Mina awoke from her post at her husband's bedside not long after Ladon had settled in. She rose her head from the bed and groaned as her necked creaked in pain from sleeping at the awkward angle. She turned her head and looked at her still unconscious husband. Unconscious, but alive she told herself. Mina gave his hand a gentle squeeze before standing up from her chair. She looked around the infirmary and noticed Ladon laying on the bed across the room. He seemed to be awake.
"Ladon? Are you alright?"
He rolled over on the bed to face her direction. He gave her a pained smile.
"Doc says I have a concussion. I was knocked out during the mission by the wonderful Major Sheppard. My head is pounding like a hammer, but I'll be alright with some rest."
Mina shook her head in disapproval. This mission had been a disaster, just as she had feared. Her husband was shot, Ladon had a concussion, and many men were dead. No one had said what happened to Sora, but Mina hoped the young woman was still alive and not dead.
"I'm glad you aren't seriously hurt. I can't say the same for my husband," she said, gesturing behind her at Kolya's unconscious form.
Ladon looked around her at the man in question. Mina could see a look of resentment in his face. She wondered if that was the same resentment she had seen before they left or if something that had happened on the mission. She felt so in the dark about the events of the previous night that had caused so much harm.
"Ladon, what happened? What made things go so badly?"
Ladon's eyes didn't leave Kolya's form as he began to tell her what had transpired.
"We were only meant to retrieve what was owed us and then leave. It seemed the Commander had grander plans for us. He decided to try and take the entire city in the name of the Genii."
Mina groaned and buried her face in her hands. The overconfidence that she had worried about had reared its ugly head.
"What about Sora? She didn't come back with you."
Ladon shrugged in response.
"I don't know. She went off on her own on some personal revenge quest. Kolya tried to call her back, but she ignored him. We had no choice but to leave the city, which meant leaving her behind. I'm guessing that she is still alive. I don't imagine Teyla Emmagen would kill her unless she had too. I'm sure they have her locked up somewhere in the city if it survived the storm."
Mina was confused by Ladon's story. She knew that Sora had a falling out with Teyla. She didn't know the details, but she couldn't imagine what would drive Sora to kill a woman she had known for most of her life. Especially Teyla, since Mina had never met someone as kind as her.
"Well, I hope that she's alive. We've lost enough good soldiers."
Their conversation was brought to a halt when Corric entered the room. He walked over to Mina and nodded towards the doorway.
"Why don't you go home Mina? There isn't anything you can do here. I'll radio for you when he wakes up, but it won't be for a while now. I'll need your help with sorting the supplies they managed to bring back, so I'll need you focused and well rested. I don't imagine sleeping in that chair all night was very comfortable."
Mina rubbed her sore neck. Corric was right, she needed some actual rest. She also had a sister to comfort. Mina wasn't sure if she was quite ready to face Thali. After what Ladon told her, it seemed that her husband had led them all into a death trap. It didn't seem right that she would get her husband back but her sister wouldn't be getting her boyfriend back.
Mina gave Ladon and Corric a small wave before walking out of the infirmary. She made her way to the surface and walked in the direction of her old home. When she reached the door, she hesitantly raised her hand to knock. The door swung open to reveal Caleb, who didn't look like he got much sleep either.
"How is she?" Mina asked, concern for her sister covering her face.
Caleb sighed and gestured for Mina to enter the house before closing the door behind her. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he led her to Thali's bedroom door. Mina couldn't hear anything, so she assumed her sister was sleeping. Caleb pushed the door open and called out to their younger sister.
"Thali? Mina's here to see you."
Mina entered the bedroom and walked over to sit at her sister's side. Thali didn't move, but Mina could see that her eyes were open which meant that she was awake.
"How are you doing? I can't imagine this is easy for you."
Thali sniffed and wiped some residual moisture from her face. She wouldn't look at Mina, but Mina could tell that she had been crying for quite a while. Her whole face was as red as her hair. Mina wasn't sure what to do. She had comforted her sister many times when she was a child, but now she had no clue what to do.
"Can I do anything for you?" she asked, hoping to get some kind of response.
The one she got was not what she wanted. Thali turned to her and gave her an angry look.
