THE SECRET DEVICE

By Jules

In response to reviews:

kokomocalifornia – thank you for your kind review – last chapter for this story.

criminally charmed – Thanks for following this story and liking it – I have always liked the protective Dagwood scenario but haven't used it very much.

RHMichaud – your "edge of the seat" sitting is almost over – thank you for reading.

defrantz – it should have ended quite a while ago – but as is often the case with my stories – it had a mind of its own.

Lynnp – thanks for your review – I have so many story ideas – but finding the time to write is difficult. The ideas are constantly running around in my head though – so hopefully you will keep reading in the future.

starbuck2008 – thank you for sticking with the story – some days I think my chapters are getting longer and not shorter – I know that is definitely the case with the length of my stories – but hopefully you will still enjoy them enough to return and read some more. Lots of ideas to come.

teen13 – I did hurt Piccolo and Bridger a little in this story – which is highly unusual for me but that was a few chapters ago. Thank you for reading and reviewing.

Ihni – Hope you haven't looked too much at my profile page – because there are lots to come yet – so I hope they too will be stories that you like. Time to wrap this one up and onto finishing another.

T – thanks for your review – story wrapping up now – and reading to start chapter of another. Hope you like the ending.

Thanks for all of those people who read – this story should have been finished some time ago – but for various reasons wasn't – and the plot was extended quite a bit – but hope you enjoyed.

There are plenty of other stories to come for all my different fandoms – so thanks for your support up until now.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Dare to Dream

a quick recap from the last chapter:

By the now the noise of the helicopter had stopped and the hospital staff were waiting a short distance away.

"Captain…………," Lucas tried to call out, but it ended up being barely above a whisper.

"You okay there, Lucas?" Glenn asked, alarmed at how much paler the teenager was looking from even a few minutes earlier.

"Don't feel so good………………," the teenager managed to drawl out, leaning heavily against Bridger.

"Nathan!" Kristin cried out as she saw Lucas begin to crumple and fall towards the ground.

Bridger acted quickly enough to adjust his grip, as he looped a supportive arm around the young man's waist.

To Lucas himself, time seemed to be slipping away. He wanted to say something, but his mind was too foggy to form the words. He could feel himself falling, but couldn't do anything to stop it. He could no longer keep his eyes open, no matter how hard he tried.

"Lucas!" Bridger said as he tried to get the teenager to respond, tapping the side of his face.

Lucas never felt the two sets of hands that caught him and gently lowered him to the ground.

and now – the conclusion:

The medical team that had been waiting with the stretcher now hurried along side the young patient they had just seen collapse to the ground.

Bridger still had a strong arm wrapped around Lucas's waist as he lowered into a supine position on the ground, cushioning the teenager's descent. His face betrayed his fears as he worriedly looked back towards Kristin and then back to Glenn the paramedic.

"Lucas, can you hear me?" Glenn called out, trying to rouse the young man, gently using the palm of his hand to gain any kind of response. There was no reaction.

"Nathan, is he alright?" Kristin asked, her view of Lucas obscured by the two men kneeling beside him. It sounded like a stupid question, even as she heard the question uttered in her own voice. The noise from the helicopter was too loud and she was worried about her charge.

"Don't worry folks, he is going to be just fine," Glenn tried to assure them, seeing their tangible worry. "He has done the best he could up until now. He did great. Let's get him inside and checked out and make him more comfortable," he added, signaling to the medical staff that is was time to move the young man.

Kristin moved closer to the stretcher, making sure that the portable oxygen canister was close at hand, and watched as Bridger and Glenn, gently lifted Lucas's unconscious form and placed him on the stretcher. The medical staff secured him with straps around his upper thigh area, but didn't use the ones designed to go over the chest area.

They were mindful of the flexible cast that still adorned his lower leg as they lifted and positioned him, but the straps helped prevented Lucas from being jostled too much. With the very real possibility of broken ribs, they would have to be extremely careful until they knew for sure.

Glenn rattled off a few different medical terms and other statements to the medical staff, advising them of what had occurred since Lucas had become his patient and what his opinion was about his overall condition. He gave details on what injuries to expect and what the doctor's inside may need to check for.

A blanket was placed over Lucas and tucked in around him to maintain body heat. Within a few minutes, they were ready to begin moving him inside the UEO hospital. The wheels of the stretcher made a slight squeaking sound that was beginning to get on Bridger's nerves.

Nathan looked down at Lucas's face just in time to see him struggling to open his eyes. There was a small sliver of blue, though the effort was obvious. He had taken a hold of the teenager's hand and didn't intend to let go until they were inside and it became absolutely necessary.

"Lucas," Glenn said softly, pleased to see the boy, "don't worry, we are going to take great care of you now." He wasn't sure if his words were heard or not, or made any sense.

Lucas could briefly hear voices nearby, and tried to open his eyes, but upon doing so, shut them with a grimace of pain at the stabbing light that penetrated. He groaned audibly and tried to turn his face away. He wanted to roll onto his side, but when he tried to do so, the pain in his chest that had been burning earlier burst out of his lips in a low moan.

"Shhh," Kristin tried to soothe, "keep still, Lucas," she encouraged, running her hand through his hair, trying to prevent any sudden movement that would cause him more pain.

He tried to move, but his limbs felt uncoordinated and weighted down. He wanted to kick free from the restriction, but his brain felt clouded and he couldn't string together a coherent enough thought or sentence to get across what he needed. Lucas felt like the room was moving all around him. The light was too bright and constant, causing him to try and avoid it once more by turning his head.

The teenager was scarcely aware of the number of corridors the stretcher was wheeled down or how many fluorescent lights were overhead. He reached out with his hand, groping aimlessly for a second or two and trying to figure out what was happening to him. He briefly felt something cold and metallic before the warmth of someone else's hand enveloped his and he felt himself beginning to drift away from the real world once more.

Bridger saw the tenseness in Lucas's muscles as he started to come awake, clearly confused by the pain in his ribs and disorientated by the drugs in his system. He saw the young man reach out for the aluminum railing of the stretcher but placed his own hand over Lucas's instead, hoping the connection would prevent the panic within from growing.

Nathan felt the grip on his hand to begin with, but soon noted it was quickly losing strength. A quick glance towards Lucas's face saw the young man struggling to stay awake once more. He was fighting against the pethidine, but his features slackened as he lost the battle and his eyelids fluttered closed. This time they remained closed.

What had seemed like a long endless hallway from the helicopter, now saw them lead into an assessment and treatment room. There were all sorts of medical paraphernalia present, but the room itself was vacant and silent of hospital staff. Kristin and Nathan had been expecting to be lead into a busy emergency room, and looked back at Glenn questioningly when he stopped the stretcher.

"I will see if I can find someone fairly quickly and get them in here as soon as possible. I thought Lucas might appreciate the quiet for a minute or two," he quickly added, trying to be guided by what he knew of his patient. Since seeing the teenager back at the hotel, he sensed that the lack of noise may be beneficial.

"Tell them who I am, do whatever you have to," Bridger announced, having no qualms at all about using his rank and privilege if it helped get Lucas the treatment he needed sooner. He usually didn't like calling upon it, but was prepared to use it if he had to.

This was a UEO medical facility and from experience, he knew it could be a very busy place at times. There was a lot more happening than just the Navy's all star submarine the SeaQuest being on tour. Quite often there were a number of other vessels on maneuver as well as training courses.

Because their tours kept the SeaQuest away for extended periods of time, the vessel came fully equipped to cope with most medical emergencies that may occur onboard, thankfully most of the crew had not visited the hospital in any capacity.

The two medical attendants that had helped on the rooftop were now doing some basic medical checks on Lucas. Kristen kept a watchful eye on everything they did. Hurried introductions from the paramedics had taken place, but the focus remained on helping Lucas.

They had been surprised at Kristen's greeting as the patient's personal physician, but could see her unspoken need to be included as much as they would permit. They had experienced parents and family before who wanted a more hands on approach with their loved ones as they were treated.

When Kristin introduced herself as Doctor Westphalen, they recognized her name and position from U.E.O. personnel files and were aware of her expertise and only too glad to have her help with the young man. They both felt a little embarrassed at not having recognized her. She had worked at the facility for a brief time just before the SeaQuest's commission by Admiral Noyce.

Bridger had spoken to them also, introducing himself and saw the recognition of his name on their faces. There wasn't too many people working within the UEO that had not heard the name of Captain Nathan Bridger before even if only by reputation for being an efficient, but fair leader of a topnotch team.

All in the room were now satisfied that everything possible had been done with Lucas until the doctor arrived. With Kristen being in the room, the two medical attendants were confident enough that she would be able to monitor his progress.

They promised to advise the administration staff of Lucas's arrival and be nearby if any assistance was required.

"How long do you think we will have to wait?" Bridger asked as the two of them stood beside the stretcher, watching over the teenager.

"I am sure someone will be along any minute now," Kristin said, smiling a little to herself.

Bridger had young and impressionable young seaman who were awed just to serve under his command, but at times like this, when someone they both cared about deeply was injured, the strong and confident Captain was hastily shut away and the worried Nathan appeared.

"I hope he is not in too much pain," Nathan began to say, but in this private moment with just Kristin and Lucas present, he lost his composure a little, walking away from the stretcher and focusing elsewhere in the room. "I was so afraid for him in that hotel room," Bridger whispered, shuddering at the memory of Sykes holding a gun and using Lucas as a hostage.

"So was I," Kristin admitted, walking over to him and rubbed his upper arm reassuringly. Not for the first time she noticed how stubbornly Nathan fought to hold onto his defences. Just like a certain teenager.

Anybody who didn't know the Captain so well might have viewed it at weakness or a character flaw, but to the red-headed doctor, it was his real admission that he couldn't stand to see his family being hurt. She was aware of his self-loathing of his attempts at fatherhood with Robert, and knew he was determined more than ever that the relationship between himself and Lucas would never deteriorate to that level. It was a heavy chained burden that Bridger had worn for quite some time.

Neither of them felt the need to mention how they felt at the point of watching Lucas being pulled out of the window and seeing the desperate plea in his eyes to help him. Bridger gently kissed her hand and held it briefly, their eyes speaking everything they needed to say to each other.

A noise from the stretcher bed brought them out of their own thoughts and they were in time to see Lucas trying to move around once more.

"Stay still, Lucas," Bridger implored, trying to minimize the pain coming from the teenager's suspected broken ribs.

"Good Evening folks," a voice called from behind them, causing them to turn and see a tall thin middle aged man and a plump nurse by his side. "Doctor Mel Taylor on duty tonight. This is nurse Hettie Robinson."

"Thank you for coming, doctor," Bridger said, extending his hand in greeting, but a little startled when the man called him and Kristen by name.

"You are welcome, Captain. I have received some detailed information on your situation from a ………Commander Ford," the man said, glancing down at a clipboard folder that he currently held in his hand.

Bridger silently thanked his second-in-command for having taken the initiative.

"This must be Lucas," the man smiled kindly, handing the clipboard to the nurse as he approached the gurney and began taking a careful look at his young patient.

"Yes it is," Kristin spoke, giving him her opinion of his symptoms and what had happened to him medically since the hotel. She knew that the doctor would have been given some details from the paramedics, suspecting that Glenn would have been thorough in his report. "He had just begun to become restless again a few moments ago as you walked in."

"Certainly looks like he has had a hard time of it tonight," the doctor commented as he noted details of the bruising that was becoming more evident on his face. "Anything else you can tell me," he prompted, preferring to hear a first hand account of what had occurred.

Kristin looked at Bridger and then began a shortened version of what had transpired a few hours ago. She informed him about the hostage situation and gave her professional opinion on some of the injuries that Lucas may have sustained. She advised that there had been a period of time where the boy had been assaulted, but that they had been on the other side of a door.

Bridger had added about how Lucas had been viciously punched when they entered the room and then how another man had cruelly kicked him whilst lying on the ground. He was careful to omit names of the assailants where possible, knowing that the matter would probably be the subject of an internal UEO investigation as well as a police enquiry.

The doctor had been suitably shocked at the details that he was told, and used careful hands to inspect the damage without disturbing the young man too much. "Let's take him out of this room and get him down to x-ray as soon as possible. We can do one on his leg at the same time and make sure that those bones in his foot are still aligned."

"Once we know the extent of his injuries, we will treat him accordingly and make him comfortable. I suspect you may be right about the broken ribs," he relayed, pressing lightly on Lucas's left side and apologizing to the young man who gave a moan of pain in response.

"Doctor, I would like to be there if you have no objections. Not in an official capacity, but in case he wakes up and doesn't know where he is," Kristin informed the man.

"I think that would be fine, Doctor Westphalen," the doctor responded, using her title so that she would know that he would be more than happy for her to assist with Lucas's care where possible. Bridger and Kristin visibly relaxed for the first time since coming arriving in the helicopter and were more than grateful for the doctor's efforts.

Doctor Taylor turned to Bridger as the nurse and Kristin began detaching some of the monitors from Lucas and getting ready to move him. "Captain, this is probably going to take some time. Once we have him stabilized I would like to put him in a room on his own where he can rest undisturbed. I will keep you informed as much as I can."

Bridger nodded his head in acknowledgement of the doctor's words and watched as Lucas was once again on the move, being wheeled out of the room and on his way to x-ray his chest and leg.

Tonight had been meant to celebrate Lucas's new partnership and acknowledge his genius and talent, but somehow within a short period of time it had all turned pear shape. Everything from the location of the party, to the security details had been botched and the teenager had paid the price, literally.

