Chapter 22:
"She did what?!"
"Jim, no, don't get up. You've lost too much blood to be waltzing around."
"Gen, I have to go after them. They-They're gonna kill her..."
The despairing anger flaring in Jim's eyes but moments ago faded with his words as his look grew distant.
"I...I let her go."
"Jim, listen to me. You didn't do this. She chose to fight with everyone else. I'm sure she had no intention of being taken hostage...again. We're going to get her back."
Genevieve was doing everything she could to keep Jim from even sitting upright, her ship's medic busily stitching him up as best he could.
She and her crew had been only minutes too late to stopping the smugglers from escaping the Aberdeen, her own crew quickly able to help secure the ship, throwing the remaining wounded of the brigands into their respective cells down below.
"Captain Hawkins, please try to hold still. I need to clean and treat your other injuries before we can even think about moving you. This will take time."
"Time...Time is exactly what we don't have right now. Zarabeth is out there with that-that hobgoblin and his maggots and I'm stuck lying here like a useless old shirt while Doctor Dan here stitches me up. N-No offense Daniel."
"None taken." The medic chuckled low as he smiled casually, his practiced hands steadily working to sew up one of the larger open cuts on Jim's arm.
"Jim, we'll start searching the moment we land. I promise. I want her back too, ya know." She could only manage her smile for so long, her imagination left to picture the worst at the though of Zarabeth's predicament, but she had to stay strong for Jim's sake. She couldn't let him see how truly afraid she was beneath her relatively calm exterior.
"Gen, I have to go with you. I have to see for myself that she's safe."
"Jim, the only place you're headed for is the nearest hospital. You heard it yourself, much longer like this and you might not have had any hope of surviving at all. We can't very well take that kind of chance with you again, not when we can be certain of ensuring your recovery if we act now. That nasty infection of yours isn't about to just go away. Zara would want you to do this."
"If Zara was here to tell me so herself, I wouldn't be questioning it in the first place." Jim's instinctive attempt to prop himself up was forgotten nearly as quickly as he'd tried, a sharp breath coupled with a small groan, the instantly amounting pain the only convincing he needed to lay back down.
"You know what I mean." Moving to the side table beside the medical platform, Genevieve rung out a rag that had been soaking there idly before carefully clearing the boy's forehead of the feverish sweat covering it, her tone gradually becoming more forceful to emphasize her point. "Jim, there's no point in fighting it. The moment we dock is the moment we ship you off to the emergency room, and that's final."
About to reply, the boy's attempt was cut short with his efforts to keep from making a sound as the medic began to clean the infected wound on his hip, only managing to speak after he was certain of being able to manage an even tone again. "At least...At least let me wait till I'm certain she's safe. I won't let them take me in until I know. Please, Gen. Wouldn't you want to know if it were Cane?"
The door behind Genevieve opened on silent hinges, a feline man in an officer's uniform dipping his head in respect before closing it behind him. "Captain? We just received word from the men we sent down to Rhitan."
Quickly turning to completely face him, the golden tresses of Genevieve's hair fell idly over her shoulders, her look hopeful yet with caution in her tone. "Good news, I hope?"
"They've confirmed that the tribal men were able to get through to the officers of the royal family. They believed them. Right now they're taking as many precautions as are possible, though with a perimeter to maintain of this size, it's proving difficult. That's the good news. The bad news is that we think McCoy and his men have landed. We just don't know where or in what district they intend to close this deal we've been anticipating."
"They-They could be anywhere by now. Anywhere in the city. Zara could be-"
"Jim don't. Don't even think about it. I told you, we're going to find her. How soon can we land?"
"Not longer than an hour's half more."
"Thank you Mr. Jameson. Continue our course for the port at full speed. We dock first, then we worry about tracking down those terrorists."
Once again left with only the medic, Genevieve surrendered a long breath in worn out frustration as she moved to sit on the edge of the small medical platform beside Jim. She watched without a word as his expression remained nearly unreadable, now devoid of even pain as the man continued to put to right the overwhelming evidence of his recent abuse.
For a long while, silence was the loudest sound in the room aside from the generally low clicking of the medical tools, both Jim and Genevieve's minds too heavy with worry to break the invisible barrier.
Unsure of when the right moment to speak would be, Genevieve respected the quiet between them until the surprise of Jim's cold touch against her own trembling hand brought her back into awareness.
"Jim?"
He stared blankly at the wooden ceiling above them, his grip on the girl's hand surprisingly steadfast for how weak he still was. For a few more tense moments, he didn't move to say what was obviously plaguing his mind.
Jim swallowed hard in an attempt to get his already forced words past the growing lump in his throat, unsure of what he was even trying to say as he slowly began to empty his flooded thoughts.
"Gen, we've been through so much, me and Zarabeth. All these years and I...I can still remember what she looked like the first day I saw her."
"Really? That was a long time ago now. You were both eighteen, weren't you?"
"Yeah, crazy isn't it? Ok, well maybe I can't remember exactly, but she was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that's in a girl's voice or a look in her eyes, not just pretty for the sake of pretty."
His soft smile melted away with the returning dullness in his crystal gaze, his eyes moving back up to concentrate on some knot in the wood high above him.
"We've been in danger from the moment we met. Pirates. Hormonal skin-changers. More pirates. But...somehow, we've always come out alright. I was always there to try to fight my way out, for both of us. The one time I didn't even have a stitch of control to save her, that summer she got sick, I could only sit by and hold her hand. I mean, she almost died. And I couldn't do a thing to stop it. I'd never felt so helpless. Except now. I...I vowed to protect her. I was supposed to keep her safe."
"Jim..."
Shifting so she could better face him, the girl's hand shook a little under his, unable to imagine how hard this was for him. If she was in his place, if it was Cane's life that hung in the balance, she knew her thoughts would be just the same. But it wasn't only Zarabeth's situation that was precarious.
Jim had told her and her medic of how the men had practically tortured him for information they never got, that the wound on his hip was Ewen's parting gift before he'd been thrown back into the brig. He'd lost too much blood. He hadn't the means to treat the wound himself, the untended problem breaking out in an infection which could have very well cost him his life.
Genevieve knew how badly he wished to stay in the hopes of learning of Zarabeth's safety, but she had to think of his own since he wasn't about to do it. No matter what he said, she knew he had to be taken care of first. He had to let her worry about finding Zara.
A short series of knocks from just outside the door stopped even the medic mid-motion as they watched one of the lesser-ranked spacers poke his head just inside the door's frame, his look almost sheepishly apologetic upon seeing the group inside.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. But you're needed on deck. We're preparing for our docking sequence here shortly."
"Thank you, Jason. I'll be right out."
Waiting until he'd retreated back behind the wooden door, Genevieve released a fatigued sigh to urge herself forward, unwillingly getting back to her feet before instinctively straightening the front of her uniform jacket, one of her hands still in Jim's grasp.
"I'll send word to the hospital the moment we hear anything of Zarabeth. One of my men will be waiting for you when they've finished putting you back together.
Jim released a trembling breath as he pulled his arm to rest over his closed eyes, his other hand feebly surrendering Genevieve's with a small nod in resignation.
For a short while, no one said a word, the quiet neither awkward nor a comfort, but simply utter silence until Jim's soft words somehow managed to be heard.
"Gen...Just promise me you'll find her. You'll make sure she's ok."
Her eyes dropping to concentrate on her boots, the girl replaced her captain's hat before managing her equally quiet reply, giving her medic a small smile in thanks as she stepped out.
"I promise. You will see her again."