"You deserve this success. You have worked so hard to get to this point." "WE worked hard... everyone in the research team, including you, contributed." - he added at her comment, before looking at the boys in the back and checking one last time that neither of them forgot anything.
After noticing Doreen's comm. light up, he was already partially alert. He knew it wasn't going to be good news. "A lift to the hospital, Professor?" He took her hand and lead her back to the vehicle, saying "Right away. And I can ensure the nanite-tech is in place at the hospital for this afternoon's test, before going to the lab on New Astarte."
New Thessalonica Medical, Planet Yuma, Coronado9 Jan. 825 A.S.
As she kissed him goodbye at the hospital doors, she made a request. "Listen, you might want to get a nanite package together. It might be a good time to give them a test. These pilots are often pretty messed up when they come in like this."
Her com sounded again. She just gave him a quick, final kiss and said, "Gotta run, Hun." She then scurried into the hospital.
She barely had time enough to run inside when she was met at the door by a nurse with her gear. "Quickly, Doctor. The ship is hot landing on the emergency pad." She put on a white coat, her stethoscope and a small medical bag. She and the nurse made a quick walk to the pad where the ship landed hard. It was a mess. It was amazing enough that the hulk could even fly. After any threat of a fire or fuel leak were suppressed and the canopy, or what was left of it, removed, she went to where the pilot was. He wasn't moving and his fluids littered the cockpit. His hand was still on the stick.
"Lieutenant," she hollered out to him, "can you hear me?" When he didn't respond, she shook him on the shoulder. When he didn't respond, she put two fingers on his neck but felt nothing. She closed her eyes and then gently back out, shaking her head and was upset. Looking to a crew that was getting ready to remove him, she just told them, "He's beyond my help now. Take him to the morgue so we can get him cleaned up for his family."
Shaking it off a bit, a voice yelled to her from the cargo hold. "Dr. Naggar, I have three pilots in escape pods back here and they all need attention."
"Get them inside," she ordered, "I'll see them there.
Inside she assessed all three. They were all in critical condition. A large hole in the cargo hold stripped the ship of oxygen and had left them all with damaged lungs. Each had varying physical injuries. Before any surgery could begin, they needed to be stabilized. Each patient was assigned a team where full oxygen was administered and scans were taken to evaluate injuries. She took time to be with each crew and check each patient. "I want a full brain scan on each," she instructed, "the physical wounds will heal but I'm worried about the lack of oxygen. I'll be back in about twenty minutes."
She returned to the pilot who saved everyone. He lay still as staff began the process of identifying him and processing his personal effects. She took his left hand, the hand that was on the stick, and gently caressed it in hers. She noticed the ring on his left finger. Rather than weep, she closed her eyes and bowed her head. For the first time in awhile, a woman she didn't know would sleep alone. It was becoming all too common. It made her think of what Erik must have gone through on that awful, awful day where his wife was killed. For a moment, it both brought her closer to him and frightened her that she could be that woman she didn't know. As she held his hand, she spoke softly, "Know, Lieutenant Reid, that you save the lives of three of your comrades today. The Republic is grateful."
"Doctor," said a voice near her. When she turned, one of her staff was handing her a card. It was the fallen's ID. He was an organ donor.
"Take care of him," she instructed, "I need to check the others. I want his wife to at least see him before anything else."
Going back to where the other's were, she found them stable. As expected, the depressurization of the cargo hold caused severe lung damage to them all and brain scans hadn't yet been complete. One of them required surgery to stop some internal bleeding. She began scrubbing up and left instructions with an aid, "I want you to get ahold of Professor Erik Corvin and tell him I have a patient he might be able to help. I'll probably be in surgery when he arrives. If Lt. Reid's wife shows up and I'm able to break away, I'll talk to her myself."
With that, she went to work.
