by Andi Feron
The ceremony went off without a hitch, and Allie insisted on throwing me a party afterward. She went to a great deal of effort, which made me feel obligated to stick around. She knew I hated parties, but she couldn’t help proclaiming how proud she was of me to anyone who would listen. I stayed for her and mingled with everyone.
The dancing started, and Gabriel and Lila took to the floor. They made me smile. Then Colin caught my attention. He was watching them too, and the look he was sending their way made me curious. I concentrated on feeling his emotions. I was struck with the realization that Lila was who Colin had been talking about. I had unknowingly encouraged Colin to move in on my best friend’s girl. A sinking feeling rose in my gut that I was responsible for propelling a looming mess forward.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Althea-November 24, 2014
A week had passed since John’s promotion and the higher-ups were keeping him as busy as the title implied. He was gone for the night as there was some kind of crisis that he needed to be involved in.
I put on my fleece pajamas and got ready to snuggle up with a book. I walked over to my cedar bookshelf and stared, trying to decide which one to pick. I pulled out a copy of The Color Purple. I shook my head and pushed it back on the shelf.
Our wall phone ringing interrupted my indecisiveness. I glanced at the phone suspiciously. Anyone who knew us messaged or called our com devices. The wall phone was for anyone who only knew how to contact us through the base directory.
“Is Admiral Trammel there?” the gruff voice on the other end asked.
“No, he’s gone for the night. Is there something I could help with? I’m his fiancé, Althea.”
“Oh hey, Althea. It’s me, Sal, from Van’s pub. Was needing to see if the admiral wanted to pick up someone who claims to be in his unit. I told him I was going to have him thrown in the brig, which I’m about to. He has created quite the ruckus. He asked me to call Admiral Trammel first. I was reluctant to bother him so late, but I thought he’d have a better idea of what should be done with his drunken subordinate.”
“Who is it?”
“Says his name is Gabriel Lasko.”
“I’ll be right there, Sal. Do me a favor and don’t have him thrown in the brig, please.”
“Oh, honey, I didn’t mean for you to come fetch him. He’s being quite belligerent at the moment.”
“I’ll be fine. Be there in less than ten minutes,” I said.
I quickly threw on my sweatpants and a blue T-shirt. What was going on with Gabriel? He never got drunk, and belligerent was never an adjective I would have chosen to describe him at any point. I tied my pink sneakers and scurried to the pub. I could hear Gabriel’s slurred speech yelling before I even walked through the entrance. He yelled at Sal, threatening to throw a chair at him. I quickly ran over and grabbed the chair he was holding and set it on the ground.
“What are you doing, Allie?” Gabriel asked.
“I’m here to take you home before you get thrown in the brig and get a reprimand on your record.”
“I don’t care! I never wanted to fight in this stupid war. I only wanted to stay on Earth. You know, our planet?” His words were nearly unrecognizable.
“Yep, I know what Earth is. Let’s go, Gabriel.” I tried to pull him with me, but he stumbled, knocking us both to the ground.
“Honey, I think he’s a little too drunk to be handled. I think we should call security,” Sal insisted.
“It’s alright, I got this. We’ll be fine.”
With effort, I got Gabriel to walk out of the pub with me. Once we were in the hall, we took the long walk to his quarters. He stumbled, and I tried to steady him as we walked.
“Allie, can you believe Lila would do that? I love her, you know,” he mumbled the issue bothering him but didn’t elaborate on specifics.
We got to his quarters finally, and I pulled out his keys from his pocket. I thought about making it to his bedroom, but Gabriel plopped on the couch and snored loudly. I grabbed a quilt from his backroom and covered him. I lifted his head and put a couch pillow under it.
I sat in the chair across from him and read a book on my phone for a couple of hours. I had nowhere else to be and I wanted to make sure he would be okay. I fell asleep.
“Allie? What are you doing here?” Gabriel stood over me.
