Victoria's Challenge Read online

  Magnes raises an eyebrow.

  “He has a mild concussion. He’ll need to be under observation for at least twenty-four. His pain level needs monitored, he’s going to be…”

  “A major pain in the ass," Victoria finished for him. "Yeah, I know. So where do you want him? Here or in his quarters?”

  “You’re willing to monitor him?” Magnes asked.

  “If you’re willing to trust me with his meds, I’ll get him out of your hair.”

  “Out of my hair…”

  “Sorry, Earth expression. Out of your way.”

  “If there are any changes…”

  “You’ll be the first to know.” she assures him.

  “Get him out of my hair then, I think I like that, out of my hair.” Magnes smiles at her, rubbing his bald head. “Good luck.”

  Standing with her arms crossed, she looks at Lucas. God, he’d been lucky today. It could have been so much worse. He won’t think so but it could have. Taking a hand scanner, she moves it over his bandaged arms, getting her first look at the hidden injuries. Definitely seconds on his arms and hands. Not deep, but it’s his fingers that have her worried. It doesn’t take much to go deep there.

  “What are you doing?” Her scent has him opening his eyes.

  “Looking at your injuries.”

  “How’s Hot Dog?”

  “Packing him as we speak, he has a really good chance of getting back in the seat.”

  “Fuck!” Lucas goes to run a hand through his hair and grimaces.

  “He’ll be okay, Major. Selfridge will see to it.”

  “Who’s Selfridge?”

  “The best burn doctor on Carina," she informs him. "He’s going directly to her. Now let’s talk about you.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “No you’re not, but you will be. The question is: where do you want to recover at?”

  “Not here.”

  “Fine, then here’s the deal. We’ll get you back to quarters. You’ll be monitored for your concussion, because of that, your pain meds will have to be reduced. You’re going to be uncomfortable and I’m sure, bitchy.”

  “I don’t get bitchy.” He says in a bitchy tone that has Victoria raising an eyebrow.

  “Right and I’m six foot. Anyway, we’ll get a chair, get you to quarters and get you into bed. Then we’ll see about third meal, something light. Any questions?”

  “No. Let me tell you how it’s going to work. Someone is going to get me my clothes.” he yells. "I’m going to walk to my flight deck, and when I’m ready, I will go to my quarters and go to bed!” By the time he’s finished, the entire medical facility is cringing. All but Victoria.

  “Oh really? Here.” She picks up his ruined clothes, tossing them at him. “Put them on.” Waiting, she sees him just look them. “Come on. Let’s see you pick them up.” Victoria’s eyes are hard and flashing at him. “What? Can’t do it?” She whips the covers off the cot, revealing his barely covered front.

  “Stop that! What’s wrong with you?” He grabs for the sheet, wincing at the pain it causes.

  “Me! Me! What’s wrong with you! You have second-degree burns, are too pig headed to admit you’re in pain, and it has nothing to do with the bump on your head. Your body needs time to recover, Major, and you’re going to give it that time. That means for the next few days you’re going to shut up and take orders, or I’ll bounce your head off the deck so you have a real concussion. Understand?” No one speaks. “Good. Now I’m going to find you some pants because no matter how fine of an ass you have, no one really wants to see it hanging out of a gown.”

  Lucas is left watching her leave, his mouth hanging open. What was that? Where the fuck had that come from? She eighteen for God’s sake. When had she gotten that tough? His mind nudges him to remember another time, when she stood in front of the Full Assembly, a nine cycle, demanding her right to be heard, stating her case for imprisonment for Audric instead of death, hoping for him to live a long, long life. She’d stood strong, for herself, her family and for her beliefs.

  Pushing the chair, Victoria waits behind the curtain for Wingate to help Lucas into the sleeping pants they’d found. She’s not pushing her luck by helping him herself. When the curtain is pulled back, she moves the chair to where Lucas is leaning against the bed.

  “In.” She gestures to the chair.

  “I can walk.” He’s not going to admit he’s starting to ache so bad, he’s not sure he can walk.

