by Aria Kane
A rumbling shudder tore through her entire existance, ripping Jenna awake. She must have fallen asleep at the kitchen table. She had so far resisted lying down in the bed again. Every time she looked at it, her face flushed with the memory of what they had done. How he had made her feel like she was wanted, needed. She knew she couldn’t handle being so close to that memory, to feel it in the way the sheets rubbed against her skin and smell it in Grayson’s scent that lingered there.
The shudder deepened and rose to a full-on quake. Grayson darted past her toward the engine room.
“What’s happening?” she shouted over the noise of vibrating metal, chasing after him.
Just as he reached the engine room door, the shaking and the noise stopped.
Everything stopped.
Lights flicked off, replaced by the soft glow of emergency luminescence. The propulsion engines didn’t hum. Jenna’s feet rose from the floor and the two of them floated once more. The whispering of the air through the vents was silenced.
“Shit,” Grayson said.
“How long will the air last?”
He shrugged. “I’ve had it shut down for four hours before while I hid on an asteroid. But that was just me and I didn’t notice the oxygen levels.”
She told her mind to skip right over the speculation about why he was hiding on an asteroid and focus on getting the life support back on.
Crisis mode. Emotions would only get in the way. “You’ve got gloves?”
Grayson floated to the drawer underneath the bed and pushed a folded-up pair towards her. She pulled them on, tucking the sleeves of her coveralls into them, and started pulling herself to the engine room.
“You may want some, too,” she called back to him. “It’s going to get very cold in here.”
**
Getting the life support and secondary systems back online turned out to be as easy as replacing a fuse. It’s what had caused the fuse to trip in the first place that was the real problem: the propulsion system. With twenty-six hours until Christmas Day, they were dead in the water and Jenna couldn’t do anything to fix it.
“What do you mean you can’t fix it?” Grayson asked, pacing back and forth in the galley.
She sighed and rubbed her hand across her forehead, smearing the grease there. Hadn’t she just explained it to him? Maybe if she put it in simpler terms.
“There are many necessary parts in a propulsion engine. One of these parts is broken, snapped in half, essentially. Without a spare, I cannot fix it.”
"Can't you unbreak it?"
"Maybe if I was more familiar with propulsion systems I could come up with something, but this isn't even close to my area of expertise. I'm a mining engineer. That engine room is a disaster, you're lucky this hasn't happened sooner."
He ran his fingers through that gorgeous curly hair and pulled at it in frustration.
"I fixed the communication system, though. We should be in com range. Just call for a tow and maybe we'll both make it home in time for Christmas Dinner."
Grayson's eyes went wide. "I can't call for a tow."
"You can't not call for a tow!"
"Tow ships will only take you to one place: government docks. With Customs. That's not an option."
"So, what?" Jenna crossed her arms over her chest. "We're just going to float here until someone passes by?"
"I have some friends I can call."
"You're going to call a friend to come four hundred and fifty million miles to pick you up on Christmas Day?"
"Sure."
Jenna sunk down into a chair. "I'm never going to see my sisters."
Grayson clenched his jaw. "You will," he growled. "I promise that, at least."
**
Grayson had been in the cockpit for two hours. Jenna needed to know what was going on. She found him leaning over a control panel, head in his hands.
"Any word?"
He jumped and stared confusedly at her for a few seconds before answering. "I sent out a few calls. Waiting to hear back."
She slumped down in the other seat and laid her head back. Avoiding the bed had exhausted her, body and mind. She was halfway between sleep and awake when Grayson's quiet voice pulled her back.
"Stacy's twelve." He cleared his throat. "Our parents died in a shuttle crash when she was three, so it was left to me to raise her. Though if you ask me, she took more care of me than I ever did of her. Even in the wheelchair."
"Wheelchair?"
Grayson swung his head to look at her, like he hadn't really been aware she was listening. "She was in the same shuttle. She didn't die, but her spine was severely damaged."
"That's terrible."
His eyes shone. Blinking a little too quickly, he turned back to stare at the communication console. "It gets worse," he murmured.
"How so?" Jenna asked.
He stared at the screen as if he could will a response to pop up with the force of his gaze. "Hm?"
"How does it get worse?"
His green eyes turned to her once more and lingered, searching her. Then he shrugged, like a man resigning himself to some terrible fate. "I guess you already know my darkest secret. You might as well know why."
He licked his lips and swallowed like it was a chore. "A year ago she started having complications. At first it was just terrible pain, which was bad enough. But then her appendix failed. Then her kidneys. Organ after organ."
Tears built up in her eyes and spilled over at the anguish in his voice. "But they can fix all that, right?"
"Only so many times. And it's just going to keep happening."
"I'm sorry." Jenna placed her hand gently on his and squeezed. She may have been angry with him, but she wasn't heartless.
"There's hope, though." A broken smile flashed across his face. "My grandmother found a doctor who can regenerate Stacy's damaged spine, give her her whole life back. It won't just save her life, she'd be able to walk again. She could do whatever she wanted, without me weighing her down."
