Chapter Nineteen
"Final checks complete?"
"Yes, ma'am. Waiting to start the beams on your command."
Rebecca flipped the switch that allowed her to communicate with Billy in the other room. "We're all set on this end, Billy. You still okay over there?"
"As okay as I'm going to be," Billy replied, his voice crackling slightly through the speaker. "Let's just get this show on the road."
Rebecca smiled, and flicked the switch back off. "You heard the man."
Standing to the side, yet with a clear view through the observation glass, Edwin couldn't quell the anxiousness that once again filled his stomach with butterflies. The medic was so wired that he jumped when his comm link flared to life, the shrill sound seeming to fill the control room. All eyes turned to him at the sound, some surprised, one or two annoyed. Rebecca only smiled faintly. "You'll have to take that out in the hall," She said. "I don't want to risk anything affecting our computers, even a little."
Lifeline looked down at the comm irritably, debating whether or not to answer it. In the end however, his training won out and he quietly took his leave of the control room, stepping out into the hallway before answering the hail. "Lifeline here."
"Lifeline," Duke's voice issued from the comm.
"Duke." the medic said, sounding a bit surprised.
"I need you back here," the Joe's field commander said without any preamble.
"Back? But I can't..."
"It can't be helped," Duke continued on, cutting off the medic's protest. "We've got confirmed Cobra activity and I need you here."
"But Bil... Devil Dog..."
"Look Lifeline, I only agreed to let you go because that STRATCOM agent said it would only be for a couple of days. I need you back here, that's all there is to it."
"But the treatment, they're just starting..." the medic stammered out.
"I want you back here, today." Duke said, the tone of his voice brooking no argument. "That's an order Lifeline, not an option."
"Yes, sir." Lifeline said after a few moments, his shoulders slumping a bit in defeat. "I'll talk to Agent McGivern and arrange for transport back to headquarters."
Before Duke could reply, a sudden frenzy went up in the room Lifeline had just left. Frantic shouts were barely muffled by the door, Rebecca's voice suddenly clear as she pulled the door open. "Lifeline, we've got a situation and I need you in here now!" She said hurriedly.
"Lifeline, what's going on? Duke asked, hearing Rebecca's voice through the comm link.
"I gotta go, Duke." the medic said as he hurried back into the control room through the open door.
"LIFE--" Duke's voice was caught off as Edwin flicked off the comm.
"Sorry to break up your chat," Rebecca said as Edwin rejoined her, "but take a look at that."
What had happened in the minutes that passed while Edwin was gone from the room wasn't completely clear. Only that the machine had been activated, but the "attack" on the parasite had been enough to trigger it. Slightly pulsing ropes of flesh, wavered and snapped around the Marine, who was straining against his bindings, his actions that of an injured animal. So far, however, the restraints were holding.
"Oh my god..." Lifeline's brown eyes widened behind the lenses of his glasses and he immediately rushed to the observation window, his palms flattening on the the thick shatterproof glass. "BILLY!"
"We have to calm him down, and get that parasite back under control," Rebecca said hurriedly. "They've turned off the machine, and I've got a security team on standby, but I'd rather not handle this violently if we don't have to. Do you think you can calm him down?"
"I—I can try... " the medic responded, his wide eyes locked on the scene in the treatment lab. "I might be able to talk to him..."
Rebecca turned to the rest of the crew. "Out into the hall, all of you. Hail McGivern and tell him I want that security team outside with you and standing by. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am." came the chorus of replies.
"Move it."
Edwin was oblivious as the staff filed out, his attention focused slowly on his restrained lover and the horrifying tableu on the other side of the glass, the parasite's tentacles whipping and snapping, flicking specks of blood on the walls and equipment.
Once the control room was empty, save for the two of them, Rebecca turned to Edwin. "Do you want to try talking to him through the comm system first? Or do you want me to let you in there?"
It was Rebecca speaking to him that finally drew the medic's attention away from the window. "I... it won't hurt me... "
"Go ahead, then," Rebecca said. "I'll keep an eye on you from here. If things start going badly, you come straight back in here, understand?"