I glanced at the clock and saw a few hours had passed. “You got drunk and pissed Sal off at Van’s Pub. I walked you home and didn’t want to leave you alone.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t even remember much past taking a few drinks.”
“You want to talk about what’s bothering you?” I left an open door if he wanted to vent.
“Lila and I broke up.”
My mouth hung open. “I’m sorry! That has to be tough. I know you really cared about her.”
“I still do. In fact, I’m pretty sure I love her.”
“Did she not feel the same way?”
He shrugged. “I guess not. I went to her hydroponics room. Spent a lot of time on that you know. Both times we fixed it up.”
“I remember. Lila was so excited. She showed Seraphine and me the amazing job you’d done for her.”
“Apparently it didn’t matter. I went there to surprise her with a plant I ordered. The plant was one she’d been wanting but was struggling to find. When I was able to locate it, I wanted to surprise her. The door was locked when I got there, and I thought that meant she wasn’t in.
“That was better and would give me time to set up the surprise. When I unlocked the door, I found her in the back, holding Colin. I asked her what was going on, and they both stared at me and wouldn’t answer. I dropped the plant and left. I wandered restlessly then ended up at the bar.”
“Wow, Gabriel! I’m so sorry.”
“Now I have to work with both of them, and I don’t know how. Maybe I should transfer.”
“Slow down. Don’t do anything drastic. Our team would not be the same without you. Maybe you should talk to Lila. There could be another explanation.”
“I don’t see how. It wasn’t a simple hug. They stayed there holding each other.” He sat back down on his couch.
“If you truly love her, then talk to her. Give her a chance to tell you what’s going on. Give yourself time to breathe a little, and talk to her in the morning.”
“Maybe you’re right. I’m really sorry that you got brought into this mess.”
“What are friends for if not to help you through your messes? Get some sleep. Things may look better in a few hours.”
*
I walked into my living room and went to put my keys on the hook. I saw John’s already there and realized his crisis must have concluded early. The thought made me happy. I was wanting to snuggle up to him. I grabbed my robe to put on and tiptoed to the bedroom. I went in quietly, trying not to wake John, who was sleeping in bed. I put my engagement ring in my jewelry box.
“Why are you sad?” he asked.
“Was helping a friend in a sad situation.” I figured Gabriel could share if he wanted to.
He chuckled. “And here I thought you were out partying at my absence.”
“I was enjoying the lively activity of almost reading before I left.”
“Come to bed so I can cheer you up.”
I crawled into bed, and he pulled me to face him, kissing my forehead.
“What happened to the crisis?” I pressed myself closer to him in an attempt to steal his warmth.
“Wasn’t as bad as they thought, but now we have to leave for battle in a few hours.”
“Ugh! Really? I wanted to spend the day in bed with you,” I whined.
“You’d get no arguments from me there.”
Our lips met, and that was really all I wanted for our day tomorrow, but the war had other plans as usual. I was able to catch a couple more hours of sleep before we had to leave. Reluctantly, I put my uniform on and John and I walked to the docking bay together. The others were already there.
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Today’s battlefield wasn’t too far, which meant we didn’t have to fold. Hyperspace would be adequate. As almost always, we were fighting over a planet that held something both Khalbytians and Loctorians wanted. Blood would be shed today for some resource or outpost neither side could settle on. The battlefield would be fought on a field of dried yellow grass. The grass was around three feet tall and expanded a few miles to the base of a high mountain.
There were a couple hundred soldiers from various units lined up on the field. The Khalbytians peered over the horizon and didn’t even wait to get within weapons range. They began to rapid fire in our direction, and our soldiers advanced to meet them. We were immersed in the middle of total carnage. I was on the double duty of healing our side and killing the other. A comrade went down I brought them back into the fight.
A Khalbytian stood over Morgan, ripping him to shreds. I flew at the Khalbytian, melting him to a pile of ooze. Morgan writhed in pain. I quickly closed his wounds, and he jumped back up to continue the fight. I launched to help Colin, who was fighting off a team of three Khalbytians. I felt a sharp burning sensation in my abdomen and crumpled. Talon threw his long knife into the Khalbytian who fired on me. My wound closed, and I could breathe again.