"That's great," Jenna said, but he didn't confirm it. "Isn't it?"
"He's in Japan."
She suddenly understood everything. The stupid, dangerous transport job – that was probably also very lucrative. Grayson, who didn't seem like the criminal sort, breaking the only law every nation agreed upon.
Healthcare in America was free to every citizen – but only if the treatment was fully approved, which sometimes took decades. Desperate people often went to other countries with less strict medical approval processes for radical, life-saving treatments. But it was expensive. And Japan was the worst. It would cost an American more than most people would ever have just to get in to the country.
"I'd been rejected for every loan and grant I could find. A buddy of mine knew I needed lots of cash and he heard about this job. I turned it down the first time. But then Stacy's liver failed and her heart fell to fifty percent capacity. The doctors gave her three months, at best."
"Oh." It wasn't eloquent, but that one little word conveyed everything. She couldn't say she would have done any different if it were Jamie or Janice and she had no way of raising the cash. Carrying xenobacteria to Earth may have been dangerous, but who wouldn't risk the world for the one person they loved the most?
He rubbed his hands vigorously over his face. "How’d this get so messed up? This is why I didn't want you to come with me; I didn't want to get anybody else in trouble."
"So why did you?"
"I don't know." He gestured fiercely at her. "You were standing there, so sexy with grease smeared all over the place. And so full of despair. I was risking the world so that my sister might live to her next Christmas; how could I deny you when all you wanted was to spend the holiday with yours? I even tried to discourage you with that ridiculous fare, but I guess I underestimated your conviction."
All Jenna got out of that explanation was one word. Sexy?
Silence fell between them.
“I see,” Jenna finally said and turned to gaze a
t the thousands of unmoving stars out of the ship’s front viewpane.
Chapter 8
Jenna woke up in the bed. She had just enough time to wonder how she got there before a tinny clanging sounded from the galley. Stretching her arms over her head, she walked towards the noise. Her eyes squinted against the harsh light.
"Ah!" Grayson called out in surprise. "Not yet, not yet! Turn around."
"Grayson," Jenna began. She wasn't in the mood for more secrets.
He rushed to her, placed his strong hands on her shoulders, and gently spun her. "Please, Jenna. Just one minute. I'm almost done."
She sighed in surrender and leaned against the door frame. "How'd I get in the bed?"
"I'm sorry, I know you were avoiding it."
He noticed?
"But you passed out in the cockpit and you looked like you might break your neck if you slept there much longer. So I moved you."
One of the layers of ice she had very carefully placed around her heart yesterday melted. "Thanks."
She heard him move across the room and a few cabinets opened and closed. When he returned to just behind her back, the same sound that had woken her up resumed.
Then the clanging ceased, replaced by a rustling and punctuated by a very small "thwap."
"OK," he said. "You can turn around now."
The first thing she saw was Grayson's chest, devoid of any kind of clothing. What did he have against shirts, anyway? In an effort to staunch her drooling, she tore her eyes from him and looked at the table, where he had been working.
A roughly-tree-shaped structure stood three feet high on the center of the table. It was constructed of galley utensils, salvaged packing, and various parts from around the ship. Ornaments, made out of even more random pieces and hung with stripped electrical wire, were unevenly spaced on the "tree."
Below it sat a package, no bigger than her closed fist, wrapped in a used silver oatmeal bar wrapper.
"What is this?" Jenna asked, hand over her mouth.
Grayson stared at the tree as he spoke. "I rummaged the pile in the engine room for parts. I felt so bad about ruining your Christmas, I at least wanted you to have something to wake up to Christmas morning." He glanced toward a clock in the cockpit. "You're a little early, but..."
Grayson reached out for her hand and pulled her closer to the table. He picked up the wrapped package with his other hand and placed it in her palm. "Merry Christmas, Jenna."
"I... uh." Jenna had to take a second to clear the tears from her voice. "I didn't get you anything."
Grayson laughed, crinkling the skin on the outsides of his eyes. "It's nothing. I didn't have much to work with."
Jenna held the package in her hand, staring at this man who switched the game every time she thought she had the rules figured out.
"Go on," he said. "Open it."
She pulled the one piece of tape off and the wrapper sprung open. Inside lay a bracelet made of what looked like red, yellow, and green rubber woven together. She looked closer and saw tiny faded black lettering.
"Is this wiring insulation?"
He grinned and looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "Yeah. Stacy made me learn how to make these because she wanted to make some for her friends, but didn't have the dexterity. But, we used some kind of craft rubber for hers, of course."
Jenna stared at Grayson, the bracelet, and the tree alternately, rendered fully speechless.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get you a proper present, but -"
"No, no, no. It's perfect." She slid the bracelet over her hand, onto her wrist. "Thank you."
A timer dinged and Grayson rushed over to the food heater. He pulled two trays out and placed them on the table.
"They're just standard frozen turkey and mashed potatoes meals, but I do have canned cranberry sauce for dessert." He winked at her and placed the trays on the table.
"Yum." She wiggled her eyebrows at him and he laughed.