Lifeline nodded mutely as he drew away from the glass and moved towards the door that led into the IMRT room, pausing momentarily as Rebecca opened the automatic door. The first thing that hit him was the smell of blood, the flailing tentacles glistening with it. Stepping cautiously into the lab, his eyes immediately went to the treatment table and Billy. The Marine's back was arched, pushed upwards by the parasite's tentacles, the table under Billy red with the blue-eyed man's blood. Edwin's hand went to his mouth. "Oh god..."
"Don't take too long," Rebecca hissed, her eyes on Billy.
If Lifeline heard the young woman, he made no acknowledgement as he took a few more steps into the lab. "B-Billy..." The tentacles slowed their flailing, Billy slumping a little in his restraints. The skin around the heavy leather straps was bruised, some of it rubbed an angry red. No words escaped the Marine, only a low, pained groan. "Billy..." Edwin's voice was hushed as he approached the treatment table, warily watching the whiplike cords that were still moving around the Marine's prone form.
They hovered now, almost watchful, sagging a little in what might be fatigue or pain.
"C'mon Devil Dog, let me hear something."
"... hurts..."
Lifeline felt relieved momentarily when Billy responded. "I know," he said, now only a few feet away from the other man. The Marine's skin was extremely pale, more than likely due to blood loss, his body glistening with perspiration. "I just need you to calm down and let this thing know we're not going to hurt it."
"I don't think... it'll listen..." Billy gasped out, closing his eyes, trying to will the tentacles to lower, then gasping sharply again when the attempt to wrest control from the parasite only seemed to enrage it, and pain swept through him again.
"Billy!" Edwin called out to the other man as he moved to close the distance between them.
Billy tried to call out to Edwin, but the pain was too all-encompassing, the tentacles lashing out and wrapping around the medic's arms and waist as he drew closer. The grip was strong but not meant to cause pain. Lifeline froze in his tracks as the he felt the whiplike cords encirlce him, fear washing over him. "Edwin!" Rebecca cried out as she stood in the automatic doorway, pistol in hand. She couldn't risk a shot and she knew it, but the weapon reassured her.
The medic scarcely dared to breath, let alone look over his shoulder at the sound of the young woman's voice. "D-Don't – don't come in here..." he warned.
"Are you all right?"
"S-So far... it's just h-holding on to me."
"A-Alright..." Rebecca fell silent then, watching the scene unfolding before her, feeling the first nagging of doubt at havng let Lifeline enter the treatment room.
Edwin remained immobile, afraid to move in fear of the parasite taking it as a sign of aggression. "I'm not going to hurt you..." he said as he looked at Billy, still unsure of just how cognizant the creature might be.
Billy's eyes opened, glazed over now, his breathing slow and even as the tentacles tightened around Edwin just a little. It wasn't being threatening, but it clearly had no intentions of letting the medic go. Lifeline's eyes were still on his lover, more concerned about the Marine that he was for himself. "Rebecca," he called out to the young woman. "I think he's going into shock. He's going to bleed out if we don't do something."
"Do you think it'll let me bring a medkit to you?"
"I don't know, but we have to do something."
Even as they spoke, the hold the tentacles had on Edwin started growing lax. One of the fleshy ropes released Edwin's arm to touch his cheek. The parasite's touch was tentative, uncertain, or so it seemed. "It... it knows what we're trying to do," Billy whispered softly.
The unexpected touch caused Edwin to jump a bit, the tentacle leaving a smudge of Billy's blood on the medic's cheek. The touch jerked away from Edwin, before the tentacle fell away entirely, hanging limply down to the ground. "Edwin?" Rebecca whispered from the doorway.
"I think it's okay, Rebecca." Lifeline responded, his eyes going to the now immobile appendage. The other fleshy cords were slowly losing their grip, Billy's body going slack in the restraints.
The medic's gaze went back to his lover, the tentatcle around Edwin's waist loosening but still holding him. Unlike before when the parasite had retreated, it didn't appear to be drawing back into Billy's body. Nor did it seem like the wounds in the Marine's back were closing this time either, the blood gathering on the table under Billy's body still darkening. "I think there's something wrong." Edwin called over his shoulder to Rebecca, daring to turn his head a bit this time so that he could see the young woman. "They're not retracting."
