fanfic_name = The Sit. Room Incident

chapter = 7

author = Dwparsnip

Rating = AP15

Type = Romance

fanfic = Remember:



He pulled her down and kissed her passionately on her lips.





Sue Graham never once thought about stopping him and enjoyed every second of it. She knew that he thought that she was Lisa, but it didn't matter. All that mattered to her was that right now, Rick Hunter was kissing her like she was the love of his life.



Rick sat up, and while his head protested adamantly that it was the wrong thing to do his emotions overruled it. He got onto his knees facing her and his kissing became more and more passionate. As far as he was concerned, his hands were on Lisa's face, his lips were kissing his wife's lips and his hands were slowly making their way up and down his wife's back. He worked his hands to the front of her body and he began, ever so slowly to undo her uniform.



He finally had the top part of her uniform undone when a blinding flash erupted in his head. He stopped, closed his eyes and brought his hand up to feel the right side of his forehead. There he discovered a sizable bulge and he vaguely remembered hitting the console in the shuttle when it had crashed. He rubbed it for a second and when he looked up again his vision was cloudy.



"Are you all right Rick?", he heard Lisa's voice say breathlessly.



He answered her by opening her uniform top and pulling it down over her arms, which she then shook off to land on the floor of the cave. He put his hands on her bare shoulders and pulled her into another passionate kiss. He could feel her searching for the way to remove his own uniform when another piercing flash of pain jolted into his head. He squeezed his eyes closed to try and stop the blinding pain, but to no avail.



It didn't last much longer because seconds after he closed his eyes, Rick had the presence of mind to gently lower himself back onto the floor of the cave and his body finally succumbed to the need for sleep, rest and recuperation.



Realizing that everything had stopped, Sue Graham fell back in a heap, almost as dazed as Rick and even more out of breath. She just sat there for a few minutes, unable to move. She knew he was still alive because his chest was going up and down as he breathed; at least it looked that way in the limited light afforded to her by the electrical storm. And she guessed he had a concussion because he thought that she was Lisa and kissed her. She thought to herself, 'And he was going to make...'



She quivered as she remembered his hands on her body and brought her own fingers up to touch her lips which he had kissed so hard. She suddenly felt a chill and reached with shaking hands to retrieve her uniform top. As she replaced her garment, she recalled bringing the emergency communication console from the shuttle and the backpack. She opened the backpack she had carried to the cave and took out the med kit, water and light. 'That's much better, she said when she activated the light.



Still a little overcome by the strong emotions she had just experienced, she staggered to where the communication console was. Forcing herself to focus, she activated the console and opened the emergency frequency.



"This is Lieuten.", she tried but her voice had not yet regained its composure. She cleared her throat and tried again. "This is Lieutenant Sue Graham calling SDF-3. Do you read?" She waited five seconds, and when no response came she said again, "This is Lieutenant Sue Graham calling SDF-3, do you copy?"



Again she waited and again there was no response. Just in case they could hear her she said, "SDF-3, this is Lieutenant Graham on the moon's surface. I have taken refuge in a cave with Admiral Hunter. He requires immediate medical assistance. Please respond."



No response. She stood up and walked towards the cave entrance, but she was still several feet inside the cave and she could see that the electrical storm was still raging on, in fact it didn't look as though it had weakened at all. She decided to go to get the communications console and bring it closer to the mouth of the cave to try to get better reception.



After she did that she tried again. "Lieutenant Sue Graham to SDF-3. I have taken refuge inside a cave on the moon's surface with Admiral Hunter. We are the only survivors of Shuttle-5. Admiral Hunter requires urgent medical assistance. Please respond SDF-3."



When there was still no response several seconds later she activated the emergency locator, then went back to check on Rick.



He was still out cold. She brushed his unruly hair away from his eyes and rubbed her hand across his head searching for injuries. 'That has to hurt', she thought as her fingers touched the lump on his forehead. She checked his arms and legs for broken bones, though from his embracing and fondling earlier she suspected he was fine, except for the bump to the head.' At least that appears to the only injury', she thought with relief.