A rather stormy sea was grinding against the large dome, splintering its waves into foam. Erik had just finished an afternoon lecture and was now sitting at a balcony, refreshing himself with a cup of tea and the view outside. It had been about a bit over three months since he and Doreen moved together at his place. His home at the Estate was, luckily, large enough for it, so it was a smooth transition. Even though the main reason for the move was keeping the boys together and making life easier, the new-found couple was enjoying it without hesitation. In fact, he felt like teenager again, discovering all about love once more. Sharing his bed with someone was, after so long, a welcome change in Erik's life - considering the stress of a nation at war. But it was those moments after a long day, when he came home to Doreen and the two boys, that topped everything. Those moments made him feel at peace.
More than that, Peter seemed to truly take to Doreen. Even though the boy was, at first, a bit confused about how things work, as well as reluctant to accept her as part of the family, he eventually grew to love her. This gave Erik all the more reason to see her and Benjen as part of their future, for good.
On the side of research, the nanite project proved a success and Erik's team deployed specialised equipment in all hospitals of Yuma, with Doreen's help. By the end of January, it was all done. At first, Erik imagined he'd have some extra free time and wouldn't know what to do with it - but he was quickly proven wrong. As the Republic formed a federation with the Natio Octavarium, the Corvin family became a lot more politically active, especially due to Erik's brother, Henry, involvement in the government. As such, Erik ended up being part of his brother's advisors.
Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect happy couple. Since they started living together, Erik had no choice but to allow Doreen to see some of his less graceful habits or traits, such as how often he left his home office in a complete mess. Once or twice a month, they also had some chances of going on dates. While most of them were as lovely as the first, last week's night out was not as Erik had hoped. Due to a long bureaucratic meeting related to the latest federal policy developments, Erik was quite tired that day. To his shame, this led to a rather bad mood during what was supposed to be a happy evening with Doreen.
However, over the past few days, Erik has come to the blissful realisation that things are, truly, going great (even with the occasional imperfections of life). As such, he had no reason right then to do anything but relax on that balcony. With a smiling sigh, he touched his wrist-comm. and called Doreen.
She was in her office after making her rounds. Officially, she was off shift so she poured herself a glass of white wine and sipped it while she went through patient records and some info about Tau 44. The re-capture of Tau 44 was both satisfying but also upsetting as the flow of soldiers came in from the field. She knew the facilities in that system were light so she was prepared. A lot of late nights, extra shifts and even one case of her sleeping in her office. It might sound mean to some but the heavy workload kept her mind from thinking of her personal life. To keep her perspective, she kept a picture of her with Erik, Peter and Benjen from a beach day on her desk. She smiled every time she looked at it.
While finishing a file, she dropped it in front of the picture. She took a pause to look at it, picking it up and holding it in front of her. She loved going home to someone whom she could kiss and get a "welcome home" hug from. It made even a bad day bearable. She found herself not just in love with Erik but even his grumpy moods. She found them to be kind of cute, teasing him until he forced a smile. Of course, it wasn't uncommon for her to be upset after a long day at the hospital. If a pilot or soldier died, it affected her. She couldn't hid it from Erik who would caress her while she stared out a window in thought and some tears. His touch, his care...they seem to ground her.
And then there was Peter. It had gotten to a point where he just about knocked her over when she came in. Both him and Benjen often tacked her to the floor when she came home. Having lived for the last many months at the Corvin estate made the relationship between her and Peter one of a mother and son. Benjen didn't mind sharing is mother with him as he got someone out of it that he himself could call Dad. From time to time, he did just that, referring to Erik as Dad. Did he recognize that he was? He didn't know. For him, it just felt natural.
She had also become very comfortable with the Corvin family themselves. They were politically powerful and she didn't get involved with that. She was a doctor and that was all she wanted to be....that and a good mother and mate to Erik.
So there she was, staring at the picture, her wine glass half empty when one of nurses walked in. This nurse had become a trusted friend. She knew the picture and knew how close she was with Erik.
"You, Girl, are so in love with that man," she quipped. Doreen only nodded a positive response.
"So when are you going to tell him that you love him?" she asked, "I mean, REALLY tell him that."
