Lucas glanced at the clock on the mantel and sighed. Ten o'clock at night. He'd been stood up again. He ruefully considered that you could always tell when an adult was lying to you. It was when their lips were moving. In his experience adults didn't seem to tell the truth very often. He clearly remembered the discussion last week.

“Look Lucas, I know I've been working too many hours and we haven't had much time together but we'll make it up. Tell you what, next week we'll go out for dinner. Your choice. Anywhere you want.”

Well it was now 10 p.m. on Friday night and one thing for sure was that Bridger and he wouldn't be going out to dinner any time soon. Lucas just wished it wasn't always necessary to ‘make it up’. He settled down on the couch and went back to reading his book.

Bridger checked his computer for any last minute messages and finally shut the machine down. It was time to call it a day. The building of the new SeaQuest was really going well. Much better than he ever expected... but... while the use of two shifts to work on the boat speeded up the production it also meant that someone had to be around to supervise and answer questions for at least 16 hours every day. He knew that there were other people able to watch over the building but this was a critical time. The different modules of the new boat were beginning to take shape and soon it would be time to join them into one huge structure.

Even though he'd been the one to design the first SeaQuest, Bridger was still in awe of just how big the boat was, how sleek her lines were, how beautiful she looked. No one knew just what it took out of him when he'd been forced to crash her into the seabed to seal off the magma infusion chamber opened up by Dr. Wolenczak's World Power Project. Actually, he thought Kristin had an idea of how he felt but he was sure that even she didn't know the depths of his loss when he'd had to destroy the old boat. Bridger fondly passed his fingers across the model of the first boat that Noyce had given him after the crash.

“Something to remember her by..." He shut off his office light and tiredly walked out to where his car was parked.

The evening breezes in New Cape Quest ruffled the leaves of the palm trees and the warm night air made Bridger stop and look out across the bay. The lights of the Quest twinkled on the water and Nathan leaned against his car and watched the ghostly sight of a sailboat with its running lights on sail across the bay. He watched as the wake phosphoresced slightly behind the boat and the white sails ruffled and then came taut as they caught the light breeze. Watching the sailboat as it gently tacked was almost hypnotic...

Bridger jerked himself up as his briefcase fell to the ground. That wasn't a good sign... falling asleep while standing up. Maybe Lucas and Kristin were right. Maybe he needed to catch a little more sleep. Well, as soon as this part of the construction was completed he'd see about easing back on the schedule a bit.

Ten-thirty at night. This was getting ridiculous. Bridger had been up before 5 a.m. getting ready for the day and it was getting close to 11 at night and he wasn't home yet. Lucas remembered another conversation from last week. The one in which the Captain figured out what Lucas was doing.

Bridger walked in the house at 11:00 p.m. to find Lucas sitting on the couch reading a book. “What are you doing up so late?” he'd asked.

Lucas set the book down and just looked up at him. “Waiting for you.”

Bridger had looked perplexed and sat heavily on the ottoman. He looked tired. He always looked tired these days. “Did you need to talk to me about something?”

He had just shrugged, “Nope, I just got tired of waiting in bed until you came home so I figured I'd sit out here and wait instead.”

“You don't need to wait up for me, Lucas,” Bridger had said calmly.

Lucas had looked back at him just as calmly and said, “I know I don't need to... but I worry about you driving at night when you're tired and I want to be sure you're home alright.”

Bridger had chuckled softly. “Isn't it the adult who's supposed to be waiting up for the teenager?”

A smile had crossed Lucas’ face as he said, “Yeah, but in this case the kid's been pretty good on being home on time... it's the adult who's out after curfew.”

“Lucas, this will be over soon, as soon as we finish joining the sections of the boat my schedule should free up some and I'll be able to spend more time at home. I promise.”

“I promise,” ...yeah, just like he promised when they were in the design stage, and just like he promised when they moved into the initial frame-out stage... and for that matter, just like he promised when they moved into the module production stage. Right... he promises... Lucas glanced at the clock again. One half hour more... just one half hour more and he was calling the base and getting him to come home... somehow.

Bridger sat in his car for a minute and gathered his thoughts. He had hoped that the last couple of cups of coffee would carry him through the end of the evening but it seemed like that psuedo-coffee didn't quite pack the punch of the real stuff. He reached down and started up the engine. The car purred to life as Nathan put it in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. At least he didn't have much in the way of traffic to worry about at this time of the night. He caught the red light at Nimitz Drive and had to shake himself a couple of times to keep from nodding off while he waited for it to change. He'd be better once he hit the open road. Bridger turned towards the back gate to the base. The road was less traveled and offered a considerable time savings from going out the front gate and having to drive all the way around the perimeter of the base. He passed the machine shops and then a little further on the rifle range. The builders of the base had taken advantage of the natural barrier formed by the gently rolling hills on the south end of the base to tuck in facilities where noise might be a problem. While the showy glass-walled buildings with the expansive conference rooms were right up front at the main base entrance, the shops where the manual work was done were hidden in the hills.

Bridger carefully negotiated the curves as he drove towards the back gate. The car drifted to the right and two wheels dropped off the roadway. Bridger suddenly became totally awake and he jerked the wheel to the left trying to pull back up onto the road... but it was too late. It seemed to Bridger that the car halted in the air for just a moment before it slid down the side of the hill rolling four times and coming to rest on its roof and left side. After the noise of the crash had stopped the only sign of trouble was a single headlight dimly shining into the valley between two hills.

Petty Officer Second Class Joe Nolan sighed and rubbed his neck. These 4 to Midnight shifts were going to kill him. Well, if they didn't kill him they just might kill his marriage. He never saw his kids anymore. By the time he got home at night they were all in bed and when he got up in the morning they were already off to school. And he only saw his wife for a little time each night before she got too tired and needed to go to bed also. After all, she had to be at work at 9. Then there were the nights where he never even saw her... why is it that all the fights at the base club happened at around 10 p.m. so he was stuck with arrests and reports until the early morning hours? Sometimes he thought it was a conspiracy to drive him crazy... it was succeeding. Anyways, it was probably his own fault. If he'd become a Storekeeper or a Yeoman he would have been working normal daytime hours... no rotating shifts... weekends off... it seemed like heaven. But no... no, he wanted to be a Master at Arms... an MAA... a Navy policeman. He had to be crazy.