She poured some water into the cover of the canteen and placed it at Rick's face, gently letting it spill into his mouth. She then brought the canteen up to her own mouth and took a refreshing swallow of her own. That done, she took a sterile gauze pad from the med kit, soaked it in some of the water and gently rubbed the dirt off of the lump on his forehead. The skin wasn't broken and antiseptic wasn't required.



She sat down and rested her back against the wall of the cave, remembering the emotional fervor she felt a short time ago. It was the most wonderful feeling she had ever experienced, and it was tempered only by the knowledge that it wasn't meant for her, but for Lisa Hunter.

------------------------------ ----

Lisa was in her office looking over the latest reports concerning the storm that had washed over the surface of the moon and had stranded her husband and several others. She didn't know who else was with Rick, the headcount was taking longer than expected. It had been three hours since Rick's shuttle had crashed, and the helplessness that Lisa was feeling ached like nothing ever had before. This latest report said it would be another eight to twelve hours before a window would open to investigate the shuttle. It was more than she could bear.



There was a knock on the door and Captain Forsythe came in. She noted the concern in his voice and was touched deeply by it. "Is there anything I can do Lisa?", he asked her.



She shook her head in response. He looked at her and said, "I have the names of the people that were on the shuttle." He passed her the list and turned to leave.



"Captain", she said. "Thank."



He held up a hand to stop her. "No need Admiral. Anything you need let me know." He again turned to leave and as he opened the door he looked at her and said, "He's tough Lisa. He'll be back here driving you crazy before you know it."



She smiled and nodded her head.



When he closed the door she looked at the list. There was already one confirmed fatality, an Alpha pilot by the name of Lieutenant Simon Trentwell, whose Alpha was hit by multiple lightning strikes. Max said he was a good pilot and a very good person. Besides Rick, there were four other people in the shuttle. She read their names to herself, 'Lieutenant Scott Marks, Dr. Elisabet Bjorn, Nurse Anne Grady and Lieutenant Sue Grah.'



Her heart froze in mid beat and refused to start again for a couple of seconds. 'Of all the people on the ship, why her?', she thought with despair. She couldn't take it anymore and let loose the wave tears she had tried to stave off for hours now. It was all bad enough, but for Graham to be with him in this time of crisis instead of her was overwhelming. Rick needed her. She was sure of it. She could feel it. He was calling her name and she couldn't go to him.



She leaned back in her chair and hugged herself as if trying to fend off an Arctic cold. 'Oh Rick, what I wouldn't give to have you hold me right now. A piece of me is missing', she thought, 'a very important piece and I don't even know if you're okay.' She shook her head, 'No, he's okay. He's been through too much, we've been through too much for him to die in a shuttle that was hit by lightning.' Tears were falling out of her eyes, rolling down her cheek and then onto her uniform. She didn't care. She closed her eyes and slowly shook her head and thought of Sue Graham. 'Why her?'



There was another knock on her door. "Come in", she said. She never bothered to wipe the tears away. She had a right to cry as far as she was concerned.



The door opened and Max came in. He saw the pain and fear in her face and the tears were leaving little wet streams going down her cheeks. But what disturbed Max the most were her eyes. From the very first day that he had seen Lisa Hunter years ago, when she was Lt. Commander Hayes and the First Officer of the SDF-1, he thought that she had the most beautiful green eyes. They were always sparkling, whether he saw her on the bridge, in Macross or in a meeting. That hadn't changed over the years, in fact there were many times in the last few years when he had thought that her eyes just kept getting brighter and more beautiful. It didn't matter if times were good or bad, they just glowed.



But when he looked at her sitting behind her desk, her eyes didn't sparkle. They were hollow and almost lifeless, as though the light that was the source for their sparkle had been extinguished. His heart pained at the sight of her dull eyes.



