"Time heals what reason cannot."
- Seneca -
Six days.
Lucas had been trapped in the medbay for six days at Kristin's mercy and the look he gave Nathan every time the man appeared was one that spoke of vengeance – on day two, Lucas had asked to go back to his quarters, but Nathan vetoed it without letting Kristin say otherwise.
Except it had reached the sixth day and Kristin had overridden Nathan, releasing Lucas.
"He's weak, yes, but he just needs rest. If you're so worried about him, stay in his room for the night," Kristin told him. She smirked to herself, "He's got a bed twice the size of yours and you've both managed to sleep in a twin before."
He glanced through the open hatchway at Lucas then back at Kristin. She seemed so very sure that he'd be alright and she was the doctor... "Alright," He relented, still worried that it was too soon for someone with barely any energy and newly inserted feeding tube to be out of the medbay.
Kristin sighed when she saw the look on his face. "He's not going to die the minute you get out the door, Nathan. He's tired, he's sick, and he's in need of good nutrition, but Lucas isn't a piece of glass," She told him. Kristin was not surprised in the slightest that Nathan was hesitant and she patted his arm, "Take him back to his room. Put on some of his music and let him sleep. You have paperwork you can do."
Nathan nodded and walked out into the medbay, seeing Abbott and waving hello to the man. He chose to ignore the vid he held, knowing it was innocuous but Nathan still found inappropriate; Lucas gave him a small smile when he came in, his entire body languid. "And what have you been doing, young man?"
Lucas' eyes widened and Nathan patted his hand. "There isn't a man on this planet who hasn't seen some sort of pornographic something. Just remember – no one looks like those models in real life," he told Lucas and he was sure if Lucas could have melted through the floor at that moment, he would have.
The blush on Lucas' cheeks put him at ease. As did Lucas' smartass comment about models being alive. He cuffed Lucas gently on the side of the head and told him, "You know what I mean!"
"So can we go home now?" Lucas asked, grinning. He always loved sparring verbally with Nathan; it was made all the better by knowing Nathan wasn't going to hit him for being glib.
"Kristin says you can," He replied and added, "But I'm still going to be camping out in your room for a few days." Nathan smiled at the look on Lucas' face. It was a cross between glee and annoyance and Nathan simply laughed. He knew that look well from the years when Robert had been going through puberty himself.
It took them almost half an hour to get to his quarters after that; Lucas could do little to help speed up the process so Nathan had to go around the medbay, collecting things and signing papers, and had to push him all the way there. He felt mildly guilty that he had to depend on Nathan just to help him get to the bathroom, but Lucas knew any and all complaints or apologizes would be waved off.
"Here," Nathan handed him the tablet computer before spreading out a slew of forms and reports on Lucas' desk. He had a thousand different forms that he could have had Jonathan do, but the man had enough to do without an added three hours worth of paperwork.
Lucas happily took the computer and booted it up, glad it had the touch screen – he knew he'd never have been able to control a touchpad with his fingers shaking as they were. The screen didn't require as much finesse as the pad would have, but it still tired him out. The words on the screen and the coding there made his head hurt from the effort to read it all, and Lucas eventually put it to the side.
He glanced at Nathan, who was engrossed in reading a report from the science team on who knew what, and reached under his mattress. His sketchbook was safely hidden there, the charcoal protected in a thin box beside it.
While he knew he didn't have to hide his drawings from Nathan, it was still something he did, a protective instinct to hold onto what was his. Luckily, the man never asked about them or even tried to look at them. The only real thing Nathan had done to let Lucas know he was aware of the sketchbook was the sudden appearance of a few small boxes of art supplies, but Lucas mainly stuck to charcoal so the other supplies were stacked neatly on various shelves should he ever want them.
"Wendy is going to come by in half an hour," Nathan told him without turning around.
It startled Lucas a little and the sketch he'd been working on now had a thick line running through the center. He sighed, "Can't I..."
Nathan turned around in the chair, his face set and he told Lucas, "No. You've had a reprieve for the last week and a half because you were sick." He could see Lucas hesitate and he hated when Lucas did that. Hesitation meant Lucas wanted to say something but he was scared to. "Just say it, kiddo," Nathan softened his eyes but refused to gentle his expression down to something Lucas could try to take advantage of to get out of therapy.
"You love Kristin, right?" Lucas asked, worrying his lower lip and looking anywhere but at his father.
That threw him for a loop. He hadn't expected Lucas to ask about his relationship with Westphalen at all. It was just one of those things Lucas didn't normally do, but it was evidently related to what was bothering him and Nathan told the boy, "Yes, I do."
