Chapter Four

"Oh Gods, Lee!" She said quietly, as if the imminent procedure had robbed her of her voice. He clutched her hand tighter, trying to give her as much support as he could. Her grip on his hand was tight, even as she watched the doctor approach the bed. He picked up the clipboard, scanning the notes written there before replacing it. He seemed satisfied by the notes. His trademark cigarette was noticeably absent. He had changed into scrubs, surgical gloves ready in his pocket. He wore a lab coat open over the scrubs. The ship was always fairly cold, and the thin cotton wasn't very warm.

"Kara, we're gonna do your biopsy now." He said gently. "It shouldn't take too long. It might be a little painful, but we'll deal with that for you, okay? Would you like a sedative?" He asked, hand dipping into his pocket where the syringe containing the sedative was. He fully expected her to say no. Viper pilots always had been tougher than everyone else.

She shook her head. "No thanks." She dragged in a breath, squaring her shoulders as best she could. "Okay." She said, surprised at how calm her voice sounded. Being sick was any athlete's worst nightmare, and she was an athlete. The thought of never being able to fly a viper again was her worst nightmare. To lose one of her greatest loves would be like to lose a part of herself.

"I'll leave you with the Commander and Lee for a few minutes while I get ready." Doctor Cottle said, stepping out of the room. He left the door slightly open behind him, in case Kara had any last minute questions.

Commander Adama studied the clipboard, knowing enough about medicine to be able to understand most of it. He finished reading, setting it back down to stand next to Kara, laying a hand on her shoulder. His hand was warm and soft. She lifted her other hand to touch it and closed her eyes, absorbing the unconditional love and support they were offering her. No-one spoke. The moment passed far too quickly, broken by the doctor stepping back into the room.

Winter, the nurse, came behind him, rolling a covered metal cart. They could hear instruments rolling around on it. She left it at the foot of the bed, folding the covers down to the end of the bed.

"Commander, Lee, if you'd…" The doctor started.

Kara looked up, slight panic in her eyes. "I want Lee to stay." She said.

The doctor glanced from father to son. "I'll wait outside." The commander said, wordlessly giving his permission for Lee to stay.

Winter helped Kara roll onto her left side, giving her a pillow for support. Kara instinctively drew her legs up to her chest, curling up around the pillow. She shivered, cold without the blankets. Winter drew them up over her legs tucking them around her carefully to keep her warm. Lee sat down in the chair, taking hold of both of her hands. She had her eyes closed, but he could see the worry on her face. Lifting one hand, he gently kissed it. One corner of her mouth lifted into a half smile, and she tightened her grip on his hands. He talked, quietly, so that only she could hear the words, telling her that she was going to be fine, that it would all be over soon.

Lee watched as Winter opened Kara's yellow gown, folding it back so that the area over her hip bone was accessible. She cleaned the area, discarding the used swabs into a kidney shaped dish. Once she was satisfied the area was clean, she covered it with a green surgical drape.

Doctor Cottle uncovered the cart, folding the cloth and placing it on the top, next to the instrument tray. He picked up the pre-loaded syringe, checking that there were no air bubbles in it to cause problems. He held it on one hand while he felt for the spot he wanted with the other. Kara frowned a little, eyes opening at the uncomfortable pressure the doctor was using. He found the spot, resting his fingers on it.

"This will sting." He warned, injecting the local anaesthetic.

She winced a little, thinking that he hadn't lied. It did sting, but she had felt worse. She could cope with it. Her knee injury had been so much worse; this was nothing compared to that.

"You okay?" Lee asked, tilting his head to look at her.

"I'm okay." She said, surprised that it was mostly true. He brushed his thumb over her cheek, feeling a rush of warmth towards her. It helped chase away his earlier guilt. He felt that she still hadn't forgiven him; she just needed a friend and he was closest.

"Feel that?" The doctor asked. She shook her head; she hadn't felt anything.

"Good." He said shortly, turning to take the biopsy needle from Winter. Lee felt his eyes widen when he saw it; it looked huge. The needle was at least five inches long, with a plastic handle that spread out into a T shape.

The doctor positioned it against Kara's hipbone, pushing firmly. It slid through her skin easily, hitting bone with a slight crunching sound. The pressure from the needle wasn't quite painful. Cottle rotated the needle, breaking through the outer layer of bone. Lee kept his eyes fixed on her face. She was frowning, brows drawn together in pain as the doctor started to remove the sample of her bone marrow. It was a preternatural, inescapable pain, different to anything she had felt before. The small syringe attached to the much bigger needle slowly began to fill with bone marrow.

When the doctor was satisfied that enough bone marrow had been collected, he removed the small syringe, laying it in a dish on it's own. "Get that to the lab." He said to Winter, who labelled the syringe, rushing out of the room with the dish in her hand.

"Almost done." Doctor Cottle said to Kara.

"Good." She muttered, wishing it was over and done with already. Closing her eyes, she leaned into Lee's hand. She was suddenly exhausted, her illness at work. "Tired…" She mumbled. Lee felt his mouth curve into a smile. She looked so darn cute.

Cottle carefully withdrew the needle, holding a gauze pad over the wound. It was bleeding quite a lot. He deposited the needle on the cart, with the other debris. The plastic syringes, and biopsy needle would be sterilised, to be used again. The paper debris would be incinerated.

"Is that normal?" Lee asked, slight panic in his voice.

"It's about normal." Cottle assured him, "Here, put pressure on there." He guided Lee's hand over the spot. "I'm going to let the Commander know we're done."

"Okay." Lee said, pressing down firmly on Kara's hipbone. She shifted a little under his hand, and he relaxed the pressure slightly. "Sorry." He murmured. "Did I hurt you?"

She managed a shrug, failing. "A little."

He rubbed his other hand down her exposed back, marvelling just how soft her skin was. "I'm sorry." He said again, inadequately. "About earlier too… I was a bastard."

She wished that she could see his face, but he was standing behind her. "Yes, you were." She said, agreeing with him.

"Think you can forgive me?" He asked, words teasing, tone serious.

"Hell, Lee… I don't know." She said, "I've been wrong before Lee, but I can't be wrong this time. I need to know… I need to know that it'll never happen again." They both knew how hard what she was asking for would be. "Promise me, that no matter how mad you get, you'll listen to what I have to say." She asked him.

"I can't… I can promise to try." He knew it wouldn't be good enough. "I promise to try." He said.

She sighed, and he felt it through his fingertips. "That's not enough, Lee." He felt her draw in a long breath, felt her hold it before finally letting it out when she made her decision. He held his breath, wondering if their friendship was over. "It's not good enough, but I can live with it." She finally said. "I can't lose you Lee, not now, not while I'm sick."

He said the only thing he could think to say "Thank you, Kara. Thank you."