“Good, sis?” Talon blasted two Khalbytians one right after the other, barely even glancing at them.
I nodded and went back to scour the field for the dead and injured. We wiped the field of our enemy and sent several limping away. I went through the field, making sure I didn’t miss anyone. A medic named Carl helped me move Khalbytians off of human bodies, making it easier for me to bring the soldiers back. I sat down on a large rock, dizzy and weak. I was growing increasingly stronger with each battle but was still pestered with annoying limits.
“Carl, I’m feeling pretty tired. Can you commence the search and call me if you find someone?” I found talking itself difficult, which indicated I was teetering on burn out.
He nodded and found a few more. I healed two with proton wounds and one with large slashes. Carl promised me we found everyone. I could barely stand to make it back to the ship. I told Carl to go ahead to his unit and I would be fine. I sat down on the ground, resting my head on my knees. I was tempted to make the grass a nice bed when Talon walked up.
“Someone burned herself out again, didn’t she?” He picked me up. I was relieved that I didn’t have to walk. He carried me to the ship and laid me on the medical bed. “Get some sleep. You did pretty well, kiddo.” Talon covered me with a blanket.
Before I could drift to sleep, I heard Gabriel yelling, “Help! Help her!”
I found a surge of energy as Gabriel carried a lifeless Lila in and laid her on a medical cot. I ran for her and gasped at the gruesomeness of her injuries. Her forehead caved inward and her abdomen charred. I began healing her large head wound, molding brain matter and replicating the cells at a rapid place. I moved on to her skull, building from healthy bone and restoring the damaged. I covered all of it over with fresh skin. She stirred a little and groaned in pain. I started on her abdominal injury.
“This is your fault!” Gabriel yelled at Colin.
“How is it my fault?” Colin demanded.
“You jumped out of the way, and that’s how she got hit!”
“I don’t have eyes in the back of my head. I didn’t know she was behind me!” Colin shoved Gabriel, hitting me in the side and causing me to release my hand from healing Lila. I hadn’t made a good seal yet, and the wound reopened, causing Lila to gasp in pain. I jumped up.
“Both of you knock it off and give me space.” Adrenaline fueled my energy increase.
“See, now Allie can’t even heal Lila because you’re an asshat!” Gabriel shoved Colin again.
Colin punched Gabriel, and they were on the ground wrestling. John walked in from the battle, debriefing with the other admirals.
“What’s going on?” John demanded.
My jaw tightened. “If these two can quit being cavemen, I can get back to healing Lila.”
John grabbed Gabriel, and Talon grabbed Colin, keeping them separated. I turned my attention back to Lila and finished healing her. She sat up and saw the sight of Colin and Gabriel trying to tear at each other. John slammed Gabriel into a chair, and Talon did the same with Colin.
“Both of you better get it in control. Fighting aboard my ship! You’re lucky I don’t throw both of you in the brig for a day or two until I can sort out a better punishment for you,” John said.
My exhaustion returned, and everything appeared like I was seeing it through a tunnel. Everyone was caught up in the fight. Seraphine was the only one who noticed.
“You’re about to collapse, aren’t you?” She steadied me over to a bed.
I closed my eyes to sleep. I woke up alone in sickbay and groaned. How much life had I missed out on now? I took off the pulse-ox on my finger, causing my machines to alarm. Two nurses ran in and calmed when they saw I was awake. They left, and Jasper came in a few minutes later.
“Shoot it to me straight, Jasper. How long was I flaking out this time?”
“Ten days, but you broke a new record. No casualties, thanks to you. You’re getting stronger and taking less time to recover. Pretty impressive.”
“Having a medic help me scour the field helped. He did the grunt work.”
“That’s good to know. We’ll try to keep that in mind in the future. John will be glad you’re awake. He stops by every evening to read to you.”