His communicator suddenly sprung to life. “Bravo-4 from Bravo-6.”

Nolan keyed the mike. “Bravo-4, go ahead Bravo-6”

“What's your 20?” asked fellow MAA Bobby Kirland, looking for his current location.

“Just checking the south end of the machine shops off Churchill Street.”

Kirland answered back. “I'm on Farragut Drive near the back gate. I thought I just heard something crash.”

“I didn't hear anything. What kind of crash... breaking window, smashing car or what?”

“Sounded to me like a crashing car type... but kind of drawn out if you know what I mean... I think it came from around the rifle range.”

“Headquarters from Bravo-4, have you gotten any reports of any accidents near the rifle range?”

“Negative, Bravo-4,” replied the soft voice of the dispatcher.

“Bravo-4, Roger that... tell you what Bravo-6... I'll take Churchill towards the back gate and you come towards me. If there's a crash out here it's probably on that road. I'll meet you in the middle.”

“Roger, Bravo-4”

Nolan pulled his squad car out from behind the machine shops and drove slowly down Churchill Drive past the rifle range. Both of his side alley lights were on and he used his searchlight to check the sides of the road. Soon he pulled up next to Kirland's squad which was traveling the other direction. Nolan brought both hands off the steering wheel in a shrugging motion.

“Nothing.”

Kirland looked concerned. “Not my way either... but I swear I heard something crash.”

Nolan shrugged again. “They're probably still working on the SeaQuest tonight. Maybe they dropped something over at the shop.”

“I don't know,” Kirland didn't look convinced. “It seemed like it was closer than that.” His gaze kept moving around the area in front of his squad trying to pick out any abnormality.

Nolan also was scanning around, looking for anything out of place. “I don't know...” he started to say and then stopped suddenly. Nolan had noticed a faint glow in his left side rear view mirror. “Huh, what's that?” he asked as he pulled his squad over to the side of the road, got out and looked down the side of the hill.

Suddenly, Nolan came to life. “Call it in. We've got a car off the side,” as he scrambled down the side of the hill to check the occupants. Nolan slid to a stop next to the crushed car as he heard Kirland calling in the accident.

“Headquarters, Bravo-6, we've got a car off the side of the road, Churchill just south of the rifle range.”

Dispatch answered up right away. “Roger, Bravo-6. Any injuries?”

“Unknown, Headquarters... we'll let you know.”

Nolan quickly assessed the car. It must have rolled several times to get this banged up. All the windows were smashed and it was resting mostly on its roof and left side. He lit up the interior of the car with his flashlight and with a little trepidation saw the blood which covered the inside of the car. His light settled on the only occupant... the driver. He appeared to be unconscious and was held in place by his restraint belts. He was bleeding from several cuts. Nolan stood up and keyed his mike.

“Headquarters, Bravo-4. Make that an injury accident. Respond me fire and an ambulance. I've got one victim... I can't tell how bad he's hurt yet. Tell the FD they have an entrapment.” The fire department would bring out the cutters to get this guy out.

“Roger, Bravo-4. Fire and ambulance on the way,” the dispatcher confirmed.

By now Kirland had also reached the smashed car. He blanched slightly at the condition of the vehicle. This used to be a nice Mercedes but it must have rolled several times on the way down. Every inch of the car appeared to be damaged in some way. The roof had been crushed in at least a foot as the car rolled leaving little room to get in to assess how badly the driver was hurt.

Nolan's gloved hands grabbed the windshield where it had broken loose at the right post and he pulled. “Gimme a hand with this, Bobby.” Kirland took off his light jacket and used it to protect his hands as he also grabbed the smashed glass and they both pulled with all their might. The sounds of sirens could be heard from the north.

What was left of the smashed windshield finally pulled out of its moldings and there was just enough room for Nolan to wiggle in to check the condition of the driver. He reached across and gingerly placed his fingers to the side of the driver's windpipe. His touch was greeted by a steady, slow thumping. He could feel the driver's breath, slow but ragged on the back of his hand.

Nolan pulled out of the car and shouted up to the ambulance crew who had just arrived, “He's alive... but he's bleeding pretty bad... and I think you're gonna have to cut him out.” He said this last to the Fire Lieutenant who slid down the hill end up next to Nolan.

The lieutenant quickly assessed the scene. “Oh yeah, this is definitely a job for the jaws,” talking about the pneumatic vice fondly referred to as ‘the jaws of life’. The lieutenant shouted up to his crew to bring equipment down to the crash site and soon the scene was littered with the jaws, wooden blocks, chains, air bags, back boards, paramedic cases and a mixture of other items.

A burly fireman grabbed the jaws and went to work on the right windshield post. The jaws worked quickly and within seconds the post had been severed. The fireman then went to work on the left post. This was more difficult to get at since the car was partially lying on this post but after only a little while there was a satisfying ‘crack’ as the post parted. While the man had been working with the jaws a female firefighter had rigged a chain from the back frame of the car. A second chain was attached to a hole quickly made in the front of the roof. The jaws were opened as far as they could go and a chain was attached to either arm. Then the jaws were closed and the chains pulled together. The roof of the car peeled back as the jaws closed giving them access to the driver.

The first paramedic knelt down next to the driver. His eyes glancing over his patient to assess his injuries fell upon the name tag on the front of his khaki uniform. “Shit, it's Captain Bridger.”

“It's trying to be,” came the soft reply from the man in the car, his voice laced with pain.

“Sorry, Captain. We thought you were out of it.”