He went to stand beside her and he put his right hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, as if noticing for the first time that she wasn't alone in her office. She saw the heart breaking concern in his eyes and she threw her arms around him cuddling her face into his stomach, and as she cried, Max kept his left hand on her right shoulder and began caressing her head with his right hand, trying to be as reassuring as he could.



When he spoke, he spoke as confidently as he could. "It's going to be okay Lisa. He's going to be okay. You can't give up."



Still sobbing she said, "I haven't given up Max. I just can't stand not knowing." As she thought about what she was going to say a new wave of tears and fear hit her. '.If he's okay or if he's hurt.'



Knowing what she was thinking, Max backed away from her enough to kneel down in front of her. He took her hands in his and held them on her lap, and with as much assurance as he could instill in his voice and light blue eyes he said, "Rick Hunter is too stubborn, too smart and too much in love with his wife to die Lisa. Do you hear me?"



She looked at him and managed a tiny smile. "It's so hard Max." As she shook her head she continued, "And on top of everything else, Sue Graham was on the shuttle too."



"I know Lisa, I know." It was the reason he stopped supervising the repairs on his plane to come and see her. He gave her hands a reassuring squeeze and stood up. "With your permission, I'm going to head out when the repairs are finished on my Alpha and see the storm for myself. When I get in orbit, I'll try the communication system too. They may be trying to reach us from the shuttle but can't get through the interference."



"How much longer for the repairs to Skull One?", asked Lisa.



He replied, "About another hour. That lightning was potent stuff. It fried a lot of the electrical system. You should have heard the curses coming out of the chief when he saw the damage."



"An hour?", she said. After a second's hesitation inspiration struck and she said, "I have a better idea Max." She picked up the intercom headset and dialed the number for the hangar deck.



"Chief Roberts, this is Admiral Hunter. Please ready a shuttle for launch."

------------------------------ ----

Twenty minutes later, Max was sitting at the controls of Shuttle-1, going through the startup sequence. After finishing he said into the headset, "Shuttle-1 to flight control. We're ready to go."



'Roger that Captain', came the response. 'Stand by. '



Max looked at his copilot and asked, "Are you sure about this Lisa?"



"Not really", she said honestly. "But I can't just sit down and wait anymore. I've got to do something."



He could understand how she felt. He was pretty sure that if Miriya were missing he would go mad if he couldn't help to find her.



'Flight control to Shuttle-1. You're clear for launch Captain Sterling. Good luck and Godspeed.'



"Thank you flight control. Launching.now!"



Seconds later they were in space. Max called up the navigational information to punch into the computer. He set a course that would place them into a tight orbit of the moon, with the insertion point being above where he had earlier discovered the crashed shuttle.



Lisa was getting the communication system ready so that when they were close enough they could give it a try.



They approached the moon and their orbital insertion point and Max thought to himself, 'The storm looks just as bad now as it did the last time I was here.' But he wasn't going to tell that to Lisa.



They achieved their tight orbit as planned, directly over the crash site, at least as best as they could tell because the instruments were still being scrambled by the electromagnetic interference, even in orbit.



Lisa looked at Max and took a deep breath. "Shuttle-1 to Shuttle-5, please respond."



She waited, but there was no response. She tried again. "Shuttle-1 calling Shuttle-5, please come in."



She cast a worried look at Max and he looked at her and calmly said, "It could just be the interference Lisa. Keep trying."



"Shuttle-1 to Shuttle-5, please respond."

------------------------------ ---

Almost two hours after Rick first passed out, Sue checked him over. His breathing was strong and steady and he didn't seem to be in any discomfort. She just finished off an emergency field ration when she thought she heard voices.



For a second she thought she was going insane, but she quickly realized that the voices were coming from the communication console.



She rushed to it and began fiddling with the dials to get better reception and after a few attempts she was rewarded.



She heard a voice over the channel, a voice that she recognized as belonging to Lisa Hunter. 'Shuttle-1 to Shuttle-5, please respond.'



Sue opened the channel and spoke urgently. "Admiral Hunter. This is Lieutenant Graham. The shuttle crashed and was severely damaged. Admiral Hunter and I are the only survivors and we have taken refuge inside a cave not far from the shuttle."



