Appearances Can Be Deceiving
Chapter 6
Kara spent a restless night in the chair besides Sam's bed. She was not used to the antiseptic smells of the medical station; she much preferred the musty smell of cigar smoke mixed with spilled Ambrosia or the smell of oil and grease underneath a viper. Early in the morning after dozing off for a few hours, she awoke to find Dr. Cottle examining the patient.
Before she even had a chance to open her mouth to ask, Cottle informed her, "He had his last sedative dose during the night. He should wake up some time this morning. If you're here when he wakes, try and keep him from talking. We want him to put as little strain on his chest as possible."
"Right, Doc," she replied as she stretched her back, trying to get comfortable; sleeping in a chair always seemed to leave her stiff.
Kara stroked the top of Sam's hand softly and thought back to her time with him on Caprica again. Sex with Sam had been fantastic. She had purposefully not frakked anyone on Galactica since Baltar, being afraid she might slip up and call out Lee's name again. Remaining celibate was preferable to taking a chance on it getting back to Lee that she fantasized about him frakking her when she was in bed with someone else. She had taken to providing for her own release in the shower, but it had been worth it. All of that self-control, as well as any thought of Lee, went out the window, though, when Sam pulled her on top of him with his patented smile. But as wonderful as the sex had been, her memories of cuddling in his arms and talking afterwards were just as sweet.
Kara had never been a big fan of talking; she much preferred action to words. But even she had reached her limit between the trip back to Caprica against orders, the fight with the Cylon at the museum, the sight of her devastated home world, and the gunfight with Sam's band of resistance fighters. After all of that a normal conversation seemed so soothing to her. They had talked about many things. Sam had told her about growing up on a farm and losing his sister and parents on Picon from the attack. Kara took a chance and told him about her fiancé Zack dying a couple of years before in a viper crash – even the part of her being responsible. Zack was not something she normally brought up in a conversation, let alone to someone she had just met, but something about him made her feel safe in sharing that with him.
Zack had been on her mind quite a bit since meeting Sam; he reminded her of Zack in many ways. Zack had loved to play pyramids too, and she recalled being aroused while playing with Zack as she had been with Sam. Sam's smile was just as dazzling as Zack's had been, and he had the same boyish enthusiasm about him that made her laugh and her very soul feel joyful. But it was more than that; Sam, like Zack, had the ability to make her feel like she was the center of the universe which she took great pleasure from but would never have admitted to enjoying.
Sitting there beside his immobile body, she found herself sending a silent prayer to the gods of Kobol for Sam to be okay. There had been so much death and destruction since the attack; if something happened to Sam…
As if he could read her mind, Sam opened his eyes. His eyes seemed to be trying to focus at first. After taking in where he was, his eyes met Kara's. Kara could have sworn they shone brighter when he saw her.
Even as she felt her heart beat faster she remembered Cottle's words and cautioned him, "Sam, don't try to talk; you need to try and stay as still as possible." She stood up beside the bed and tenderly brushed his hair off his forehead.
Sam grimaced in pain as he obviously had felt the need to assess where he hurt. He nodded his head ever so slightly as if to say he would behave. Kara was still stroking his hand when he turned his hand palm up and gently held her hand for a second before bringing her hand up to his mouth and brushed her knuckles with his lips. Just that small amount of effort seemed to exhaust him as he released her hand and his fell back to his side.
"Do you remember what happened to you?" Kara asked him.
At first she could tell he was searching his memory; then a look of concern came over his face which scared her. What had led Sam to kill that woman?
"Sssii…" Sam was trying to say something.
"Sigh?" Kara asked. Then it occurred to her, "Cylon?"
Sam nodded but continued to look alarmed.
"Don't worry;" she told him and added softly, "she's dead."
Sam's head fell back against the pillow, and a look of relief spread over his face. Kara felt the same feeling of relief go through her. She didn't know all the details, but she knew enough; Lee had been dead wrong about Sam. A surge of anger towards Lee again started to erupt within her, but she quickly put that out of her mind. She needed to concentrate on helping Sam in any way she could.
Hearing Kara's voice, Dr. Cottle came over to check on Sam.
"I hope Thrace here explained to you that I don't want you trying to talk just yet. One of your lungs was severely injured. That tube in your chest is to drain the fluid collecting in your lung. It's on the mend, though, and we want it to keep getting better, so try not to move and no talking."