Doreen looked at her as a tear ran down her cheek, "I just need it to be right. I mean, the loss of his wife I'm sure is still painful and well......" She supped a bit before finishing, ".....I don't want to screw up what we have."
The nurse smiled and put a supportive hand on Doreen's shoulder, "Girl, I've seen him around you. I don't think you have to worry about that." With that, the nurse left.
She sighed, pulled herself together and smiled before sending a message to him on her datapad.
Another late night, Honey. It was worth it though as all that were operated on from the Tau campaign were saved and will make full recoveries. I hope that your day went well. I'll be home in an hour or so.
Love you,
Doreen
After "ringing" for half a minute and receiving no response, Erik cancelled his call. She must be in surgery. Gods, sometimes I don't know if I should hate or love her devotion to the job... he giggled to himself. He couldn't be sure, but he did hear the news of the Republic's latest activity in Tau 44, so there was a good chance plenty of pilots needed medical help. He sipped the last of his tea and, with one last look at the furious waves outside the dome, he went on his way to Robotics HQ.
The rest of his day went about smoothly, with a few check-ups in the logistics and agro-tech departments, after which Erik returned home. The second he entered through the door, Peter and Benjen both jumped from the sofa in the other room and came to greet him. Ever since Benjen first became friends with Peter, Erik somehow saw him as a brother for Peter, but now... he felt he truly gained another son, another future man to - hopefully - carry the Corvin name. He looked at the glee in their eyes and smiled broadly, then caressed both of them on the head and walked toward the kitchen. "Alright, boys, Doreen's probably going to be home late, so I'll start getting dinner ready. How about you come help me... and we can talk some more about that plan we spoke of, eh?"
The boys giggled and nodded, then followed him in the kitchen.
Later the same day, Erik received Doreen's transmission. Being already close to midnight, the boys were fast asleep and Erik himself felt a bit tired, but he figured he'd just tinker about in his study for one more hour until she gets home... He wanted to ask her something and - even though they might both be weary - didn't want to wait until morning.
It was late. Quietly, she entered the front door. As expected, it was quiet as the boys were sleeping. Not seeing Erik right away, she assumed that he was sleeping too. She was exhausted after a week of working fourteen hour days and sometimes more. Her eyes were partially glazed over and dark spots were under her eyes. Coming in from the bad weather, she took off her shawl, hanging it on a hook by the door and then her overcoat which she draped over the back of a chair by the table. Still quiet, she went over to the kitchen counter and poured herself a glass of white wine. In her exhausted state, she didn't really need it but it was relaxing.
She took a moment to look at her surroundings. Asides a few dishes left by the kids, things were fairly clean. Erik must have worked late and didn't have time to leave anything she thought to herself with a smirk. Admittedly, he had gotten better but if that was really was his only bad habit then she accepted it. Besides, she was off for the next couple of days and could rest a bit. She unbuttoned her blouse, took her half-drunk glass and quietly headed for the bedroom. Upon entering, she saw Erik still awake.
"Erik," she said quietly, "I didn't think you were still awake." She put her glass down and went over to him and kissed and hugged him. She looked at him with a light smile through the tired eyes. She could tell something was on his mind.
"Honey, you OK? she asked him. "I mean, I know I've been busy lately but I took the next couple of days off." She just kept looking at him with concern.
At first, his intention was to see if there might be a way to improve an older project of his, which was meant to enhance the children's hover-bikes for better safety. However, he realised from the first few minutes he was too exhausted to actually work on anything that complicated, so he gave up and headed to his (and Doreen's) room. After getting changed into his nightwear, he took a seat on the bed and started reading some news.
When Doreen entered the room, he gently placed the holo-pad on the nightstand and stood up to meet her. "Welcome home, life-saver." In their embrace, he closed his eyes for a moment, before looking back at her and hearing her concern "Honey, you OK? I mean, I know I've been busy lately but I took the next couple of days off."