Lucas scratched his arm, "So you aren't... I mean..." He stopped and thought over what he wanted to say, then spoke again, "You don't like Wendy then?"
Nathan ran a hand over his hair. How precisely to explain to Lucas that Wendy was not a threat to Kristin or to any of the family Lucas had found on seaQuest. "Wendy is a good doctor, Lucas. She's very pretty, but she's not Kristin," He said, watching Lucas relax. "And even if Kristin and I were to not love each other, you wouldn't lose her, you understand?"
"Yes, sir," Lucas nodded. He'd been worried since she came aboard that Nathan would do something stupid like leave Kristin for Wendy. "I'm sorry," he added after a few minutes had passed, "I just worried and..."
Wendy knocked on the hatch then and Nathan stood to greet her. She looked knowingly at the Captain, aware from the flush of Lucas face she'd likely been a part of whatever discussion she'd just interrupted.
"There is nothing in this world that would ever make Kristin give you up, even if she hated every bone in my body, okay?" Nathan whispered to Lucas and then he left with paperwork in hand.
Ah. Wendy knew what was going on; she took up Nathan's vacant chair, telling him, "I'm not here to break up anything, Lucas. I want you to understand that. Kristin asked me to come aboard seaQuest for you – not the UEO or the court, Kristin. I would never put myself in between her and the Captain."
Lucas eyed her for that, measuring up the response as if ensuring it was sincere. He didn't say anything in reply, but instead, picked up his sketchbook and went back to drawing. She assumed that was Lucas' way of accepting what she said – he'd probably would've started arguing with her if he hadn't.
He said nothing for the next five minutes until Wendy finally prodded him with questions about the art and Lucas handed her the book. She flipped through the twenty or so drawings he had done and a few that weren't completed; the book itself had the impression, the feeling of pure, unadulterated relief.
"Has this helped any, Lucas?" She asked, knowing it already had but needing him to say it. Wendy hoped the feelings Lucas had unconsciously left on the papers could help her guide him to speak. Sometimes that's all a person needed was to be given questions that had simple answers.
"A little," He lied – it had in fact helped a lot, but he wasn't going to give her the benefit of knowing that just yet. He liked being able to control some of what Wendy knew, even if it was for ill reasons.
"Good," She told him, not caring that he'd lied to her. Well, she did but she knew on the scale of things, it was a little fib and she wasn't going to press it. Wendy set to looking through his drawings rather than harangue him over it, amazed at the detail work in Lucas' pictures. She hadn't expected the depth of work he had put into them; maybe a few pencil pictures, but what she held was far more than that.
Lucas had drawn amazingly realistic renditions of people, though they lacked faces, and even his more abstract designs were done with the technique of someone who'd been doing such things for years. There were a few stray marks, but they were barely noticeable and didn't take away from the image itself.
She flipped through the drawings, looking at each and feeling for any glimpse of what Lucas had felt when he'd made them. There was a sense of 'mother' to one with a rendition of what was likely supposed to be Kristin, an underpowered feeling of happiness to one of an older man watching over a smaller figure.
Then she touched the first drawing in the sketchbook. It was two figures, one faceless but detailed and the other a mass of black scribbles. She felt belonging as she touched it and she knew without a doubt it was Lucas' putting Lawrence and Nathan beside each other in a matter of speaking.
"How have things been with Nathan?" She asked then, sure he would respond positively.
Wendy wasn't wrong. "It's good," Lucas told her, shrugging. He didn't feel so inclined to elaborate, but she was watching him expectantly and he added, "He's what I wish my d... Lawrence had been like."
"Why do you do that?" She asked. It wasn't unusual to hear a victim of abuse correct themselves to call their abuser by something else, but Lucas always did it. He never let himself get out any other term for Lawrence other than his name and Wendy wondered why he never let it slip. It would be understandable, after all. "I don't think anyone would be upset if you called Lawrence your father."
He shook his head wildly; his eyes widened and Lucas told her, "I can't." He tightened his reigns on his emotions, forcing himself to explain. "I wasn't allowed to call him daddy when I was little and I couldn't call him dad in public. He trained me like I was an animal and if I messed up, it hurt."
Lucas wrung his hands, "I don't want to feel like I'm... his property anymore."
It wasn't an unrealistic expectation and Wendy respected that. She could see Lucas was simply trying to make the best of his situation in a manner that would leave him without feeling like Lawrence had been right and he was a failure. It was humbling to watch Lucas reaching into himself and trying to get past what his father had done to him in such a simple way.