Not only had he been humiliated in front of these so-called new investors by Collins, but he had been forced to hear some distasteful rumours about how some people viewed someone as young as himself. The comments about Lawrence had come from absolutely nowhere, but the impact no less painful.

Even after these few years where Bridger had changed the boy's opinions of himself and his worth to others, any mention of Wolenczak senior dredged up memories that refused to stay in his past.

'Lucas, somehow we will fix all of this mess.'

Knowing that there was some time on his hands, Nathan made his way to the administration desk to check that everything was in order for Lucas's admission. He was under no assumption that with the injuries the teenager had sustained that he would be staying for at least tonight. How long after that was yet to be decided.

It was different from a few years ago when Lucas had been admitted to hospital and he had struggled to fill out even the basic information on Lucas's background. Now he was a little more familiar and knew which boxes to tick and what history to give.

From the administration desk, Bridger used the elevator to go down two floors to the hospital cafeteria, grabbing a hot cup of coffee and sitting down at the first table available. With Kristin helping to take care of Lucas, he started to let out the breath he had been holding in since this mess all began. He was beginning to feel a little weary and was grateful for the caffeine injection and the chance to rest aching joints.

A voice from behind startled him out of his thoughts about how Lucas was going.

"Nathan?"

Bridger turned to see the friendly but puzzled face of his long time friend, Bill Noyce. He greeted him with a hand-shake and motioned for the Admiral to join him at the table. Noyce grabbed his own coffee and did just that.

"What are you doing here?" Bridger asked.

"The question is what are you doing here, Nathan?" Noyce retorted in jest, but at seeing the pinch of tiredness around the eyes, knew that something serious had happened. He also knew that there were very few times that his friend let down his guard like he was doing now.

"Lucas?" Bill asked carefully already suspecting the answer.

"Kristin is up there with him and the doctor now, Bill," Bridger found himself explaining. "This was supposed to be one of the best nights of his life, and it has turned into one big chaotic bungle," showing his frustration by let the teaspoon fall loudly onto the ceramic plate beside him.

Noyce didn't respond, knowing that his friend would give a full account of what had happened in his own time if he remained patient enough. Bridger didn't take long to give the Admiral a shortened version of the story, much as Kristen had done for the doctor back upstairs.

The Admiral was a little surprised at the of the seriousness of the situation that his premiere crew found themselves up against, given that they were not currently on active duty. What didn't shock him was the professionalism of the various team members as Bridger went on to explain how the hostage scenario had played out and Ford's leadership abilities towards the end of it all.

From the sound of it, more than one member of the crew was willing to step up to the plate and help out as much as possible as he gathered information about the involvement of Brody, Henderson, O'Neill, Ortiz and even seaman Piccolo.

"I am sure that the doctors and nurses upstairs will take good care of Lucas, Nathan," Noyce said, noting that his friend's mind was no longer in the mood to play the "why for reason" game or even looking to place blame.

"You let me know if Lucas, you, or Kristin need anything from here, Nathan," the Admiral said, standing up and preparing to leave. "Let me know how Lucas is fairing as soon as you can.

"Sure," Bridger responded, knowing that Bill had always had a soft spot for the teenager.

Noyce wanted to add, 'and take care of yourself too Nathan', but decided to err on the side of caution, suspecting that the suggestion may not go over particularly well as it was intended.

Nathan was just about to get up to replenish is cup of coffee after the Admiral left when he was approached by Commander Ford, Piccolo and Dagwood.

"Commander," Bridger acknowledged verbally, nodding his head towards Tony and Dagwood in greeting.

"Everyone else has headed back to SeaQuest now, Captain. The local police have everything under control back at the hotel, so our services were no longer required."

"How's Luke doing?" Piccolo asked, barely waiting for Ford to give his report on the official duties that needed to be performed.

"At the moment, I know about as much as you," Bridger answered truthfully, but proceeded to elaborate a little bit further as seeing the confused look on the three faces in front of him, "Kristin is up there with him now. We had to wait for the doctor."

Tony could sense that something had happened though since the helicopter had taken off from the hotel, "Want to share?" he asked straightforwardly. He wasn't a subtle person and didn't pretend to be, nor have patience when it came to finding out about friends when they were in a hospital.

Bridger must have been too tired to note the abrupt manner of his questioning, but Commander Ford certainly noted the curt address to the Captain and was about to call Piccolo on it. The way he spoke to superior officer's left a lot to be desired. Bridger spoke before the dark-skinned man could utter his disapproval to the seaman.

"Lucas was doing alright up on the roof when we first arrived. Not great, but okay considering the beatings he took, how he was emotionally, not to mention the drugs that were in his system."

"But….," Piccolo prompted once more, earning him another sharp glare from Ford.

Ford didn't bring up the subject further, knowing that Piccolo's friendship with the young genius was strong, and that he cared a lot for the teenager as they all did. There was a time when the friendship Lucas shared with former Lieutenant Ben Krieg was equally as strong, if not more so. Ben would have been asking the Captain the same set of questions.

"He had tried to stay awake for the entire journey but it all became a bit too much. When we got him out of the helicopter he collapsed."

"Collapsed!" Ford repeated thinking like Bridger that Lucas had been doing fairly well physically back at the hotel.

"Lucas get better," came the comment from Dagwood, the others not fully grasping if it was a general statement or a question.

"Maybe it is better if you all head back to the SeaQuest for now," Bridger suggested. I have no idea how long they are going to be, but probably a while with x-rays and other tests. I will contact you there as soon as I have any news.

Tony was about to argue the point, but could see the weariness in his Commanding Officer and decided not to press the point just yet.

"I will come back first thing in the morning with some of his stuff," Piccolo offered, thinking that the Captain would not turn him away if he was doing Lucas a service.

"That would be great. Just a spare change of clothes and the basics for now," Bridger responded.

"Do you require anything, Captain? Or Doctor Westphalen?" Ford enquired.

"A whole lot of things actually Jonathan," the Captain replied, thinking of things such as luck, a prayer or two and a dash of patience. Somehow he sensed that the next few days were going to be rough for them, but most of all Lucas.

"I will wait to hear from you, Sir," Ford acknowledged, his facial expression telling Nathan that he understood what the man was trying to say without so many words.

"Come on Dag, let's go back to the SeaQuest," Tony announced, slapping the larger man heartily on the back.

"Dagwood hungry. You promised we could eat, Tony," Dagwood accused lightly.

Nathan smiled a little at man's honesty when he spoke, and not being afraid to call Piccolo on something he had said or promised earlier. He suspected that these two friends would be play a key role in helping Lucas overcome his emotional stress from the past few weeks once he was released from the hospital.

"You heard the man, seaman," Bridger ordered casually.

"He only ate like two hours ago. Cleaning up some of the dishes that were left on the buffet table in the dining room," Tony groused, thinking it was virtually impossible for the larger man to be hungry again in such a short period of time. He had made the light-hearted promise about dinner without thinking Dagwood saw it as gospel.

"Goodnight," Bridger said to all as the trio ambled out of the hospital cafeteria.

Finding himself with only his own company once more, Bridger started to think it might be time to return back up to where he had been earlier and make some whispered enquiries about Lucas. Surely Kristin and the doctor had been able to assess the teenager by now.

He entered the elevator and hit the appropriate button, but as the door's closed, remembering the scene back at the hotel where Lucas had been forced into the elevator by Sykes with a gun to his head.

whilst Bridger was in the hospital cafeteria:

Being late at night, when the doctor and nurse rolled Lucas into the x-ray department, they were greeted with silence and an empty room, much as it had been in the assessment and treatment room.

The doctor went about setting up the x-ray slides that he would need and prepared the machine. The nurse went to the wall and flicked the relative light switches, bathing the room in bright white light. It was the trigger for Lucas to begin showing signs of waking once more.

"Lucas?" Kristin called softly, running her hand down his arm gently, trying to reassure him that he was safe. Waking in a strange sterile environment would cause some anxiety. "Can you hear me?"

At first she thought he had only made a noise in reaction to the bright light overhead, and wasn't expecting much from him. To her surprise though, eyelids slowly fluttered open and she gave him a genuine warm smile of encouragement.

"You are going to be just fine," she promised, see the confused and puzzled expression on his tired face.

"H…spl?" came the slurred half query as he tried to look to either side and judge for himself where he was.

"Yes, you are, but just lie still there for a few minute and let the doctor take care of you," she said, keeping her hand on his arm in case he tried to move in too much of a hurry.

"Why not you?" came the question after a few minutes as Lucas tried to get the sentence in right order in his head before uttering the words.

Kristin had to think for a minute about what he was asking, "Oh, you mean why am I not doing the doctoring this time around?"

Lucas didn't trust his voice for a second coherent sentence and nodded his head in the affirmative. Kristin had taken care of his health and medical needs for quite a while now, and her touch over the years had become familiar and soothing when he wasn't feeling so great.

"This time around, I am just going to stay and keep you company," Kristin answered, thinking Lucas might be drifting back to sleep as his eyes fluttered closed and he sighed audibly.

"Captain?" he said, trying to sit up in a hurry, somehow even with his addled thoughts, sensing that someone was missing from the room. The man was usually by his bedside when he was sick or injured, for the years he had spent on SeaQuest anyway.

Forgetting briefly about what had happened and thinking that Kristin might have been there because something was wrong with Bridger. He remembered brief flashes of talking to someone named Glenn, but for the moment, the rest of the events tonight seemed to be a bit of a blur.

Lucas had to take a sharp intake of breath at the sudden movement, surprised at the pain that jabbed him sharply in the chest. He closed his eyes and brought a hand to his head, trying to rub away at the slight dizziness that he was feeling.

"Stay still, Lucas," Kristin lightly admonished, "Nathan is just fine. Worried about you."

"Okay, already to go now young man," the doctor announced as he approached the bed.

Lucas startled a little at hearing the second voice in the room, his eyes were closed, but he hadn't been able to fall back to sleep. The growing pain in his side had made itself much more noticeable and he keep having to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out and admitting just how much he hurt.

"I will give you something for the pain soon," the doctor informed him, noticing the pinched lines on his young face. "I am sorry to have to cause you more discomfort."

Lucas opened his eyes and looked at the man, 'Just do what we have to and get it over with' he said with a dejected glance. He grimaced as Kristin slowly assisted him into a seated position. The pain was now more constant and getting harder to ignore or block out.

For the next twenty minutes, the doctor, nurse and Kristin maneuvered Lucas towards the x-ray machine and laid and coaxed him into position to take the first necessary picture. He tried as much as possible to distract himself by looking about the room, and thinking of something else, but with his mind still too foggy from the pethidine, it wasn't so easy.

Another sharp stab of pain that caught him off guard, and Lucas couldn't bite back the rebuke before he spoke, "Are we almost done?" His voice sounded petulant and like a disappointed child, but lacked the strength that he was trying to convey.

"Sorry Lucas, I know this is not any fun for you," the doctor apologized. It was the pain talking and he could see fatigue starting to set in on the young man's features.

Lucas wrapped an arm around his chest in an attempt to try and massage away at the near constant ache in his ribcage. He didn't want to hear anymore about his injuries or about what they were going to do. He just wanted to get out of here and lie down, somewhere preferably soft and with a pillow. His eyes felt gritty and full of sand.

"We just have to check on your leg, then we can let you rest," Kristin said, rubbing his back soothingly, seeing the tiredness but also the firm point of admit very little weakness in front of this new doctor.

Although his avoidance of direct questions when it came to sickness or injuries not being totally unusual, somehow tonight was different. Almost like there was most to this story than Lucas was willing to share. A shared questioning look from the doctor caused her to silently ponder his latest behaviour.

In pain or not, she could have sworn that he was almost holding something back. The x-rays would no doubt give then the confirmation about the condition of his ribs, but it didn't give her any further insight into what else was causing him to close in on himself.

"All done, Lucas, you can hop back up on that bed there. I am going to give you a little needle for the pain, and then take a look at your negatives," the doctor informed him. The physician had omitted the part of hoping the pain relief would allow the young man to relax enough to get some rest.

Lucas went to get off the bed of the x-ray machine, but almost stumbled, his face turning an embarrassing shade of red as he felt hands supporting him under the arms and leading him back to the bed. It was only a short distance, but the teenager felt strange and the dizziness was gaining momentum.

The doctor laid the teenager on his left side, to avoid putting any pressure on the right hand side of his ribcage. Lucas immediately brought his knees up a little, sounds and sensations swirling around him. The lights were too bright, forcing him to close his eyes, and the voices were beginning to sound further away.

"Just a small sting now," the nurse forewarned as she took the prepared syringe from the doctor and administered the injection.

"Ow," came the whispered indignant response.

Lucas began to feel a little strange, his muscles losing their co-ordination. His limbs were beginning to feel like wet noodles and his head was growing a little more clouded.

"C-cold," the teenager mumbled.

By the time Kristin brought the blanket up over his shoulders, Lucas appeared to be drowsing. He was a little restless and the occasional grimace of pain, but the medication had yet to take full effect. She smoothed the hair off his forehead and smiled down at the almost peaceful face.

He was relying on her to be there for him, and she wasn't about to show how scared she had been for him. So far he had put up such a brave front since this whole micro-chip debacle had started and she couldn't undermine that inner strength by given into that fear.

For a moment or two she felt the anger in her begin to grow at what had occurred tonight and how badly Lucas had been treated. The doctor had seen the slightly reddened eyes, but before he could ask if Kristin was alright, she forced her smile and calm exterior to return as she responded to a moan and brief sigh from Lucas as he settled into a slightly deeper state of sleep.

