Chapter 26
Zarabeth quickly stopped Jim's attempt to sit up, her own look becoming uneasy with the fearful disbelief flooding the boy's crystal gaze.
"W-What do you...They took Silver?"
Not trusting her reply in immediate response, Zara could only give a small nod as she dropped her own gaze to concentrate on her hand holding his, feeling his slight grip tighten a little on her fingers.
"I...I did everything I could to make him run, but he just wouldn't listen. He stayed willingly. Silver let them arrest him so I wouldn't be forced to lie to the officers. He was just trying to protect me, to protect us. Jim, I'm so sorry."
She couldn't stave off the tears which came to her eyes at the memory of Silver's last look, a look filled with too much peace for the fate he knew awaited him for staying behind.
Zarabeth hated crying, it didn't matter why or where, she just hated it, hurriedly putting her other hand to work as she did her best to clear away the tears falling helplessly over her cheeks. She couldn't be doing this. She had to pull her emotions back together for her sake, for Jim's. They were both worried about Silver now, Zara couldn't make him worried about her as well.
It was his gentle touch, warm and hesitant against her face, which made Zara turn her gaze back up to his, the unexpected look filling Jim's eyes making her so unsure of what he was truly feeling. Frustration? Hurt? Resignation? She couldn't completely understand it, a hint of undeniable tenderness all the while behind it.
For a while, neither of them spoke, their eyes meeting in those silent moments teaming with emotions inexpressible by word alone. It was in a touch, his gentle look, the way he managed a sad sort of smile for her as he finally found the composure to put together a coherent thought for her with each soft word.
"Zara, there was obviously nothing you could have done that you hadn't already tried for him. Silver knew what he was doing, no matter how painful he knew it would be for you, and for me. It hurts me to think of what they'll do, but I'm angry too.
I'm angry at myself for not having been there to keep this from happening at all. I'm angry that Ewen got his claws deep enough into Felix to make him tear apart this perfect little world I called mine. I'm angry that I couldn't protect you on my own ship.
Silver came because you were trying to save me and my men. He rescued you and I was stuck lying here out cold instead of being down there with him to see you safe myself. They arrested him because I couldn't be there when you needed me most. And I'm sorry."
Zarabeth let Jim steadily pull her close, drawing nearer to him until her forehead was gently cradled against his, her few tears falling to mix with his own as he released a heavy breath in surrender to the feelings overwhelming his mind.
"Zara, I will get him back. I won't let them kill Silver."
"Jim, there's nothing you can do now...It's over."
"I am a captain of the Royal Navy. It's not over till I say it is."
Despite the conviction in his voice, Zara couldn't help the soft laugh which managed to escape her, trying to recover her mistake as she let her lips meet his in a tender kiss. "I've missed you."
"You've no idea."
Taking her reactions in stride, Jim gently wound an arm about her to pull the girl closer, his other hand clearing his cheeks before carefully undoing her hair to let his fingers freely get lost in its unruly waves.
"But Zarabeth, I'm dead serious. I won't let them keep Silver without a fight. Even if they lead him up to his noose, I'll still be doing everything to stop it."
"I know you will."
"I'll start by getting a message to the courts to try to delay the trial, at least until they let me out of here."
"I do apologize for the delay, but the supplies were interesting to acquire without suspicion."
The two quickly sat farther apart at the sudden reappearance of the nurse, the alien woman almost completely ignoring them again as she laid her smuggled goods down on this table and that counter before pulling a small medical bench alongside the bed, lightly patting its metal surface with an inviting smile.
"Alright, Mrs. Hawkins. Let's fix you back up, shall we?"
Carefully moving off of the hospital bed to sit atop the cold bench, she gave Jim a reassuring smile as she hurriedly wiped away at what were left of the tears lingering beneath her eyes. "Thank you again for doing this. My husband is stubborn like a toddler when he wants me around. Just ask his superiors."
The nurse started by carefully removing the haphazardly wrapped excuse for a bandage covering her left arm, the woman's every move precise and gentle in her attempts to keep Zarabeth from any unnecessary pain.
"These small lacerations are a result of glass, you said?"
"Yes, I was able to take out the larger pieces myself, but the people who helped me removed what they could of the rest, so I'm not entirely sure how much is still there."
The nurse paused for a moment before placing a pair of rimless glasses to balance on her nearly flat nose, her large eyes only magnified further through the lenses as she leaned in close.
"I am baffled, Mrs. Hawkins. There seems to be no indication of any neglected glass. These precise cuts over your arm are that of a medical-grade scalpel or some other tool, clearly used to remove the glass. They were more than thorough. I need only bandage your arm properly in order for it to heal. There should not be any scaring as a result."
Zarabeth smiled softly down at nothing in particular as her mind wander back to Nomie and her people, feeling more and more grateful for the help they gave to her. She couldn't help but wonder if they had already returned to the forest moon, feeling unavoidably dissatisfied with their parting and her inability to properly thank them for everything they had done for her and Jim.
"Mrs. Hawkins?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes, sorry. You were saying about the tests?"
The nurse smiled patiently down at the girl beneath her as she finished wrapping her arm in clean bandages, routinely checking the girl's vitals as she continued, now convinced of Zarabeth's full attention.
"I had the scanners run all known tests against your blood to seek out the smallest signs of infection or other such viral or bacterial presences, but you'll be glad to know that no such things were detected."
"That's a relief. I think you can only handle one infected Hawkins at a time. This one here's enough of a handful already."
Zara gave a small chuckle at Jim's response to her teasing, finding herself thinking him even more comically cute with the mocking sour look he gave her.
The girl instinctively winced as the nurse went through the motions of cleaning and bandaging the few gashes and cuts sporadically covering her, not returning her attention directly to the alien woman. Zara preferred to keep her gaze constant with Jim's as the boy carefully took her hand for comfort, gratefully accepting it as her grip tightened every once in a while for relief.
"You will also be relieved to hear that despite the trauma you've endured, your human chorionic gonadotropin levels are strong and should continue to steadily climb. So as far as I can tell without doing further testing, your baby appears to be unharmed."
"My-My what?"
Looking down, the nurse seemed puzzled by the shock in Zarabeth's expression, the woman turning a little to see the same look from Jim as she attempted to laugh away their awkwardly blank stares.
"Your baby. Mrs. Hawkins, you are three weeks pregnant."
"P-Pregnant? I'm...pregnant?"
For a few moments, Zara could only sit there in stunned disbelief, the nurse's words finally beginning to take root as she distantly turned her gaze to Jim beside her, giving the boy's hand a small squeeze to grab at his attention.
"Jim? Please say something."
The boy stayed silent another moment before swallowing hard, a distant smile gradually crossing his lips as he spoke in distracted disbelief at the wall opposite him. "Baby..."
The word seemed to bring his mind back into full clarity as he sat up enough to completely face Zarabeth, pulling her close to tenderly kiss her before separating just enough to manage his words between small bits of his undeniably overjoyed laughing.
"Zara, we-we're pregnant-you're pregnant! You're gonna have a baby, and I...I'm gonna be a dad."
Unable to do anything at first but simply nod with her own soft laughter, she smiled so hard it began to hurt her cheeks as she let Jim kiss her over and over again.
"I-I can hardly believe it. Jim, we're gonna be parents."
His smile in that moment, Zara knew it had never been more gentle, Jim's hands on either side of her face so steady in assurance, gently holding her as he closed his eyes.
His forehead moving to lean against hers, Jim spoke so that only she would hear him, making her able to believe in that small moment that they were the only two people in the world. Well, now three.
"Thank you."