They talked over the pictures for a while longer, until Wendy touched the final picture and felt abject fear. It was words coupled together, written over each other and biting. There were scathing words and bitter ones, and Wendy couldn't make heads nor tails of it. She'd never seen something so angry before in her practice. At least not something so angry that wasn't directed at the abuser.
She looked up at Lucas, "This is powerful." Wendy knew her words carried a weight she hadn't intended. She immediately tried to temper it but Lucas had started to speak and she dared not stop him.
"My dad never... He never touched me, like molested me. I mean that's just not something he'd do," Lucas started. His body was shaking and she reached into her pocket for her PAL, prepared to call Nathan the minute Lucas broke down.
He refused to cry. Lucas knew Wendy was figuring he would, but he wasn't going to allow it; he talked instead. "When I got to Stanford, I thought maybe since he wasn't there, I could finally tell someone. Didn't care what they did after that," he stopped and sniffled. "The second therapist I had there seemed so nice, like maybe I could trust him."
"Lucas..." She stopped him. His face was red and his fingers were clenched so tight she worried his nails were cutting his palms. "I think maybe we should call your father down here."
"Why?" He recoiled from her. He'd be right, he'd been so right – therapists just couldn't be trusted.
She breathed. Wendy knew her statement had effectively damaged the relationship they'd been building but she knew Lucas needed his father right then. She hadn't had a reason to suspect Lucas had been sexually abused and suddenly there were huge indications; he likely hadn't told anyone since it happened and even though children seemed to have a harder time talking about it then adults, Lucas was developmentally in the middle. He was a new ball game and she knew the best person to be there was Nathan.
"We don't have to, okay? I think it would be best for you because I know you're comfortable with him. You don't fear the Captain the way you fear some of the others – you wouldn't sleep in the same bed with him if you didn't. It's just a suggestion though." Wendy didn't dare move from her spot and she made sure to make a show of putting the PAL on his desk.
She started to ask another question and was completely surprised when Lucas told her, "I do. I want my dad here."
It was the first time he'd ever called Nathan dad in her presence. She didn't hesitate to summon Bridger after that and it was only after he'd appeared, a little flustered, that she was able to explain that Lucas had requested him.
"You alright, kiddo?" Nathan asked him and he crawled into the bed with Lucas when the boy said no. He was concerned and held Lucas hand as he told the story of the deal he had made with the therapist – the things Lucas would do to ensure the man wouldn't call his father on him, the money Lucas paid to keep it quiet what the therapist made him do in the first place.
Nathan had gotten progressively more upset and when Lucas finished, he pulled Lucas to him. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into Lucas' hair while Lucas clung to him.
Wendy quietly left the room.
"Things do not change;
we change."
- Henry David Thoreau -
Lucas' fifth round of chemo was done when Nathan realized Leo hadn't spoken with his grandson in month. He'd immediately called and apologized, leaving Lucas alone with Ben.
Once again pretty weak, Ben was trying to help him eat and entertain the boy at the same time, but failed miserably and Lucas just wished he'd stop. He loved Ben, he did, but as he'd gotten progressively worse, Ben had started to hover closer. Katie tried her damnedest to keep control of him, but that was easier said than done.
Finally fed up with Ben's poor jokes, Lucas told him to stop between bites of bread with butter. And of course immediately said he was sorry because of the hurt look in Ben's eyes, but Ben wouldn't accept it.
"It's not a big deal, junior," Krieg shrugged it off as he spooned up some of the mashed potatoes. He smiled anyway as Lucas took the food and told him, "I've told you to shut up before and anyway, you're the one at my mercy. I can be silent while I torture you."
Lucas made a face at him – Ben knew Lucas didn't like having to be fed and thought it made him vulnerable even though Lucas could still throw a pretty mean punch if he had to. (Ben chose to not think about that incident.) Still, it was an easy way to provoke the boy and Wendy had actually praised him for it; Nathan told him to tone it down a bit, but thanked him as well.
Ben still wasn't sure why, but if everyone kept telling him to do it, then he would. There was very little in the world he wouldn't do for Lucas.
"So I was thinking," Krieg said conversationally.
"That's dangerous," Lucas retorted, amusing himself. He loved teasing Ben as much as the man did him and he loved when he could get a decent shot in. He grinned happily at his friend.
"Ha ha. You're a riot," He poked Lucas in the shoulder. "Anyway, I was thinking – I gave you those credits to pay up for calling your grandfather. I wasn't anticipating the UEO footing the long distance bill for that, but since they are, that's a nice chunk of money you've got." He paused and jabbed Lucas with his finger again, "I thought maybe you should use it for something just for you."
