My Heart is Yours

Posted on 04 Sep 2016 @ 3:17pm by Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy & Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Anderson
Edited on on 09 Sep 2016 @ 1:43am

1,506 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 3, Sickbay
Timeline: MD -07 0234hours

[ON]

With her eyes closed Dru could imagine that all was right with the universe. The events of the past few weeks were but a distant dream as his heart beat a soft and steady rhythm beneath the palm of her hand; a heart she now knew beat with a strength of love that was so hard to fathom to the people around her...even at times she found it hard herself to grasp the true meaning of all this man had done. This person...this hero...this man to whom she loved with every beat of the heart in her own chest...

The woman's body gravitated even closer to the center of his warmth, willing the force of his life to enter her body where she could keep it safe from all harm. Wasn't that what he had done for her? The ultimate sacrifice...to give ones life for another....

"Please..." The word was but a mere whisper from a throat reddened and raw from the force of the tears shed throughout the last few days. "Mar..." She could barely even finish his name as a fresh tear escaped from the confinement of her lashes and rolled a path down the width of her cheek.

All she knew was that couldn't do this...please not again...she couldn't loose him now.

Eric watched on as he felt his heart break just a little...no one could watch the scene without comprehension of what was happening between the characters. Never had he been a romantic at heart but this...this was different. It was abit like Romeo and Juliet he guessed...just minus the forbidden love...minus the balcony...minus the suicide although there was an element of self sacrifice he guessed.

Ah sure who was he joking...the only similarities between this and a Shakespeare play was there horrible and tragic romance at the root of it all. A love that was there for a fleeting moment only to be ripped away by loves true sacrifice...the sacrifice of ones self for the person that they loved.

Over the course of the last few days Eric had had to watch...there on the pretense of having to monitor the patients vitals, ensure that nothing further went wrong; but in reality he was an intruder into a situation he wasn't fully sure he was capable of dealing with.

The nurse knew that rules and regulations dictated that he separate the persons lay out in front of him but how could he? Knowing the pain embedded inside of one...forced to seek any piece of comfort she could find by lying at the side of the man she loved...how could Eric be the decider in parting them further then life had decided all those days ago.

"Lieutenant McCarthy...." Her name was but a bare whisper as Eric was forced to clear his throat in order to try again, "Lieu...Drusilla...You need to rest..." He'd have thought that she hadn't heard beyond the slight twitch of her body as he'd said her name.

Mentally Dru screamed and cursed at the top of her lungs, GO AWAY! NO! YOU CANT MAKE ME LEAVE HIM!!!! while what little rational thought left in the recess of her mind tried to whisper so softly, reminding her that the intruder was right...what was to be gained by lying here...

Taking a deep breath, as if he might have been a knight preparing himself for the emergence into a battle no one was quite sure to whom the victory would fall; Eric took a step further as he tried to strengthen his words. "Dru...you know better than anyone the sheer importance of rest...especially now...we almost lost the three of you at one point...we are lucky that two of you are still here..."

Dru felt her heart tighten in a vice like grip, her breath burned as a mixture of rage and an overwhelming upset threatened to engulf her again. Lucky?!? How could they be lucky?!? They'd risked it all to save just one and in the process...one life had been traded for another. How was that meant to be lucky...that man that spoken knew nothing of what had truly happened.

The monitor had started to beep just that little bit louder, Eric's eyes moved to the vitals as he tried to isolate which of the patients were giving these moments of concern. He knew that what he said may cause hurt, and perhaps even some harm but what could he do...she couldn't continue to live like this.

Eric moved his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as he tried to rethink, regroup his attack and defense. "Look...Dru...you know more than anyone that I can't force you to do anything you don't want to do. I could call in the cavalry, get you locked to a bed for your own good but neither of us want that. The stress it would put you through could cause issues for an already complicated pregnancy and for you...you've been through enough as it is."

The tears came quicker as Dru felt the bare skin of Markum's shoulder become damp beneath her cheek. She hadn't wanted any of this...didn't want any of this. She just wanted him to open his eyes...to smile at her in his loopy way and tell her that he loved her. What she would give to hear him say those words once more...to remind her of all that she meant to him...to remind her that together the three of them were going to be a family.

Although the vitals seemed to stabilise, Eric knew enough from the woman's body language to realise it may have been from mental exhaustion rather than an acceptance of what he was saying. The counsellor didn't need to say any words, the tightness of her limbs; the strength at which she had entwined her fingers with the Command Master Chief...they all showed the viewer the fight the woman was having with herself. A fight that she still wasn't ready for.

Even as his eyes watched the vitals of the young woman, the high frequency of beta waves within Dru's brain slowly begun to give way to theta waves; her mind slowly encompassing the woman into the realm of unconsciousness where Eric could only hope that perhaps she would find some momentary peace from the chaos life had brought down on her.

It seemed like a fog was crossing her eyes, no matter how hard she fought Dru felt the pull of her unconscious mind as she tried to battle her way back to the surface. Within her mind, a young female voice sang the soft words of a lullaby the counsellor had come to know so well from when Markum had sung it to their child.

Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,
Smiles await you when you rise.
Sleep,
Pretty baby,
Do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.

Cares you know not,
Therefore sleep,
While over you a watch I'll keep.
Sleep,
Pretty darling,
Do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.

Dru's fingers squeezed harder around Markum's as the last of the fight seemed to leave her body, sleep embracing her in it's warm arms as it willed her body and mind to rest.

Before awareness left her mind, Dru heard the soft female voice whisper once more; words she wasn't given enough time to process before unconsciousness took her over completely; I will look after you Mammy, just as Daddy asked. He will never be far away.

Eric let out the breath he hadn't even realised he held as the beta waves came to a rest and the theta waves took his patient to the realms of rest. The nurse could only pray that as each day passed, Dru would grow stronger; that her means of coping would grow stronger. The pain she felt could never be taken away, it could only be lessened with the passing of time...and time was something she would have plenty of.

So focused was he on just that woman, that the nurse never gave thought to a momentarily change of the alpha frequency of another of his patients. It was so subtle, gone as quickly as it had appeared, that it would have escaped the notice of anyone not watching close enough. If seen it may have even just been ignored as a system malfunction but if looked at more closer, it might have given a clue...the life which Drusilla carried grew stronger, a positive amongst the negatives that had happened. While things had gone wrong for Markum...they had gone right for the child he had sought to save and that was something worth fighting for.

[OFF]

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Assistant Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Anderson
Nurse
USS Galileo

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