I smiled at the thought. John knew I liked to read at least ten books a month and with all this draining I’d been lagging behind. Too bad I didn’t hear a word he read.
“You’re going to let me out now, right?” I asked Jasper.
“Yeah, let me give you a quick look over, and you can be on your way.”
He scanned me and did a vitals check. Everything looked good, and he cleared me to leave.
On my way out, I walked up to Jasper. “You know what John is up to today?”
“He’s gone for the afternoon at some sort of negotiation event. He told me he’d be back to see you tonight.”
“Very well. I’ll catch him at home. Thanks, Jasper.”
I went to find Gabriel. I needed to find out what happened with him and Lila while I was sleeping. I knocked on his quarters.
There was no answer at first, but finally, he opened the door. “Good to see you awake, Allie. Come in.”
“As you know, I have this built-in drainage system that is really annoying. Fill me in on what’s been going on.”
I looked around and saw the disheveled state of his apartment. He wore a white shirt and light blue flannel pants. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a good three days at least.
“Lila and I definitely broke up,” he said.
“Oh no! I’m sorry.”
“Turns out you were right. I should have talked to her. She met Colin in her hydroponics lab to give him a plant for the migraines he’d been having. She hugged him because his grandma died a couple days earlier and she was the only one who knew. She was already upset that I didn’t let her explain. Colin and I getting into an argument only made things worse.”
“That’s rough. Maybe she’ll come around. Can I help you in any way?”
He shook his head. “You already helped more than I could expect. Next time maybe I’ll listen to your advice.”
“Then listen to me now. Things will get better. Why don’t you go get a shower and go out tonight? I’m going to clean your quarters.”
Gabriel looked around. “Yeah, it’s fallen apart a bit. Really though, you woke up an hour ago, you should go rest. I promise I’ll have it shaped up by this evening.”
“I’ve been sleeping for ten days. I think a little work will do me good. Go get that shower.”
He finally agreed and I got to work on his place. I put the sink full of dishes in the dishwasher then washed what was left by hand. After the kitchen, I got started in the living room, then grabbed his hamper and pu
t his laundry in the washer. I made his bed, and he came out of the bathroom.
“I made your bed so you can’t go back in it until tonight.” I shot him a smile.
“Thanks, Allie. You do good work.”
“Repay me by going out tonight. Promise?”
“Okay. I promise.”
I finished cleaning the rest of his quarters, and he helped. I glanced at my com device and saw I missed a call from John. John must have gotten back from negotiations already. I listened to the message.
“Hey babe, stopped by sickbay and Jasper said you woke up and went home. I’m home but you’re not here. Anxious to see you. Call me. Love you. Bye.”
I made my next stop our quarters, and I suddenly felt down. I was missing out on so much with John when I was drained. What kind of life would that be for him with me sleeping so long at a time? Maybe it would be better if he was with someone else. Was I selfish holding on to him when he could be with someone more available? This thought and similar ones flew through my head as I opened my front door. He was on the couch, and jumped up when I walked in. He closed the distance between us and wrapped me in a hug.
“Sweetheart, I missed you.” He pulled me close, and I hugged him back. He released me then looked me over. “What’s wrong?”
“Are you sure you want to spend your life with me?”
He frowned. “Of course I do. Why would you say that?”
I let go of him and sat on the couch.
He followed me over. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t think it’s fair to you. I spend so much time sleeping and recovering. I leave you alone. Wouldn’t you rather have someone who wasn’t that lame?”
“Yes, you’re so lame, bringing dozens back from the dead. The answer is no, I don’t want anyone else. I don’t care how long I have to wait to see you. You’re worth the wait every time.”
“You sure?”
“Babe, I’m absolutely sure.”
I kissed him. I knew to me it felt only a couple hours since I had seen him last, but I missed him too. Two days later, we were given another mission. I walked to the docking bay. Lila was loading her things when I arrived. We hadn’t really gotten the chance to talk since she and Gabriel broke up.