Genuinely confused, Lucas waited for him to explain. It was uncharacteristic for the boy to be so quiet, Ben thought, but he knew it was something borne from his attempts to deal with what was going on around him.
"I know a guy who knows a guy who can get you some really great art supplies."
"Oh," Lucas breathed, eyeing the spoon again and Ben fed him a little more of the mashed potatoes. He chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and said, "Maybe." He smirked, "I've kind of been thinking of getting something else."
Ben of course needed to know what that was. If he could find it for Lucas, he would and he'd make sure Lucas didn't know what he really planned to do with the credits; though Lucas was through college and worked a job that paid him very well, most of Lucas' small fortune had been sacrificed in the course of getting the Wolenczaks' convicted of the abuse. His money had been in an account that was attached to Lawrence's, whose assets had been frozen and in order to get those funds, Lucas would have had to go to court again. But he'd refused to do so, saying he could earn the money back.
Of course, in the mean time, that meant Lucas would have to depend upon the Captain to buy him anything he wanted for leisure. Movies, music, clothes – there was nothing Lucas could afford to buy.
So Ben had come up with a cunning plan to help give him back some of that independence. With Nathan's permission, he'd created an account in Lucas' name and let it leak why to the command staff. The account had built up from the lowly hundred credits he'd put in to open it to a hefty six hundred. Once he had the credits back from Lucas and added in the ones he'd gotten from Leo, Lucas would have nearly a thousand in his account and Ben would tell him about it.
The trick, however, was to get the credits back. He really did want to put the money in there himself and leave Lucas with the ones he'd given him, but he had his own limited supply to work with. He still had bills to pay and Katie would absolute kill him if he went into the red again.
He asked what it was and Lucas avoided his question, telling him, "It's nothing. Can I have some carrots?" He hoped Ben would leave it alone, though he knew it was a moot point.
"Yeah, no problem." The pureed carrots were disgusting looking and Ben was sure he'd never eat them, but if it appealed to Lucas then he wasn't going to point out the consistency was the same as baby spit. He fed Lucas half the carrots and had gotten him to drink several sips of water before he asked, "Really. There's nothing that I can't get, you know."
Lucas grimaced, "I know, Ben, but I want to get this myself. It's important."
The light clicked on and Ben knew what Lucas wanted to get. It was not anything for himself – it was something for Kristin or the Captain. Most likely for the Captain and Lucas wouldn't want someone else to get whatever it was for him. He wanted to get his father a gift and Ben could just imagine the look on Lucas' face when he gave it.
"When you get it, just let me knew how much whatever it is was," Ben told him.
Lucas eyed Ben, knowing his friend was up to something though he was sure it wasn't on the same level as stealing Crocker's scotch. He asked, "Why?"
"My own reasons, kid."
"Fire, water, and government
know nothing of mercy."
- Anonymous -
Lucas spent his week break between the previous round and the next searching for a gift for Nathan. Amazon, eBay, and Overstock had been quickly cut from the list since he either couldn't afford what he liked or there was nothing special enough. He started then on specialty sites, but it was so overwhelming – dolphin paraphernalia, jewelry, pictures and paintings.
He hated shopping on a limited budget, when they'd built the Stinger, Katie had handled the money and found ways to get all the parts Lucas had wanted. He didn't know how to not live beyond his means when he'd spent years being able to do whatever he wanted, buy anything he wished.
He sighed as he put the laptop on the bed, rubbing the tiredness from his fingers. Lucas glanced at the clock opposite him and groaned – Kristin or someone else would be appearing with his lunch soon. He would argue, inevitable, with whomever came, since he wasn't hungry but everyone took it to mean "I am hungry, but food is just repulsing me right now."
Darwin appeared then as he reached for his sketchpad, tapping the tank's glass and watching Lucas.
"Hey, Darwin," Lucas muttered and grabbed the vocorder, flipping it on as he brought it to his face. Excited chatter shot out at him, a mix of words that made absolute no sense. Lucas immediately tried to adjust it and tapped keys, but nothing changed what the dolphin was saying to understandable English.
He shoved the vocorder against the bed angrily and picked up his laptop. Lucas wonder what peon had fucked with the program; if he had to recreate the language base again, there would be hell to pay.
As he tapped into seaQuest's database, the boat shook hard and a message popped up onto the computer screen. His eyes widened and he jumped up as quick as he could, falling from the bed in the process. He struggled to stand and once he did, Lucas flung himself at the hatch, but he could get it closed fast enough.