She hesitated, but only for a second. "Admiral Hunter was hurt. He took a bad blow to the head when the shuttle crashed and it looks like he has a pretty bad concussion. He passed out not long after getting inside the cave. He needs medical assistance."



She waited for a reply. She wasn't sure if the pause was because the channels were being interfered with by the storm, or because Lisa was trying to assimilate all the information.

------------------------------ ----

The emotions going through Lisa now were so strong and mixed that the only thing that kept her from closing her eyes and screaming was the fact that her husband was hurt and he needed her.



After Graham had finished her report Lisa said in a professional voice, "Understood Lieutenant. The storm is still extremely active in your area, but we have gotten enough of a signal to pinpoint your location. Captain Sterling and I are in a shuttle in tight orbit around the moon and will attempt to land as soon as there is an opening. You're going to have to be ready. When we land we won't have much time."



Tears filled her eyes and she asked with dread in her voice, "Sue. how bad is he?"



Her reply was, 'I think he'll be okay Admiral. I can't find any other injuries and he was awake and.talking to me before he passed out.'



Lisa wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "We'll be there soon Lieutenant. Hang tight and keep this channel open."



'Understood Admiral.'



She took a deep breath and released it, trying to calm herself down a little.



"Lisa, does that look like a break in the storm to you?", asked Max.



She looked at the radar screen but couldn't tell anything by it. It was a jumble of images and echoes caused by interference.



"No", said Max when he realized that she looked at the radar. He pointed below at the surface of the moon near where the shuttle was and asked, "There, do you see it?"



She did. It almost looked like what the eye of a hurricane would look like. There was a nearly peaceful and untouched spot about a kilometer wide in the middle of the purplish gray-black swirling mass of cloud and lightning, and it was almost on top of Shuttle-5.



"Go Max!", she exclaimed.



Max took the shuttle into a short steep climb and when he reached the apex of the climb he dropped the nose of the shuttle down and aimed right for the middle of the break and punched the throttle forward.



As the shuttle streaked into the eye of the storm, Lisa said into the communication headset, "Lieutenant Graham! We're coming in and we're coming in fast. Stand ready."



Graham's reply came back, 'Standing by Admiral.'



As the shuttle approached the eye, the storm almost as though sensing the shuttle's approach belched out bolt after bolt of lightning towards Shuttle-1, but Max managed to evade all of them and maintain his course into the eye. Even the winds seem to pick up, and when Lisa finally got up the nerve to steal a glance at Max his arms were shaking as they held the controls in place, trying to maintain their course.



Finally the winds and lightning eased as the entered the eye of the storm.



"We're approaching the shuttle now Lieutenant. Start moving!"



Max brought the shuttle in for a fast emergency landing a short distance from Shuttle-5. He powered down the shuttle, afraid that the power emanations and active power systems would attract lightning strikes and he was just unfastening his safety harness when he heard Lisa open the shuttle door.



He jumped up and caught up to her just outside the shuttle. The electricity in the air was palpable. Lisa and Max could feel it touching their skin, making the little hairs on the back of their necks stand up straight. "We're not going to have long Max. The edge of the eye is already almost here."



Max nodded and looked around. "The signal was coming from that ridge over there."



They both looked at the ridge and Max caught sight of Graham waving her arms.



He pointed and exclaimed, "There!"



He and Lisa bolted towards Graham and arrived next to her seconds later.



"Are you all right Lieutenant?", asked Max.



"I'm okay Captain. But we really need to go."



Max turned to look at Lisa, but she had already gone inside the cave.



Max followed her and found Lisa kissing Rick's forehead.



"Lisa", he said urgently. "We have to go. Help me get him up so I can carry him."



Lisa sat Rick up and Max grabbed both his hands, pulled him up into a standing position as Lisa held onto him, and as Rick doubled over forward Max moved his right shoulder into Rick's midsection and lifted him onto his shoulder.



