"Commander. Commander! Please wake up!" Eagle cried as she knelt next to Isaac's bed. Nimi turned to avert her gaze after laying eyes on Isaac's burns and cuts.
"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I should have been out there with him to protect him." Eagle said as her teared dampened the sheets of Isaac's bed.
"Eagle... There was no way you could have known this would happen. You shouldn't be beating yourself up over it." Nimi said.
"I am the flagship! This was something I could have prevented. How is this not my fault?" Eagle cried as she stood up and glared at Nimi.
"Humans always find new ways to surprise us. They don't always make the most logical moves." Nimi said.
"I guess you have a point. Doesn't make me feel any better, though. This incident was a failure on my part. I will take responsibility and stay with him until he recovers." Eagle said as she knelt back down next to the bed and held onto Isaac's hand.
Nimi walked to the other side of the room and tried to keep her own tears hidden.
"We were going to learn how to make Rode Grütt..." Nimi whispered.
Nimi looked over at Eagle and found her fast asleep.
Nimi pulled another bed over and pushed it next to Isaac's. Nimi also took the time to lay down and catch some rest. She had already sent the request for Rodney to tow the Eagle as well as Eldridge to tow her own Z23.
"I will watch over both of you, since you two are the most injured of our merry little fleet. You two drew a lot of fire. Not even Rodney took this much damage." Nimi spoke to the quiet room.
Nimi looked over and saw beneath the covers that Eagle hadn't removed the burned clothes from Isaac's body.
"Damn it Eagle, keeping these clothes on him will lead to an infection. My deepest apologies, Herr Isaac. But I must undress you and tend to your wounds." Nimi said as she stood and removed the covers from Isaac's body. She found a pair of scissors and cut Isaac's shirt and pants off of his body, leaving him in his shorts and bared to Nimi. She looked in disbelief. Her surprise came from the fact that his heavy clothes had hidden the less prominant parts of his figure. But to her amazement, it wasnt just his arms and chest that were chiseled, but his abs and the muscles on his back were well defined too. Aside from the cuts and burns, she had to agree with Eagle. Isaac's body screamed strength and power.
"Wow." She whispered , her face turned ruby red as she examined him with her eyes.
"I-I need to get gauze, a cloth and some water." Nimi said to herself as she tore her eyes away, draping the blanket back over Issac's body.
"I shouldnt be thinking like that! He's injured and fighting for his life! I have to keep my cool so I can help Isaac." Nimi berated herself as she found her cloth and sterile water and gauze.
"Alright, Isaac. Pardon the intrusion." Nimi said as she pulled back the cover and set about cleaning his wounds and burns. His face slowly relaxed as she cooled his burns and placed a damp cloth on his head. She ran her hands over his abs and back, looking for wounds and bits of metal as she moved him, cleaning his wounds and sticking gauze to them with tape to keep them covered.
"I dont know much, but i learned a little from Vestal. I hope this helps." Nimi said as her own fatigue started to set in.
Nimi went back to her bed and relayed the information to the other two, leaving out the part that she had practically stripped Isaac naked. She also requested that Rodney come and check on them in an hour since she was going to rest as well. Nimi closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
"He will find her at Cape Muroto. This one will wait patiently until he arrives... and makes this one his own." A single line shot through Isaac's mind. A few seconds after, Isaac opened his eyes. The bright light burned but he quickly adjusted. He attempted to move his hand but found it stuck. He looked over and saw his hand being held tightly by a sleeping Eagle.
"Commander?" Rodney's voice was heard from the doorway.
"I see. Let me grab you a drink, commander. I'm not like Dido or Belfast, but I can still make a good cup of tea." Rodney said as she disappeared into the hallway.
"My head is killing me. What happened?" Isaac asked as he looked back at Eagle.
Eagle was still fast asleep, the soft rise and fall of her chest gave him comfort.
"I'm glad youre okay." Isaac whispered as he leaned over to kiss her cheek.
"Commander? Are you okay? How do you feel? Are you in pain? Is there anything I can do to help?" Eagle asked as her sudden over the top eagerness to help caused him to jump a bit.