"Well, we did manage to hit it before everything fell apart," Rebecca said. "I guess we damaged it worse than we thought..."
Even as she spoke, the next tentacle fell away from Edwin's other arm to join the first. "I think it's dying."
"I think you're right..." Rebecca said, watching as the tentacles around Edwin's torso tightened a little in a kind of embrace, before falling away. Edwin caught the fleshlike rope in his hand, looking down at it in a kind of morbid fascination. It was still pulsing faintly, and the extra length wrapped around his hand weakly.
"I'm sorry," the medic whispered softly as he brushed the fingertips of his other hand over the slick surface. There was another faint tightening of the tentacle before it, too, went slack.
Gently, Edwin set the the now lifeless appendage down on the floor before rushing over to Billy, his long legs quickly closing the short distance between them. "Billy!" Reaching out, he put his fingers on the Marine's pale neck, the other man's skin cool to the touch, to check his pulse. It was weak but still detectable, and the Marine made a soft sound at Edwin's touch. "Rebecca!" Lifeline called out as he looked over his shoulder. "Billy's pulse is weak and he's lost a lot of blood. We need an emergency team in here, stat! If the parasite is dead then the wound isn't going to close."
"Already on it," Rebecca said, heading back toward the door to inform the rest of her medical team waiting in the hall.
Edwin went to work on the restraints. "C'mon, soldier boy, you can't leave me yet..." he whispered as he worked at the leather bindings.
"Not...going...anywhere..." Billy whispered, right before he blacked out.
Billy was rushed into surgery, Edwin and Rebecca numbly trailing after the team as they raced down the hall. The most major concern had been to close up the wound on the Marine's back to try to stop the bleeding and get him stablized. Since he was not allowed to accompany Billy into the surgical suite, Lifeline instead did the only other thing that he could think of to help his lover. The medic donated blood, knowing that more than likely Billy would require a transfusion. Since the medic had been treating the Marine prior to Rebecca's arrival at Joe Headquarters, he knew Billy's blood type and knew that they would be a match. Feeling a little lightheaded himself, Lifeline had returned to the surgical unit to wait for news.
It was perhaps seven or eight hours later before one of the surgeons emerged to quietly speak with Rebecca, the young woman having rejoined Edwin after she had briefly left with Bruce McGivern. The wound in Billy's back had been closed, after the surgeons had had to remove the tentacles, cutting them away but leaving the body of the parasite per Rebecca's specific instructions. As integrated into Billy's system as the creature had been, even dead it would be impossible to remove without possibly killing the Marine. While the wound had been closed, Billy would still require additional surgery and skins grafts to repair the damage. As Rebecca spoke, Edwin couldn't help but wonder if Billy's coveted Marine insignia tattoo had managed to survive somehow. He had wanted to see Billy, but the Marine was in critical condition and in the recovery room still under anesthesia and would be unconscious for a time yet. Rebecca had suggested that Edwin return to his room and try to rest, promising that she would let him know when he could see Billy.
Reluctantly, Edwin had done as the young woman suggested, trudging back to the room he had been given. Once inside, he had called into Joe Headquarters, Duke being none too happy at having been cut off and demanding to know what had happened. Lifeline had explained as best he could, finishing up with Rebecca's report on Billy's condition. The medic had asked his commanding officer to let him stay for a few more days, but Duke had remained steadfast in his refusal, reminding Edwin that his first responsibility was to the Joe team. Lifeline had wearily acquiesced, promising to leave the STRATCOM facility first thing in the morning. Perhaps hearing the weary, defeated tone in the medic's voice, Duke had agreed, telling Edwin that if he wasn't back at Joe Headquarters by the end of the next day, then he would be considered A.W.O.L.
Edwin had signed off and then stumbled to the shower, only to fall into bed right afterwards; yet as bone weary as he felt, he couldn't fall asleep. Bleary-eyed, the medic had managed to hunt down Bruce McGivern very early the next morning and arrange for one of the STRATCOM aircraft to take him back to The Pit. Before he left however, he went to see Billy.
