He started towards his friend when his father took notice of him and called him over. He noticed the President, though pale herself, was watching the scene inside the curtained off area intently. He caught eyes with his father, the look in them spoke volumes and Lee could only say, "Is she-"
The Admiral interrupted him, "Yes. Dr. Cottle is doing everything he can, but it doesn't…" He paused and cleared the lump from his throat, "It doesn't look very good."
Roslin turned to him, "We thought you'd want to be here."
Lee turned back to Karl, "Excuse me, sirs."
He came to a stop in front of Karl, the raptor pilot looked up and spoke in a wavering voice, "We were talking… she said she was having cramps then-" He looked towards the curtained off section, "There was so much blood." Lee looked him over and realized that his sleeve was discolored with dried blood as well as the palms of both of his hands. "All I could think was that I was going to lose them both… Lords, please don't take them… Please."
The young man looked from the Raptor pilot to the curtained-off area where his lover was struggling for life and the life of their child. He didn't really know what to say to Karl either. Instead Lee gripped Helo's shoulder then stepped back to stand sentry over his friend offering support silently.
Unknown minutes passed before he felt Kara pass him to kneel at Karl's side. She whispered in his ear and squeezed his fingers, then for a moment turned shining eyes on Lee and reached her free hand to him.
Not caring that the President was only a few feet away, nor that she'd ordered he and Kara to remain distanced during the trial or even that a simple gesture of comfort could derail Baltar's trial, Lee laced his fingers with hers and held on tightly. Kara gave him a thankful expression and squeezed his fingers.
The pilot then stood and pulled Karl to his feet with her and released Lee's hand only to wrap her larger friend into a tight hug. He could barely hear her say his name and murmur encouragements and assurances that it'd be alright.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cottle pulling off his surgery smock and from the amount of blood on it, Lee wagered Kara was completely wrong. There was just too much blood for both of them to have survived. He then looked at the CMO's face and the grimmer than usual expression on his face all but confirmed it.
He stuffed the smock into a bio-hazard bin and stepped out from behind the curtained off area. Karl shot to his feet and Cottle approached him, "I'm sorry son. She was bleeding so badly and I was loosing them both… I had to make a choice and I chose the mother."
Lee could practically hear Karl's teeth grind as he bit down on his emotions. "What happened? What went wrong?"
Cottle frowned while Lee watched the Admiral and the President stepping over to them to listen, "She's been having bleeding problems since she entered the second trimester, the placenta kept trying to separate from the uterus and each time she'd start bleeding. There's only so much we can do about this and only so many times we can stop her from miscarrying…" Cottle growled and shook his head helplessly, "If I had been able to monitor her from the beginning, I might have been able to do something but I'm not an Obstetrician."
Helo shook his head, "What went wrong?"
Lee wondered for a moment if Karl's mind had shut down and grasped onto the only question that haunted him. Cottle surprised the younger Adama when he gripped the taller man's arm and said with a surprisingly sympathetic voice. "Son, I've been in medicine a long time. One thing I've learned is sometimes you can do everything in your power right and things go wrong. Especially in case of pregnancy, a thousand little things have to go exactly right every day for a woman to carry a child to term and deliver a healthy child.
"It doesn't mean you or Sharon are bad people or that you did the wrong thing. It certainly doesn't mean that you can't try again, that she can't have your child, it doesn't mean you or she are dirty or that the Gods frowned upon you. All it means is that it didn't work this time."
Cottle spoke more forcefully, "What I need from you right now is to go in there, and make sure she knows that. You tell her whatever you have to, because as horrible as this might be to you, it's far, far worse for her. She felt that life inside grow, and she felt it die. I don't really give a frak if she's a Cylon, because what I saw back there was a young woman devoted to the life growing within her and she lost it.
"She's in there right now feeling hurt, sad, angry and confused far more than in any time in her life. You have to go in there and keep her moving forward."
Karl's jaw tightened as Cottle appealed to his protectiveness. He was a guardian of those he loved, Sharon above all. The Admiral stepped forward and spoke, "Lieutenant, take Miss Valerii to the guest quarters on C-Deck, she'll be staying there from now on and I'm giving you two weeks bereavement." Though it was unspoken, Lee knew that his father had taken another step concerning Sharon and a big one at that.
Judging by the poisonous look the President was giving the Admiral, it wouldn't be a popular step either.
Lee turned back to see Karl nearly staggering forward to be with Sharon.
A moment later, Roslin's temper erupted.
&&&&&&&&&
Sharon turned her eyes towards the curtain as Karl entered, she'd remained silent from the moment Cottle told her… As the nurses cleaned her up and hooked her up to an IV, while they introduced a tranquilizer and a pain killer to her drip, all of them giving her empty platitudes, she said nothing to any of them. There was nothing to say, the loss was eating away at her.
Her daughter, the life she'd fought so hard to create and nurture, the piece of herself and Karl she'd betrayed her people for, the future she had embraced died before it ever really had a chance.
And she had felt it die within her.
How could she face Karl now?
He'd been with her every step of the way; supportive when he could be, protective when he needed to be and at all times an excited father-to-be.
He crossed the space between them and sat on the edge of the bed near her feet. She shied away, unable to bear whatever he'd say next. She could only imagine what would happen now, his child had to have been the only reason she still lived. Now she'd be shoved out the airlock and they had sent Karl in to tell her.