Jenna sat in a chair and gazed at the table in wonderment. "You did all this...?"
"It's the least I could do." He took both of her hands into his and knelt before her, his green eyes boring into hers. "I am so, so sorry I dragged you into this. I was just trying to save my sister and then things got so complicated."
Jenna really wanted to believe him, but there was a nagging voice in the back of her mind. Was he being so nice to her so that she wouldn't turn him in? And the bigger question: would it work?
"I completely understand if you want to turn me in."
Whoa. He was a mind reader, too.
"I know I don't have the right to ask anything of you, but..." His voice cracked. "If you're so inclined, I would really appreciate it you could wait until after I get the payment and transfer it to the doctor. I'll even come in with you then; my grandmother can travel with Stacy to Japan. Maybe I can cut a deal with the government if I can give them the company who wants the samples – I mean, they really need to be stopped anyway – and maybe I'll be out in time to walk Stacy down the aisle, if she ever finds a guy good enough for her."
Was he for real? In Jenna's experience, men like this didn't exist. She had no idea how to answer him, so she just stared at his handiwork. The tree wasn't exactly beautiful, but it had taken some work. And some thought.
Some of the ornaments were dull, but some sparkled in the bright LED lights of the galley. Her gaze landed on one and stayed there. It looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where – Oh. My. God.
She jumped up and snatched it from the tree, peering closely at it.
"What?" Grayson sounded alarmed.
She spun, sprinting to the engine room.
"What is it?" she could hear Grayson following.
"You know that part I was talking about?"
"The one that was snapped in half and is keeping us from moving?" His voice sounded from inches behind her.
She waggled her hand in the air over her shoulder. "Spare."
"No!"
"Yes!"
"You're kidding!"
"You know engineers don't have a sense of humor," she said, laughing.
**
The propulsion engine whirred to life. Grayson, who had been sitting in the hatchway watching her every move, whooped and ran to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up, and twirled her in the tiny space.
"You're my hero," he said.
He beamed at her with such adoration and admiration that she was thankful for his tight grip. As clichéd as it sounded, her legs had gone weak at the look in his eyes. Definitely not a myth.
Pulling her up with his left arm, he placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her close for a celebratory kiss that rivaled the best she'd ever had.
Have mercy. Fifteen seconds of kissing Grayson and her body was ready to go. Luckily, at least one small part of her brain was still working.
"Set the course, first," she said. "We still have about eighteen hours of travel time."
"Right!" He took off for the cockpit in a flash and Jenna followed much more slowly. He was back in the bedroom by the time she made it there the first time around.
"Course set," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her again.
Words failed her. "Good."
Grayson traced the contours of her cheeks with the fingers of his right hand. He laughed and pulled his fingers away, revealing grease on the tips. "Every time."
She smiled up at him and cast a glance to the shower. "I remember you offering to wash my hair?"
Chapter 9
Jenna's arm had gone numb over half an hour ago thanks to Jamie's head on her shoulder, but she didn't have the heart to move it. They had been watching It's a Wonderful Life, as they had every Christmas night, but they had started it late this year. Jamie had fallen asleep on Jenna's shoulder and not ten minutes later, Janice fell asleep on the couch next to them.
She was so incredibly grateful to be here with them on Christmas Day, even if she hadn't arrived until after the sun set. H
er family had waited to have Christmas Dinner until she arrived, keeping the turkey and stuffing warm in the oven for a few hours. The deviled eggs had disappeared before she arrived though, victim to everyone's hunger.
This movie, Jenna thought, would never go out of style. Hundreds of years later, it was still a Christmas favorite.
A knock at the door, though soft, startled her. Jenna was sure she was the only one still awake in the house. And who would be visiting at this time of the night? Maybe an old friend from the neighborhood who had just found out she was in town?
She slowly slipped from underneath Jamie's slumbering body and laid her gently on the sofa, then tiptoed to the front door.
She inched the door open, then swung it wide when she saw Grayson standing on the doorstep. He rushed her, enveloping her in his arms. Kisses rained down on her forehead, her nose, her cheek, her lips.
"How -?" Jenna didn't know how to ask what she wanted to know. Grayson's situation wasn't an easy one and she didn't expect it to be resolved this soon.
He held her pressed tight to him, pausing his words to land kisses on her face. "I did like you said. INTERPOL helped me set up a trap to catch the company red-handed. In exchange for my testimony, I was promised immunity."
"But the money?" Jenna asked. "For Stacy?"
He grinned. "It turns out a story like ours is worth a lot of money. Especially when people are yearning for a Christmas Miracle."
She frowned at him.
"I know, I'm not a fan of making money off of an unfortunate situation, but donations have already started pouring in for Stacy's surgery."
"Will it be enough?"
"More than," Grayson said. "I've already told the news outlets that any donations not used for Stacy's surgery will be donated to a charity that helps handicapped children with medical expenses."
"That's great, Grayson," Jenna said, her voice hesitant.
"But...?" he asked.
"But, why are you here?" Jenna said. "Shouldn't you be at the hospital with Stacy?"
"She's asleep now," he said.