Disclaimer: This is an original stor based upon the characters of Battlestar Galactica. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit will be made from this story.
Author's Note: Thank you all for your kind feedback. I will have updates on my longer stories done this week, but this little drabble entered my head after watching Friday's episode and I had to get it down. I hope you enjoy! This takes place sometime after the first diloxin treatment.
They had argued about who would take the rack and who would take the couch. Bill let Laura think she had won, with her presidential order and threat of court martial if he didn't put her on the couch. However, when he had come home the first night of her treatment and found her asleep, he had tenderly picked her up, carried her to his rack, and then tucked her in before he turned back to the couch. She had been sick in the morning and despite her protests he had stayed with her; holding her hair, stroking her back, and bringing her water.
From then on, he didn't sleep well, wanting to be alert if she needed him. He lay awake one night, breathing in the floral scent that had sweetened the air since she had come. Quietly, not wanting anything to wake her, he moved a chair over to the rack and sat down. He was grateful for the peaceful expression on her face, the past few nights had been hard for her. The trial was taking its toll on her, along with the poison being pumped into her body. The night before he had heard her whimpering occasionally in her sleep and it killed him to listen to her. Tonight however, she seemed to be resting peacefully. He just watched her now; he loved nothing more than watching her sleep. She was on her side, and he loved the adorable way her curls fell across her face. He took comfort in the rise and fall of her chest and as he watched her breathe he remembered a day on New Caprica. He had shown up as a suprise after school and taken her on a picnic outside the city limits. He had been scouting around for firewood when had come back and seen her sitting on the blanket with her eyes closed, breathing in and out deeply.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Breathing," she replied and then opening her eyes she saw his quizzical expression. She smiled, but he could see the pain of remembering in her eyes. "You never really understand how wonderful it is until you can't do it anymore."
He closed his eyes as he thought about the ordeal that now awaited her. How long would it be before she started to disintegrate before him again? Losing her the first time, when he had just begun to realize how much she had come to mean to him, had broken his heart. Now, the thought of losing his lady filled him with a terror he had never experienced before.
She started to stir and he sat up in the chair, ready to attend to her. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around disoriented until her gaze fell on him. Her face lit up at seeing him, her smile was so full of contentment that he knew no matter what happened, he would never forget the look on her face. He leaned over and began to tenderly caress her cheek with his knuckles. She leaned into his touch, never taking her adoring eyes off of him. Again the thought of losing her haunted him; to never again hear her laugh, touch her back as he led her into a room, or feel her curled up against him with her head on his shoulder as he read to her. Seeming to sense his fears, she reached up a hand and took his, holding tightly to it, as if to assure him that at least for a little while, she was right here and she wasn't going anywhere.
He felt ashamed of himself for his moment of weakness, forcing her to be the strong one.
"Need anything?" he asked gently.
"Just you," she said, smiling sweetly at him.
He bent down and tenderly kissed her, and then brushing her hair behind her ears he smiled.
"You've got me," he replied.