Over the next few days Rick spent his time divided between his squad and patrol duties and spending time with Lisa. He still couldn't figure out the trigger to send himself to where Lisa was, but that didn't mean that he wasn't allowed in.
In those moments that he was allowed into her world to spent time with her, he got to experience some of her experiences that helped to shape her into the strong commanding leader she was. Most of it was positive, but there were a few incidents with Lisa's father that Rick understood some of the pressure that Lisa was under. Model daughter, model officer, but Admiral Hayes wanted to keep Lisa safe and under his protection. Rick saw how hard Lisa fought to be seen for herself and not just the admiral's daughter to be given special consideration. He was especially impressed when she refused to be reassigned to Alaska Base, when Gloval and Lisa presented their report on the Zentraedi forces.
For Lisa she got to see the arguments and heated discussions under a new light and admitted that she also was not fair to her father and understood why he sometimes tried to persuade her from her choices. She and Rick discussed it and she asked that when she woke up, that he remind her of the conversation so that she can contact her father to reconcile.
Dr. Lang and Rick also noticed that the blue liquid seemed to not as active as before and Rick hoped that this was an indication that Lisa would soon be waking up. He wondered what would happen once she work up and whether she would be the same bright vibrant person he connected with or is she would just be a shell of her former self. Rick decided he would only worry about that when it happened and concentrate now on being able to connect with her as much as possible in her current state.
Capt. Gloval and Dr. Lang had discussed contacting Admiral Hayes regarding the condition of his daughter, but held off as they were hoping she would eventually wake on her own. They gave themselves to the end of the week knowing that if Lisa did not wake and that the Admiral knew that he had not been informed, there would be hell to pay for both of them. They were taking a risk but at the moment did not feel that Lisa's physical life was in danger as she was breathing on her own.
It was a day before their deadline to decide to inform the Admiral, and Rick was once again found himself in Lisa's mind or dreamstate. He found himself in a beautiful meadow where Lisa was sitting on a plaid blanket playing with a bunch of frolicking puppies. Lisa motioned to him to come and sit next to her while an interested brown and white pup came up to him and started to investigate his shoe and play with his shoelace.
Rick was reminded of the day that he and Lisa had played with the puppies at the pet store. He couldn't help but to sit back and watch her as she snuggled with a little puppy and kissed it on the nose. It was incredibly cute and he could see Lisa was brimming with happiness.
"It's just like that day we ran into each other, right Rick?" she said, smiling and leaning over to pick up a puppy who was clamoring for attention. As she held the two puppies in her hand, she continued, "I was a bit depressed that day Rick, I felt so small that day, like nothing that I was doing could make a difference in the world. When I started the testing and allowed Dr. Lang to test with the blue gel, I thought it was enough to know that I was doing my best to make a difference in the world. But sometimes I had these dark thoughts...that I had no one on this Earth or this ship to care for or that no one cared for me. You helped me to remember that day that I did have people I cared about on this ship, Claudia, Roy, Sammie, Kim and Vanessa and even Capt. Gloval. They weren't the only ones though, I realized Rick, that I cared for you too. So much more than I ever thought."
Lisa looked at Rick, her smile bright and her beautiful green eyes shining with tears. "I don't know if this is real or a dream Rick, but I hope that you being here with me, is real. They are telling me that it's about time for me to wake up soon. If this is real Rick and if I wake up from this and don't remember, can you help me remember?"
Rick didn't know what say, he pulled Lisa into his arms and hugged her tight, stroking her hair, comforting her and trying to convey his own feelings for her. Lisa could see it in his eyes when he pulled away a bit to kiss her gently on the lips and said, "Of course, I will. I'll help you remember, I promise."
With that and a final kiss, Rick found himself once again in Dr. Lang's lab watching over Lisa. Dr. Lang was in the room and observed Rick's return. He told him that it looked like Rick had fallen asleep but that was all, no other indication of anything unusual. Rick thanked the doctor, and then relayed what Lisa had said about waking soon. Dr. Lang just nodded his thanks and said that he would keep Rick informed of any progress.
Dr. Lang and Capt. Gloval had both been impressed with Lt. Cmdr. Hunter's dedication to Lisa and hoped that when and if Lisa woke that maybe the two would be able to find a way to be together.
