12. in a good mood
Billy knows he's awake because he's never dreamed this much pain ever before, and he knows that if he ever had he would have woken himself up. And when he thinks that sentence, he knows he's on some rather spectacular drugs.
His senses wake up slowly. He is in pain, yes. A lot of pain. Yes. Next is smell.
It smells like... the medbay. Which would make a lot of sense considering the way his entire body currently feels as though it's been pummeled with lots of rocks over an extended period of time.
Gods, he doesn't remember drinking that much on the Cloud Nine. Actually he doesn't remember drinking anything.
His hearing comes back next. There's beeping and lots of it. It seems regular, if soft, and is coming from somewhere right next to his head. Which, despite being a bit worrying (why was he connected to a beeping thing? Was he connected to a beeping thing? If not he who..?) was also reassuring. If it was his heart going beep-beep then he was, in fact, alive and not in some sort of weird hell.
Why had he been on the Cloud Nine again? A meeting? He was going to have to have a word with that bartender. His head felt fuzzy.
And his mouth felt like carpet installers had moved in with some really bad shag. Blech.
He licked his mouth a few times, trying to get some moisture going, but stopped as the actual taste was just that much worse. What in the three hells..?
And that's when he realized that he hadn't opened his eyes yet. Cracking his eyelids, he blinked, trying to clear his line of sight. There was a... lamp over him. It wasn't on, but it was right over his head. He stared at it some more. He must have made a sound or something because suddenly, there wasn't just a lamp there. President Roslin's face was hovering above him, looking worried and borderline exhausted.
"Billy? Honey, are you awake?"
He licked his lips, trying to get his mouth wet enough to actually talk. "Er...?"
The grin she suddenly gives him is brilliant and beaming. The worry lines, while not melting completely away, recede and Laura Roslin de-ages in front of his rather fuzzy-around-the-edges eyes.
"Oh, Billy." He watches, fascinated, as a few tears leak out. Still grinning, she brushes his hair away from his face before leaning in and kissing him softly on the forehead. "Oh, Billy... I am so very happy you're awake."
"Hang..over?" His voice sounds rough and scratchy, but it's there and that's apparently something pretty amazing going by the way the President seems to want to lean over and hug him. But he's starting to fade again. The medication is kicking in – at least that's what he thinks is in the IV behind the President's head – and the blurry edges are getting fuzzier and darker.
"No, Billy." She smiles again and keeps running the tips of her fingers over the curve of his forehead. It feels... nice. Even if the rest of him wants to run, screaming, away from his nervous system. "But don't worry. Everything's going to be okay."
He drifts off to the repetitive stroke of her fingers, almost in time with the beeping that he's suddenly sure is his heart.
He could remember the rest later.