Bridger opened one eye. The only one he could open since his left eye was swollen shut from the bruising on that side of his face. “I wish I was,” he gasped for air a little, “then it wouldn't... hurt so bad.”

Dr. Kristin Westphalen studied the chart of the four-year old boy who had just been sent home from the emergency room. He'd been jumping on his bed and ended up losing his balance. He crashed into his dresser, much to the detriment of his head, which required 10 stitches. A shortage of doctors had plagued all the local hospitals and although Kristin was keeping busy with her work with the Department of Biological Oceanography of the UEO she had gladly volunteered to assist a couple of shifts a week in the emergency room at the New Cape Quest General Hospital. Besides, it was good to keep her physician's skills up to date. One never knew when they might be needed. This evening's shift had been extremely quiet. One roller-blader who took out a curb and ended up taking the skin off both knees and elbows, a couple of minor illnesses, one patient with pneumonia and, of course, her 4 year old trampoline artist. She was looking forward to midnight when the graveyard crew would take over.

Kristin sat in the small alcove which served as a report room and held the communicator equipment to talk to the paramedics in the field. As she finished off her entries on the boy's med-slate the communicator crackled to life.

“Navy Ambulance 5 to NCQ Gen”

Kristin got up and keyed the microphone. “Navy 5 this is NCQ Gen, go ahead,” as she readied a med-slate for the information the paramedics would relate.

“General, we've got a vehicle accident with a rollover. Looks like the car rolled 3 or 4 times down a hill. One victim... male... about 57 years old... he was restrained. Patient is conscious and pretty coherent, vitals are pulse 60, blood pressure 90 over 70 and respirations 16 and labored. He's got possible head and chest injuries and considerable loss of blood. We're still extricating him from the vehicle. We'll let you know when we get him out. Navy 5, over.”

“Message received, Navy 5. Normal stuff, be sure you immobilize him before removing. Advise me when you're ready.”

“Roger, General, we'll let you know.”

Kristin turned to the nurse who had stuck his head in when he heard the ambulance transmission. “Roy, get a trauma room ready and advise the meta-cat lab that we'll probably have a customer for them. Sounds like a bad one.” The nurse nodded and left.

Lucas looked up at the clock for the tenth time in the last ten minutes. That was it... he'd had it... now he was calling. He went over to the vid-phone and dialed the number to Bridger's office. After four rings the phone went into answering machine mode and Lucas hung up. Alright, so maybe he was on his way. Lucas paced back and forth a short time and then came to a decision. He'd act like the mother hen and to hell with what the Captain thought. Lucas dialed Nathan's mobile phone number. It rang once and then a voice came on the line, “We're sorry, but the party you're trying to reach is either out of the service area or this device is not active at this time.” Lucas slammed his hand down on the disconnect button.

Just like him to forget to turn his phone on. Lucas’ pacing became more agitated. He was going to tell him this time. If Bridger thought that he could get away with running himself into the ground and not caring what anyone else thought he had another thing coming. Lucas was going to make him understand that besides the obvious physical problems he was developing from overwork he was really beginning to piss off the people who cared about him. If he didn't care enough to look out for his well-being then, by God, the rest of them would. Didn't he see that he needed to take better care of himself? Didn't he see what he was doing to his life… and to Lucas’ life??? This was becoming more like a boarding house than the family-type situation that Bridger had expounded upon during the early months. And it wasn't only him. Couldn't Bridger see what all this work was doing to his relationship with Dr. Westphalen? Lucas knew that he'd been stood up this week for the dinner but he also knew that Bridger had stood Dr. Westphalen up twice just in the last week alone. Even when they did go out he still messed things up.

Like last weekend when they finally got a chance to do something cool. Dr. Westphalen had suggested a trip to the zoo as a nice easy outing. Lucas had never been taken to the zoo by his parents... and right now Bridger and Westphalen were the closest to parents he had... hell, they were more like his parents than his parents were... the day had been terrific. He thought that he'd feel stupid looking at all the pretty animals in their cute little habitats but it turned into something great. Bridger and Westphalen managed to go the whole day without arguing... well, not really arguing, just that picking on each other thing they did to show affection. He'd been able to have intelligent discussions with both them about the animals and how they lived. It was really interesting. The aquatic area was the best, Westphalen knew some really neat things about the animals who lived in and around the water. The whole day had been wonderful and they were looking forward to a nice dinner. Just the three of them, just like a family. They had stopped late in the afternoon to get some ice cream and lemonade and decided to relax on a grassy section of the zoo to enjoy it. Bridger sat against a tree while Westphalen sat between his legs and leaned back against his chest. It was kind of cute to see them that way. Cute until Bridger fell asleep. So soundly asleep that it was obvious that dinner was out of the question. Westphalen had driven home while Bridger slept in the car and then they had to help him to bed. Lucas had sat up with Dr. Westphalen talking about how Bridger's work was becoming an obsession, both of them expressing their frustration with him until the early morning hours. Lucas remembered her words and the sadness on her face.

“I hardly ever see him, Lucas. He always forgets to call when he says he will. And if, by chance, I do get to see him, he falls asleep within the first 10 minutes after sitting down.” She stopped... and worry replaced the irritation which was written over her face. “I'm worried for him. He's just not taking care of himself.”

Well, maybe it was about time that Bridger got the full version of how upset people were with him. Just wait until he got home... Lucas was going to give him an earful this time... that was if he didn't fall asleep before he could talk to him.

Westphalen made a quick check of the trauma room. All the equipment seemed in place. There certainly was enough of it, heart and vital sign monitors, intravenous stands, x-ray equipment, defibrillators, and cart after cart of miscellaneous stuff. She went to the door of the room as she heard the outside doors open and the ambulance crew wheel in their patient. The paramedics were Russo and Bichelski. The two of them made perfect partners, their senses of humor were legendary, but more importantly, they were excellent paramedics.

Hurrying through the emergency room entrance, Russo in the lead was steering the gurney as Bichelski pushed. Russo spotted her first.