"Let's go!", Max yelled.



Max, carrying Rick, Lisa and Sue moved quickly towards the shuttle. They were within ten meters of the shuttle when the storm unleashed several electrical discharges in the direction of the two shuttles.



The blue-white streaks slammed into Shuttle-5 like missiles, and the shuttle reacted as though it were missiles that had hit it. The explosion of the shuttle was enormous and Max, Lisa and Sue had to duck and dodge to avoid getting hit by flying debris. Lisa made it to the shuttle first and opened the door for Max. He went inside and placed Rick into one of the passenger seats in the cabin.



"Look after him Lisa", he said. "Lieutenant, you're with me", and he headed to the cockpit. Lisa was strapping Rick into the seat and didn't notice Graham hesitate by Rick's side and look at him.



Graham heard Max start up the shuttle and she went up into the cockpit, took the copilot's seat and buckled up.



"All right", said Max, already belted in. "The board is green. You all set back there Lisa!" he called.



"Let's get out of here Max", came Lisa's reply as she fastened her own safety harness.



The shuttle lifted off the ground and was immediately slammed back down by the strong downward winds. "No damage", Max reported to everyone. He worked the controls, his hands moving like a magician's and said, "Let's try that again."



Again, the shuttle lifted off and the winds came down, but this time Max was ready and compensated for the downward push by increasing the power in the upward thrust. The engines strained and Lisa thought they were going to explode, so loud was the noise coming from the engine compartment. But they didn't.



Max brought the shuttle up through the center of the eye, wanting to avoid the edges and giving any lightning that tried to strike them as far to travel as possible. And try it did. Several streaks of lightning passed in front of them, below them and above them.



Max looked ahead and noticed with dismay that the opening of the eye had narrowed considerably while they were on the moon. When they entered the eye the opening was a kilometer wide, but now it was just barely wide enough for the shuttle to get through.



Thinking ahead and realizing the possibilities, Max told Graham, "Get on the radio to the ship. Tell them we've got you and are approaching our escape point, but it looks like we may need help."



She did as he said and the SDF-3 moved to assist them by dispatching a force of two Alphas and maintenance shuttle under the command of Miriya Sterling.



Shuttle-1 got closer and closer to the opening of the eye, and the eye itself got narrower and narrower as they went upward. 'Going to be a very tight squeeze', he thought with some macabre amusement.



"Hang on Lieutenant", he said to Graham and then louder to Lisa, "Hold on Lisa, we're about to punch through!"



He gunned the engines for all they were worth as they approached the opening. They passed through and were about to start celebrating when the shuttle rocked with a collision. Max slammed into the port bulkhead while Graham was jolted to her left.



"Lightning hit!", Max yelled. For the second time in a few hours Max heard a computer give him a damage report that was caused by a lightning hit. It was bad the first time in his Alpha and even worse the second time in the shuttle.



"I have to shut down the engines or they'll blow", he yelled over the noise of alerts, sirens and computer reports.



Graham thought it was worth pointing out, "I don't think we're clear of the atmosphere Captain."



Max gave her a knowing look then started shutting down non-essential systems and the engines. "I'm hoping we're close enough for our momentum to get us out, Lieutenant."



The shuttle slowed its ascent and came to a stop. It just stayed stationary for a moment and they could actually see the maintenance shuttle a short distance away standing ready to assist them. They were beginning to think that they had made it when the shuttle seemed to be getting smaller. A second later they realized that the rescue shuttle wasn't getting smaller, they were moving backwards. Max was trying to get some response when again the shuttle was hit from behind, jolting them all in a backward motion.



Max straightened up and said in complete astonishment, "We're moving. forward?" He couldn't understand it and Graham was totally lost.



'Need a lift Maximillian?', asked a very familiar voice over the communication net.



Max craned his neck around to the left to look out the shuttle's port window and could just see the very top of the head of a Battloid.



"Miriya!", he exclaimed.



Graham did the same out the starboard window and saw pretty much the same as Max.