  “Sit, Major.” Victoria can see he’s pushing. He’s pale and sweating, if he goes down, he’ll hurt himself. “Please.” It’s the please that seems to reach him.

  Twisting he sits, telling himself his knees didn’t just give out.

  Letting Wingate push the chair, she picks up the bag of supplies Gabor put together and follows. Reaching his quarters, she moves to the security panel.

  “What’s your code, Major?”

  “My what?” Looking at him, she can see the pain is getting the upper hand.

  “Your door code.”

  “I’ll get it.” Raising his hands, he just looks at them, he can’t push in the code.

  “Give me the code,” she says softly.

  “16-03-5254” Entering the code, she wonders why those numbers are so familiar to her.

  “Let’s get him into the bed, Wingate.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Of course you are,” Victoria agrees, then looks to Wingate. “Do you want to stay or get the soup?”

  “Soup.” Wingate doesn’t hesitate. Victoria gives him an understanding smile. With Lucas sitting on the bed, he makes a hasty retreat.

  “Major, let’s get you some pain medication.”

  “I’m fine!”

  “You’re not! You’re in pain and it’s a waste of energy. Energy your body could be using to heal. Therefore, I’m going to give you a shot, you’re going to lie down and rest until Wingate brings the third meal. Then you’ll eat.”

  “You are so not telling me what to do.”

  Victoria lifts his sleeve and gives him the shot. “I so am. Now lay back.”

  “No, and stop calling me fucking Major.” However, just the slightest of nudges, destroys his resistance and with a tired sigh he lies back. His body is exhausted. Propping his arms up on a pillow, she covers him with a blanket. He’s asleep before she’s done. Satisfied with his vitals, she dims the lights.

  Looking at him, she can’t stop her fingers from gently brushing back the hair that's fallen across his forehead. Two weeks, for two weeks she’s barely seen him, has told herself she didn’t love him. It was just a fantasy she’d built up in her mind. No one could really love her, not after what she’d done. After what she’d caused. That had been a lie too, for all it had taken was Lucas being hurt for her to realize she did love him, whether he loved her or not. Knowing it is going to be a long night, she turns away and waits for Wingate.

  “Open up, Major.” The look in Lucas' eyes is one she’s become very familiar with in the last day and a half. It means he’s going to fight her. “You need to eat.”

  “Then give me something to eat, not that damn soup!”

  Sighing she lowers the spoon.

  “We’ve been over this. Tomorrow you’ll be back on solids.” Sitting on the couch, she looks at him. She knows he’s frustrated at having to rely on her, but she knows no one else will stand up to him. She just has to put up with it for a little while longer.

  “Look, you have no concussion side effects and tomorrow, Magnes will remove your bandages. You’ll have some mobility then and can at least go to the flight deck as long as everything looks good, then you can start on the rehab machine.”

  “I’m not going to need rehab.”

  “You are if you want to fly again. Deal with it.” The ringing of his comm stops any response as she turns to answer it.

  “Chamberlain.”

  Lucas watches her become very still, frowning at how she addresses his father.

  “High
Admiral. Yes, that about sums it up. Would you like to talk to him? Yes, I’m fine, thank you for asking.” Pulling off the headset, she walks over to him.

  “I’m going to head to quarters while you talk to your father.” Adjusting the headset, she turns and leaves.

  “How are you doing son?” William asks.

  “Oh great! Just peachy! I’m sitting here with my hands bandaged to my elbows being fed as if I’m a child. I’m just fucking great!”

  The High Admiral leans back in his chair. Victoria has her hands full.

  “Nice to know, thought you’d want to know that Selfridge is flying out to intercept the Phocion. She’s bringing her own arsenal. Victoria’s report on the extent of the damage has her wanting hands on as soon as possible.”

  “Victoria’s report?” Lucas questions.

  “Lucas, she contacted Selfridge personally, giving her assessment of his condition.”

  “When did she do that?”

  “I assume when you were sleeping.”