Bridger was waiting by the nurse's reception desk, hoping to hear news about how Lucas was doing when Kristin and the doctor came around the corner, wheeling the slumbering teenager.

"Let's get him settled into room 312A nurse, and then I can take another look at those x-rays and carry out any treatment. I was going to take him back down to the assessment room to do that, but I see no reason to disturb him anymore than we have to," the doctor spoke.

The room as it turned out was a large private one, and it was quite spacious inside and full self-contained with its own bathroom and shower facilities. Kristin and Bridger were quite impressed and grateful that the doctor's promise of a quiet and private room were being adhered to.

The nurse and Kristin went about settling the bed closest to the monitor board in the room. For now they were only going to monitor his heart rate and breathing as a precaution. The young man seemed to be in fairly good health apart from his current injuries, so the doctor didn't think an I.V. was required at this stage.

Kristin attached the little peg clamp to Lucas's index finger, and rested it gently back on top of the blanket. It would be checked and recorded every few hours to begin with. The teenager's breathing was a little raspy sounding, though she didn't know if it was caused by the lingering pain his body was feeling or due to a more serious injury to his ribs.

Bridger and Kristin soon joined the doctor a short distance away near a viewing screen where the x-ray negatives could clearly be seen and examined in more detail. The Captain saw Lucas's medical file on a mobile table.

The doctor was fairly silent at first as he seemed to look carefully at the negatives, back towards Bridger and Kristin and then back to the x-ray's again. He was concentrating on what appeared to be a few smudged areas.

The Captain could work out the basic outline of the skeletal frame and where everything was, but not much more. Kristin could read the negatives as well as the doctor, and her face appeared to be a little more closed off to Bridger.

Doctor Taylor looked back at both of them, trying to find the right words to start with, "Well, I can say with a little certainty that the damage whilst present is not as bad as perhaps you might have thought."

"That's good right?" Bridger said, his shoulders relaxing a little. He looked back around to see Lucas still lying very still in the bed, bathed in a blue hue from the monitor screen nearby.

"Lucas has a fracture in this rib here," the doctor pointed out, the rib on the right hand side and lower in the chest. "Can you tell me how much force might have been used?"

"No, not really. We heard him yelling from the other side of the door for the men holding him to leave him alone. Shortly after we were able to break through the door, one of the men punched Lucas hard in the stomach, causing him to fall to the floor," Bridger explained, wishing he could skip rehashing this up when it was still too fresh in his mind to contemplate for too long.

"While he was down on the floor, the other man kicked him with a boot," Kristin filled in, seeing Nathan clench his fist as he reheard how Lucas had been deliberately hurt.

"Luckily the piece of bone is still pretty much in place as long as there is no harsh jarring or movement. Once we have the ribs strapped securely, it should begin to heal nicely."

The doctor was looking back at the x-rays intently again, running his finger close to the fractured rib he had pointed to. "I hate to bring this up……….," he began, not knowing how else to brooch the subject.

"Do you people know about this young man's medical history?"

Bridger was about to demand what was the man trying to get at, when a light bulb went off in his head. He had filled out that he was the legal guardian of Lucas on the forms.

"Lucas is my adopted son," Bridger clarified, "He has been living with me, Kristin and the rest of my crew aboard a submarine for the past 4 years because of what his real father did to him."

"If you are trying to ask do we know about the previous beatings and injuries that he has received, then yes we have," Kristin added, seeing the question. She knew he was only doing his job as a proper doctor and health professional, but it hurt nonetheless to know that the misguided accusation and questions often came to them first.

"Can we not get into that part of his past now, please," Bridger implored, his level of frustration growing a little.

"I think the reason this rib here broke is because of the calcification that has taken place. If you look here, you can see the slight discolouration in the x-ray. That particular area would have been a little weaker than others because of the previous break," Taylor explained.

"Ribs are usually fairly flexible, especially in someone as young as Lucas, but where they tend cause problems is along here," the doctor continued, pointing to where the bone curved and contoured to form the shape of the chest.

Kristin considered the x-ray as he did, trying to remove her emotional attachment to the patient and giving an unbiased and professional look at it and coming to a similar conclusion. There were a number of small areas of discolouration in various positions on Lucas's ribcage. A blow to any one of those areas may have resulted in the rib being more brittle or susceptible to injury.

The smudges were spread out in such a manner to indicate that some were received at approximately the same time frame as others, whilst others were older. Some were more severe breaks that others.

"We appreciate your concern Doctor Taylor, and honesty. Please don't mention any of this to Lucas, as he has already taken one too many knocks about being associated with his father today. You will note that there is an extensive history of what has taken place in that file there, if you feel it necessary to read it."

"Apart from this broken one, the one directly below it appears to be cracked. It may not have received the full force of the blow, or faired better for not having been damaged earlier," Doctor Taylor diagnosed. "I am fairly sure that we are going to see some extensive bruising along here," he continued, running his index finger along the affected area on the negative.

Moving over to the second x-ray of the injured leg, the doctor spoke once more, "Fortunately from the description of the injury that you explained earlier Kristin, there doesn't appear to be much damage to his foot on this occasion. I would have expected to see more inflammation around those smaller bones, but there is not."

"For now, I suggest we wrap his chest as tightly as possible and give those ribs a chance to heal. It might take up to three weeks before he can move without feeling any discomfort. I will prescribe a mild antibiotic to begin with and a fairly strong painkiller."

"The SeaQuest where we live for the majority of the year is fully equipped medically and I can arrange any medication that you request," Kristin informed him.

"I want to keep an eye on him closely tonight, and probably up until later in the day tomorrow, but after that, we can discuss any further treatment and where that is to take place," the doctor stated.

"Can I ask you to assist me and my nurse in wrapping those ribs, Kristin?"

"Absolutely," Kristin affirmed, "Nathan you may want to stay close as well. He may wake once we lift him and he may try and move around too much and cause more problems."

"Doctor Westphalen if you and the nurse can lift Lucas carefully into a sitting position, then I will be able to wrap the ribs a little easier," Taylor suggested.

Everyone in the room was hoping that the drugs in Lucas's system would be strong enough to keep him sleeping through much of the procedure. It soon became clear that they were underestimating the teenager's body to fight against them and the medication.

"I may not be able to salvage the shirt," Taylor forewarned, taking a pair of scissors and preparing to cut the garment away from the boy's upper body. "This will cause Lucas the least amount of pain."

"Do whatever you have to, it's just a shirt," Bridger answered, not even giving it a second thought.

Carefully and gently as they could, Kristin and the nurse placed supportive hands behind Lucas's back and began lifting him into a half-seated position. Bridger stood by, wanting to help, but thinking that another pair of hands may only be getting in the way of the trained medical staff.

With a few well placed cuts with the scissor blades, and the shirt fell away in three large pieces of fabric. All of them unable to take their eyes away from the significant bruising that was now beginning to emerge on Lucas's chest area. Some of the bruising was dark and angry looking, particular near the area where Taylor had indicated the rib was broken.

'It's lucky that guy is already dead,' Bridger swore to himself , keeping a clenched jaw as he tried to control his anger at somebody who would deliberately raise a hand to Lucas like this. Or a boot for that matter.

The teenager's eyes were closed, and he appeared to be out of it as the doctor cautiously took a first-hand look at the bruising. Although he had predicted it with the x-rays, it was certainly more extensive than even he had guessed it might be.

A few probing fingers brought the first moan of pain from Lucas since falling asleep. A quick look at his face saw his brow come together in a frown, the medication keeping his mind pliable as well as his body. But part of him sensing that something was causing him pain.

"C-cold," he mumbled softly, his skin reacting to the absence of his shirt.

Lucas never spoke again, as the doctor quickly set about tapping up his ribs. It was a slow process, having to make sure that the piece of rib was still in position as he worked. His patient had offered a few more low moans of pain, but didn't fully wake.

"The bruising may become worse over the next day or so, but by the day after tomorrow we should see the worst of it," the doctor explained to Bridger as he finished up. "He is going to be one stiff and sore boy for a few weeks, there is no doubt about that."

"Thank you for everything you are doing," Bridger said in gratitude, seeing that the doctor was being as gentle as he could and explaining as much as he could about was happening to Lucas.

"Nurse, once I am finished here, I will leave you two ladies here to help get the patient changed into a pair of hospital pajamas," Taylor said in a low voice.

The doctor lead Bridger away from the bed, confident that between the Nurse and Kristin, they would be able to make Lucas that much more comfortable. They would finally be able to leave him alone for a couple of hours and sleep undisturbed.

"I assume that you intend to stay for the remainder of tonight?" the doctor asked, noting how early into the morning the time now was.

"I don't want to leave him in here alone," Bridger replied, hoping that the doctor would get the subtle message that there was no way he would be leaving Lucas.

The doctor spoke quietly to Bridger for a few more minutes, mostly about general symptoms that he would be looking for over the next few days in his young patient. Nathan made a mental note of some of them, but knew that Kristin would already know what to look for.

The curtain had been drawn around the bed to allow Lucas a little privacy as Kristin and the nurse removed his outer clothing and replaced them with pajamas. Between the two of them they made short work of the task at hand, and with the medication, Lucas made only a couple of involuntary noises of protest.

Thankfully the medication had taken away the majority of the pain, leaving only a heavy dense cloud of sleep in Lucas. His breathing was still audible and sounded a little harsh.

"All finished," Kristin whispered to Nathan as Nurse Robinson pushed back the curtain. She gave a kind smile to the two adults in the room and a fond look towards the young patient. She checked once more that the blanket covering him was secure and in place.

"Please let me know if you need anything," the nurse spoke quietly, leaving the room.

"Gee that was fast," Bridger praised their quick efforts, joining Kristin beside the bed.

"This isn't fair to him," Kristin said softly after a few moments of silence between them. Both of them grateful that Lucas had been rescued and was now safe.

"I have already asked myself all of those questions tonight while I was downstairs in the cafeteria," Nathan responded, wrapping a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

"The doctor said he was going to make the arrangements for a room for us on one of the other levels if you need to rest," Bridger told her. "They have some quarters set aside for families and personnel in case the need to be here."

"That's nice, Nathan, but I am not leaving him in here on his own," Kristin answered, giving him a firm look but thanking him for caring about her needs with a small smile.

"I already told Doctor Taylor that," Nathan chuckled, knowing that Kristin's frame of mind would not be far from his own. It would be fair to say that both of them felt a little guilty at not having been able to protect Lucas more from being hurt.

"Did you want some coffee or something from the cafeteria?" Bridger asked dragging two large visitor chairs as close as he could towards the bed.

"No, not right now thanks," Kristin replied, taking the seat closest to Lucas and smoothing the blanket over him as he slept. His face was calm, relaxed.

Bridger sat down in the chair beside her, squirming for a minute as he tried to get comfortable, "Boy they sure don't want to sit down in these for very long," he commented casually.

"How is Commander Ford going over at the hotel, have you heard?" Kristin asked, keeping her voice low to avoid waking Lucas. With the medication their probably wasn't much chance of that, but she was beginning to feel tired and worn out too. Letting herself come down from the adrenaline high that had lasted for the last couple of hours.

She knew that Nathan would be feeling pretty much the same too.

"He turned up with Dagwood and Piccolo when you were in X-ray with Lucas. Said that the local authorities were handling the remaining loose ends. Everyone else had already headed back to SeaQuest."

Kristin nodded her head in acknowledgement, brushing away a few wispy strands of red hair that had worked themselves loose during the night, "They are all probably anxious to hear how Lucas is doing."

"Why don't you head down to one of the conference phones and let them know. You would be better at explaining the medical parts than me," Bridger urged. "I will stay here with Lucas and keep him company until you get back."

"May as well. Cannot see myself sleeping for a little while yet. I will bring back some breakfast for you," Kristin offered in compromise. "The nurse won't be checking on him for another hour or so."

Kristin stood up and looked down at Lucas for a moment, not wanting to disturb his rest, but at the same time, wanting to reach out and touch him. She settled for a few strokes of her hand through the blond hair on his forehead,

whispering to him that she wouldn't be gone long.

"Keep a close eye on him?" she said pausing before heading to the door.

"You know I will," Bridger promised, moving to her now vacant chair.

Kristin knew it was still very early morning and almost waited a few more hours before contacting the SeaQuest. She was a little surprised to be greeted by the faces of the familiar faces of those crew members who had attended Lucas's celebratory dinner.

"I thought you all would have been catching up on sleep by now," she said, opening the conversation casually.

"We just felt that we owed it to Lucas to hear how he was doing before that, Kristin," Ford spoke on everyone's behalf.

"Luke going to be okay?" Piccolo asked plainly, fiddling with a nearby chair to cover his concern.

"For the moment he is sleeping," Kristin informed them, "By the time we finished all the tests on him, he was exhausted and the doctor gave him something to allow him to rest undisturbed for the next few hours," she explained.

"He has one confirmed broken rib and the one beneath it is cracked. Probably from when he was kicked. For the next few days, he is going to be extremely uncomfortable and tired. After that I can't say. We just have to take this one day at a time for the immediate future."

Those present from the SeaQuest were a little lost for words as to what to say. They hated the idea of their crewmember being in pain and were angry that they hadn't been able to do more to prevent it.

"Commander, you will have to see to the altering of the duty roster for the next few weeks, as Lucas is going to be restricted to very light duties once released from the hospital. We have to watch him carefully for any signs of infection, damage to his lungs and generally keep him from doing anything too physical."

"The roster won't be a problem, Doctor," Ford stated, "Between us we should be able to work around Lucas entirely, but no doubt Lucas is going to object to being taken off duty all together."