The Marine was laid out on his stomach, unconscious and sleeping deeply. He was still pale, but his skin had lost its waxy appearance. Rebecca was sitting next to his bed, holding one of his hands and watching him quietly. The only sounds in the room were the quiet sounds of his monitoring equipment. Edwin paused in the doorway when he saw Rebecca before his eyes immediately went to Billy's unconscious form. Rebecca heard the door, however, and glanced over her shoulder at him. "They still calling you back?"
The medic pulled his gaze away from the Marine. "Yeah," he said quietly as he stepped into the room. "If I'm not back by the end of the day, Duke is going to report me A.W.O.L." Lifeline moved around to the opposite side of the bed, his eyes going to the monitors for a moment to see his lover's vital signs. "How's he doing?" he asked the young woman, turning his attention back to Billy. "Has he woken up yet?"
"No, he's been out the whole time," Rebecca replied quietly. "But his prognosis is good. Once we can get, and keep, him stabilized, we can schedule him for at least one more treatment. Just to make sure that parasite is completely braindead."
Edwin reached out, his long fingers combing through the shaggy dark hair at the back of the Marine's head. It was a gesture that under normal circumstances he never would have made in public; but since Rebecca was privvy to the true nature of his relationship with Billy, he allowed himself to. "I'll email you or call you or something daily with a progress report for him," Rebecca offered softly. "I know it's not the same as being here for his recovery yourself, but..."
The medic nodded as he looked at the young woman. "You're the only person I can trust to take care of him." he said softly. "You're the only person who cares about him like I do."
Rebecca smiled a little. "I wish I could give you an estimate on how long it'll take to get him well enough to come home... but we'll see. He's a tough guy, and I know he'll be anxious to get back to you." She replied, looking back at Edwin.
Lifeline's fingers slid from Billy's hair. "Thank you, Rebecca." he said, his voice breaking a little and his eyes beginning to mist over a bit.
Releasing Billy's hand, Rebecca walked around the bed and slid her arms around Edwin from behind in what she hoped was a reassuring embrace. "There's nothing to thank me for." She murmured.
"He might be like that poor woman at Lakeview right now if it weren't for you."
"Tell you what. The next time I get out that way, you two can take me to dinner or something, and we'll call it square. Sound like a plan?"
"Dinner, movie, shopping spree... the whole nine yards." Lifeline said, the hint of a smile curling his lips a bit.
The faint smile carried over into his voice, and Rebecca tightened her hold a little. "Deal then," she said softly. "There's only one thing I want you to do for me in the meantime."
The medic turned in Rebecca's embrace. "Anything," he said as he looked down at her.
"Try to play it cool for the next couple of weeks, okay?" She asked, smiling a little. "Make nice with the people we've been straining relations with trying to get Billy taken care of. I don't want you getting into any more trouble."
Edwin's smiled widened just a fraction. "Agreed."
"Good," she said, nodding, then after a moment, added with a soft blush. "Oh, and... um, say hi to Main Frame for me?"
"Main Frame, huh?" Despite his mood, the medic couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "I think he'll be happy to hear that you haven't forgotten him."
"No, I didn't... but all things considered... well... I'm hoping he and everybody else'll forgive me once Billy's back safe and sound."
"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Lifeline said as he moved to embrace the young woman. "Thank you," he reiterated once more.
Rebecca returned the hug warmly. "You're welcome," she replied
The medic held Rebecca for several moments before letting her go. "I've only got a few more minutes before I have to meet Agent Kennedy."
"Want me to see you off?" She asked, smiling a bit.
"You don't have to," Edwin replied softly. "I'd kind of like you to stay with Billy, I – I wouldn't want him to wake up and be alone."
"You got it," Rebecca said. "I'll try to email or call tonight, and let you know how he's doing, okay?"
Lifeline nodded as he turned back to look at Billy. "If he gives you any trouble, let me know. I'l come and straighten him out for you."
Rebecca chuckled softly. "Done."
Reaching out once more, Edwin brushed his fingers through Billy's dark hair before he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of the Marine's head.
"You'd better get going," Rebecca said softly. "Don't want 'em thinking you're not going."
The medic looked at his unconscious lover for a few more minutes before he pulled his hand away and straightened up. Turning around to face Rebecca once more, he gave her another hug. "Take care of him for me," he said before releasing her.
"I will," she said softly.