  “Sleep! Who can get any sleep with her waking me up every fricking hour?”

  “She has to be awake to wake you. Cut her some slack Lucas, she sounded exhausted.”

  “No she didn’t,” he argues.

  “Yes, she did. You just aren’t paying attention. You’ve always been a nasty patient.”

  “Look dad, they won’t take these bandages off, they’re feeding me soup, pretending its food, and are trying to tell me I need rehab.”

  “You will.”

  “Fuck that!”

  William has had enough. If this is what Victoria has been putting up with, along with everything else, she deserves a medal.

  “That’s enough, Major! You will do what you’re told. You don’t know how lucky you are, you and Hot Dog.”

  “I know the explosion could have been much worse, more people…”

  “I’m not talking about the explosion. I’m talking about having Victoria there. If she hadn’t, the chances of Hot Dog ever flying again would have been zero! Do you understand me! She found problems others missed, got him started on protocols that are so new, only a handful of people on the planet know about them, let alone know how to implement them. Why do you think Selfridge is intercepting, time is vital. Victoria bought him that time.”

  “How the hell does she know this, dad? She’s eighteen.”

  “Lucas, she graduated top of her class. She has every medical facility on the planet bidding for her.”

  “What do you mean? Yea she graduated early, but this…”

  “Lucas… she graduated from the Montreux’s Medical School.”

  “What? No. That can’t be…”

  “She’s a doctor. She’s trying to decide if she wants to specialize in burn victims.”

  “I… how could I have not known this?” Lucas sounded like he was reeling.

  “Because you didn’t want too. Ever since the Challenge, you’ve made sure to keep your distance, to the point of cutting yourself off from anything that involved Victoria.”

  “You know why.”

  “Yes, but you went to the extreme,” William admonishes.

  “I had too. I couldn’t stand it any other way. Could you have stood being involved in Cassie’s life but not involved!”

  “So instead, you’ve made yourself strangers. Has it helped?”

  “No.” He takes a deep breath. “She’s beautiful, dad.”

  “Yes she is. Inside and out and she doesn’t deserve your bad temper hammering at her. She knows what she’s doing, son. Let her, trust her.”

  “She’s eighteen. How do I trust that?”

  William realizes they just reached the core of the problem. Lucas trusting Victoria’s feelings for him.

  “You’ll have to figure that out for yourself. Lucas…” William hesitates, wondering if he should interfere, but damn it, she’s his daughter!

  “What?”

  “I don’t know what’s going on out there and to a point, it’s none of my business…”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You said something to Victoria, I don't know what, but whatever it was, it has her doubting everyone, including Cassandra, and that I won’t tolerate. If you’ve decided she’s not for you, that’s one thing, but she will always be part of our family.”

  “I never said that!” Lucas exclaims.

  “Then fix whatever you did say because if you truly love her, you don’t want to lose her over a misunderstanding.”

  Taking a deep breath, Victoria opens the hatch to Lucas’ quarters. She can do this. It’s just Lucas. Lucas having a couple of really bad days. Entering, she finds him sleeping on the couch, his arms propped up in front of him, an untouched bowl of soup on the table. Sighing, she picks it up and dumps it down the sink. If it were anyone else, she’d pour it down his throat, but she can’t make herself to do that to Lucas, even now.

  Picking up the scanner, she runs it over his hands and frowns. The muscles are already starting to tighten. They need to get him started on rehab soon.

  She yawns, the lack of sleep finally catches up to her, and curls up in a chair. Before she knows it, she’s asleep.

  “What are you going to do?” Victoria opens her eyes to find herself in sitting around a campfire.

  “Grandpa?”

  “Hi squirt.” Jacob Chamberlain smiles at his granddaughter.

  “What’s going on?”

  “That’s my squirt, always questioning.”

  “How else am I supposed to learn if I don’t question?”

  “See what I mean. So what are you going to do?”

  “About what?” Jacob gestures to her hands.

