fanfic_name = The Promise
chapter = 3
author = LTjg_GT_RDF
Rating = AP
Type = Angst
fanfic = THE PROMISE
CHAPTER THREE
Lisa tried to run out onto the flight deck but was stopped short by a chief petty officer that grabbed her by the waist.
“Ma’am you can’t go out onto the flight deck! It’s too dangerous out there!”
“Chief let me go! I need to know if Rick’s unharmed!” Lisa yelled as she balled up her fists, hitting the chief petty officer’s arms.
“Ma’am the crash crew is getting Commander Hunter out right now. Wait until the crash crew has him on a stretcher and out of harm’s way first. They’ll most likely take the commander to sickbay. Don’t worry ma’am. He’s in good hands with the crash crew. They know what they’re doing.”
All Lisa could do is to stand at the side of the flight deck, praying and hoping and watching helplessly as the crash crew extracted Rick from the wreaked VT. Please Rick. Please be alive. Don’t leave me. Please.
The chief petty officer let go of Lisa and let her stand beside him as they watched the crash crew swiftly but gingerly got Rick out of the wreaked cockpit and laid him on a stretcher onto the crash truck. Rick was unconscious but breathing. His flight suit was bloody. The medical crew put a cervical collar around Rick’s neck and immediately inserted an IV into his arm. The truck was approaching where Lisa was standing when she waved them down to stop.
“Petty officer I’m riding with you!”
The male petty officer wasn’t about to say no when he was commanded to by Lisa, even if he didn’t saw the engagement ring on Lisa’s left ring finger.
“Hop aboard ma’am.”
Right then Roy came up in the jeep. Tires squealed as he jammed on the brakes.
“Where are you taking Commander Hunter, sickbay?”
“No sir ship’s hospital. His injuries are too serious to be taken care of by the corpsman!”
“Ok! Go! Lisa! I’m right behind you in the jeep!”
Lisa nodded an acknowledgement to Roy and turned her attention back to Rick. He was in the stretcher and still unconscious. She was holding his hand and whispering her love to him hoping that he can hear her.
The crash truck arrived at the hospital in a matter of minutes. The crew carried Rick into the ER while a nurse stopped Lisa and Roy from entering. She assured Lisa and Roy that Rick is good hands with the doctors and he will be taken care of. Lisa and Roy waited outside as they saw the medical team cut off Rick’s bloody flight suit, inserted an IV, put an oxygen mask on him and placed EKG electrode pads on Rick’s chest. The head doctor barked orders to the nurses and asked for Rick’s blood pressure, breathing, and level of consciousness.
Some thirty minutes went by. The battle was over and all remaining VTs started returning to the SDF-1. Instead of attending a mandatory debriefing, Max, Miriya, Ben and the rest of Skull Squadron went the hospital to check up on their commanding officer and friend. Claudia showed up to be with Roy and to support Lisa. The attending doctor, Commander Wainwright stepped out of the ER.
“Commander Hayes, I need to speak to you in private.”
Lisa nodded and walked beside the doctor until they were out of earshot of everyone. Lisa turned and looked at the doctor straight in the eyes.
“Doctor, how’s Rick doing? Just tell me the truth. Please don’t sugarcoat it just to make me feel better. Tell me the truth.”
Dr. Wainwright nodded his head. “Very well, commander. Commander Hunter is unconscious but we have him stabilized. He has lost a lot of blood. Good news is that we do have enough blood available and he does have a common blood type so it should not be a problem in getting his blood replaced. I don’t know if he has internal injuries. However, I’m very concerned about his legs. Not only was he shot in the legs but also his legs looks very badly damaged. That most likely happened when he crash-landed. I’ve ordered x-rays to see how his legs looks like and if there is any damage to them. The x-ray technician should be here at anytime. When the x-rays are developed, I should have an idea of how serious his injuries are. I should know the results of the x-rays very soon.”
“Why is he unconscious?”
“I don’t know why he’s unconscious. That’s one of the quirks of the brain. It happens. I’ve ordered an MRI done on his brain so I can have an idea of what’s going on in his brain. I also ordered an MRI done to see if there is any damage to his internal organs.”
“Can I see him?”
“Only immediate family members can see him.”
“I’m his fiancé and Captain Fokker is like a brother to him. We’re about the only family he has.”
“That’s good enough.”
Lisa walked slowly to the door that led into the ER. Dr. Wainwight opened the door and guided Lisa in by his hand. A nurse was in the room attending to Rick and looking at the EKG. She then brought a chair over so Lisa can sit down.
“Go ahead and talk to him. He can hear you. I’ll be outside if you need me.”
“Thank you, nurse.”
Lisa sat down, leaned over, kiss him on the lips and starting stroking his jet-black hair. Tears began to fall from her eyes and onto Rick’s face as she held his hand in hers.
“Rick sweetheart. It’s me. It’s Lisa. I love you so much.”
“Lisa? Lisa? It’s me. I’m alive. I can hear you. I can’t get out! It feels like I’m trapped inside my body. Can you hear me?”
“You’re in the hospital Rick. The doctors and nurses are taking really good care of you. When you slipped that engagement ring on my finger I made a promise to never to leave your side Rick. And I never will. Everyday, I’ll be here waiting for you to wake up. Claudia said that Vanessa, Kim and Sammie would help cover for me and whenever I’m not working; I’d be here right beside you. I can’t wait for you to wake up so I can see your beautiful blue eyes again. I’ll be here right beside you. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to get Roy, Rick. So, I’ll be right back, darling. I won’t be gone for very long.”