“Hey there Doctor Westphalen. Got a bit of a mess for you tonight.”

Kristin moved back into the trauma room to allow space for the gurney to get in. As Russo moved by she caught her first glimpse of the man on the cot. For just a moment, Kristen caught her breath and her insides felt like she'd been punched.

“Nathan.”

Bridger opened his one good eye and saw Kristin. “Oh, shit,” he moaned.

“Yeah, well it's nice to see you too,” Westphalen said unable to keep the irritation from her voice.

“...was... supposed to call... you today...” he gasped. “...forgot.”

Kristin's attention was taken up by the task of transferring Nathan from the ambulance gurney to the treatment bed. On the count of three everyone in the room grabbed a piece of the backboard Nathan was secured to and moved it over to the bed. Although they were as careful as they could be, the jostling caused Nathan to grunt in pain.

“Uh, huh... well, tell me something new.” Kristin glanced over at one of the nurses. “Carol, do me a favor and find Doctor Bryant.”

She started her examination of Nathan as the paramedics reeled through the condition of her patient and what had been done so far. The nurses in the room started cutting away Nathan's khaki uniform. He was covered in blood but until they got the clothes off it was hard to tell where it was coming from. At least some was due to the lacerations on his head and face but he also had been impaled by something through his left shoulder. The paramedics had started an IV and an oxygen tube supplemented his breathing. As his vitals were being taken again and he was being hooked up to the monitors, Kristin asked him,

“Nathan, what hurts the worst?”

“Breathing... can't breathe,” he gasped.

At this point the nurses had removed Bridger's shirt. “I think there's a very good reason for that,” Kristin said as she spotted the large area of bruising on his left side. She gently touched near the center of the bruise which caused Nathan to stiffen and catch his breath.

“Yeah... right there.”

“You've probably got broken ribs and I suspect a punctured lung.” She listened to his breathing with her stethoscope. “What hurts the most next?”

“Shoulder.”

“I would expect that...” she looked up at the paramedics. “You're right, he's a mess.”

Russo shook his head. “You should see the car. He must have rolled it three or four times.”

“Four,” was the weak response from the bed.

She glanced down at Nathan's face which was drawn up in pain. “Did you fall asleep?”

Bridger tried a smile, “Yep... woke up as... left the road... too late.”

Doctor Kevin Bryant bustled into the room. “Hi Kristin, what've you got?”

Kristin looked up at him with a concerned frown on her face. “Kev, I need you to take this one. He's a friend of mine. A little too close here.”

Bryant glanced quickly over at the pile of blood-covered khaki uniform pieces in the corner and then at Bridger. “I've got it then.” He looked at the paramedics and said, “Fill me in.”

Kristin moved around to the head of the bed so that she was out of the way but could still be close to Nathan. She smoothed his hair out of his face, ensured that the oxygen feed was flowing freely and then rested her hand on his right shoulder as she listened first to the paramedics relay their information and then to the hospital staff as they reported his vital readings.

Her glance moved over the body that she had held so tightly in an intimate embrace only last weekend. Nathan had a cut on his forehead and the left side of his face was discolored and swollen in a terrible bruise that extended from his temple down to almost his jaw. She didn't know what the piece of metal was that was stuck in his shoulder just below the collar bone but it was at least three inches across. From the look of his left shoulder, it had also been dislocated and his left arm didn't look much better. Probably a fracture of the lower arm. His chest was discolored by the bruise related to his broken ribs and it looked like he may have some internal abdominal bleeding.

He was quiet now. “Hey, you still with us?” she asked softly.

The eye blinked open. “Yeah... but I don't... think for long...”

“Nathan,” she said sternly, “don't pass out on us. I need you to stay awake.” She was concerned about his head injury. If at all possible she needed to keep him conscious.

“’Kay... Sorry.”

Kristin didn't know if he was sorry for the accident or sorry that he was falling asleep. She knew she'd have to talk to him to keep him awake. “I can see you falling asleep but how did you manage to roll the car?”

Bridger kept his eye closed this time. “Felt the wheels... go off... tried to pull back... too late... went off... hill.”

Bichelski piped in, “From where he went off to where he landed, probably a good 18 foot vertical drop.” He shook his head, “Musta been quite a ride.”

Nathan tried a short chuckle but winced in pain at the attempt. “It was... but I don't want... to do it again.”

Dr. Bryant's examination was now focused on Nathan's abdominal area. He was keeping up a regular report to Kristin as he probed. “We've got abdominal rigidity on the left side and evidence of some internal bleeding.” He gently pressed against Nathan's upper abdomen. Despite his gentle moves Nathan stiffened and groaned in pain at his touch.

Bryant looked up at Kristin. “I think we'll grab some quick x-rays and move over to surgery.” He looked down at Bridger, “Nathan, you're probably bleeding internally besides your punctured lung. We're going to need to go in and fix them.”

“Okay... whatever...” Bridger grimaced and said softly, “Kris?”

Kristin leaned closer, “Yes, Nathan?”

“Lucas”

“Don't worry,” Kristin reassured him. “I'll call Jonathan, he can go pick Lucas up. I'd rather not tell him about this over the phone.” She stood and gave him a gentle squeeze on his good shoulder and started to move away.

“Kris... ” he stopped her and she bent close again. “I'm sorry.” This time there was no doubt that he was talking about the accident. “...love you,” he said softly.

“I love you too, Nathan.” Kristin planted a soft kiss on the top of his head and left to make the call.

The chirp of the vid-phone gradually penetrated Jonathan Ford's sound sleep.

“Hummmm???” he said as he rolled over groaning and pressed the button activating the screen. He hadn't turned on the light so he knew that the person calling couldn't see him. Ford was surprised to see the worried look on the face of Kristin Westphalen as it appeared on his monitor.

“Jonathan, I'm sorry to bother you but Nathan's had an accident.”

That woke him up... Ford snapped on the light. “Is he alright?” Now the worried look was on his face too.

