Dreams:
November 20, 2000:
As I write these words, my heart goes out to my daughter, Judy, as we all hope and pray that Don will come out of the coma. The sole survivor of the Jupiter 6, Lt. Colonel Richard Tyler, turned out to be an agent of the organization we know as Aeolis Umbra. It was his intention to take the life of my daughter, and my future son-in-law. In the struggle at the cave, Don was wounded by a gunshot and was very close to death when we arrived back at the ship. Doctor Smith has done all that he can for him, and my wife and I can only wait for the outcome.
John put down his pen, no longer able to continue his journal entry. He and his family had been through so much over that past few days, and the strain had begun to take its toll. Ready for bed, Maureen sat down next to him and welcomed him into her arms.
"Maureen," he said, his voice colored with worry.
"I know, John. It's out of our hands. If Don doesn't pull through, we have to be strong…"
Maureen couldn't finish her thought. Instead she clung tighter to her husband. They stayed in each other's arms for a very long time.
...
Don found himself alone in a subterranean chamber that could have been the blueprint for the underworld. The smell of brimstone and the fire erupting through the floor, completed the imagery, but he was so cold, colder than he had ever been.
"Judy! Smith! Where are you?" he called.
The place reminded him of the inter-dimensional prison that once held the alien they knew as Morbus.
"No, it can't be," he said aloud. "This place was destroyed when Judy broke the harp."
In the distance, he heard a voice, a woman's voice. He started walking towards it.
"Judy!"
He walked for what seemed like hours, but the voice didn't seem to get any closer.
"Judy! Smith!" he called, again.
"She can't hear you, Major West," said a familiar voice behind him.
Don spun around and for a moment couldn't believe his eyes. A demonic apparition was standing behind him and his facial features bore a striking resemblance to Zachary Smith.
...
"Don!"
Judy awoke with a start, and for a moment she didn't know where she was. She reached for the night light and flicked it on.
As she looked down at her fiancé, she remembered, it wasn't just a bad dream. Don had really been shot.
Quickly she checked his vital signs, both pulse and respiration. She was about to check his blood pressure when she heard a knock on the door. She threw on her robe and unlocked the door.
"Judy, are you all right?" asked her mother, as she stepped into the room. "Your father and I heard you call out."
"It was just a dream, Mother. I'm sorry I woke you."
Maureen looked over to Don and noticed the blood pressure cuff.
"Is there any change?" she asked.
"I was just about to check," said Judy.
She put the stethoscope to her ears and wrapped the cuff on Don's forearm and pumped up the pressure. As she slowly released the air, she made note of the two readings.
"One ten over sixty two," she said. "The diastolic is still a bit low."
"It's much better than it was when he came out of surgery, Judy. I'd take that as a good sign."
"I hope so, Mother," she said. Judy looked to her mother and felt her façade beginning to crack. "I can't live without him…"
Maureen took her daughter in her arms, "Judy, no matter how this turns out, your father and I will be with you, as will Penny and Will. You're not going to face this alone."
After her mother had returned to her cabin, Judy removed her robe and climbed into bed next to Don. She whispered into his ear, "Don, wake up. Please don't leave me alone…"
...
"Smith is this some kind of a joke?" asked West, as he carefully watched the demon like creature next to him.
"I would hardly call death a joke, Major West. Don't you remember what happened to you?"
"I was in the cave. Tyler was going to kill Judy and I…"
"You jumped into the line of fire. Now, had you been paying attention, you would have noticed that Judy dove for cover. Tyler would have missed and you would have been able to disarm him. Instead, you are quite dead, and alas, Miss Judy is destined to be alone for the remainder of her life."
The voices in the background seemed to be getting louder, and Don could almost make out what was being said.
"For the past three years, she has been waiting for you to show her some affection," said the Smith apparition. "But you've always been too busy. And now, it is too late. Tell me, Major, how does that make you feel?"
"You don't know what you're talking about," said Don, as he stepped towards the creature, his anger evident in his voice. "Ever since we left Earth, her father and I have struggled just to keep us all alive."