Miriya and her wingman, Lt. Elliot had seen the shuttle take the hit and they had moved in to render any assistance they could. When they saw that Max had cut power to the engines, they switched to Battloid mode and grabbed the shuttle on both sides and engaged their own thrusters at maximum thrust. Miriya was sure that the Alphas would emit enough thrust to lift the shuttle out of the atmosphere since they were so close to it anyway.



At least, she was fairly sure the Alphas would have enough thrust.



It was déjà vu for Lisa and Max. It was reminiscent of the time that Lisa and Vermillion group escaped a Zentraedi ship in a Battle Pod, and Veritechs from the Skull in Battloid configuration grabbed the Battle Pod and pushed them to the SDF-1.



He couldn't really see her but said anyway, "Boy are you a sight for sore eyes."



The shuttle's forward momentum continued and a second later they were clear of the atmosphere. The Battloids kept a hold of the shuttle and headed towards the SDF-3.



Not having anything to do Max got up out of his seat to check on Rick and Lisa. Lisa was out of her seat kneeling beside Rick, who was still unconscious. She was holding his hands on his lap and was talking very softly to him. When she realized Max was approaching she stopped and got up to give Max a very grateful hug.



"Thank you Max", she said with heart-warming sincerity.



He leaned back to look at her and said, "I told you I would do anything for you two."



She laughed, released him and knelt down beside Rick again.



"How is he?", Max asked her.



Lisa replied, "I'm not sure Max. We need to get him to Jean."



"A couple of more minutes Lisa, we're almost there. We've radioed ahead to have a med team standing by on the hangar deck."



Lisa smiled at him, the first time in hours that she had a reason to smile at anyone. It did his heart good to see it, and the relief that was evident on her face. Then he noticed something that gave him great cause for relief and celebration: Lisa's eyes. The sparkle that was missing while Rick was on the moon and that Max had missed so terribly had returned. He smiled and as he moved back into the cockpit and as he took his seat he thought, 'Brighter than ever.'



Lisa took Rick's hands in hers and brought them up to he heart. "Can you hear me Rick?", she asked.



When he didn't respond her emotions overwhelmed her and she began to sob. She put his hands down by his side and laid her head on his lap, crying away.



"It's okay Lisa", she heard someone say. "Really, I'm going to be okay."



"Rick!", she exclaimed as she looked up.



He had a smile on his face, and though his eyes were still closed he said, "I'm tired Lisa, but don't worry I'll be okay."

------------------------------ ----

A couple of minutes later Max opened the shuttle door and got out of the way as the medial team entered the shuttle with Jean Grant in the lead. She was asking Graham all sorts of questions, which she readily answered, except the question about any physical exertion Rick did after the crash. She stumbled on that one, and it wasn't lost on Max.



They left with Rick on a stretcher and took him the infirmary with Lisa following behind them. Graham was about to head to her quarters, she assumed she wouldn't be welcomed in the infirmary, when Max took her arm and guided her to a remote part of the hangar. After making sure no one was close enough to hear he asked, "What happened in that cave Lieutenant?"



It took Sue by surprise, and when she hesitated he continued, "I hope nothing happened Lieutenant. If something did, it would upset someone very close to me, and that would be a very bad thing." He folded his arms on his chest and gave her an icy stare. "So Lieutenant, what happened in that cave?"



She looked at him and said, "Nothing happened sir."



Max gave her a cold look and said, "Dismissed Lieutenant." And with that Graham headed for her quarters. He watched her go and knew something had happened, but right now it was important for him to be there for Lisa. He would worry about Graham later.



He went to the infirmary and found Lisa waiting outside a room for word from Jean about Rick's condition. Max put his arm around her and she rested her weary head on his shoulder. A few moments later Miriya rushed in. Max released Lisa and Miriya threw her arms around him and he picked her up and twirled her around saying, "There's my Quadrano in shining armor." He kissed her, put her down and said solemnly, "Thank you partner."