A gush of water spewed into the room. Lucas tumbled from the rush of it and the world went black.
He was still unconscious when Ben and several other men came tumbling through the section. Krieg sent the team off to locate any others who were trapped or injured and then gathered Lucas up. He yelled for a seamen to close all hatches once the rooms were cleared.
Ben ran faster than he ever had before, not letting any amount of yells stop him from getting Lucas into the medbay.
"The people and circumstances around me do
not make me what I am, they reveal who I am."
- Laura Schlessinger -
The hull breach hadn't been the worst seaQuest had endured, but it was in a place that would make it hard to repair. Hitchcock had taken off the minute Bridger allowed her to, intending to locate the area and get her crews down to begin repairing the breach; Krieg had taken a small contingent of enlisted to search the areas that were flooding. So far Westphalen had told the Captain she had six injured, including Lucas and a dozen others with hypothermia after being trapped in rooms with the frigid waters.
Jonathan watched Nathan who obviously wanted to retreat and preserve the life of his crew before someone died, but that want had been outweighed by General Thomas' order that they pursue the hostile vessel. The argument that had proceeded the order had reminded Ford why Nathan was a force to be reckoned with.
"Get Admiral Noyce on the line. Phillips, get a lock on their propeller," he ordered and Ford knew Bridger's patience with Thomas' methods of patrolling the ocean with seaQuest had run out. It was something the commander had been expecting for a while; he was surprised by the calm Nathan displayed as he told the Admiral the state of the boat.
"If they get another hit, Thomas won't have to worry about my captaining seaQuest anymore, Bill!"
And just like that, seaQuest was given the orders to back off and lick her wounds. Nathan dismissed Ford to help with the efforts to account for all the crew members from the flooding decks and sent Crocker to help Hitchcock secure the lower decks.
With the bridge safe from the damage, he handed off command to O'Neill and walked through the clam doors, intending to go directly to the infirmary to check on his injured crew. He was sidetracked, however, when Crocker called him down to seadeck and then by O'Neill who'd called him back to the bridge a few minutes after sorting out what they'd do with Darwin for the time being.
The hostile sub had turned and was chasing them, but just because seaQuest's hull had been damaged didn't mean her engines were damaged as well. He was just about to call for a retreat at top speed when Phillips announced he had a targeting lock on the subs' propeller and Nathan didn't hesitate to fire.
Time with the Captain had taught the man that Bridger's first concern was the preservation of life and he'd lowered the strength of the torpedo before he'd even told the man he'd had a lock. It was a perfect hit too and Miguel would have laughed out loud at the sight of the outdated propeller falling to the ocean bottom if it wouldn't have gotten him chastised by Bridger.
"Have Crocker take over a team and round up survivors," Nathan declared and looked to O'Neill with a small smile.
"Yes, sir," the man replied, nodding, before turning back to his console and contacting Crocker. He glanced over his shoulder as the Captain left once again, explaining the situation to the Chief and then gesturing at Miguel. Channels changed, Tim said, "If you'd laughed, I'd have had to of killed you."
Miguel grinned at him, "Should probably call Dr. Westphalen and warn her that he's on his way down."
"Probably," Tim agreed but made no move to do so.
Unbeknownst to either man, Kristin already knew Nathan was on his way there. She had assumed the minute he'd been informed Lucas was with her that he'd itched to get to his son, but had yet to be able to get away from his obligations to get there. She hoped he could soon, though – Lucas was getting progressively more agitated as he became conscious and it would take more than a few words from her to calm him.
Luckily he appeared before Lucas got combative and he calmed the instant he heard Nathan's voice, stilling his restless body beneath the mass of heavy sheets. "That's it, kiddo," He whispered warmly and then looked to Kristin. "How's he doing?"
She sighed, "He's got a grade IV concussion – some retrograde amnesia, confusion, and he was unconscious for more than five minutes when the lieutenant found him. We'll have to keep him awake for the next few hours, which I'm sure will involve some amount of arguing, but other than that, he's alright."
Nathan was relieved. There could have been any number of things wrong with Lucas in his already-compromised state and likely, there could be something that they wouldn't know about until some time had passed. It wasn't enough to upset him because Lucas was alive and everything else could be dealt with later.
"I guess I'll be camping out down here tonight then," he said to no one in particular. Then Nathan looked at Kristin and told her, "We took a hit. We're confining Darwin to the starboard section of the boat, but his quarters took on some water."
"I'll have it sanitized as soon as it's cleared. I can't release him to anywhere that mildew or mold can develop, so we'll have to look over your quarters as well," Kristin replied. She happily rescinded the latter part of the statement when he shook his head. "Well, at least we can release him to you in the morning if he has no complications tonight."