The moment she mentioned some time off, his eyes sparkled briefly. "That's great." - he began to reply. "I was actually hoping you'd have some free time." Although he didn't quite think of it, his body reminded him he was tired, so he took a seat on the bed, bringing Doreen right next to him.
He started with clear unease in his voice, likely due to how late it was - "You know how our night out was... not what either of us wanted. I've been meaning to make up for it. I also have a free day this Saturday, so I was thinking we could go on a short cruise around Yuma... would you like it?" - his question came with a lightly coy smile. Before she could say anything, his mind darted to the situation at hand and continued "How about we talk some more downstairs, I bet you've been too busy to eat anything, haven't you?"
She was a little hungry but sleep was more her diet for now. At least, it's what she wanted. But she hadn't seen him much that week and decided to join him. She was still sitting next to him, her blouse half unbuttoned when he mentioned the cruise. She softly smiled, "I'd love to. Saturday will be excellent."
She then stood up. As she did, she started finishing the unbuttoning of her blouse as she headed to her wardrobe to get into a night gown. As she got to the door of the walk-in closet, she removed the blouse. For a moment, Erik had a view of the bare skin of her back. While in getting a nightgown, she mentioned food. "You know, I don't think I've eaten right all week? I don't think my staff has for that matter. The Tau project has taken a lot out of us."
She came back out in a burgundy colored night gown. She kissed him with a smile as she went over to him and put her arm out, "Lead me downstairs good Sir." She took her finger and playfully brushed his nose. "So what's on your mind, Babe?"
He couldn't help himself from thinking Such beauty, even in a dim light. Still, he focused on what she said and replied. His voice carried compassion in an oddly stern tone - "Tau 44 has been the rightful space of Crayterians ever since we first settled in it. Even though it's hard... we have to fight to protect what we care for, don't you think?" Recalling her take on violence, he quickly added "Of course, each of us fights in our own way." and nodded with a gentle smile.
"So what's on your mind, Babe?" she asked. His mind raced for a moment. He didn't want to ruin his plan right now. Things had to be great... but he didn't want to lie either... The conflict in his mind, however, already made him silent for a few good seconds. So, he quickly replied as evenly as he could "Not plenty, mainly work. And the cruise I just spoke of."
He took her hand and they started walking downstairs. "So, would you like some avian roast or should we do the kids a favour and eat the veggie-mix they seem to despise lately?" he chuckled.
"So, would you like some avian roast or should we do the kids a favour and eat the veggie-mix they seem to despise lately?"
She looked at him with a mother's stern look, "Ben knows better! I'll have a little talk with him in the morning!"
"For now," she sighed, "I guess we can have some.
She sat across from Erik with a glass of wine as they started discussing Tau 44. She was in thought as she spoke about it.
"Being new to the Republic, I have much to learn about Tau 44 and Planet Borneo. Of course, having never been past Tau 29, well, I really haven't gotten close to it."
She paused a moment and took a sigh before looking at Erik. "I sometimes feel guilty. Sure, I took an oath to save lives but having had divided loyalties when Rhienland and Liberty were at war, having been rescued in a radiated war zone and patching up those fighting for my new homeland, I feel as if, well, I should do more. I mean, I don't even carry my sidearm most of the time and no one ever taught me how to fly something more than a transport."
She gave a "hmph" and a shrug, "Probably would look better when I finally can file my citizenship paperwork in a few years now wouldn't it?"
She then took a quick look to where Ben was sleeping. "It's Ben I worry about. Now, Peter too. I can't fathom how Ben would be if I got killed in a war zone."
She turned back to Erik, "Nor would I want you to go through that again." The very thought of it all brought her to silence as she looked down for a moment.
She quietly took a bite of the veggie mix. It was quite good. She then looked back to Erik, "Just one thing with this cruise. No talk of work or even of war. I, for one, will be leaving my pager here. I think the staff that I've built will do quite fine on their own." She finally smiled again, admiring Erik's nightware.
"Neither one of us get loose enough or relax enough."