"He won't have much of a choice to begin with once he gets back to the SeaQuest. No doubt he will require some fairly strong painkillers that will cause drowsiness. He may become a little irritable at the lack of activity, but it is for his own good. If he has a fall or does too much too soon, whilst his ribs are still healing, he could be in all sorts of trouble," Kristin relayed.

"When can we go see him?" Piccolo blurted out.

Kristin knew that the seaman was worried about his friend, but she erred on the side of caution, keeping Lucas's best interests and welfare utmost in her mind.

"For the moment, let's see what kind of frame of mind he is in when he does wake up, Tony," Kristin responded.

After the roller-coaster of emotion that he was on at the hotel, not to mention the pain and general disorientation, he may want some breathing space."

"Yeah, those goons didn't exactly make it easy on him," Tony reluctantly agreed.

"I need to get back to Lucas and Nathan, but I thought you all deserved to know."

"No sweat, Doc," Piccolo finished, standing back a little more from the video screen.

"When Lucas decides he is up to visitors again, he may be wanting some clothes and other personal items," Kristin preempted.

"We will be in contact later today then," Ford stated, "Give our regards to Lucas and the Captain."

Kristin disconnected the call after saying goodbye, thoughts running through her head about what the next few days might bring for them all.

whilst Kristin was talking to the SeaQuest crew:

Bridger sat close to Lucas's bed, watching him, knowing that there was little he could do at the moment except to let him sleep. That didn't help how he felt about tonight though. How inadequate he had felt while watching Lucas being held as a hostage in front of Sykes.

Of course his trained crew had been terrific, but that didn't stop the knotted feeling he still had low in his gut about what could have happened from when Lucas was forced into the elevator downstairs, to when the gun was being cocked and held to his temple.

"Didn't turn out quite the way we planned tonight, did it Lucas," he said quietly, playing idly with the blanket on the bed, talking to himself more than the sleeping figure in the bed.

A few moments later, Kristin re-entered the room, treading silently across to the chair beside Nathan, "Everything alright?"

"Not a peep out of him since you left," Bridger commented, "Not much of a conversationalist tonight either," he joked, admitting that he had tried talking to the teenager even though his audience was asleep.

"Let's hope that keeps up for a few more hours," Kristin returned, settling herself in the large uncomfortable chair and yawning a little at the earliness of the morning.

"Why don't you go and get some sleep yourself in the room they have prepared for us?" Nathan prodded.

"And you?" Kristin said, looking back at him in challenge.

"Staying right here," Bridger admitted, though he could feel tiredness creeping up on him as well.

"Well then, I guess that makes two of us then," Kristin said, having no intentions of leaving again.

Approximately thirty minutes later and both Bridger and Kristin had managed to doze off while keeping vigil over their young charge.

The nursing staff had not returned as yet to do any vitals monitoring, though the teenager was showing signs of restlessness and stress. Mumbling a little in his sleep and tossing his head back and forth on the pillow.

Lucas couldn't remember what had happened or where he was. His head felt heavy and clouded as he tried to get a clear thought into his head.

Then all of a sudden he remembered snippets. Of being forced at gunpoint somewhere. He couldn't recall where they went, but several dark faces invaded his subconscious and he could hear a demanding voice echoing in his brain.

The voice wanted something, but he couldn't tell this person. Then pain erupted in his stomach and he felt himself wrapping his arms around his middle. On the hospital bed, Lucas began moving around a little more, bringing his legs up towards his chest, but groaning a little at the discomfort that was present.

Lucas frowned a little more as scenes began replaying in his mind. His movements on the bed increased a little, but had yet to disturb Bridger or Kristin as they slept nearby.

The faces and the voices became more familiar to him and the teenager began to mumble a little in his sleep, "No……. I won't…….No," to the angered questions that were being hurled at him.

"I won't tell you……….," he blurted out a little more loudly, this time the sound of his voice waking the Captain.

"Lucas?" Bridger said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, uncertain if it had been the boy who had awoken him. He admonished himself a little for having fallen asleep so easily. It wasn't until Lucas began talking again that he leaned over closer towards the bed and saw the youth moving around underneath the blanket.

"H-help……..," Lucas stammered, his breathing audible and his voice as though panicked and frightened. His hands escaped from the restrictions of the sheets and he waved them in front of him, as though warding of an unseen assailant.

"Wake up, Lucas," Bridger said, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, hoping his touch would be enough to bring him out of the bad dream he was having.

The hand did have an effect, but not a good one, as Lucas shouted out again, "NO!" his voice loud enough to startle Kristin, who joined Nathan in trying

to calm him down.

"How long has he been like this?" Kristin said, on full alert and her medical knowledge coming to the forefront.

"Only a minute or two. I hear him call out and he was restless," Bridger explained, using a little more pressure with his hand and calling the teenager's name several times in an attempt to wake him.

Kristin and Bridger were distracted momentarily, as the night-time nurse entered the room, ready to perform her vital checks on the patient. She was surprised to see the two adults leaning over the youth, trying to wake him.

"Is he alright?" she said, approaching the bed, worried that she might have to scurry off and find the doctor on duty. Perhaps he was having a reaction to the medication he had been prescribed a few hours earlier.

"NO!........Get away…….," Lucas shouted with a little more determination, this time, waking himself with his voice and pulling his upper body into a half-seated position. This sudden movement though caused him to gasp out loud and forget all about what he was remembering and focus entirely on the pain that was erupting in his chest.

"Whoa!, take it easy, Lucas," Bridger said, putting a gentle, but firm restraining hand on the young man and preventing him from trying to get up any quicker and causing more pain.

"Relax, Lucas, you have some broken ribs, and need to rest as much as possible," Kristin said in her best doctor voice.

Upon closely looking at his face, it was clear to the nurse and everyone else that Lucas may not be fully awake. His eyes were at half mast, and slowly closing, opening again as he fought against the confusion and disorientation that plagued him.

"You are safe," Bridger spoke softly, and closely to his ear, thinking that the teenager might be scared that he was still being held by Sykes and his men.

Lucas turned his head slightly towards the voice, his expression changing a little as if he was trying to filter the information he had just been told.

"Safe," the Captain repeated, seeing the question forming on the young man's face and rubbing his hand gently through his hair, giving what comfort and reassurance he could.

Bridger could feel the tension leave Lucas's shoulders and slump a little more in posture at the single word he had managed to decipher despite his splitting headache.

Lucas was fighting to stay awake as the nurse resumed her routine and went about taking his vitals. She saw the pleading looks from the man and woman to be extra careful and not to disturb the young man any more than necessary. She was used to seeing the worried faces of parents and families.

Exhaustion soon won, and Lucas laid back down wearily against the sheets and pillows, his eyes drooping heavily. They opened again briefly, only to close again and remain so. The hand that Kristin had been holding growing limp as she watched his body and mind slip into sleep once more.

The nurse used the blood pressure cuff on Lucas's upper arm, her administrations not even making him raise an eyelid as she worked. "A little elevated, but probably due to the way he woke up in a fright just now," she told them.

She took a look at the thermometer reading and frowned a little at what she saw, Kristin immediately picking up on her change in demeanour and noting the small comment that was made on the clipboard chart.

"He has a temperature?" Bridger asked, worried that the onset of such would hamper any recovery time they were hoping for.

"It might be the body's way of coping with everything he has been through in the last twenty-four hours," Kristin reminded him gently, knowing that there could be a lot of reasons for the increase, but not wanting to jump to any conclusions just yet. Lucas had only been resting for a few hours and would need a good deal more in days to come.

"It is raised a little," the nurse admitted, "But not too high just yet. Let's give the antibiotics that the doctor prescribed a chance to work and keep an eye on it."

"He looks peaceful enough again for now," then nurse commented before leaving the room and going about her other duties. She had promised to come back as often as she was able to and check on the slumbering patient.

"Do you think he is going to have many times like this, remembering what it was like up in that room?" Bridger asked Kristin as they both settled in to watch over their charge once more.

"It would be healthier for him to remember than not to," Kristin said frankly. "Keeping any feelings or emotions locked away won't do him any good in the long term. When he is ready to talk, we have to be there for him again, just like we were after you returned from when they had taken him before."

A few hours later, Kristin and Bridger were meeting with Doctor Taylor once more, who had come to check on his young patient. He was pleased to see the young man still sleeping, though taking careful note of the slightly raised temperature and when he had awoken suddenly from a nightmare.

"His temperature still remains about the same," Taylor informed them. "It hasn't risen, which is a positive thing. I would like for the two of you however to get some decent rest of your own," he chastised lightly.

"Some of our people shouldn't be too far away from visiting," Kristin told him, "We will have one or two of them stay with Lucas while we do just that."

"See that you do. That young man is going to need you over the coming days, Kristin," Taylor smiled warmly.

"After waking early this morning, I don't expect him to wake until lunch time, by which time I will assess his situation again, and make some more informed decisions about his care from there," Mel Taylor explained. "Whilst you are resting, I will have the nursing staff continue to monitor him carefully and closely, and if he does wake, see if he will have something to eat and drink."

"We appreciate the extra care that you are giving to Lucas," Bridger spoke up. "I am sure that Lucas himself will want to thank you, once he is feeling a little better."

About twenty minutes after the Doctor left, Kristin and Bridger were seated beside Lucas once more when once of the day-time nurses came into the room.

"Captain, I think a few members of your crew are here to see you," she politely informed them.

"Thank you," Bridger replied, getting up to leave the room, "I will be right back. I will see who it is and then maybe you and I can go and get a hot cup of coffee and a sleep for an hour or two." he added, knowing that he and Kristin would have to rely on the help of their crew a little whilst Lucas healed. They were both very grateful for the excellent staff that they were surrounded with and how much they all cared about Lucas.

Bridger took one more fleeting look at the blanket covered lump on the bed and smiled, since falling back asleep, Lucas had barely moved a muscle, a pillow now grasped in his hands as covering part of his face from view.

When the Captain stepped out into the hospital corridor, he was greeted by Piccolo, Dagwood and Lonnie Henderson.

"Good morning," he greeted them casually, grinning a little at the sheer child-like expression of wonder that Dagwood had for such a big place.

"Good morning, Captain, Sir," Lonnie responded formally and with a salute, but was quickly waved away by Bridger's insistence of just being herself away from the boat.

"How's Luke doing?" Piccolo asked, foregoing all formality with 'Hello' and such.

"Ah, a little tired, but I guess that is to be expected for a large part of today anyway," Bridger answered. "We had a few concerning moments earlier this morning, and he has a slight fever, but apart from that, he is doing just fine."

"Ain't the doctor's trying to do something for him?" Tony wanted to know after hearing the diagnosis.

"Dagwood protect Lucas," the larger man stated, taking a step forward as if to assume such a role within the hospital.

"That won't be necessary Dagwood, thank you, we are very grateful for the help that you gave," Bridger assured him. "The Doctor is keeping a close eye on him, Tony, and is going to check on him again around lunch time to make a decision on what is going to happen to him today."

"They will be sending him back to the SeaQuest with us, won't they?" Tony stated, thinking this would be normal procedure for someone who was a crewmember onboard the SeaQuest.

"Well we would like that too, Tony, but let's just take it a little slower for now. Kristin already told you about his ribs last night, and I think that the doctor will want to make sure that the treatment he started is progressing nicely before releasing Lucas from the hospital."

"Commander Ford and everybody back at the boat said to let them know if Lucas needs anything. That goes for you and the Doc, too," Piccolo relayed.

"Thank you, for now you can visit Lucas if you like, while Kristin and I go and get a cup of coffee. After that they have set up a room for us, and I was hoping to get a couple of hours sleep before the Doctor comes back to do his rounds," Bridger explained.

"We would be happy to do that, Captain," Lonnie said, looking back at the two men and getting nodding acknowledgement from both.

"Yeah, sure Cap, no sweat. Luke and us will be just great," Piccolo promised.

"Like I said he is still sleeping and has a fever, so don't go expecting too much of him right at the moment," Bridger warned, leading the trio into the room.

Dagwood and Lonnie kept their footsteps as light as possible, worried about causing any noise that might disturb Lucas as they entered.

"Hey, Doc," Tony greeted Kristin.

Lucas seemed to stir at the sound of Tony's voice and turned his head on the pillow, earning the seaman a glare of disapproval from everyone in the room.

"Keep it down please," Kristin whispered, pleased to see that Lucas had not woken any further. His features still looked tired, pale and worn.

"Sorry," Piccolo said, his voice not exactly whispered, though his face changed a little as he walked closer to the bed and he looked down with concern at this friend.

"These three are going to take over for a couple of hours until Doctor Taylor comes back at lunch time," Bridger said quietly to Kristin, knowing there were several message in there for her about them both getting some nourishment and a little sleep.

"Does look kinda tired, don't he," Piccolo said, plopping down in the large chair that Kristin had just vacated.

"The nurses will be in periodically, but if Doctor Taylor or someone else needs to see us before then, please let us know. We are only a couple of floors away if Lucas needs anything," Kristin said to the three crewmembers.

Bridger was confident that they would do their best, he knew they were looking forward to seeing Lucas well again just as much as he and Kristin were. Piccolo might be brash and unorthodox, but his friendship with Lucas was solid and he would look out for the teenager until they returned.

"Dagwood would you like to go and get us some coffee or something to drink while we wait here with Lucas," Lonnie suggested, looking through her small purse for some money to give him.

"What would you like to drink?" Dagwood asked, taking Lonnie's request to heart and wanting to do a good job for her. It was no secret that he had taken a shine to her recently after the debacle with Doctor Brown's murder.