Lucas, finally a bit more lucid and very much annoyed, told the two of them, "Yeah, hi, I'm right here!" He huffed a bit and closed his eyes, wanting to go back to sleep even know he knew they'd wake him in seconds.
Kristin pinched his arm. "Eyes open, Lucas."
"What was that for?!" He asked, insulted. The boy rubbed his arm when her hand was out of the way and he looked at it, "I'm gonna bruise."
She looked at Nathan and told him someone would come by every hour to check on them both. "I expect someone else to come relieve you at some point so you can rest," Kristin informed him, making it clear that she wasn't going to take any excuses for Nathan not getting some sleep and then left the room.
Lucas stared at him. "You really won't leave, will you?" He asked, gripping the sheets tightly and watching his father.
He smiled gently and touched Lucas' arm, "Not right now. I'll get Kristin to set up a bed for me here with you, but I am going to see if one of the staff can sit with you when I have to check on the boat." Nathan could see Lucas visibly relax and stroked a hand down the boy's arm, "Can't go to sleep, kiddo. Not yet."
"Not asleep," Lucas mumbled back and snapped his eyes open. He sighed; Nathan was pulling the blankets up over him and tucking them around Lucas, despite Lucas dislodging them the minute Nathan moved. "Too warm," he complained, but eventually curled into them anyway.
It was difficult to make Lucas stay awake and Nathan certainly didn't like doing it when Lucas began to get upset, a combination of the concussion and the ensuring tiredness. Luckily it was close to morning when Lucas really began to throw a tantrum, wanting to either be told he could sleep or he could get out of the medbay.
Kristin and Nathan both refused to be swayed by him. Each reminded him that they were parents and parents were immune to the whining of children, which of course only made him whine that he wasn't a child, but it got Lucas to stop saying they were torturing him.
At ten AM on the dot, Kristin told Nathan she'd bring him the release papers later. She wanted Lucas resting in a different bed and since Nathan hadn't slept at all that night despite his promise, she made a few idle threats that he'd better be asleep when she came by to check on them.
Nathan wisely didn't tell her his next shift on the bridge was at 2.
"She's gonna be mad," Lucas told him, falling into a wheelchair with all the ineptitude of someone his age. His legs had buckled under him and with no grace whatsoever, had found himself awkwardly sitting in the chair, one leg over an armrest.
"Yes, well, I'll deal with that later. After I have you in quarters, I can deal with Kristin in one of her moods," Nathan replied. He really didn't want to have to deal with it at all, but the fact remained that he was the Captain and as the Captain, he was required to show up on the Bridge. Especially when seaQuest was in a state such as she was at the moment.
Lucas grew quiet after that and Nathan worried for all of five seconds until he realized that the boy had gone to sleep, still askew in the chair. Nathan smirked; he remembered fondly the days when he'd slept in the most awkward positions and woken with not a crick in his body and as he thought of the times his father had teased him about it, Nathan shifted Lucas around gently. He slipped from the medbay as soon as Lucas was straightened and made it to his quarters in record time.
The cleaning crews had made it through the deck not too long before; he ducked his head into Lucas' room briefly, to inspect the damage and grimaced. It looked like Lucas would need at least one replacement computer.
Nathan got Lucas into his bed with a lot of effort since the boy was out, his entire body dead weight. Once the blanket was pulled up around Lucas' waist, Nathan turned out his lights and wandered back to his son's quarters to ascertain what he'd need to have Ben requisition.
The larger computer dripped out a rivulet of water when Nathan moved it in the search for any other damaged items and he winced – all of Lucas' work had been backed up on that machine.
Several other computer parts were drying, but he didn't know if Lucas could salvage them and Nathan made a mental note to ask Lucas about that later. He found a pile of clothes the crew had missed in their cleaning and he set them aside, so Kristin's nurses could take them down to laundry when they came in later. They would also have to wash Lucas' brand new blanket and the sheets.
Oh, crap.
Nathan reached for the mattress and lifted it, relieved to see Lucas' sketchpad had somehow survived the miniature flood. The pages seemed intact but he wasn't about to open the book to look. Lucas would get upset and he simply grabbed the charcoal, bringing the two items back to his own room. He put them on the shelf and reminded himself he needed to let Lucas know he hadn't seen any of Lucas' work though he wished he could.
"Dad?" Lucas mumbled sleepily at Nathan, pushing himself up lazily to see what the man was doing.