“We don't really know yet. At a minimum he's got head injuries, a punctured lung and possible internal bleeding. He's going into surgery now.”

Ford was already getting out of bed and reaching for his jeans as he said, “What do you need me to do?”

“Jonathan, I'm sorry to ask this but could you go get Lucas? He's at the house and I didn't want to call him to tell him.”

“No problem, Kristin. Are you at General?” Receiving her nod he added, “Don't worry, I'll get Lucas and we'll be there as soon as we can.” He closed the connection and was out the door.

Lucas had given up on the book. He'd tried to watch an old movie but he was too angry to pay attention to the plot. Then he tried to play on his computer but even the shoot-em-up games couldn't deflect his aggression.

Past midnight... it was past midnight and not even a call. No “I'll be home in a little while, Lucas” or even a “I'm staying until 3 or so, Lucas”. Not even the courtesy of letting him know what was going on. Lucas stopped his pacing suddenly as he heard a car pull into the drive. He took a deep breath and steeling himself for the confrontation that was coming, Lucas was surprised to hear fast steps climb the front stairs.

“Lucas!” called Jonathan as he bounded up the front stairs at Bridger's house. The boy came out of the house onto the porch with a confused look on his face. Ford placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. As calmly as he could he said, “Lucas, the captain's been in a car accident. Dr. Westphalen called and she wants us at the hospital.”

The confused look on Lucas’ face transformed into concern as he stammered,

“Where... how... is he OK?”

Ford sighed, “I don't really know, Lucas. I just got a call from Dr. Westphalen asking me to come get you. Lock up the house and I'll tell you what I know on the way.”

Lucas made quick work of securing the house and minutes later Lucas and Jonathan were well on their way to the hospital. Ford glanced over at the boy who had gone at least three shades paler since he first saw him. He calmly explained what Kristin had told him while they drove. Lucas hardly listened after Ford's original explanation. All he could think of was that here he was getting angry with Bridger while he was lying hurt in the hospital. He couldn't believe how bad he felt. Lucas just stared out the windshield and wished they could get there faster. He couldn't lose Bridger... he had to be alright. Lucas didn't know what he'd do if anything happened to the Captain. He didn't even want to think about it.

After calling Jonathan and just to give herself something to do, Kristin stopped to be sure that the admission desk had all the information they needed about Nathan. The midnight shift had arrived and Kristin was relieved of any emergency room duties, not that she could have concentrated on any patients who might have needed her assistance. She finally walked back to Surgery and asked a nurse to check with the doctors operating on Nathan to see if they'd mind if she watched from the observation room. After receiving permission Kristin hesitantly entered the room to watch the operation. The surgery team was being led by Dr. Janice Kellogg. Kristin noticed that Ken Bryant had stuck around to assist with the surgery. Kellogg had her back to the window so Bryant was the one who noticed Kristin's entrance.

“Can you hear me, Kris?” he asked. Seeing Kristin nod, he continued. “Only one condition to you being there. If we say you leave... you leave. Understood?”

Kristin stood hugging her arms around herself and chewing on a knuckle. She nodded, “I understand, Ken. I promise.”

Bryant spoke as he assisted Dr. Kellogg, “Ok, here's where we stand. The x-rays show two broken ribs and we've already fixed the punctured lung. There was a small tear in the spleen but we're patching that up. Looks like we've got the internal bleeding stopped.”

Her glance fixed on the sight of Nathan lying on the table, Kristin sighed and nodded her acknowledgement. She could see his head, the bruised side of it, and the sheet covering his legs. There were monitor wires everywhere and Nathan was hooked up to a ventilator. Just then the alarm on the ventilator went off and the machine started breathing for Nathan.

“He's done that a couple of times now. Just stops breathing on us,” Bryant said, his gaze still on the retraction he was doing for Kellogg. “Seems to start up on his own after only a short while.” Right on cue, Nathan started breathing on his own. “I think he's only doing it to scare us.”

Kristin dared a small smile. “Well, he's doing a fine job of scaring this side of the window.”

Bryant never actually looked at her, he just continued his commentary as he concentrated on his work and Kristin was thankful for that. She needed to know how Nathan was... this was worse than any wait she could ever remember. “He's hanging in there so far, Kristin. I've got a feeling he's kind of a tough cookie. After we get done in here, we've got the meta-cat lab waiting to check out his head injuries. Considering that he was lucid and his eyes were equal and there were no other obvious signs, we decided that could wait until we got the bleeding stopped.”

Kristin watched silently as the surgical team worked on Nathan. It was almost like watching a delicate ballet. They moved around each other, each seemingly knowing where the others would be. Quietly talking and giving instructions. The team moved from Nathan's abdominal injuries up to his shoulder to try to repair the injuries there. Dr. Kellogg checked the x-rays of Nathan's shoulder. She probed the area and then checked the x-rays again. They started the delicate job of trying to remove the chunk of metal imbedded in Nathan's shoulder without causing any more damage. A piece of the car molding had broken loose during the accident and impaled Bridger in the upper left shoulder. His collarbone was most certainly broken and from the looks of it, his subclavian artery might be compromised. As Dr. Kellogg carefully extracted the piece of metal from Nathan's shoulder the damage to the artery became evident. Deep red blood spurted heavily from the wound galvanizing everyone into action.

“Vascular clamp,” Dr. Kellogg called and quickly the clamp was slapped into her hand. She leaned closer to the wound to get a better angle on it. “Can you get any pressure on it?” this to Dr. Bryant. For what seemed like minutes but probably was seconds the surgical team struggled to clamp off the spurting artery. Finally, Dr. Kellogg stood back up with a satisfied, “Got it!"

"Pressure?” she quickly asked.

“60 systolic but coming back up." That had been a close one. Uncontrolled bleeding like that could have been the one thing that Nathan's body couldn't handle after all the banging around it had during this evening. “Up to 90 over 70.” said the nurse and both doctors nodded. Right on cue the ventilator alarm went off again as Nathan stopped breathing.