"Ah, yes. One day it's the force field needs alignment, or the next day the chariot needs repair, or the day after there is work to be done at the drill site. Why is it that her father finds time to spend with her mother, but you couldn't spare the time to even take her for a walk unless of course she asked you? And then you have the audacity to blame it all on Smith."
"That's not true…"
"Isn't it, Major? When was the last time you asked her to take a walk, or planned something special with her? By her own admission, she didn't know if she still meant anything to you. You promised her parents that you would never forsake her, but you have forsaken her for the past three years!"
Don dropped to his knees. He couldn't deny it. Having his faults spread out in front of him was too much. The Smith apparition was right. It was only recently that he had started paying attention to her again. He had wasted all of that time, and now there was no more time. West could not hold back the sorrow, and he began to weep.
"I'm sorry Judy," he said, through his tears. "I'm so sorry…"
"Don, wake up. Please don't leave me alone…" said her voice. He could hear it clearly now.
"Judy! I'm sorry!" he cried. "Forgive me, I'm so sorry!"
...
Judy jumped when he answered.
"Don, Don, please wake up," she said, slapping him gently into consciousness.
Slowly his eyes fluttered open and he called, "Judy, please forgive me." He reached to hold her but the pain from the gunshot wound kept him from moving.
"Oh, what happened?" he asked, now fully awake.
"You were shot, Don. Don't you remember?"
"Vaguely," he said. "Tyler?"
"He's dead. Doctor Smith was wrestling the gun from him when it went off. Speaking of Doctor Smith, he wanted to see you as soon as you were awake."
"What do you mean?"
"You were bleeding internally and Doctor Smith operated on you. He saved your life, Don."
Judy stood and threw on her robe and left the cabin. In a few minutes, Smith was at Don's bedside, examining him, and John and Maureen were standing in the doorway. Judy stood next to Smith, waiting for his prognoses.
"Now that you have regained consciousness, Major, I can give you something for the pain."
"Let me get up…" said Don, but as he tried to sit up he collapsed back into the bed.
"Now, let that be a lesson to you, Major. Just lie there and be thankful that you are still alive. Had the bullet hit you half an inch to the left, you and I would not be having this conversation. You are going to be here for the next few days, so I suggest that you make yourself comfortable."
"Wait a second…"
"Doctor's orders, Major," said Smith.
Smith prepared the injection and administered it into Don's forearm. Smith looked up to face Judy.
"He is out of the woods now, Miss Judy. Although I suspect that he is going to be a difficult patient."
"Not if he knows what is good for him," said Judy, in a voice that would broach no argument.
Once they were alone, Judy asked him, "Don, why were you apologizing?"
Don told her about the dream he had just experienced, breaking down to tears as he shared what he perceived to be his failure.
"It seemed so real," he said. "The demon even sounded like Smith. And to make things worse, he was right. Judy, I've wasted the last three years. If I had paid more attention to you, maybe we would have been married by now…"
West couldn't continue. Between the medication and the rawness of his emotions, his throat closed up preventing him from speaking. He turned away in shame.
"Don, don't beat yourself up. The past three years have been hard on all of us. I'm just as much to blame. I've been sending you mixed signals by trying to be the perfect daughter for my parents benefit. I should have been concentrating on us."
Judy could see that he was still fighting with self doubt and guilt.
"Look at me, Don."
He turned his head to see her smiling her beautiful smile and her love for him emanating from her deep blue eyes. Judy took his hand and held it to her heart.
"Judy, you deserved so much more than I…" he said.
"Shhh, it's all right," she interrupted. "Right now, I'm just thankful that you're alive, and we have the rest of our lives to set things right with each other."
She paused for a moment and started giggling.
"What?"
"I was just thinking, Don. For you, to have to listen to Doctor Smith, for all of eternity, that would have been hell."
"Boy, you can say that again," said Don, his mood lightening.
Judy reached over and gently kissed him, "Goodnight my love. Sweet dreams."
"I love you, Judy Robinson."
For the first time, since finding the wrecked spacecraft, Judy was able to relax into a peaceful sleep.