Lisa then walked out to Roy to tell him it was his turn to see Rick.
“I don’t know if I can, Lisa. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know if he can even hear me.”
“The nurse says that he can hear you.”
“I still don’t know if I can go in.”
“Do you want me to go in with you, Roy?” Claudia asked quietly.
“Please Claudia. I can’t do it by myself.”
Roy with Claudia holding his hand walked slowly in and stood beside Rick’s bed. Roy grabbed Rick’s hand and held it in his. Roy bent down and started talking to Rick. He was trying to be strong but he was losing his composure.
“Hello, little brother.”
“Roy? Roy! It’s me. I’m ok! I can hear you! Can you hear me? Can’t anyone hear me?” Hello?”
“I’m right here with you buddy. Claudia is here too. Don’t worry about anything Rick. Max will be a good replacement until you came back. Don’t rush things, ok? You take your time. You need to get your strength back before you can fly again. Once you come back and start flying again, how about you and I have a little race ok? You just hang in there, little buddy ok? Don’t give up on Lisa or me. We all need you, ok?”
By then, Roy lost all composure. He let go of Rick’s hand and buried his face into Claudia’s shoulder and started crying. It had taken him several minutes before he was composed enough to leave the room. By then, other pilots were outside in the waiting area wanting to know about Rick.
Lisa smiled her best smile and told everyone. “Look everybody. I’m glad all of you are here for Rick, but there isn’t really much any of you can do for him for right now. Why don’t all of you go back to your quarters? If anything happens to Commander Hunter, I’m sure the hospital will call me right away. Just keep Rick in your thoughts and prayers. Ok?”
Many of the pilots didn’t want to leave because one of their own is injured. But you don’t disobey your commanding officer. “Yes, ma’am” was many of the pilots reply.
As the crowd started to leave, Lisa turned around to go back into the ER. A hospital corpsman walked in wheeling a portable x-ray machine. Lisa decided to wait outside in the hallway until the corpsman was finished taking Rick’s x-ray. She waited for several minutes.
“Ma’am, I’m finished. You can go back in.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome ma’am.”
Lisa walked back to Rick’s bed, pulled down the railing and being careful of the IV tube, EKG leads and the oxygen mask and tubing, she moved, slid and scrunched herself to lay on her side next to Rick. It was a tight fit for her but it didn’t matter to Lisa. She was by Rick’s side. Even if they were in hospital bed on board the SDF-1. She began combing her fingers through Rick’s raven colored hair and was whispering into Rick’s ear.
“Rick honey. When you slipped that engagement ring on my finger, you made me the happiest woman on the ship. You even made Claudia jealous. You can make me even happier by waking up. I love you so much Rick. Oh, I can’t wait until we’re married. I wonder how many children we’ll have.”
Lisa continued to lay beside Rick, talking to him and combing his hair with her fingers. Very soon without realizing it, she fell asleep. A nurse came in to tell Lisa that visiting hours were over, when she discovered Lisa asleep in the bed on her side next to Rick. She walked quietly over and gently shook Lisa on the shoulder.
“Commander Hayes…Commander Hayes. Wake up.”
“Huh? Did I fell asleep?”
“Yes you did. Commander Hayes it’s 2100 hours. Visiting hours are over and we’re about to take Commander Hunter to radiology for his MRI.”
“Then I need to be here for the results.”
“I’m afraid it’s going to take a while. The MRI will take 30 minutes at least to complete. Then the doctor has to look at the results and to come to a conclusion. Besides, you look really tired.”
“I am.”
“Then why don’t you go back to your quarters and get some sleep? We have your phone number. If anything happens to Commander Hunter during the night, we’ll call you.”
“I guess you’re right, nurse.”
“Do you need anything to help you sleep tonight, a sedative perhaps, commander?”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
Lisa turned around and kissed Rick on the lips.
“I love you Rick. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“No! Wait! Lisa! Don’t go yet! I want to tell you I can hear you! I love you! Don’t go!”
Lisa returned to her quarters where barely several hours earlier, Rick asked her to marry him and she said yes. Nothing was changed from the time he put the ring on her finger and he was called to fight and to the time she left for the bridge where she saw her world changed right in front of her eyes. Not wanting to turn on the lights and having a safety light to help guide her around the almost dark living room of her BOQ, Lisa sat down on the couch and looked over at the spot where earlier was the scene of much joy and happiness for her. The chair that fell over when she leapt at Rick and the forgotten dessert that is still on the table. It all looked like something out of the distant past now. Everything has changed. When Lisa came to that realization, she broke down and cried.
She cried not only for herself but mostly for Rick. She lay down on the couch and continued crying. She balled her hand into a fist, hitting the couch asking why. Why did God, fate or whatever it’s called would deal such a cruel hand to her? Why it may take away the one source of joy in her life? Why this damned wretched war might claim the one she loves? What the Zentraedi want with us anyway? Why? Why? Why? She can’t come up with an answer and kept crying until she can’t cry anymore. Physically and emotionally exhausted, she just closed her eyes and forced herself to go to sleep. She didn’t want to have to get up off the couch, go into the bedroom, take off her clothes and go to bed. The bed is a place to be shared with someone you love. And the one that she loves is on a bed in the ships hospital fighting for his life.
State = Continuará/To Be Continue
feedback = Sí/Yes
email = georgemtATearthlink.net