She put her hand on his cheek and said honestly, "Anytime, Maximillian, anytime." She looked at him and asked in a whispered voice, "Rick?" Max shrugged his shoulders.



Miriya walked over to Lisa and gave her a hug. "He is strong Lisa. He will be fine."



"Thank you Miriya, for that, for everything", Lisa said.



Miriya looked at Lisa, locking her own green eyes onto Lisa's. "No thanks are necessary Lisa. You and Rick, you are my closest friends. And friends help each other, as you have proved many times over the years by helping me." The honesty with which Miriya uttered those words moved Lisa deeply, and she couldn't help but hug Miriya again.



A few minutes passed and Lisa was about to go in when Jean emerged from the room.



"He has a very large lump on his head, as I'm sure you noticed, caused by a very unfortunate meeting with a shuttle console. As a result, he has a severe concussion. He'll probably be drifting in and out of consciousness for a few more hours and we'll keep him here for observation, but he'll be fine Lisa", she said, and almost had to catch Lisa as the relief washed over her and her knees buckled.



"Lisa!", she exclaimed. Jean and Max eased her into a chair that was brought over by Miriya.



"I'm okay", said Lisa after a moment. She stood up, her strength returned and asked Jean in a voice that said she was not going to be stopped, "Can I see him?"



"Of course. As a matter of fact Admiral", Jean smiled and said with mischief in her eyes, "he's asking to see you."



Lisa's jaw dropped and she ran into the room, leaving Max, Miriya and Jean behind with happy smiles on their faces.



She went to his bedside and just looked at him, grateful that she could now do that much. He was in a sitting position and his eyes were closed, so she reached over and gently kissed his lips. When she straightened up and looked at him again he had a smile on his face, and he said as he opened his eyes, "Hey baby, how are you doing?"



She laughed. "I think that should be my question to you."



"I'll live", he said, "or at least I think that's what Jean told me. It was kind hard to hear her with the jackhammer going off inside my head."



They shared a laugh together and she reached over and kissed him again. She started to pull away after a few seconds, not wanting to excite him too much, but he brought his hand up behind her head to stop her from leaving their blissful kiss.



When they did break, he looked at her and saw the relief in her eyes, and he felt compelled to reassure her that he was okay. "I'm going to be fine. I'm not going anywhere."



Tears welled up in her green eyes and she sat on the bed next to him. He put his right arm around her and as she cuddled into his chest she started to cry. She couldn't stop, and she wasn't even sure she wanted to.



"Don't you ever do anything like that to me ever again", she managed in between sobs.



Rick opened his mouth to say that he wouldn't but decided to try to cheer her up instead. He gave her a comforting squeeze and said playfully, "You told me to go take a good look at things. I think the evacuation protocol needs work."



She looked up at him appalled that he appeared to be blaming her for this, and seeing the smile on his face said, "You rat!"



He kissed her forehead and said, laughing, "Stop teasing me, I'm injured." Getting serious he continued, "It was no one's fault Lisa. That storm caught everyone by surprise. It moved so fast."



He reached up to hold his head as another sharp pain came into force.



Lisa looked at him and said worriedly, "Rick, what's wrong?"



She got up to go and get Jean but he stopped her by saying, "Lisa, please don't leave me."



She stopped and turned to look at him, his blue eyes asking her to stay as much as his voice had. She came back and lid down beside him. He held her tightly and asked a little tiredly, "How is everyone else?"



Lisa didn't answer his question, but said instead, "We'll talk about it tomorrow Rick. You need to rest right now."



"That kid, Marks, he's a hell of a pilot. Saved our lives. He deserves a medal."



Lisa looked at Rick, who had his eyes closed on his way to sleep.



"I love you Lisa", he said full of tenderness. "In the cave, you saved me when I kissed you." And he was out.



'In the cave?' she thought, puzzled. 'He must have been dreaming.'



But the thought would have to wait, because she too needed sleep and not long after he fell asleep, she joined her husband in peaceful slumber.



State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = dparsnipAThotmail.com