"Just a diet soda for me, Dagwood," Lonnie said. "Make sure you get yourself something too, I have given you enough for all three of us."

"Diet soda?" Tony taunted, "You may as well be drinking battery acid."

"Oh yeah, and what will you be drinking," Lonnie challenged.

"Just coffee for me, Dag. Black with two sugars," Piccolo stated.

"Sugar? I thought you always claimed you were sweet enough?" Lonnie joked.

"Hey I was up before the sun this morning, and that on any day is not a good thing for Tony Piccolo. Cut me a little slack today would ya?"

"Yeah, its been a long night and morning for everyone," Lonnie agreed, her tone growing a little more serious as she remembered what had happened at the hotel and how wrong things could have turned out. One look towards Lucas laying asleep on the bed and the bruising on his face was enough to convince her that they had been incredibly fortunate.

"You had better make mine coffee too, Dagwood. I think we are all growing to need the extra caffeine today."

"Coffee for Tony. Coffee for you. Dagwood not like coffee. Dagwood like orange juice," the larger man said as he left the room with the money in his hand and his mind on drinks for his friends.

"Don't get lost in this place," Tony called out after him, wondering if it was a good idea to let Dagwood go alone. The stigma of his skin was still a problem at some venues. Hopefully a hospital would prove different.

"He will be fine," Lonnie said, seeing Piccolo's questioning look after the G.E.L.F.

"T-Tony?" came a raspy voice from the bed, drawing Lonnie's and Piccolo's attention. Both of them scrambled beside their friend, waiting for him show them that he was awake.

"Yeah buddy, it's me," Piccolo responded. He wasn't a great person with the touchy feely stuff, even with close friends, but he was willing to be there for his young friend as much as possible.

"I am here too, Lucas," Lonnie said gently, rubbing her hand over his arm in a comforting gesture.

Lucas frowned a little, "You s-sound…….funny T-tony," he mumbled, not fully alert and his eyes remaining closed.

Tony made as if to sound indignant at such a remark, but saw his friend was still mostly asleep and any smart quip in reply would probably be lost, so he remained quiet, but grinned that the teenager had spoken. "How do you like that, not even conscious and my friend is giving me a hard time," he commented to Anderson.

Lonnie smirked at Piccolo and had to hold back a giggle, "There goes your hard earned reputation as a tough guy."

They both caught themselves and showed concern when Lucas attempted to roll onto his side, only to moan in pain at the movement.

They both held their breath and watched the teenager settle into his new position, but were worried about the winces and grimaces that they could hear him making from the pain.

By the time Dagwood returned with the drinks, Piccolo had been ready to send out a search and rescue party for the larger man.

"Where did you go to get the drinks, China?" Tony jibed as he took custody of the silver tray Dagwood was carrying and placed it on a nearby roll away table.

"No, downstairs by the nice lady," Dagwood answered, "Never been to China. Is it far?."

Lonnie and Piccolo looked briefly at Dagwood and then each other, both thinking the same thing, that it was often hard to tell if he was trying to make a joke or just stating a fact. The way he delivered his words sometimes, one could be mistaken for thinking either.

Knowing Dagwood he would have taken extra time talking to this cafeteria lady and telling her all about himself and where he was from. People had this strange habit of not being able to help themselves from asking about his odd colouring and the markings on his skin. Tony and Lucas tried to shield Dagwood from people's biased opinions of 'those considered different' from everybody else, and teach him that he was liked for who he was, not what he represented.

"I'll get Lucas to tell you all about China when he is feeling a bit better Dagwood," Tony promised, taking one of the white hospital cups and pouring from the coffee pot on the tray.

"This place is self service, huh?" Piccolo commented, noting how Dagwood had returned with a pot of coffee and cups and the sugar and teaspoons.

"No, the lady downstairs served me," Dagwood said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the crumbled notes that Lonnie had given him earlier. He stopped and thought for a moment, trying to find the right word, "the lady said that I could have anything I wanted from the counter."

"Did she give you a hard time?" Tony questioned, his curiosity peaking a little more at the larger man's idle comments that held a different meaning in his eyes. He had dealt enough with bigots and other people who just had to point out how different he was from everybody else. In Dagwood's case, that was nearly everywhere he went outside of the SeaQuest.

"She didn't ask for any money, Dagwood?" Lonnie asked, noting the angered look Tony was wearing and wanting to hear the full story about what happened.

"No," Dagwood said simply and went about looking intently at the large glass of orange juice that he had seen in the display cabinet. He was fond of sweet things, including fruit juices. Lucas had discovered this and made sure that there was always some on board as a treat. Orange was his favourite, but apple was nice too.

Dagwood looked up from his drink and saw that Lucas was awake watching the three of them sipping at their beverages.

"Lucas want some?" the larger man asked, not understanding about dietary restrictions that might be in place in a hospital.

"Maybe later, Dag, let him sleep," Tony said, briefly glancing back over his shoulder and almost dropping his own cup of coffee as he realized that the teenager was awake and looking back at them through blood-shot blue eyes.

"You're awake?" Lonnie said excitedly, reaching out to touch his shoulder, but surprised when he made an effort to avoid her hand and looked downwards towards the blankets. The expression on his face was a little odd and she didn't quite know what to make of it.

"Great to see you awake, Luke," Tony said brusquely, noting like Lonnie that the teenager didn't seem to bounce back with any reply to either of them.

"Maybe I should go and get the Captain or Kristin," Lonnie suggested, a little concerned about the lack of activity or movement from the young man. She knew he was hurt and probably in pain, but Lucas was rarely this quiet unless something was wrong.

Lonnie had almost left the room, when Bridger and Kristin appeared on their own, looking at little better, but only having napped for a couple of hours.

"He just woke up, but seems a little out of it," she informed them, not wanting to unduly alarm them, but feeling that something was amiss with their young genius.

Following behind the Captain was Doctor Taylor and a nurse, ready to do his lunch time examination. Suddenly the quiet room seemed a little overcrowded.

Lonnie motioned for Tony and Dagwood to follow her outside until the doctor was finished, "We are going to go and get something to eat," she told Kristin, thinking that Lucas would be a lot more relaxed with less people in the room.

Bridger had left Kristin talking with the doctor and nurse for a few moments and approached the bed, taking in Lucas's tired features but happy to see him a little more alert than when he had left earlier.

"Hey, how are you doing," he asked softly, but full of enthusiasm, trying to keep the mood within the room positive for the teenager. He had rubbed lightly at Lucas's left hand that lay on top of the blanket. Although he didn't jerk away as he had done with Lonnie, Lucas watched the Captain's movements and then turned his head away a little, looking off across the room.

Bridger didn't take the not talking as a bad sign, although he would have preferred it to a silent Lucas. He poured a glass of water from the jug on the bedside table, and offered it to the boy, pleased to see Lucas reluctantly admit his thirst and take it from him.

"Sorry," he whispered, handing back the empty glass to the Captain, apologizing for his poor co-operation.

"For what?" Bridger said, taking to sitting in the uncomfortable chair again, but keeping his attention fully on Lucas.

"Forget it, I don't want to talk about it," Lucas said, his voice devoid of emotion, fumbling with the edge of the blanket as he tried to get his thoughts into some kind of coherent order.

"Relax, you don't have anything to be sorry for. You do however, have quite a few weeks of rest and taking it easy in your future," the Captain forewarned, wondering if the teenager's mood was as a result of the medication he had received.

Kristin and Doctor Taylor now approached Lucas, the nurse going about taking the patient's vitals and recording them according to her normal routine, but being on standby to listen to any additional instructions that might be sent her way.

"Good Morning, Lucas," the doctor greeted him cheerfully, picking up the chart and glancing down at the notations that had been made.

"Do I know you?" the teenager asked, having very vague recollection of having met this person.

"Ah, we met under somewhat more unusual circumstances last night and early this morning when you were brought in by the helicopter," Taylor filled him in. "I bet your memory is a little foggy about what happened and why you have woken up here."

"Not that great actually," Lucas managed to say, his sentence almost cut short as a jab of pain caught in his chest and he was forced to close his eyes and breath through it.

Doctor Taylor and Bridger both watched with concern as the wave of pain appeared, helping the young man to sit up a little straighter on the bed. Kristin took several large pillows and arranged them behind Lucas's back to allow him to recline in a more upright position. Already there was a distinct difference to his heavy breathing, which they were grateful for.

"It looks like someone might be needing a little more pain relief about now," the Doctor recommended, relaying to the nurse which medication he wanted and the correct dosage.

"I know you don't feel the best right now, Lucas," Taylor began to say, "But you were extremely lucky that the damage wasn't more severe. You are going to be sore for a few weeks. For now I want to examine you and then make a decision on whether or not to send you back to your boat under Kristin's care."

Lucas looked back at Bridger, with words on the edge of his tongue, but his body was beginning to protest loudly about how bad it felt, and his energy levels were waning fast. Keeping his mind sharp enough to give the Doctor trouble didn't appeal to him.

With a loud audible sigh of resignation, he slumped back against the pillows, as though signaling that we wasn't going to fight about what was right and wrong for him right now.

The nurse began to draw the privacy curtain around the bed, ready for the doctor to begin his examination.

"Did you want to stay?" Taylor asked Bridger and Kristin, both of them quickly nodding their head in the affirmative.

Lucas had looked fleetingly at the adults and wondered if any of them had thought about asking what he wanted, but kept his mouth closed. He wasn't frustrated exactly, but couldn't find the right word to describe how he was feeling inside.

Over everything, the pain, the microchip, Sykes and his men, the kidnapping and the drugs he was given and everything that had happened. The doctor had been correct about his memory not being the best when he first awoke, but the flashes were taking him back quickly enough to know exactly how the night had panned out.

Taylor was astute enough to pick up on his patient's mood and adjusted to make the teenager feel more comfortable in his presence. He could see the emotions bubbling just below the surface, and understood that the young man had been through a very trying ordeal the night before. His reactions and feelings were expected and not unusual.

"His temperature is still a little higher, Doctor," the nurse informed Taylor, showing him the reading on the thermometer. The fever only diminishing about half a degree from the last time it was checked. But still within acceptable levels for now.

Lucas had a slight scowl on his face at the nurse's words and Kristin was about to say something to him when the nurse spoke to the doctor again.

"His blood pressure is normal, breathing a little laboured, but oxygen levels normal," the nurse recited.

"Hello! In the room here," Lucas said abruptly, folding his arms over his chest in an act of defiance, but it lost its intention when he had to hold his breath for a second and groan again at the pain that enveloped him. He tried leaning forward to alleviate the discomfort, but the pain began to grow consistent.

"Shhh, take it easy," Bridger soothed, rubbing his back, a little taken back at Lucas's outburst, but noting that the boy was hurting.

Kristin noted that it was a similar stance to the one Lucas had taken with Glenn the paramedic back at the hotel the previous night. Wanting to be told what was happening to him, rather than just be the object of the discussion. He was an adult and wanted to be treated like one, despite his youthful appearance.

"Sorry, Lucas, I didn't mean to leave you out of the conversation. Of course you should be told about everything that is going on with your own health," Taylor apologized, but was pleased to see the young man a little more alert and definitely trying to gain control over what was to happen to him.

"As I explained to your family last night, you have one broken rib here," the doctor said, pointing with his index finger, but keeping a safe distance from actually touching the injured area. "The one directly below it is cracked."

"You have quite a collection of bruises on your upper torso and arms and I bet a hell of a headache," the doctor continued, acknowledging when Lucas nodded the affirmative to the headache comment, and putting his hand to his head to massage the area for emphasis.

"I don't want to stay here in the hospital," Lucas said straight-forwardly, turning to Bridger and giving his best firm look.

"Lucas, why don't we…………," Kristin began to say, not wanting to argue with the boy when he was looking half-asleep and in pain.

"No!"

"Kristin knows best when it comes to your health, young man," Bridger said sternly, not wanting to chastise the teenager either, and knowing that he was feeling a lot of things at the moment. But he wouldn't allow the boy to raise his voice to Kristin.

Lucas punched the pillow with a fist to display his level of annoyance, but the movement caused the muscles across his chest to contract and he was rubbing at the area once more to dull the pain that resulted from the sudden action.

"It's not as if I haven't had broken ribs before you know," Lucas said through clenched teeth, unable to stop his anger from flowing out. "Usually more than one at a time. And there wasn't a single damn person around to help me then."

Doctor Taylor had remained silent so far, trying to gauge Lucas's behaviour and how to predict what might happen. He had been more than surprised by the outburst concerning previous injuries, and he could see that the other two adults were just as worried about the sudden references to them.

Bridger and Kristin could see that the teenager's emotions were getting the better of him. The nurse had returned with the medication that the doctor had requested and she went about giving the injection to the youth, pausing a little when he looked as though he might object.

The teenager could clearly see the doubt in the Captain's eyes that he was in any condition to leave. He could feel his frustration growing, but employed a different tactic instead that might just work against all in the room. He knew that the medication would soon be working and he would be forced to rest whether he liked it or not.

"Don't you get it," he said in a smaller voice, looking much younger than his 18 years as he swiped his right hand across his forehead and allowed it to drop into his lap. "I just want to be left alone," he drawled out, beginning to drift from the contents of the syringe.

All four adults watched for a few moments more as Lucas lost the battle with sleep and his features lost the tired and pinched look that had they held from the pain. He was still had a slight temperature, but his colour was improving and he didn't appear so pale.

Kristin adjusted the blanket over the slumbering form, giving him a kiss on his temple and whispering that everything would be alright after he got some rest.