"How long will he have to stay here, Doc?" Kara asked Cottle.
"He needs to stay immobile for four or five more days. If he continues to recuperate like I expect, then I'll let him get up for short periods. Recovery is going to take weeks, if not months. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to check."
"One more thing, Doc. The woman with Sam – she was a Cylon."
"Yes, I know. The test results came back yesterday."
"If you knew, why the frak didn't you tell me?" Kara said, raising her voice slightly.
"Take that up with the Admiral. I was just following his orders to keep it quiet."
For the first time since she had learned of Sam being attacked, she felt hopeful that everything would eventually be okay.
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Meanwhile, on one of the civilian ships in the fleet a man and a woman rendezvous discreetly.
"Did you hear about #3?" whispered the woman to the man.
"Yes, I heard," he answered.
"I think we need to deal with him immediately. We don't know who else he may be able to identify."
"No. We need to keep a low profile and stay out of his sight. That shouldn't be hard. He's somewhat of a celebrity; we should get word of him coming to one of our ships beforehand."
"What do we stand to gain by waiting?"
"As long as nothing happens to him, everyone will think there are no more Cylons in the fleet. Besides, I hear he's close to Starbuck."
"Starbuck!"
"Yes, Starbuck; we may be able to use that to our advantage when the time comes."
"You're right. Keep in touch; you know how to find me," she said as they broke apart and went in separate directions.
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One month later….
"Congratulations, Sam! Cottle has given you a clean bill of health," Kara told him as she threw her arms around his neck, tilted her head back and pulled his mouth to hers.
"Mmmmmm," was all he could manage with their lips locked together. As they came up for air he added, "It was all that expert nursing care you provided." He held her close with one hand while caressing her back with his other.
"Was that it, or was it knowing I wouldn't frak you again until the Doc said you were okay?" she asked with a knowing smile.
"That may have played a small part in my recovery," he replied teasingly. "Anyway, let's celebrate. I've got a bottle of Ambrosia a friend gave me as a get well present. How about we go to the observation lounge tonight? There's something I want to ask you while we're there."
"Why can't you just ask me now?" she said quizzically.
"Nope; I want to wait till tonight. That ought to arouse enough curiosity in you to make sure you show up," he said winking at her.
"Curiosity is not all you arouse in me," she said as she looked up into his eyes. "But okay; I'll see you then," giving him another kiss. "I'm on shift in 15 minutes."
Sam stood there looking at the hatch she had just left through wondering about the best way to bring up the question he wanted to ask her.
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Kara was on her way to the hangar deck wondering what Sam might be planning to ask her. She nearly stumbled when the thought came to her that he might want to ask her to marry him. She knew that she loved him; any doubts about that had been burned away in the crucible she had found herself in when Sam had first been attacked. So why did the idea of marrying him scare her so?
Zack. The only time she had loved someone intensely enough to consent to marriage had been Zack. And Zack had died - because of her. She was afraid that somehow marrying Sam would end up killing him as well. She knew she was thinking irrationally, but if she truly believed that, didn't that mean she would never marry anyone? Is that what she wanted?
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That evening…
Sam spread out the blanket he had brought on the floor of the observation lounge and arranged the two glasses and bottle of Ambrosia. He kept going over in his head how he was going to ask her to marry him. He had hoped she had gotten his hint in the afternoon; he knew it would go better if he didn't completely surprise her. Kara was not the type of woman that wanted to be caught off guard. He had a feeling that the disastrous outcome of her engagement with Zack might make her reluctant to try again. He tried to anticipate any other reasons she might have to say no. He knew she returned his love; he didn't have any doubts about that.
As far as where they would live, he didn't care as long as he could be with her. She had risked everything to come back for him; and there was no sacrifice he wasn't willing to make on her behalf. Even as the weeks had gone by and she had not returned, he had refused to entertain the thought that she had simply decided not to take the risk. He kept picturing the look of determination in her eyes when she gave him her dog tag and promised him she would come back; he knew her promise was what had kept him alive. When everything else had gone wrong he kept remembering that moment; it was what kept him sane. He had also come to realize that being rescued had not been what he wanted most; being reunited with Kara was his heart's true desire. If any other rescue party had come back to Caprica he would simply have refused to go; life just wouldn't have been worth living without her.
All those months on Caprica fighting just to stay alive made him truly appreciate the new life he had been given – the new life she had given him. Now his biggest task was to convince her to share that life together.