"Go back to sleep, pal," He said and watched as Lucas did just that. Nathan was still a trifle awed that Lucas trusted him enough to do things like sleep in Nathan's quarters and he didn't recoil from Nathan's hand when he raised one in aggravation. Because Lucas knew that Nathan would never hurt him and that made the man smile.
Nathan moved to the bunk and patted the boy's head; he drew his hand back at the strange texture that met his fingers. Lucas' scalp was dry and the stitches were rough and Nathan went to grab the lotion from his bathroom.
Lucas jumped, waking a little, when the cool gel touched his head. He batted Nathan's hand away and whined, sniffling. He complained that his head hurt, trying to rub the lotion into his skin at the same time as he tried to be as gentle as possible.
Disturbed by Lucas' reddening eyes, Nathan called Kristin who promptly told him she wasn't surprised that Lucas was reacting in such a manner. He'd been having bouts of skin sensitivity throughout his treatment, but it hadn't reached his head before. Now that he'd suffered a head injury, it likely made it flare up again. She told him to let Lucas do as he pleased.
It still made him worry. Lucas shouldn't have to deal with his skin hurting for no reason, and Nathan wished he could do something. Lucas wouldn't let him touch his head, however, and Bridger hoped he hadn't destroyed the boy's trust in him with one stupid mistake.
When he finally finished, Lucas closed his eyes and went back to sleep as if he'd never had to wake up in the first place. Nathan breathed a little easier as he settled down at his desk, wanting to sleep but needing to stay awake. His shift was only four hours, so he could be in bed by six fifteen or about then, but he'd still have to deal with Kristin at some point.
He groaned at the thought. Kristin had threatened several times to use medical rank and have him pulled from the duty roster for several days so he could take care of himself, but he couldn't afford that.
Later on, he would rethink the statement – he could have afforded several days off to rest. But male pride was male pride and Nathan refused to let anyone know he was getting run down.
"Trouble brings experience,
and experience brings wisdom."
- Anonymous -
Hitchcock and Ford had agreed that of all the things they'd seen in their time in the Navy and after all their training, nothing had prepared them for even thinking about what to do in the event that the Captain collapsed. Katie had been horrified when Jonathan threw himself at the man, managing to grab Bridger a second before his head hit the floor.
"He just went down?" Lucas asked Ben for the third time.
With the Captain confined to medbay until Kristin was satisfied that he'd recovered sufficiently, Nathan had asked the command staff and others he knew were close to Lucas to stay with him. Ben had volunteered to take on the first shift, successfully getting Lucas to eat without much of an argument.
Lucas, having been in a deep slumber when Nathan was taken to medbay, had discovered his father's state of health after interrogating Ben. After all, he hadn't been expecting Krieg to bring his breakfast; Lucas had thought he and Nathan would have a nice night talking, like they often did despite Lucas' attempts to not do so.
Truthfully, Lucas didn't mind talking to the Captain about various things, but he couldn't make it easy on the man and he was expecting the usual banter to go between them that night while Lucas drifted in and out of consciousness. It had been a shock to find Ben there, trying to not give up the information until Lucas pointed out Nathan was his father and he'd be told one way or another.
"Well, Commander Ford caught him so he didn't hit his head on anything, but yeah, he just went down," Ben told him and handed Lucas the drink.
Ben had spent the past twenty minutes explaining what had happened on the bridge, or, at least, what Ben had been told happened. He'd gotten Lucas to eat nearly half the meal Kristin had sent him with and he credited that to the boy's distraction. It made it easy to get Lucas to blindly eat or drink whatever was handed to him.
Suddenly Lucas burst out laughing. Though it wasn't actually humorous that his father had collapsed from undiagnosed pneumonia, Lucas couldn't help but think that only they had such terrible luck.
He managed to get himself under control after a few minutes and Lucas grinned at his friend instead of explaining. He figured he could do so later, anyhow; Lucas reached for his sketchpad, continuing to smirk as he started to roughly outline a new drawing.
A lone figure emerged in a flurry of black lines and the moonpool took shape behind it; several minutes passed, and Ben leaned over slyly to see what it was Lucas had drawn so far but Lucas simply shoved him back with a push.
More defined but still faceless, Lucas allowed himself to stop and slipped his drawing pad back under the mattress. He made sure to smile at Ben when he sat back up to emphasize that Ben hadn't seen any of his work.
He leaned there for several minutes and his mind wandered off, ideas spinning and he thought about Nathan. Though he was trying to be brave and not show that he was worried about his father, Lucas wanted nothing more than to see the man. However, he doubted Kristin would allow that just yet. Maybe in a few days.