“I wish he'd stop doing that,” grumbled Dr. Bryant. Kristin just closed her eyes and felt herself holding her own breath until the ventilator once again went into monitor mode as Nathan started breathing for himself.

Kristin felt a presence behind her and hands reassuringly squeezed her shoulders. A quick side glance revealed Dr. Jaime Ramirez, one of the hospital's vascular surgeons. “Jan, you going to need me in there?” he asked Dr. Kellogg.

Without even turning from her patient, Kellogg answered. “Perfect timing, Jimmy. We've got a subclavian with quite a hole in it for you. This one is a little out of my league. How about coming in here and doing your magic.”

“I'm on my way.” He gave Kristin another short squeeze before saying. “Don't worry, Kris, we'll take care of him.” Kristin could only nod as he turned to go and get scrubbed up.

As Dr. Ramirez walked out of the door to the observation room another person came in. “Dr. Westphalen?” the nurses' aide asked. Kristin turned to listen to her. “Two gentlemen just arrived looking for you. I put them down in the surgical waiting area.”

“Thank you,” she said and turned back to the window. “Ken, Nathan's ward has arrived. I'll be out in one of the waiting rooms. Take good care of him.”

“You've got our promise, Kristin... we'll do our best.”

Lucas was already pacing the waiting room the aide had directed them. Ford figured that if he could have, Lucas would have been pacing in the car on the way here.

“Why don't they tell us anything?” Lucas said desperately.

“Lucas, we just got here,” Ford said reasonably. “They'll tell us as soon as they can.” He turned as he heard Kristin enter the room. Lucas stopped in his tracks and just looked at her with an expectant face.

Kristin moved to a chair and patted the one next to her. “Sit down, Lucas and I'll tell you what happened.” Lucas reluctantly sat next to Kristin and took her hands as she related to him the events of the evening. She described the accident and Nathan's injuries.

“At the moment, he's holding his own but it'll be a while until we're sure. His breathing still isn't good and there's still the question about any internal head injury.”

Lucas sat back in the chair and rested his head against the wall. He started talking in a soft voice. “I've been sitting up at home waiting for him.” The boy looked like he might start crying. “I've been getting angrier and angrier with him all night for not showing up... and then it turns out that he's not home because he's hurt...” His voice trailed off and in an almost inaudible whisper he said, “He's got to be OK... I need him.”

Kristin put her arms around Lucas and pulled his face against her shoulder as the boy started to cry. She whispered, “I know, Lucas... I need him too,” and she joined him in his tears.

Ford could only stand by helplessly while the two people closest to Bridger leaned on each other. Finally, he moved over and placed a supporting arm around each of them. The sniffling abated some as he said, “Hey, give the Captain some credit here. He's pretty tough.”

Lucas let a small smile cross his face as he replied, “Yeah, and he's pretty thick-skulled too.”

At that, even Kristin had to smile and add her own comment. “To say nothing of stubborn...”

Both Lucas and Kristin sat back in their chairs but they didn't give up each other's hands. Their shoulders leaned against each other as if the comfort they gained from this contact would hold them together until the night ended.

Ford spent the next hour making sure the coffee never ran out and trying to make small talk with Lucas and Kristin but neither of them seemed disposed to any talking and Jonathan eventually gave up. About 20 minutes into the wait a familiar voice was heard in the hallway as Admiral Noyce and his wife came into the room. Janet Noyce moved to sit next to Kristin as the explanations were left to Jonathan this time.

It turned out that the UEO security department had tracked down Noyce to advise him of the accident. “I just don't understand how he could have rolled off the side of the road,” Noyce said in a perplexed tone.

“That's easy,” Kristin said quietly. “He fell asleep, Bill... he's been working so hard on that damned boat that he's exhausted. He fell asleep in the car and just drove off the side of the hill.”

Noyce had the grace to look uncomfortable. He sat across from them with his hands clasped and his gaze fixed on the carpet. “I knew he was working hard on SeaQuest but I didn't think he was running himself that hard.” He hesitated. “I guess I should have seen it though... I've probably seen him three times in the last couple of weeks and he looked pretty tired every time.” He looked up at Kristin and Lucas. “I'm sorry,” he said softly.

“It's not all your fault, Bill,” Kristin said. “Both Lucas and I knew he was working too hard and not taking care of himself but neither of us had put our foot down.” She sighed, “He's got to be alright... he's just got to be.”

The voice of Ken Bryant piped up from the door. “Oh, I think that chances are he will be.” He had everyone's attention. “He's out of surgery and we sent him down to the meta-cat lab for some scans.” Bryant moved into the room and sat next to Noyce. He gladly accepted the cup of coffee that Ford handed to him. “The surgery went pretty well.” He glanced towards Kristin. “Like I told you, he's got a couple of broken ribs and one of them punctured his left lung. We got that hole fixed up alright and he hasn't pulled that trick with his breathing in the last hour and a half so that's looking a little better.”

Bryant leaned back and stretched out his aching back. “He had a small tear in his spleen, probably caused by his restraints, but we were able to patch that up alright. No other evident internal injuries.” He took a sip from the coffee and continued, “His left shoulder was a bit of a mess. A piece of molding or something speared him through the left shoulder. It cracked his collarbone and put a nice little tear across the bottom of his subclavian artery.” With his right hand Dr. Bryant was showing where the metal had pierced Nathan's shoulder. “Jimmy, um, Dr. Ramirez, was able to take care of that.” He glanced again at Kristin. “Nice work too... you should see him operate. If I ever need a vascular surgeon, I want it to be him.”

Kristin smiled, “Yeah, I've watched him. He's definitely the best I've ever seen. What about the rest of his shoulder? It looked like it was dislocated.”

“It was, but no apparent damage to the muscles or anything so we manipulated it back in place. He also broke both bones in his forearm and we've put a tension cast on that to keep it in line.” He looked at all the faces around the room. “So he's not going to be doing much with his left shoulder or arm for a while.”