"I apologize for him, Doctor," Bridger spoke up, rubbing a hand over the back of his stiff neck, trying to figure out how best to help Lucas get through all of this. "He usually isn't so depressed or negative."

"No need, Captain," Taylor assured him. "He has a lot of healing to do. I will have the nurse bring in some lunch for him in an hour and see if that picks up his spirits a little."

"I take it Lucas doesn't often comment about past events like he just did, judging from your reaction to his comments," Taylor assumed.

"No, you are right about that. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he said that. Lots of times Kristin and I have begged Lucas to come and talk to us at anytime about what happened when he was living with his father. So far the efforts have been scattered and non-committal. He tries to avoid speaking about them as much as possible. It usually is a very taboo subject with him," Bridger responded honestly.

"Perhaps events that have occurred to him now have forced him to relive some of those dreadful times," the doctor suggested.

"Oh, I certainly hope not," Bridger said in earnest, praying that Lucas wouldn't start to have nightmares again about Lawrence.

"Kristin, I think that later on this afternoon would be find to take Lucas back to somewhere he feels more comfortable. There isn't anything here that is going to be done that you couldn't achieve yourself, and I can see that you have a gentle hand with him. He may just respond better to that instead of a public and noisy environment such as this," Taylor gave in assessment.

The doctor and nurse were about to leave the room, when two uniform police officers knocked politely on the door.

"Yes, officers? Taylor greeted them, ushering them into the hallway, "I would prefer if we talked out here away from the sleeping patient."

"Sorry to disturb you folks," Officer Thomas offered in apology, "I am looking to speak to a Mr Lucas Wolenchuck?"

"Wolenczak," Bridger quickly corrected out of habit.

"Right, sorry, didn't mean to offend. Are you him?" the officer queried.

Kristin gave a quiet laugh in return, "No, Lucas is in the hospital bed, recovering from what happened to him."

"Yes, I know, that is why we are here. To clear up some loose ends so to speak," he motioned, gesturing with his hands and pulling out his small notebook.

"I am afraid that the young man is sleeping at the moment, and I do not wish him to be awoken unnecessarily. He has some serious injuries and is easily stressed," the doctor informed them. "I am afraid it might be some hours before you could conduct any kind of interview with him.

"And after that, you can talk to me as Lucas's personal physician," Kristin said to them. "Any emotional torment will only cause him more pain. I am sure you can understand."

"I do understand, ma'am," the second officer replied, "But because the incident at the hotel involves a death, the coroner has become involved and we need to fill in some missing details."

"We also have to talk to a Mr Collins who as also injured at the hotel, but he had already been discharged this morning from the Community Hospital, so we have yet to interview him as well."

"The less you talk about Mr Collins in our presence and in front of Lucas the better. That man has a lot to answer for if you ask me. Everything that happened could have been avoided if he hadn't had dollar signs in his eyes."

Kristin's body language showed just how happy she was with the man. "I plan to have more than a few stern words with him to sort out this whole messy affair."

The two officer's looked at each other, and reluctantly consented, seeing that the red-haired lady was looking to be a formidable opponent to cross in being allowed to speak to the kid in the bed.

"I am Captain Bridger and this is Doctor Westphalen, I apologize for the lack of introductions," Bridger stated.

"Would we be able to help with your enquiries until Lucas has had a little time to recover?"

"That would be fine for a few days, but I will need contact details for yourself and Lucas of course as to where he can be reached to complete the interview," Thomas consented.

"I am Captain Bridger and this is Doctor Westphalen, I apologize for the lack of introductions," Bridger stated.

"Would we be able to help with your enquiries until Lucas has had a little time to recover?"

"That would be fine for a few days, but I will need contact details for yourself and Lucas of course as to where he can be reached to complete the interview," Thomas consented.

"We are crew members aboard the submarine the SeaQuest, as is Lucas," Bridger informed them. "I will leave you

With details of where to get in touch with an Admiral Noyce from UEO Command. They will be able to put us in touch with either myself, Kristin or Lucas."

"Our tour of duty is due to start again as soon as we are back on board later tonight," Kristin told them.

The two officers looked at each other for another moment, thinking that things were getting much more complicated than they first thought.

"I will continue my rounds now Nathan, please let me know if you need anything," Doctor Taylor said as he left the group and prepared to go about his other duties. The nurse had already done so a few moments after the officers arrival.

"Thank you, Doctor Taylor," Kristin replied for both of them. "Why don't we take this conversation and interview to somewhere a little more private?" she suggested glancing back into the room and making sure that Lucas was still sleeping soundly.

"What about leaving Lucas?" Bridger said but almost at the same time as his spoke the sentence, Lonnie and Piccolo came into view from the elevators, in company with Dagwood.

Tony looked as though he wanted to walk back in the opposite direction immediately, not having a healthy appreciation of law enforcement officers. But with Dagwood standing directly behind him, he found himself stumbling embarrassingly for a moment, the police officers looking up and seeing him.

"Damn, busted!" Tony to Lonnie out of earshot from Dagwood. He was holding a large paper bag in one hand.

"Hello Mr Policeman," Dagwood greeted them excitedly.

Lonnie covered her mouth to hide the giggle on her face as the look on shocked expression on Tony's face. Piccolo had to bite his tongue and was trying not to yell 'What the hell are you doing' and not make it obvious at the same time.

Officer Thomas looked up at the large coloured skinned man, and flinched for a moment, but quickly turned his attention back to Bridger and Kristin to hide his unprofessional gawk at the G.E.L.F.

"Sorry where was I?" Thomas stammered, pulling at his throat and coughing as though something was caught in it.

"Our relief to watch over Lucas just arrived so we can go with you and complete your report," Kristin pointed out a little too helpfully the second officer thought to himself.

"Wow they have shiny badges and everything," Dagwood gushed in awe. He wanted to reach out and touch it with his hand, but pulled his hand back just as a strangled noise could be heard coming from Piccolo at the man's overactive curiosity.

The other members of SeaQuest felt like trying to hide underneath the floor with embarrassment.

"He is curious about everything," Bridger said, motioning for Lonnie to step forward, "Why don't you take Dagwood to go and visit Lucas?" he said quietly to her.

"Good idea?" Lonnie quickly agreed. "Let's go see how Lucas is doing Dagwood."

"Hey wait up, I am coming too!" Tony declared and slid in behind her, avoiding the strange look he was getting from the two officers.

"Okay, bye Mr Nice Policeman," Dagwood waved, until Tony grabbed the offending hand and shoved it back out of sight and glared at the man.

"We will be back as soon as we can," Kristin said to Lonnie, indicating that she and the Captain wanted them to stay with Lucas until they returned.

The trio watched as the two officers left with Nathan and Kristin to talk in another room.

"I was hoping that Luke here would be awake when we got back," he said looking back at his sleeping friend.

The door to the room opened, and in walked one of the domestic staff, carrying a silver covered tray. She greeted them warmly, walking towards the patient's bed.

It was only then that she noted Dagwood's startling appearance and she was glad to settle it down before she dropped it onto the floor. "Clumsy me," she apologized half-heartedly.

"Will you see that the young man gets this lunch?" she asked Lonnie, picking out the least looking imposing figure in the room. She wondered briefly if these people should be in here at all, noting how old the patient was, but silently chastised herself, judging that they were probably family.

"Sure," Tony said casually, ignoring the disapproving glance she gave as he took the cover off of Lucas's lunch tray and started assessing the contents. He picked up the small juice box, lifting it to his ear and shaking it, thinking there couldn't have been much in there to drink by its size.

Lonnie looked at the unappetizing tray and was thinking the same lines as Tony, 'Poor Lucas' about what he had to eat. It looked bland and anemic even.

"I don't make it, I just bring it," the woman tried to defend, seeing the looks and knowing what they were thinking. Fifteen years as a domestic handing out lunches and she knew them well.

"He is supposed to be getting better. How is he going to do that by eating this?" Piccolo questioned.

"It just doesn't look like very much," Lonnie tried to explain, knowing that it sounded no better coming from her.

"The contents of that tray are deemed to be the right calorie and nutrient intake for a patient of his size and medical condition," the woman recited, knowing the speech off by heart.

"You need to have a sign on the front door, "Bring a packed lunch and dinner," Piccolo joked. "Luke needs decent food that is going to put some meat back onto his bones."

"This is a hospital, and a dietician is employed to work out everybody's daily intake and a chef prepares the meals according to strict requirements," the woman added.

"Lady, Gandhi ate more than this!" Tony quipped.

The domestic ignored his sarcastic comment and told them she would be back for the tray later.

Lonnie had removed the plain hospital tray out of the way, keeping the small juice box and placing it near the water jug. Lucas might like it later.

Turning their attention back to Lucas within the room, Tony used the roll away table and dumped the large paper bag on top and started bringing out the goodies that he had bought.

A couple of large thermal cups filled with coffee, and a number of sandwiches wrapped up. He handed one each to Dagwood and Lonnie and put one in front of himself.

"Why doesn't Lucas wake up?" Dagwood asked simply, seated in one of the uncomfortable chairs and holding up half of his sandwich.

"The longer he sleeps Dagwood, the better he will feel," Lonnie tried to explain, wondering how much to tell him about how much pain Lucas was going to be in the next couple of days. Just the basics for now, anything else was probably best left to Kristin when she returned.

"That man hurt Lucas," Dagwood said, a gruff voice. "That should not happen."

"Don't worry, doctors and nurses here at the hospital are taking really good care of him," Lonnie tried to reassure him.

"Wonder when he is going to wake up?" Tony spoke through a mouthful of food, standing behind the bed and nudging the side of the bed with his thigh a little. He quickly looked up towards the doorway to make sure the Captain was around to see him do it.

"Tony!" Lonnie shouted at him, but then immediately lowered her voice at Lucas moving on the bed. "You are going to wake him up if you keep doing that."

"What do this?" Tony smirked, nudging the bed a second time. This time the reaction from Lucas was more noticeable as he started to wake.

"You just woke him up!" Lonnie pointed out, looking down at Lucas and seeing his efforts to open his eyes.

"Nobody saw me do it, and you are not going to dob me in," Tony taunted lightly.

"I saw you," Dagwood said matter-of-factly, and just as the words left his mouth, Kristin and Bridger walked through the door.

Kristin went to stand near Lonnie, asking if there were any problems while there were out. Lonnie mentioned about the lunch tray being delivered, but left out about the choice words Tony and the woman had exchanged about the meal.

"Saw him do what, Dagwood?" the Captain asked casually, walking over towards them. The first thing he saw was the guilty look on Piccolo's face and the glare he was earning from Lonnie and Dagwood. So something was definitely up.

"I didn't do anything," Tony lied, moving out of the way to give the Captain room beside Lucas.

"Hey, you are awake," Bridger smiled down at Lucas, his features didn't show the same confusion as it did earlier.

He placed a hand across Lucas's forehead and was pleased to feel that the temperature was now almost normal. The antibiotics must have been working well.

"Tony woke Lucas when she told him not to hit the bed with his leg," Dagwood announced to everyone in the room, pointing to Lonnie.

Kristin looked at the man sharply as did the Captain, ready to bring him to task and demand if it were true.

"Thank you Benedict Arnold," Tony griped to the larger man and trying to look contrite and stay his imminent execution for crimes against injured and sleeping teenagers.

"My name is Dagwood," the G.E.L.F. declared, thinking that Tony had forgotten his name.

Lucas had been half-listening to the conversation, but had tried to laugh at the name comment, the sound catching in his throat and causing him to cough. He groaned out loud as the irritation to his lungs send a fresh wave of pain to awaken his ribs.

"No you don't want to do that Luke, coughing makes you hurt more," Piccolo said with sympathy.

Lucas looked up at Tony, but didn't say anything, gratefully accepting a glass of water from Kristin and sipping at it. The cool water slid down his throat and helped a little, but the pain was ever present.

Lucas pushed himself to sit up a little more, pushing hands away that tried to help, "I am okay. I am okay," he tried to tell them, annoyed with himself how bad his body was hurting.

"Keep telling yourself that and you might just believe yourself," Tony scoffed, seeing that his friend was being stubborn about admitting he was hurting.

Lucas was about to escalate the argument with Tony further, when Kristin stepped in and tried to soothe the teenager's ruffled feathers, "How about something to eat?"

"Sorry about being a pain," Lucas mumbled apologetically to Tony, knowing that he shouldn't be taking his frustrations out on anybody else.

"Don't mention it, hurts like a bitch I know. I have had broken ribs myself," Tony said, not worried by the teenager's snappy moody.

Bridger was about to say something to Tony about his choice in words, when Lucas looked back at Tony in surprise to his revelation.

"You did?" the teenager asked, wanting to know more. Tony didn't talk about is past very often, anymore than he did, so any additional pieces to the Piccolo puzzle were encouraged.

"Back in the pen when I was there," Tony elaborated only slightly and then stopped just as quickly as he started, not wanting to get into this discussion in the middle of a hospital room. "Tell you about it some other time."

"Sure," Lucas said, knowing that more than likely it would never come up in conversation again.

"The nurse bought you a lunch tray, Lucas," Lonnie interrupted, hoping to change the uneasiness of the topic before it got any further.

"Thank you," Lucas said automatically as the tray was placed in front of him, seeing the pleased looks on the faces of the Captain and Kristin that he was at least interested in what was to eat. He had to make some sort of effort for their benefit.

But a scowl quickly showed on his face as he lifted the aluminum cover and saw what Tony had complained about to the domestic. He was trying to find the best way to say 'you have got to be kidding me' without sounding ungrateful.

"Yeah, that is what I said," Tony chimed in, noting the expression and agreeing whole-heartedly.