"You can leave me alone," she said in an empty sounding voice before turning back away and closing her eyes.
Mina felt her heart constrict at the rejection from Thali. It seemed like she didn't want anything from her. She slowly stood up from the bed and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. She could feel her eyes watering up and her heart felt heavy. Caleb looked up when she exited the room and he was startled by Mina's expression.
"What happened?"
Mina shook her head and wiped at her eyes.
"She doesn't want to speak to me. She told me to leave her alone."
Caleb's concerned expression changed to one of confusion.
"What? Why? You are her favorite person in the universe. Why would she want you to leave?"
Mina bit her lip and fidgeted with her hands before looking up to meet her brother's eyes.
"Because I still have a husband, but she lost Kai. And it's my husband's fault he's dead."
Without saying another word, Mina hurriedly walked out the front door and took off down the path in the direction of her other home. She kept her head down so people that passed her couldn't see the tears running down her face. When she reached her home she went straight to her bedroom and laid down on her bed. She let her tears flow freely until she fell into another restless slumber.
Mina was later startled awake by the sound of her radio buzzing. Corric's voice followed once the buzzing sound ended.
"Mina? Are you there?"
Mina quickly sat up in bed and grabbed it off her bedside table. She frantically searched for the button and pressed it down.
"Yes! I'm here!" she practically shouted into the radio.
"He's awake. He's not in the best mood but he's awake. If you want to come see him, you can."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
Mina swung her feet off the side of the bed and stood up. She quickly got herself back into some sense of order and left her house, nearly running to the entrance to the underground compound. She pushed past people in the hallways and quickly reached the doors to the infirmary. She came to a screeching halt when she heard yelling within. Pushing the door open a crack, she peered into the room.
Cowen was standing in the middle of the room between Ladon and Acastus's beds. He was pointing an accusing finger at her husband, his voice booming in the enclosed space.
"Your mistakes have cost us so many men and resources. You did not follow the orders you were given. Not only that, but you didn't even get what I sent you there for besides the medical supplies. You also left Sora behind to be a prisoner."
Mina gazed over at her husband. He seemed to be taking the verbal beating without complaint. He looked disappointed, but she wasn't sure if that was because he knew that he made mistakes or if he was simply disappointed that he had failed in his mission. Ladon on the other hand looked like a child that had been scolded. His face was downtrodden and he wouldn't look at either Cowen or Kolya.
Cowen continued his tirade for several minutes before informing Kolya that after he was healed, he would face the consequences of his actions. After he was done, he turned and stormed from the room, nearly running Mina over in his hurry to leave. He didn't even give her a second glance before storming down the hallway. She watched him go before turning to enter the room. Three sets of eyes turned to her when she entered the room with various emotions behind them.
Corric showed pity. Ladon showed embarrassment. The worst was her husband's. She could only see the disappointment and anger. She knew that was directed at her but she had hoped to see another emotion when he awoke from his sedated state. Corric crossed the room to speak with her, pulling her back through the door into the waiting room.
"I'm sorry you had to see that. Cowen showed up not long after I called you. I didn't have time to contact you again and tell you not to come. If your husband was in a bad mood before, I don't imagine it was made any better by what just happened. If you want to go see him, you still can, but I wouldn't recommend it."
Mina's face fell in disappointment. This was not the reunion she wanted to have with her husband. Any progress that had been made before he went on his mission had come to a grinding halt the moment that mission failed and he was berated for it. She nodded in acceptance before turning to leave the infirmary for the second time that day. Before going through the door, she turned to Corric again.
"At least tell him that I was waiting for him. Tell him that I wanted to see him."
Corric nodded and Mina walked through the door, letting it swing close behind her. As she walked down the hallway, she could feel the joy she had felt earlier slip away and more heartache pile on top of the load placed inside her by her sister's earlier rejection.
Mina waited until the following day before returning to the bunker. She didn't want to make it look like she was avoiding seeing her husband. Besides that, she knew Corric needed her help. When she reached the infirmary, Mina skipped walking through the recovery area and walked right to the supply room. To her relief, Corric was in the room already working. He looked up as she entered the room.