  Looking down she sees a Hawk in her hands. “Grandpa, he’s beautiful.” She looks into the bird’s amazing eyes.

  “Yes, he is, but he’s hurt.” Victoria notices the broken wing.

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know you found him. So what are you going to do?” he patiently asks for the third time.

  “Do?”

  “Are you going to help him heal? You know you can.”

  “It will hurt him.”

  “True.”

  “He’ll fly away once he’s healed.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll never see him again.”

  “Possibly.”

  “Tell me what to do Grandpa.”

  “I can’t, squirt. For him to be what he’s meant to be, you have to heal him. To heal him, you have to hurt him. In hurting him, he may never trust you again. Or, you can let him be, keep him close and watch him suffer for the rest of his life, knowing he’ll never fly again.”

  “That would be cruel.”

  “Crueler than hurting him?”

  “No,” she whispers softly.

  “So are you willing to take the chance of him leaving you when he no longer needs you?”

  “You left me grandpa…” Tears fill Victoria’s eyes as she looks across the dying fire.

  “Never. I’ve always been with you. You’re my squirt. I love you.”

  Victoria opens her eyes. Where is she? Where’s Grandpa? Sitting up, she frantically looks around. Where is she? A snore has her looking to the couch, Lucas. She’d been dreaming, dreaming of Grandpa and a… a hawk, an injured hawk, a hawk with beautiful eyes. Lucas.

  Rising she walks over to watch him sleep. She knows what her dream means, what grandpa is trying to tell her. Is she strong enough? Does she love him enough? Even when he doesn’t love her? Enough to want what’s best for him, even when it’s not best for her?

  Scanning his hands again, she picks up the headset he’s dropped on the table. Walking over to the comm center, she connects with Dr Magnes.

  “I’m bringing the Major in. He needs his bandages removed. Now. Have the manipulator ready.” Setting down the headset, she sees Lucas is awake and listening.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Yet. The muscles in your hands and fingers are starting to tighten.
We need to keep them flexible. You’re getting your wish, Major, the bandages are coming off. Let’s get you dressed.”

  In medical, Magnes waits in the private exam room, knowing this is going to be tough on everyone. As Zafar enters, he can see he’s rested and unconcerned. Chamberlain follows, the look in her eyes telling him she knows what’s about to happen.

  “Well Zafar. Let’s get these off.”

  “About time, damn things itch.” Lucas sits on the cot.

  “That’s a good sign, means your healing.” Carefully Magnes removes the bandages, pleased to find no infection in his arms. Carefully unwrapping his hands, Magnes eyes shoot to Victoria and sees she already knows.

  Lucas watches the bandages come off. While he thought he’d been prepared for what he’d see, he is still shocked. His skin is red and raw with angry gashes where the flames had bitten deep. His hands are red and swollen, with parts of his skin peeled back, where blisters have popped but it’s his fingers that shock him. While they’ve been painful, he hadn’t realized they were bending at unusual angles.

  Victoria watches Lucas carefully, her heart aching at the thought of what he was going to have to go through to get back in a Blade. Her dream had been right.

  “What’s wrong with my fingers?”

  “Nothing uncommon.”

  “What the fuck do you mean? Look at them!” Lucas demands.

  “Major, your tendons are tightening due to the trauma and swelling," Victoria informs him calmly. "It’s common for your injuries. That’s why you need rehab. Where’s your unit?” Magnes gestures to the table behind him as he continues to exam Zafar’s injuries.

  “Dr Magnes.” Victoria draws his attention, her voice eerily still. “Could I speak to you outside please?”

  “In a minute.”

  “Now Dr Magnes, we’ll be back in a minute, Major.” Leading the way, Victoria waits until the door is closed before she erupts. “What the fuck is that machine!”

  “It’s our rehab machine.” Magnes looks at her shocked.

  “What’s it rehabbing? A fucking Blade!” She takes two angry steps before turning back to face Magnes.

  “It’s what we have, doctor!”

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Why didn’t I ask? He should have been on the Phocion.”