"You know, I could sneak you..." Ben started. He knew what Lucas was thinking – it was written across the boy's face.
"No!" Lucas told him, "No way! I'm still in trouble with Dr. Westphalen for going swimming." He shivered at the memory of Kristin's threats. Nothing like the idea of being trapped in medbay with a catheter and a tube stuffed up his nose to guarantee good behavior. Nope, he was perfectly content to stay in his room until Kristin told him it was alright to see Nathan.
"But..."
Lucas didn't let him get any further, "Not happening."
Ben shrugged, "Can't blame a guy for trying." He spun around in Nathan's desk chair, which he had flopped into a few moments before, and then asked, "So, what'd you get the Captain?"
"I haven't gotten him anything yet. There's nothing I can find online that I like," Lucas said. He added, "I guess maybe next time we're in port for the day, I might be able to escape Dr. Westphalen and find something for him."
"You'll escape her clutches to go upworld to shop but you won't sneak into the medbay?" Ben teased and when Lucas flashed him the middle finger, Ben just laughed hardily.
"If I go to medbay, I'm going straight into the lion's den. If I'm going upworld, I'll get a few hours before she makes me pay for it." It was sound logic, Lucas knew, and he grinned at Ben, "I'd rather get that time to have some fun and then get her mad."
"Get who mad?"
Kristin was in the hatchway, arms crossed and looking decidedly amused. She seemed to be comfortable leaning against the metal, causing Lucas to assume she'd been standing there for a few minutes at least. She lacked any medical supplies or a wheelchair or any of her nurses; Lucas relaxed with the knowledge she wasn't going to be dragging him to the medbay just yet.
Lucas just smiled conspiratorially at her, trying to appear like they'd been planning something even though they hadn't.
"Lieutenant, you can go," she told Ben. Kristin told him as he left, "I expect you to sleep, Ben. I'll send someone by later to see if you are and I'll be sending them with a sedative." It was a warning and a threat rolled in one, a Westphalen skill. Idly, Lucas hoped Cynthia couldn't do that as well.
"You really need to rest too," Kristin said when she'd turned back to Lucas. She brushed fingers gently down the side of his face; Lucas had finally grown accustomed to her softness, the caring, and he no longer felt the urge to ask why she was being so nice. Lucas had learned that Kristin just was kind, without reason or consequence, and he found himself enjoying far more than he knew was safe.
Then again, safe didn't mean what it used to, didn't it? Before, safe was letting people get close enough to figure out they should stay away, but times had changed and Lucas admitted safe meant something different. Safe meant Lucas could knock on his father's door in the middle of the night and be comforted for a nightmare. It meant Lucas could call Kristin at any hour of the day and no matter what she'd been doing, she would be there in five minutes.
"He'll be okay, right?" Lucas asked, glancing down at his hands and then at her.
Kristin didn't answer right away. Instead she pushed Lucas fully onto his back and arranged the blankets over him, biding her time while she thought of how to explain that Nathan's immune system was doing everything it could but he was still extremely ill and it would be ten days, minimum, before Nathan would even be able to stand up without assistance.
"Mom?"
Startled by the word, Kristin looked to Lucas. Nathan had said Lucas was occasionally calling him dad, but she hadn't expected at all to be called mom. She sucked up the shock and told Lucas, "He's very sick, but I think he'll be fine. Nathan just needs to rest, same as you, and, like you, he also needs to stop arguing with me."
Lucas smiled, "He's giving you a hard time, huh?"
She rolled her eyes at the boy's glee. Of course Lucas would be happy that someone else was driving her insane – she couldn't complain about him for once. Kristin burst that bubble, "He's taken a few pages from your book, because he certainly wasn't a model patient before but he wasn't as stubborn as he's being now. He's using all your tricks to try to get out of medbay.
"Now, I want you to close your eyes and go to sleep," Kristin told him and fished out another blanket. "You have your treatment tomorrow. If your blood work continues to show improvement, this could be your last round."
He happily nodded at the statement and Lucas told her the same thing he'd been saying for weeks about radiation therapy. He didn't want that and though Abbott and Jessie had pushed for it as a final act after the chemo was done, Lucas continued to object. He didn't like the idea of it, but he had promised it could be used as a last resort.
"I know. We'll figure out something later should you need further treatment," She said to him and Lucas closed his eyes, settling into the warmth of the blankets. His pound puppy was still in his quarters, needing to be sanitized, and he pulled a pillow from under his head to hold onto.
"That's it," she murmured, stroking Lucas' arm and she whispered little things to him until he finally slept.