"Hello Mina. Are you here to see the Commander?"
Mina shook her head and pointed to the pile of supplies that he was cataloguing.
"I'm here to help you with this. You said you needed my help."
Corric looked unsure but picked up a clipboard and handed it to her. He instructed her on how to catalog everything before saying that he unfortunately had other duties to attend to.
"I'm glad you are here. I'm afraid I don't actually have the time to do this. If you need any help, just come find me."
Mina waved him away, indicating he was free to go back to whatever he needed to be doing. He left her to work. She worked on logging everything that had been brought back for many hours. The busy work was good for her, as it kept her mind off of her various problems. Her husband didn't seem to want to see her and her sister wanted nothing to do with her. She worked constantly throughout the day, only stopping to take short breaks. When she had successfully logged everything, she went to work putting it all away. Corric came into the storage room to find her nearly done with the work.
"Have you been in here all day?" he asked.
Mina nodded as she put the last few things on the correct shelves. She picked up the list that she had made and handed it to Corric.
"Everything is catalogued and put away. I hope it's to your standards."
Corric looked over the list and gazed around the very organized room. He looked impressed.
"Good work Mina. I wish I had hired you sooner. This supply room has always been very unorganized."
Mina smiled at his praise. She had always been very organized. It drove her siblings crazy. She glanced up at the clock on the wall and was shocked at how late it was.
"Wow. I can't believe it's so late. I should probably be getting home."
Corric gestured behind him in the direction of the recovery wing.
"Aren't you going to see you husband?"
Mina's smile faded as she thought about the rejection she had felt yesterday when she entered the room to see him.
"Does he want to see me?"
Corric shrugged.
"I don't know. He's been very quiet all day. Once Ladon left, he spent most of the day sleeping. He was talking in his sleep. Most of it was nonsense but I was able to pick out two things."
Mina raised her eyebrows quizzically. She didn't know Acastus talked in his sleep.
"What did he say?"
"He kept muttering about Major Sheppard. According to Ladon, he's the one that caused so many problems on the mission. The only other thing I could decipher from his mutterings was your name."
Mina's eyes widened in surprise.
"My name?"
She felt her heart swell warmly at the sound of that. The warmth seemed to crush the nearly overwhelming heartache she had been feeling. She turned away from Corric and left the room, making her way into the recovery wing. As she entered, she looked over at her husband's bed. He looked to be awake, but he was simply staring up at the ceiling. She slowly approached his bed as to avoid startling him.
"Acastus?" she called out softly.
He turned his head to look at her and she could swear she saw something light up in his eyes, but it was quickly covered up by his gloomy expression. He looked away as suddenly as he had looked at her without saying anything. Mina moved to sit in the chair that she had fallen asleep in the first night.
"How are you? Are you in much pain?"
Kolya's face scrunched up in a way that she guessed was meant to be a version of shrugging without actually moving his shoulders.
"Nothing I haven't experienced before. Not the first time I've been shot. It will heal."
Mina started to reach out to touch his arm, but thought better of it and pulled her hand back.
"Well, I hope you heal quickly. The house seems empty without you there."
She hoped that she had conveyed that she missed having him around without directly saying it. Now didn't seem like the best time for grand gestures and expressions of feelings. When he didn't respond, Mina sighed. She stood up from the chair again and stepped around to the end of the bed where she would be seen.
"I just wanted to come by and see you before I went home. I hope you aren't in too much pain. Goodnight Acastus."
Her stomach in knots, Mina turned away from her husband and walked away from the bed. Her feet felt heavy with every step she took towards the door. She desperately wanted to hear him tell her not to go. When she reached the door and he hadn't said anything, the crushing sensation that had been lifted earlier returned. Mina walked through the door with her head hanging down. She slowly trudged home in the dark, collapsing on her bed when she reached it. She felt too numb to cry and didn't feel like sleeping either. She simply stared at her ceiling like her husband had been doing, letting the numbness spread over her entire body.
A/N: The last chapter was short, so I thought I would give you guys another one while I was still inspired. Things are not going well for these two at the moment, but things will look up soon! I hope to update again within the next couple days so be on the look-out! Please review and let me know what you think!