Lucas decided the best thing to do was to replace the cover and push the plate away from himself a little, picking up the small juice box and pretending to be interested.

Bridger and Kristin thought it was a little appetizing as well. Lucas was a finicky eater at the best of times and putting a plate of something like this in front of him was definitely not what they had expected.

"Luckily I thought of you when we was at the café down the street," Piccolo said smugly, reaching into the paper bag and pulling out a toasted cheese sandwich. He had wanted to get a hamburger with the lot until Lonnie had pointed out the doctor might have restrictions on his diet because of the medication.

Toasted cheese sandwiches were known personal favourite comfort food of Lucas. Simple and quick to make and didn't cost a lot of money. He had never quite explained where his like had come from.

"I take back everything I said about you, Tony," Lucas smiled in appreciation as he took custody of the sandwich and opened it up smelled the aroma. It wasn't as hot now, but that didn't matter.

Bridger and Kristin were happy to see Lucas eating, wondering what the nursing staff might have to say about him eating something that hadn't come from the hospital kitchens. But the boy was eating, and that was always a good thing in their eyes. They were happy that Tony had thought of his friend enough to know what he might eat.

Tony could see the approval he was getting from Bridger and Kristin and knew he had scored a few points that he could claim on at a later date. It might just save him from deliberately waking Lucas.

"Hey! What things have you been saying about me and to who?" demanded to know, keeping to improve the kid's mood.

Lucas offered a smile behind half an eaten sandwich, but didn't give any further details.

Bridger wanted to brooch the conversation now about him being released from the hospital, "Lucas, the doctor may let you leave here later this afternoon. We should be heading back to the SeaQuest and getting things organized for you back there."

"Don't go changing anything, I will be fine," Lucas said, polishing off the second half of the sandwich and feeling slightly better for having food in his stomach. He was glad it wasn't as bland as the lunch tray, nor too spicy or rich that it might reek havoc with his medication and cause him to feel sick.

"Which of us is going to stay with Lucas?" Kristin interjected?

"Nobody needs to stay with me," Lucas huffed a little. "I am not going to be going anywhere from here."

"I don't think that is such a good idea, Lucas," Nathan said, not wanting for him to get stressed again.

"Look, I just want some time to myself. Lots of things are going around in my head at the moment, and I don't really want somebody hovering over me and playing babysitter."

"I have to talk to Doctor Taylor about what the conditions of your release are going to be and what medication he wants you to be on," Kristin said, "I can do that, so I won't actually be in the room with you, but not far if you need anything. Deal?"

Lucas thought over the proposal for a moment, thinking a compromise was probably the best he was going to get. He knew that she and the Captain were still carrying a little guilt over not being able to stop Sykes back at the hotel.

"Yeah, I guess," he said resigned to the fact that someone would remain at the hospital in some capacity.

"Oh I am so thrilled you enjoy my company," Kristin retorted, trying to sound perturbed.

"We should be about two hours at the most and can meet you back here to collect everything," Bridger suggested.

Thinking in his head what might need to be done back on SeaQuest to make it easier for Lucas over the next few weeks.

Staying in his cabin was a known quantity, both to make it easier to know where he was most of the time and make sure he wasn't doing too much he shouldn't be, and to avoid using too many of the stairs that he normally would to get to his own cabin shared with Piccolo.

"Looks like I get the better deal out of this anyway, Luke. You get a nice little holiday away from home for a few weeks, and I get the top bunk without even trying or having to give you a dime," Tony poked in fun.

"You are sooooo not going to get the top bunk, I don't care where I am sleeping," Lucas returned, keeping up the long standing battle between them over the who slept where.

"You won't be able to be in there for a few weeks, Lucas. Not having to continually climb that ladder to get up there and possibly falling or doing more damage to your ribs," Kristin warned.

"Lucas can sleep in my bed and I can swap with him," Tony argued.

"Your bed? Are you kidding me? I would rather sleep on the grate floor by the moon pool," Lucas rebuked.

"Dagwood, make sure he stays away from the top bunk until I get back there," Lucas asked the larger man.

"I will keep Tony away," Dagwood promised, taking the request seriously.

"I hate to break up all this sentimentality," Tony shrugged, trying to end the conversation before it got any further.

"Shouldn't we be's somewhere else so he can get out of here?"

The Captain nodded his head in agreement, knowing that Piccolo was right about them heading back.

"How are you feeling now, Lucas?" Bridger asked honestly, wanting to know before he left the hospital.

"Okay. Not great, but I will be fine until you get back. I just want to get out of here for a while and stop thinking," Lucas admitted, hoping it didn't sound as needy to his family and friends as it did to his own ears.

"Are you feeling much pain?" Kristin asked, putting her hand on his shoulder and wanting a straight answer, not his usual dance around it to avoid what was happening.

"Yeah, pretty sore, and I can't take too deep a breath at the moment. I thought those drugs might make my stomach queasy, but so far okay there. Have to remember not to cough or sit up too quickly."

"Do you need anything brought back to leave with?" Nathan asked.

"No, just a change of clothes or something I guess," Lucas answered. "I haven't got anything except these and I don't know what they did with my clothes from last night."

"Ah, the shirt is a write off I am afraid. They had to cut it up to treat your ribs," Bridger informed him.

"Cut it up?" Lucas said in surprise, "Man that was one of my best shirts too," he complained.

"I will bring something back for you to wear," Bridger stated.

"Just make sure that it is something from my wardrobe and that I can be seen in public in," Lucas said.

Bridger rolled his eyes in mock exaggeration and began motioning to Lonnie, Dagwood and Tony to make their way towards the door.

"I will go and find Doctor Taylor and come back later," Kristin said, smoothing out the blanket on the bed over Lucas's legs, hoping he would relax and sleep while she was gone.

"We will be back soon," Bridger reassured Lucas.

Caught a little in between as he waved goodbye, Lucas was pleased to have some quiet time, but also couldn't wait until they returned to take him out of here back to SeaQuest.

About half an hour after everybody left, Lucas was feeling like a bit of a loose end, and without anything to do and nobody to talk to. Getting around the hospital with his injured leg was going to prove more difficult than the effort was worth. He had yet to see any crutches nearby to assist him. Something he would have to ask someone about.

Lucas found his thoughts drifting as he dozed lightly. He expected the nurse to return at some stage to check his vitals again, and reminded himself to ask her when he fell asleep.

What nobody had thought about was Mr Collins except for the brief mention of his name with the two police officers.

The man had been released from Community Hospital, and was keen to try and still negotiate a deal with Lucas. He hadn't thought much about the fact that the boy was injured and angry about the mishandling of the entire event last night. He was keen to talk to the young man as soon as possible.

Finding out where the young man had not been difficult, given his high connections within the U.E.O. and Mr Collins

was now standing at a nurse's reception desk on the same floor as Lucas's room.

"Excuse me Miss," he asked politely, addressing one of the staff.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"I am looking for a young man who was brought into this hospital last night?"

The nurse knew who he was talking about without looking at her admission register, but was wary about this stranger now asking for details.

"I am sorry, but I am not allowed to give that information out to anyone who isn't family," the nurse informed him.

"I know, but you see the boy was injured in my hotel and I feel so bad for him. I just wanted to see how he is doing and wish him to get well soon," Collins said, putting on his best performance.

"Mr Wolenczak was brought here last night, but I cannot allow you to see him without consent. If you wait here, I can ask if he wishes to see you?" the nurse said.

"That would be swell," Collins said excitedly, trying to make like a long lost uncle who was desperate to see the kid.

He sat on a nearby row of chairs, looking aimlessly around the room as though not taking notice of what the nurse was doing. What she didn't see was his intent gaze on her approach to a private room and the number on the door.

The nurse had only been in there briefly, and came out rather too quickly for his liking. She began walking towards him, "I am sorry, but the young man is sleeping and needs to rest. Doctor's orders."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to disturb him of course," he said, fumbling with the hat he was carrying in his hands.

"I will come back a little later during visiting hours, do you think that would be alright?"

"That would be more appropriate," the nurse agreed, pleased to see that the man didn't appear to want to cause trouble.

Collins made sure the nurse saw him head towards the elevators and down to the lower floors. It was approximately an hour and a half later, when he covertly used a set of internal stairs to make his way back up to Lucas's floor.

He watched the reception desk carefully for any signs of staff and was pleased to note that the corridors were virtually free.

He was able to quietly approach Lucas's room without being noticed and carefully opened the door and let himself inside.

Collins tossed his hat aside briefly and walked over to the bed, dismayed that the nurse had been correct about Lucas sleeping. He had wanted to talk to the boy when he was awake and coherent.

"Lucas," he called, waiting for a response.

When he didn't receive one, he used an open hand on the boy's shoulder, and gave him a small shake, calling his name a second time.

"Go away, Tony," Lucas mumbled and tried to roll away from the hand.

The teenager felt too comfortable and sleepy to try and open his eyes, but could tell from the voice that someone was urgently trying to gain his attention. He grumbled once more at his name, content to lie within the blankets and groaning when his ribs protested loudly from the movement.

"Lucas it is me, Mr Collins," the man said, speaking a little louder and glancing towards the door, hoping that a nurse wasn't about to walk in and catch him.

Pain exploded in Lucas's ribs as his brain filtered the information and he tried to sit up too quickly. Gasping with pain, coughing from the sudden changes in position, the boy was forced to hold his breath, waiting for the agony to subside.

Lucas turned his face towards the voice and his pained expression quickly changed to one of outrage as he spied Collins staring back at him.

"What exactly do you w-want?" Lucas demanded hotly, his voice catching on the last word as pain assaulted him again.

Whilst Collins was in Lucas's room, Bridger had returned to the hospital with Piccolo, a small bag in hand, ready to meet up with Kristin and see if the doctor was ready to release Lucas into her care.

"Oh good, Nathan, you are here," Kristin met him near the nurse's reception desk. "Nurse Reynolds tells me that Lucas has been sleeping a good deal since we left."

"That's a relief………," Bridger began to say when he was interrupted by the sound of raised voices coming from Lucas's room.

He, Kristin and Nurse Reynolds exchanged confused glances towards each other, wondering who was doing the shouting.

"I hope that man hasn't come back and tried to see Lucas without permission," the nurse said.

"What man?" Kristin asked, clearly alarmed that this was the first time she or Nathan had heard about Lucas having visitors outside of the crew.

"A man came up here a couple of hours ago, asking about Lucas being brought in here last night," the nurse explained, thinking that they would already know this.

"How would someone know that?" Bridger demanded to know, not directing the question at any one person in particular, but concerned that somebody had deliberately asked about Lucas. Too many bad memories surfaced for him to feel comfortable about it.

"I told him that the young man was sleeping, and I saw him go downstairs," she added, all three of them now heading towards the closed door, the shouting inside becoming more noticeable.

"You just don't get it do you!" Bridger heard Lucas shout from inside. He opened the door and was confronted with an angry looking teenager, sitting on the edge of the bed, red faced with his arm wrapped around his middle.

"What the hell are you doing here, Collins?" Bridger addressed the man, walking over to Lucas briskly and seeing the pain on his face.

Kristin and Nurse Reynolds were not far behind and had displeased looks of their own.

Kristin was a little more forceful than Nathan and Collins shrunk back from the approaching red-haired woman, afraid she was about to get physical for being anywhere near Lucas.

Before Kristin and Bridger could get Collins to talk, Lucas renewed the conversation they had been having.

"Lucas, I know I made a mistake last night," Collins said, trying to keep his attention on Lucas, but waiting and expecting to be grabbed and physically dragged out of the room.

"Like I said, you just don't get it do you?" he repeated. He gestured with his hands for that he wanted to keep talking to Collins. He wanted to get this off his chest now and tell the guy off while everything was still fresh in his mind.

Nurse Reynolds whispered to Kristin if they should get security, but the doctor shook her head negatively, listening to the teenager's words and noting his anger and disappointed tone in his voice.

"You didn't listen to me from the start," Lucas accused. "When I told you that I wanted to be part of the partnership but wanted a say in what happened."

"You were offered a substantial sum of money, Lucas," Collins tried to defend. "You had to hold up your end of the bargain and impress the investors that you could deliver what you were claiming."

"NO!" Lucas shouted loudly, his anger growing.

Bridger made to take a step forward, worried that the boy was going to stand up from the bed and tumble onto the floor. Thankfully Lucas didn't but he kept within reaching distance, wondering if he could get the teenager to calm down. From the tone and volume of his voice, he doubted it right at the moment.

"I told you that I didn't want any big fan fair or celebration. Just a little get together to celebrate was what was going to be a great deal for me and your company. You made the mistake of making this all about money. It was never about the money."

"But the investors………," Collins began to explain, only to be cut off mid-sentence.

"The investors," Lucas scoffed, his voice changing a little to sarcastic and resentful. "Those investors should never have been there. Did you hear any of what they had to say?"

"I talked to a lot of them that were impressed with your design and abilities," Collins replied.

"Well you obviously were talking to a different lot of investors than me," Lucas shoved back, "I heard them. I overheard them talking about me playing video games and that they weren't going to invest a cent with a project where I was involved. Wanting to buy my designs and then stealing it for their own use and shutting me out in the cold."

Collins looked clearly stunned at this statement, not having heard anything that the boy was talking about and it showed.

"And then to make things worse, those scumbags thought that the project wasn't really my work at all," Lucas said,

rubbing at his chest, and clearly struggling to hold back his emotions by now.

"I am sure they just made an innocent mistake, Lucas," Collins said, still trying to salvage something out of the mess.