“Will it be OK?” Lucas asked quietly.

“A little early to be sure,” Bryant said in a reassuring voice. “And he's going to have quite a bit of therapy but it looks good.”

“What about his head?” this time from Noyce.

“The worst part about his head is the way his face looks. He busted a blood vessel in his left cheek that caused considerable bleeding and swelling under the skin. There's no fracture of his cheek, jaw or skull. We'll have to wait to be sure but I suspect that the meta-cat will come out alright.” Bryant leaned back again. “Besides that, no apparent damage to his neck. Although I suspect he's gonna have a great case of whiplash. His right side is OK, no damage to the pelvis or leg area. He's got some good cuts. The one on his forehead took 20 stitches to close and the one above his left ear took 12.” He looked over as another doctor entered the room. “And now we find out about the head.”

The tall, dark man entered the room smiling. Kristin introduced them, “Lucas, this is Dr. Collin. He's a neurologist.”

Dr. Collin picked up that Lucas was the one he needed to talk to. “Well, he looks a lot worse than he is.” He smiled. “No apparent bleeding inside the skull. Nothing out of the ordinary. I think, from the sounds of it, he really didn't have time to hit his head as the car was rolling... other than where he smacked his cheek.”

Lucas let out the breath he'd been holding in and squeezed Westphalen's hand.

“Thanks,” was all that Lucas could say.

“Is he in recovery now?” Kristin asked and Dr. Collin nodded. She looked over at Dr. Bryant. “Do you think we could see him?”

Bryant stood and stretched. “Let me go make a quick check on how he's doing and we'll see.”

Bryant left the room and with a nod so did Dr. Collin. After the doctors had left it seemed as if all the occupants of the waiting room let out a single sigh. Westphalen hugged Lucas who was looking like he might cry again. The only words came from Jonathan Ford with a heartfelt, “Thank God.”

They sat in silence for another 10 minutes until Dr. Bryant returned. He was cheerful. “Nope, you can't see him in recovery.” Kristin darted him a surprised look. “He was doing fine. I sent him up to his room so you can see him there.” He hesitated. “Not all of you though. He's still a little groggy and we're keeping him on the ventilator for a little while until we're sure his breathing is OK.” He hesitated again and looked over at Kristin. “I know that this will be a big surprise to all of you, but he's also tired. We need to let him rest some but I think he wants to see you and Lucas.”

Kristin stood with the rest of the people from the waiting room in the hallway of the fourth floor where they had transferred Nathan. She wanted to be sure that Lucas was prepared for his first look at Nathan since the accident. The boy was constantly moving and Kristin had to take hold of his arm to be sure he was listening to her.

“Lucas, listen to me. I want to let you know what you'll see.” That slowed him down a little and he started to pay attention. “Nathan is on a ventilator to help him breath so he won't be able to talk to us.” She knew that Lucas was probably aware of these things but she wanted to be sure. “He has a pretty awful bruise on the left side of his face that goes from his forehead down to his jaw. It looks like he's been several rounds with someone much larger than him.” She indicated on her own face where the bruising was. “His shoulder is completely immobilized and he's on intravenous solutions so there are several tubes and needles in him.”

Lucas was getting the idea and spoke in a subdued voice. “I know, Dr. Westphalen... I'll try not to freak out.”

Kristin smiled and took the boy's hand as they walked to the room that Nathan was in. The room was set up for two patients but at this time, Nathan was the only occupant. They had put him in the bed nearest the window and as they entered the faint hiss of air passing through the ventilator could be heard. The bed was angled so that Nathan was sitting up some and he appeared to be sleeping. Lucas slowly approached the bed as he took in the monitors and the tubes attached to the Captain's body. He had been prepared for them but not for the paleness of his skin and his fragile look. They were right, the bruise on the left side of his face was pretty ugly. Kristin stepped over and took Nathan's hand in her right hand. She passed the fingers of her other hand over Nathan's right cheek. His eye fluttered open at her touch and she was awarded with a small squeeze of her hand.

“You look awful,” she told him. Despite the ventilator she could tell that he was smiling. He pulled his hand from hers and used it to first indicate himself and then spell out ‘OK’ with his fingers. Just like him to assure them that he was alright. Bridger then shifted his glance to Lucas and indicated him and again spelled out ‘OK’.

Lucas moved forward and put his hand on Bridger's. “Yeah, Captain. I'm alright... you scared the hell out us but I'm alright.”

It was apparent that Nathan was falling asleep and Kristin said. “You're due for a nap. Get some sleep and Lucas and I will be here when you wake up.”

Bridger closed his eye and soon his face cleared as he fell asleep.

Kristin and Lucas had spent the better part of the day dozing in the chairs the hospital provided while they waited for Nathan to wake up again. The nurses and doctors had been in and out checking on his condition. About 4 p.m. Dr. Bryant stopped by to see how things were progressing.

“Should he still be asleep?” Lucas asked him.

Dr. Bryant was reassuring. “Oh, I would expect it. His body has had quite a time of it in the last 24 hours. Sleep is good for him right now. I expect he'll wake up soon but for now just let his body rest some.”

“What about the ventilator? I mean, he hasn't needed it since last night... how long will he be on it?”

Bryant checked the readings and the monitors. “I want him to be awake when we remove it. His throat is going to be a little uncomfortable afterwards and I'd like him to be able to drink some liquids if he can.” Lucas nodded and Dr. Bryant turned to leave. “They'll let me know as soon as he wakes up and we'll go from there.”

Twenty minutes later as Lucas sat nodding off again with his hand on the Captain's hand, he was surprised by a small squeeze. He looked up to find Bridger's one good eye regarding him. Lucas leaned over and shook Dr. Westphalen who was sleeping in the chair next to him.

“Hey, he finally decided to wake up,” he told her as Kristin opened her eyes.

