice.

"It's all arranged then. I've spoken to Bill and he thinks it's a good idea. You need to see the neurosurgeon first when we dock, to get the all clear and then we are going to spend some time out on your island. You need time to rest and heal."

Bridger nodded at her as he slowly walked back towards the bed.

Lucas felt the anger starting to rise again and before he knew what he was doing he had climbed out of the bed and fled out the door. They were going to leave. Of course!

He heard shouts coming after him but all he could think to do was run. As far away as he could possibly get.

Miguel started to head out the door after him but the captain called him back.

"It's OK. I'll go," he started but Kristin took hold of his arm.

"Oh no, you won't! You need to get back into that bed."

"After I speak to Lucas. I bet I know where he's gone and you can walk me down there if you want but I am going."

She looked at him and shook her head. She realised there was no point arguing so she looped her arm through his and helped him walk the short distance down to the moonpool.

Lucas sat on the edge of the moonpool and trailed his fingers in the water. He felt like he was going to explode and he had no idea why. His angry over reaction in medbay had come out of nowhere it seemed. Fifteen minutes later he still felt as angry as before but he couldn't express what it was that was making him feel so frustrated. As if sensing his presence Darwin swam up and pushed his head under Lucas' hand.

"Hey, Darwin."

"Lucas play?"

"Not yet Darwin. I'm still too sore. Maybe soon."

"Lucas sad?" The dolphin looked at him, waiting for an answer that didn't come.

"Lucas sad?" he tried again.

"No Darwin, I'm not sad. I'm… angry… and I don't know why."

"Angry at who?"

"This doesn't make any sense but I'm angry at the captain."

"Bridger make Lucas angry?"

"No, that's just it. He hasn't done anything to make me angry."

"But Lucas is angry?"

"Yeah." He paused and looked at Darwin, trying to make sense of the emotion that was making him feel so crazy.

"You know … when we were on that island he called me Robert. I mean he really thought I was his son. It scared me because I knew he had a head injury and he wasn't thinking straight but ... a part of me … kinda liked it." Lucas paused and looked at the dolphin as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"Now that he's going to be OK again it's back to normal. I'm just another member of the crew. I don't know why I expected anything different. My own father isn't answering at the moment but I bet if he could be contacted he still wouldn't care what happened."

Lucas sat stroking the dolphin's head, drawing comfort from him.

Bridger paused in the doorway, unsure if he should make his presence known. He guessed this would be the first place Lucas would run to when he had stormed out of medbay. He finally decided that whatever this was it needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later so he walked slowly towards the teenager. Kristin reluctantly turned and headed back to medbay.

Lucas heard his footsteps and spun around in alarm. "How much did he hear?" he wondered as he shrunk back onto the seat.

"Hey, Kiddo."

Lucas didn't answer but he just stared into the water and tried to compose his face. His mind was racing and he wished he could just run away again instead of having to face the captain.

"You know, I don't really remember what happened out there but I know I must have scared you." Bridger paused, hoping Lucas would pick up the conversation. When Lucas just continued to stare at the water he sat down next to him and started again.

"What you did … that was no small thing. It was incredibly brave and I'm so very proud of you."

Lucas steadfastly refused to look him in the eye.

"It wasn't brave. I was terrified."

"Being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared. It means that you do what you have to do in spite of being scared. I don't know how you did it but you got me out of a sinking shuttle and saved my life. I'm here because of you."

"But I lost you. I thought … I thought you had drowned." Lucas felt the fear rising again as he remembered thinking the captain was gone. "And then when I found you … you didn't even know who I was! You were talking to me as though I was…"

"As though you were Robert?"

Lucas bit his lower lip and refused to answer. How was he supposed to explain that he was jealous? Jealous of someone he had never met who was probably long dead?

"You know, I might have been confused enough to call you Robert but when I woke up on the beach I kept seeing your face. It was you I went looking for. I didn't know who you were but I knew I had to find you anyway."

Bridger waited to see if Lucas would respond. When he didn't he continued on. " Lucas, I heard what you said to Darwin before."

Lucas began to turn away as he waited for the inevitable rejection that was coming.

Bridger gently turned him back to face him and started again.

"You said that a part of you liked the idea that I thought you were Robert. My son. Well you know something? A part of me liked that you liked the idea."

Lucas stared at the floor as the implication of that statement sunk in.

"Robert will never stop being my son and I will never stop loving him. But that doesn't mean I can't love you too. I know I've never told you but I just assumed you knew. Just like your father assumes you know how he feels. Sometimes it takes something disastrous for us to get our focus right. I don't ever want you to doubt how much you mean to me again."

Slowly Lucas looked up to see the captain smiling at him.

"Now, if you'd stuck around a little longer you would have heard that I was going to ask if you wanted to come with us. You need some time to heal too and Kristin can keep an eye on both of us."

Lucas smiled and said, "You mean boss us around?"

'Yeah, that too!"

"Then I guess we better get you back to medbay before the warden comes looking," he grinned.

AN: I know I said this was finished but I added another chapter so please read to the end.