It was the medical staff that noticed the changes to Lisa's state. Her breathing quicken and her heart started to beat a little faster. The staff notified Dr. Lang of the changes and he rushed into LIsa's room and had his staff inform Dr. Gloval that Lisa may be awakening. He didn't have much longer to wait, when Lisa's eyes started to flutter open.
They didn't rush her and allowed her to waken at her own pace all the while monitoring the situation. The staff readied a clean bed nearby, hoping that Lisa would be stable enough to move to the bed when she woke.
Lisa felt tired and barely could open her eyes. She had felt like she had just gone through a tunnel mixed with sights and sounds all blending together. It disoriented her and made her feel a bit nauseous. Over this internal din, she could also hear Dr. Lang and his team working around her. She hoped the noise would stop soon as it was too much for her to bear. Finally it seemed to quiet down and Lisa could only hear Dr. Lang's team in the room. At this point Lisa felt safe to try and open her eyes again and was rewarded to see Dr. Lang over her, slowly asking her questions.
Lisa followed his directions, indicating that she could hear him, but could not move her arms or legs yet. Using her eyes to blink once for yes and two blinks for no, she answered what questions she could.
Dr. Lang was pleased with her responses, it looked as if there was no impact to Lisa's mental facilities, but would have to wait until she was able to speak to assess if there was any permanent damage. Lisa was soon able to move her fingers and toes as well and regain some limited movement to her body. With help from the medical staff, Lisa was removed from the tank, cleaned and bathed and the helped to rest comfortably in the bed nearby. Her speech had also returned but had a drowsy quality to it. Dr. Lang had the liquid transfered to a smaller tank as he wanted to study it more, especially after all the Lt. Hunter had told him about what it had been doing for Lisa. Dr. Lang also hoped that Lisa would be able to provide greater detail into as well.
Lisa, who tried to stay awake as best she could during the transfer, fell back asleep almost immediately after being transfered into the bed. After checking her vitals, there did not seem to be much concern other than Lisa must still be tired from her ordeal. Seeing her sleeping soundly, Dr. Lang left his lab to provide Capt. Gloval and update on her condition.
Capt. Gloval was pleased to hear that Lisa had awoken and seem to be on the road to recovery. He called Claudia into his ready room to share the good news and was pleased to see the grin on Claudia's face when told of her condition. Claudia asked if it was okay to inform Roy and Rick of her change as well. Capt. Gloval tried to hide his own grin and gruffly told Claudia that she had leave to do so and that he would inform the Trio on the bridge of Lisa's improved condition.
Claudia rushed out to inforrm Roy and Rick of the news and found them on the Prometheus go over their Veritechs. They couldn't wait to go see her and made plans to meet in half and hour to go and see if Lisa was ready to receive any company.
As Rick cleaned up and got ready for his visit, he wondered again if what he experienced was real and would Lisa remember him being there? He had promised to make sure she remembered but what if it was all just a figment of his imagination and she didn't remember any of it. He decided that he wouldn't say anything yet to her and check on her first before discussing what he had experienced with her.
Unfortunatly, when they met at the lab to see Lisa, they were informed that she was sleeping still but that they could individually check on her if they wished. Claudia wanted to see with her own eyes that Lisa was okay and went in first. She didn't stay long but nodded happily to Roy that Lisa seemed to be sleeping this time, not unconscious. Rick was a little more hesitant to enter. It felt different somehow when he visited her when she was unconscious, but now that she was just sleeping, he felt that maybe he was overstepping his boundaries. They never really went on a date and spending one day together didn't really constitute a relationship, did it?
The nurse attending Lisa asked Rick if he wanted to go in and see her and said, "your girlfriend is sleeping pretty soundly, I don't think you would wake her if that is what you are worried about."
Rick blushed a bit and Claudia just gave him a sly smille and gave him a push on the shoulder, "Go on Rick, you've spent so much time with her, you should go in and check to make sure she is okay."
Stammering a bit, Rick agreed and slowly opened the door and quietly walked into the room. It was nice to see Lisa out of the tank and in a warm cozy bed. Lisa was laying on her side and had one of her hands tucked under her cheek. He thought that people only slept like that in commercials and thought how sweet Lisa looked. He crept a bit closer to her bed, wanting to stroke her hair, but didn't want to surprise her and waking her up. He whispered to her softly, "Lisa, I hope you remember..." , he watched her for a few more minutes and was about to leave when he heard Lisa murmer his name in her sleep. Smiling to himself, he left, ready to return when Lisa awoke.