“Well, about time fella,” she said in a sleepy voice. “This was beginning to feel like being on a date with you lately.” Bridger grimaced at that but the look in his eye was smiling. “He's awake,” she told the nurse who had responded to the button Kristin had pushed.

The nurse smiled. “Well, welcome back. I'll let Dr. Bryant know,” and she left.

“It's almost 5,” Kristin said to the question on his face. “5 p.m... you slept over 12 hours. That's probably more sleep than you've gotten in the last week,” she joked. She moved forward and smoothed down his hair over the cut on his forehead and said quietly, “Next time you don't have to be quite so dramatic about it though.”

Lucas joined in, “Yeah, I have a feeling you blew it, Cap. You're going to be getting a lot of sleep in the next few weeks.”

That last exchange was heard by Dr. Bryant as he entered the room. “Oh, I think you can guarantee that one, Lucas.” He fixed Bridger with a playfully firm glare. “You're grounded, Captain.” He took another look at the monitors and the ventilator. “How about we lose this ventilator?” Bridger smiled slightly around the ventilator tube. Dr. Bryant looked over at Kristin and Lucas. “I'm going to ask you both to leave while I do this... I hate an audience.”

Kristin chuckled and said to Nathan, “We'll be right outside while this magician does his thing.”

A few minutes later, the nurse who had accompanied Dr. Bryant came out of the room. “You can go back in now.”

As they re-entered the room they saw Nathan experimentally moving his jaw around and Bryant standing with a glass of water with a straw in it. Lucas noticed that they had just moved the ventilator over to the corner so it would be available if necessary.

Dr. Bryant was talking to Bridger. “So, here's the 20 million dollar question, Captain. How do you feel?”

“Probably about as bad as I look.” Bridger's voice was soft and raspy from the ventilator. “It's a lot easier to breathe than it was last night... but my shoulder hurts a lot.”

Dr. Bryant looked impressed. “I'm surprised you remember much about last night and I've got some extra medication coming for your shoulder.” He paused. “Your grand total was two broken ribs, a punctured lung, a small tear in your spleen, a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm, some pretty drastic damage to your left shoulder by a piece of your car that decided to bond with you, a couple good cuts and one heck of a dramatic bruise on your face.”

Bridger appeared to consider this and nodded slightly, “So, am I going to be OK?” he rasped.

Bryant regarded him with a serious look. “I don't see why not. We need to be sure you avoid infection in any of your various cuts, breaks and such... and that shoulder is going to need some serious therapy... but I expect you'll be just fine.”

Bridger relaxed some. “So, how long until I'm out of here?”

Dr. Bryant looked over at Lucas and Kristin. “So what is it about this place?” he asked in mock astonishment. “As soon as anyone wakes up they want to be out of here. You'd think we weren't treating them nice or something.” He turned back to Nathan. “At least a few days. We need to watch for infection and make sure you can move around alright and then we'll send you home.” He paused. “But... don't expect to go back to work right away. You've just bought yourself at least three weeks of medical leave, Captain.”

“Three weeks?” Bridger groaned.

“If you behave yourself... five if you don't... and then we'll talk about light duty.” He turned to leave. “I've got to get out of here... I've got sick people to see. I'll check in on you later.”

A nurse arrived with some more pain medication and injected it into the IV already attached to Bridger. The sharp pain in his shoulder started to transform into a steady ache which was at least more tolerable.

After she left, Bridger looked up at Lucas and Kristin. His face turned serious. “I'm sorry,” he said softly.

Kristin smoothed out his hair and said, “We know... that's not to say that we're not more than a little upset with you that it happened...”

“But we don't expect it to happen again,” continued Lucas. “It's OK... as long as you're alright.”

A nurse's aide came in with a tray of food. It didn't look too appetizing. Soup and jello were the highlights.

“Good evening, Captain,” she said cheerfully as she set the tray up on a moveable cart. “We're going to start you out on some bland foods to see how you do. Are you going to need help eating?”

Bridger was relieved when Kristin chimed in, “Don't worry, I'll take care of him,” and the aide bustled out.

“Phew,” said Lucas. “Saved by the Doc.” He seriously regarded the tray of food sitting in front of Bridger. “No offense, Captain, but I've been sitting in this room waiting for you to wake up all day and I'm starving.” He got a mischievous look on his face. “I think I need some pizza. I'm going to leave you and Doc to your dinner here and I'll be back later.” He was followed out the door by their chuckles.

Kristin gingerly swirled the soup with the spoon. “You ready to give this a try?” she asked doubtfully.

“At this point, I'm so hungry, I'd even eat that stuff.” Bridger let Kristin feed him the spoon of soup and made a small face. “It's not really that bad, I guess,” he said.

Kristin readied another spoonful. “I'll take your word for it.”

Kristin was moving the tray away after they had managed to get most of the food into Nathan without spilling much on him as Nathan said, “Kris, I'm really sorry to have put both of you through this.”

She turned back to him and caressed the side of his face. “You put yourself through quite a lot too,” she said softly. “And there's a good bit more to come... I have a feeling that therapy on your shoulder is going to be none too pleasant.” He grimaced. Kristin continued more lightly, “And... you haven't even seen what you did to that lovely car of yours yet.”

Bridger really grimaced at that thought. “You've seen it?”

“We've seen pictures. Lucas has them in his pocket... it doesn't quite resemble a car anymore... it's a bit closer to a pile of scrap metal.”

Bridger just groaned.

Kristin's face held a serious look. “It's the not taking care of yourself that has us upset with you. That is not going to happen again, Nathan,” she said firmly.

“Yes, ma'am,” he nodded and said seriously. “I promise to be a good boy... I love you, Kris.”

“I love you, Nathan.” Kristin brought her lips down to meet his and they shared a long, intense kiss, his good hand stroking her hand and her other hand ruffling through his hair. They broke their embrace as they heard Lucas from the doorway.

“Oh, he's feeling a lot better... I can tell.”