"Uh..." Isaac was about to talk when Rodney spoke over him.
"Eagle! Calm the hell down. Can you not tell that he just woke up? You should be a bit more reserved until he is completely here." Rodney said as Eagle looked at her. Her tears began to flow again.
"This was my fault, damn it! Why is it that when I try to make it right, I am doing too much?!" Eagle yelled as she stormed off down the hall.
"I am so sorry for her outburst, Commander. I will make sure she is harshly reprimanded for her actions." Rodney said as she turned to give chase to Eagle.
"Wait." Isaac said, his voice still groggy.
Rodney froze.
"Don't be too hard on her. I hold nobody but myself accountable for my injuries. And I am more touched than anything by her sentiment and care. Please just keep an eye on her and make sure she is okay." Isaac requested as he fell into a coughing fit.
"Commander, are you alright?!" Rodney asked as she rushed to help him sit up.
"I'm fine. Just trying to get back into rhythm. How long was I out?" Isaac asked.
"3 hours, by my count sir." Rodney said.
"I see. And what of the battle?" Isaac asked.
"Eagle pulled us through. Her rage enabled her to overwhelm the enemy by launching every aircraft she could manifest. She bombed the enemy into oblivion, sir." Rodney explained.
"I see. And what of Akashi? Did she make it out okay?" Isaac asked.
"Yes sir. Your orders were executed. She should almost be a quarter of the way back to base by now. We, however, did not push forward. With you out of commission, Eagle made the executive order to retreat to Tonga for the time being. We will meet up with reinforcements there." Nimi said as she sat on Isaac's bed.
"That's good. Im proud of all of you. You all did splendid." Isaac said.
"Sir, with all due respect, we only made it by sheer luck and Eagle's rage. Without that, we would not be having this conversation." Rodney spoke.
"I see. One more question... why am I in my shorts, and why are my clothes cut up on the floor?" Isaac asked as Nimi blushed bright red.
"I...uh... I had to tend to your wounds, since Eagle didnt remove your clothes before they scabbed over your cuts, I had to cut them off so I could... clean your wounds and clean the blood off your body." Nimi said as she averted his gaze.
"I see. Well I hope you didnt do anything untoward of a lady." Isaac said.
"No! Of course not!" Nimi retorted quickly, earning a raised eyebrow from Isaac.
"I see. Well, if thats the report, I need someone to jot something down." Isaac said.
"I have a pen and paper here, sir." Rodney said as she prepared to write.
"Cape Muroto. A womans voice was telling me that "he", which I am going to assume is me, will find "this one" there. I don't recognize the voice. I have never heard it before. But mark it on a map as an area of interest." Isaac said as he rubbed his head.
"Got it. I will head up to the bridge and give this to Eagle so she can chart it for you. But if I am correct, that is a cape near the Sakura home island. We have to defeat Tester Beta first to gain access to the strip of sea needed to get there. Thankfully, it isn't too far away from the Philippines, although i believe the seabed is littered with undersea caves, so if we are looking for any ships, it might be a tad difficult without submarine support." Rodney said as she left the med bay to give the report to Eagle.
"Thank you, Rodney." Isaac yelled out.
"And you, Nimi. I didnt want to embarass you in front of Rodney... but I was able to feel you touching me." Isaac said.
"Shut up! Idiot Kommandant! Double schoolwork for you!" Nimi spat as she tried and failed to hide her face in her hands.
"Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. Here. As a token of my apology." Isaac said as he placed a kiss on Nimi's cheek.
"Better?" Isaac asked.
"It'll do for now. Still, double schoolwork. You still have much to learn about being a commander. This battle was luck. It is not far off from saying that God was smiling upon us. We need to get better and stronger." Nimi said.
"I agree." Isaac said.
"That said... I think i can still slip in our cooking lesson, as a sign of good faith." Nimi said. "I even traded for a cute little apron back in Tonga. I hope you like it, Isaac." Nimi said as she walked out of the room with a smile on her face.
"These girls..." Isaac said as he pushed himself to his feet.
"Thankfully nothing is broken. I really did get lucky, huh?" Isaac asked the now empty room.