"I'm sorry Sharon." She rolled away from him, not wanting to hear that she'd been condemned, "I wish… I wish I could say more, I wish I could do more. I don't know what to do or say though." She heard him sniff, "I wanted her so much, and now she's gone and I don't…"
She rolled over and scowled at him, "Just say it Karl, then have me dragged down to the airlock and be done." He gave her a stunned look and she barreled on, "That's why they sent you after all, 'The Toaster killed your baby Helo, so she's lost her usefulness.' I welcome the end, because anything's better than this."
He shook his head, "Sharon, no one's chucking you out the airlock, I swear. They sent me in here to be here for you and hopefully you can be here for me too, 'cause I just don't know how to feel." He reached out and gripped her hand in his, "Every inch of me hurts." She nodded to let him know it was the same for her. "I'm angry, but I don't know who to be angry with… how could we have been given this gift only to lose it before we really had it? I just…"
Karl's free hand moved in hopeless circles and it broke the dam, she had thought herself alone and her life over but Karl was still there and hurting just as much as she was. With a sob she pulled on his hand and said, "Karl."
He followed the implied demand on him and wrapped himself around her and the tears came for both of them.
&&&&&&&&&
"I cannot believe what I just heard. Admiral, would you please explain yourself."
The temperature in sickbay plummeted as Roslin turned all of her ire on the senior Adama. Lee watched the resolve in his father's eyes and it reminded him where his stubborn temper came from. "Sharon-"
Her correction came out in a hiss "The Cylon!"
Bill hissed right back, "Sharon was a military prisoner. We agreed at the very beginning to separate military and civilian matters."
She cast an angry finger in Sharon's direction, "That Cylon is a threat to the security of this Fleet and every person in it and I will not allow you to-"
"She's provided valuable information on Cylon intelligence and tactics freely for over five months, she's helped us devise ways to duck their patrols. She's done far more then she had to and the least we can afford her is a measure of trust."
"This isn't trust, this is insanity!" Their voices hadn't risen above a conversational volume, but the venom could be felt clear across sickbay. "I can understand Lieutenant Agathon and Major Adama being fooled by her, Prisoners of War often form attachments to their captors, but you know what this model of Cylon is capable of above all."
"Are you implying that two of the officers under my command have been brainwashed?" Lee recognized the clipped tone his father used just now, he was mad enough to throttle her, President or no. You did not besmirch the people under Bill Adama's command and walk away. "Apollo and Helo survived two months behind enemy lines unaware of her being a Cylon and when they found out they took her into custody and interrogated her. They didn't start helping her and they didn't suffer from some sort of Hostage-Captor psycho-babble syndrome. They did their jobs, and I have done mine. I've assessed her as first a captive and then as a defector-"
Decorum was forgotten and the President actually scoffed, "You honestly believe she's defected?"
Adama fixed her with an equally incredulous expression, "You don't?"
"What reason has she given to make us believe?"
Adama shook his head, "It's strange that the open-minded school teacher has to be lectured about trust from the hard-hearted military man. She has done everything in her power to earn our trust. I'm not putting her in CIC for the Gods' sake; I'm putting her in quarters."
She shook her head, "She could still betray the Fleet, what makes you think she wouldn't now that she's lost her child?"
Kara stepped forward and into the argument, "She could kill us anywhere at any time, even now if she wanted to she could kill you or me before we could stop her. The agents have shown that their strength and agility is above human capabilities. From the very start, she's been our prisoner by her choice and indulgence, not by anything we've done. For that matter, if Sharon was so inclined she could betray us at any time and in any place. With a mere thought she could let them know where we are."
"All the more reason-"
Lee had had enough of this and spoke over her objection, "All the more reason to offer her trust, Madam President."
Adama nodded as he removed his glasses, "Seven months ago, I made a speech at Galactica's decommissioning ceremony. I asked why, why we were worthy of survival. I've asked it a thousand times since, even after the fall of the Colonies reports come across the wireless; murder, theft, drugs, rape, it's all still here. We can see it, we know the Cylons see it, and you know what we were prepared to do to Cain. So I ask one more time, why are we worthy of survival and furthermore, why is she not?"
He paused for a moment and earned silence even from Roslin, he frowned and spoke. "I think the reason we are worthy of survival is not anything we've done, but what we could do. We can change, we can decide to be more than we are but we can't do that all at once. It's going to have to be step-by-step and it will be a long road. That's why I refused to order Lee to shoot Cain. It's why I've tried to offer Sharon some measure of trust. And it's why I'm offering her a chance at freedom now. We need to stop doing whatever we have to and start doing what's right, otherwise we haven't learned anything.
"Twice now, the Cylons have risen up and tried to destroy us and twice now, the Gods saw fit to allow us to live another day. I don't need visions of serpents and ancient cities to know there's a reason. This is a chance, to trust someone who was once our enemy to prove to ourselves and the Gods that we are better than we were and worthy to live not just one more day, but to live in freedom."
The group was silent for a long time and Roslin finally spoke, "I'll trust your judgment Admiral. If you'll excuse me, I should return to Colonial One." She turned and left sickbay.
Kara left a moment later after giving the Old Man a smile and Lee's fingers a subtle squeeze. Lee finally turned to his father with a mixture of emotions, pride and respect foremost amongst them; "Do you really believe all that stuff about the Gods?"
Bill smiled, "Maybe, but the more important question is 'am I right about all this stuff?' I'd like to think so."
Lee nodded, "If it helps, I think so."
They allowed the father and son moment to linger one more moment before Bill said, "You should get back to the courtroom, I'll call Tigh and let him know you're on you're way."