"For the record…….," Lucas began, making sure he had Collins' full attention before continuing, "my so-called bastard of a father has never had 'anything' to do with my work and 'never' will."

"Look Lucas, I am sorry I came here today, you are clearly still recovering and not thinking straight," Collins tried to say, but the incredulous look on the teenager's face at such a statement stopped him from saying anything further.

"The deal is off, O.F.F.," Lucas enunciated each letter for emphasis. "The chip is no longer being offered to you nor anybody else."

"You betrayed my trust. How can we have a business relationship together if we can't be honest with each other?"

The teenager's upper body was now in a slumped position, and his head lowered, his eyes fixated on the blanket rather than who he had been yelling at. He moaned at the pain that was erupting in his ribs from his outburst, laying back against the pillows and hiding his reddening face behind a hand over his eyes.

"I think that is just about enough out of everyone for now," Bridger interjected, noting that the last couple of syllables from Lucas were whispered. He wasn't about to take 'no' for an answer from Collins and would eject him by force if necessary.

"You have your answer Collins, now get out. If you try and contact Lucas again, you will have me to deal with," Bridger warned ominously.

The man slunk away, looking as though he wanted to say something else until Kristin took one step towards him with a 'I dare you look' on her face and that was all it took for him to scurry towards the elevators, maintaining a safe distance from her and the Captain.

Bridger could see the over-wrought teenager was trying to regain control and fighting within himself. Feeling guilty for being angry at Collins.

"Don't worry about it now, Lucas," Bridger said, putting a comforting hand on his upper arm, knowing that the silent promise to himself about helping sort out the mess had just been torn up and shredded.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Is he gone?" Lucas said after a few moments of silence between him, his voice betraying his emotional state.

"Yeah, he has gone, sorry I wasn't here to stop him getting in here in the first place," Bridger said, smiling up at Kristin who joined him beside Lucas on the other side of the bed. She wanted to give as much support as well.

"How did he get in here anyway?" Kristin asked, still glancing back at the door and making sure that nobody would enter that wasn't supposed to be there.

"I don't know," Lucas answered truthfully, lowering his arm. His face was no longer as red, but he was looking tired and small lines of pain were more evident.

"I was sleeping and felt someone shaking my shoulder. I thought it was Tony," Lucas told them.

"How big of an idiot do I look now?" Lucas said glumly, his mood darkening again.

"So stupid to trust him just like that," he groused, trying to keep his fragile composure. He didn't want to admit how much he had wanted that deal and certainly wasn't going to beg Collins for it now.

"Not stupid, Lucas, stop talking like that," Bridger chastised lightly, appalled at the low self-esteem. "You have every right to be angry and disappointed. I know this was your dream and you were almost within reach. To have it snatched away like that hurts."

Lucas turned his head away, not wanting to show just how much it did hurt and how lousy he was feeling about it all.

His head was beginning to ache again with all of the thoughts roaming around inside his head.

"I am so sorry it didn't work out the way you had hoped," Bridger added.

"Thanks for understanding, but can we not talk about this anymore here," Lucas pleaded, thoroughly mortified.

The conversation was interrupted by the appearance of Doctor Taylor at the door, showing a little concern for his patient but noting that things must have settled down after the report he had received from Nurse Reynolds about an unauthorized visitor being present.

"Good afternoon, Lucas, folks," the doctor greeted them, picking up Lucas's chart and looking at it, but looking over the top of it at his patient. He could still see small tremors of agitation and fatigue in abundance. This environment was not proving to be best for his recovery at all in his opinion.

"How are you feeling, Lucas?" Taylor queried, the standard question of doctor to patient.

Lucas looked back at the man, knowing he was just doing his job, "Spectacular," he said sarcastically, the tone giving the word the totally opposite in meaning.

Bridger thought he might have to say something to Lucas, but noted that Lucas offered no further explanation, and seemed resigned to the fact that the doctor wasn't at fault for the exchange between himself and Collins.

"Can I 'please' just get out of here?" Lucas cajoled.

"That is exactly what I came here to talk to you about," Taylor replied, although clearly there had been other reasons that he wasn't going to elaborate on.

Lucas looked up with a hopeful expression on his face, sitting up straighter and waiting for the doctor to nod his head in agreement.

"But not before I give you the list of conditions," the doctor warned, putting up a restraining hand to indicate there would be plenty of rules to adhere to.

"You have to do everything that Kristin tells you."

Lucas nodded affirmatively, but the doctor raised his finger to stop him, continuing with his little speech of commandments.

"I am going to give you a muscle relaxant just before you leave the hospital now, to help alleviate some of the pain.

I don't expect that it will give you much relief until you get back to your submarine. By which time, I expect you to take the other medication that I will prescribe and rest. Full co-operation now, no short-cuts," Taylor informed the teenager.

"He promises to be good, Doctor," Kristin spoke for him, giving Lucas a look that said 'you will not argue'.

Even if Lucas wasn't about to be completely co-operative, Taylor had enough faith in Kristin as a friend and had seen enough caring concern from the Captain to be confident they would make him take it easy.

"Well then, well you are all ready, the medication will be ready to be collected at the nurse's reception desk.

I will organize a new pair of crutches for you, Lucas," Taylor consented to the release. He already had a prepared syringe in his white lab coat pocket for the muscle relaxant.

Lucas kept quiet as the doctor administered the shot, and allowed the man to check him over briefly.

Taylor knew that Kristin would give the young man a much more thorough examination for her own peace of mind and was happy enough to leave everything else in her capable hands.

"Goodbye Lucas, and good luck. Take care of yourself and I don't expect to see you back here anytime soon," Taylor farewelled.

"I will, thanks," the teenager stated.

"Thanks for everything you have done," Bridger said stepping forward and shaking the doctor's hand in genuine gratitude. "You and your staff have been terrific."

"Our pleasure, Captain. Lucas was no trouble at all," the doctor responded. "Kristin you know where and how to reach me if you need me for any reason," he added.

"Nathan I will meet you out here, while you help Lucas," Kristin said, following the doctor and going to collect the medication and basic instructions. She doubted she would need any of them in taking care of Lucas, but knew the doctor was doing what was best for his patient.

"So what do you say, ready to get out of here?" Bridger asked, trying to lift Lucas's mood.

"Yeah, I guess," Lucas nodded, accepting the clothes that the Captain handed him.

"Need any help?"

"Nah, I can handle it," Lucas replied, watching as the privacy curtain was drawn around his bed. Happy that the Captain respected him enough to ask even if he was worried about him.

Bridger had to stop himself a couple of times from going inside the curtain, listening intently and hearing the grimaces of pain and string of expletives that the teenager used when his ribs caught him by surprise as he coaxed his body into the baggy pants and overly large baseball shirt.

The Captain had chosen loose fitting clothing so as to avoid them rubbing against the bandaging adorning most of Lucas's chest. And remembering the teenager's request for something passable for his tastes.

Lucas drew back the curtain, hoping on one leg and trying to keep as much weight as possible off the other with the cast, "All set," he announced, but his voice sounded tired and without enthusiasm for someone who was pleading with the doctor to release him.

"Good to know," Bridger said, standing close enough to him to offer a steadying hand.

Lucas began shuffling his way to the door, looking back and making sure there wasn't anything left behind. Then remembering that he hadn't had much on him when he arrived. All his personal effects had been taken by the Captain back to the SeaQuest when he had returned with Lonnie, Tony and Dagwood.

By the time he reached the corridor outside his room, he had to pause and concentrate on breathing, scarcely able to believe that he felt so bad after only walking a short distance. He didn't know how long the muscle relaxant was supposed to take to start working, but he was convinced that he had yet to feel its benefit.

"Doing okay?" Bridger asked gently, putting his hand on the young man's shoulder and feeling the trembling present.

He could see the pain on Lucas's face and his disappointment at not being able to mask how much it was hurting him.

Kristin approached them, with the bag of medication and the pair of crutches, but held onto them for the time being, thinking that they would be more cumbersome than helpful at present.

"Just take it slow, no need to rush," she gave in sympathy, seeing his pinched features.

She had already made a note to give him a dose of medication once they reached SeaQuest, and wished she could do something now to help alleviate the discomfort. She knew that if the doctor had made Lucas take it now, he would be asleep before leaving the hospital, and that wasn't what the teenager wanted. He had had enough of playing the victim and wanted to show everyone that he could handle this latest set back.

The elevators made things a lot easier for Lucas, although he had chosen to stand against the corner of the small cubicle, keeping his thoughts to himself as they made their way down to the ground floor.

Lucas allowed himself to be lead out of the lift and past the hospital's main doors, Kristin and Bridger a little surprised and concerned at the same time with how pliable he was. This wasn't normal behaviour for the boy, even if he was injured, but they had to put some of it down to possible side effects of the muscle relaxant.

The U.E.O. vehicle was only a short distance in the car park, but Lucas could feel every twinge as they made their way across a small grassed area. A few disguised moans of pain and a couple of pauses to catch his breath as a sharp stab would make him stop, and he was seated across the back seat ready to head back to SeaQuest.

Bridger had sequestered as many pillows as he could find and a few blankets and used them to make Lucas as comfortable as possible. Lucas was able to stretch out along the length of the seat and take the weight off his injured leg.

The trip back to the SeaQuest took less than an hour, and Kristin thought that it might be long enough for Lucas to fall asleep. But to her dismay he never achieved more than a fitful doze which was often cut short due to the stopping and starting at traffic lights or other external noises that wafted into the vehicle to disturb him.

When they finally arrived back near the SeaQuest, and prepared to leave the vehicle, Lucas had already shuffled along the seat and opened the back door by the time Kristin got out of her own seat, prepared to lend him a hand.

"Just give me a minute," Lucas said gruffly, immediately apologizing as the words sounded harsher than they were meant to. His body was protesting loudly at the amount of movement that he had done since leaving the hospital and the muscle relaxant wasn't doing anything to help with the pain except made his limbs feel uncoordinated and dysfunctional.

Lucas took the crutches from Bridger with thanks, knowing that the walk to the SeaQuest was going to be a little longer than that to the car from the hospital. He immediately regretted having to use them though, the minute he placed them under his arms and tried to take his weight off his injured leg.

The muscles across his chest contracted sluggishly, but enough to cause him almost forget the idea. With grit and determination though , he was not going to show weakness in front of Kristin or Bridger. And definitely not in front of his fellow crew members.

"Welcome back, Lucas," Commander Ford greeted the returning trio from the hospital. Tony Piccolo, Lonnie, Dagwood and a number of the other senior crew members stood near the moon pool in support.

There are a few other words of "glad to see you back", and a few jibes from Tony, but most of them went unanswered or with little response. Lucas's only focus was on getting out of the spotlight and laying horizontal before he did the whole embarrassing passing out thing in front of them all.

In a message meant for everybody gathered around as well as Lucas, Kristin ushered him past them all, headed towards the Captain's quarters, "Let's get you settled into bed and you can have your medication, something to drink and a nice long sleep."

The crew took the hint from Kristin's words that they wouldn't be seeing much of Lucas for the remainder of the afternoon. They could all see he was tired and drawn. Even Tony seemed to understand that Lucas was not looking for company or well-wishers for the moment.

"Now I know you didn't want us to go to any trouble, and we didn't really," Bridger began to say as the trio entered his cabin, "But I thought you might like to talk to an old time friend from time to time as you are resting," he added, indicating the bed that had been turned length ways along the wall.

"From here you will be able to see Darwin without any trouble of moving about too much, and talk as much as you like, when you are ready," Bridger said, hoping the dolphin would help perk up the kid's spirits.

"Seems like your friend couldn't wait to talk to you either," Kristin mentioned, pointing to the dolphin encased in the watery tube running through the room.

"You get into bed, and I will be right back," Kristin said, giving Nathan a look that said, 'don't leave him just yet'.

Lucas had yet to say anything, but had glanced up towards Darwin, and gave the briefest ghost of a smile that Bridger had seen on his face since leaving the hospital.

The smile quickly turned into a grimace as he relinquished the crutches, not bothering to pick up the one that fell to the floor by accident. He sighed audibly as his aching body came contact with the mattress, hating that he felt too tired and cursing the pain that was growing by the minute.

Kristin had returned with two white pills in her hand and a glass of water. Lucas knew he was never going to get out of taking them, so didn't bother to argue with her about them.

"They will help."

Lucas nodded and swallowed them, handing back the glass.

"Nobody will disturb you in here," Bridger assured him, feeling a lot better with Lucas being back where he belonged under Kristin's watchful eye.

Lucas turned into the pillow and closed his eyes, knowing that sleep wouldn't be far away.

"I am here if you want to talk," the Captain whispered, knowing that it wasn't going to happen for the next couple of hours at least. Both adults watched as the teenager's breathing evened out and he fell asleep under the heavy warmth of the blankets.

Over the next couple of days though, that 'time to talk' never seemed to eventuate for Bridger. He knew that Lucas was feeling sore and irritable, but each time he had tentatively brought up the subject, the teenager had clammed up and refused to acknowledge that something was bothering him.

For the most part, routine returned to the SeaQuest as she headed out into deeper waters onto her next mission.

Lucas had been out of the cabin infrequently, mostly due to Kristin's strict orders to rest, but also because he didn't want to have to explain why he had chosen to keep his project a secret. Most of the crew thought they understood it was because of what had happened at the hotel and because of Sykes previous underhanded attempts to acquire it.

But Bridger could see that it wasn't the whole reason for Lucas's subdued and sullen mood. He couldn't fault the teenager on being co-operative, the medication made sure of that. Making him sleep more than he usually would for the first few days anyway.

Another two days later, and Bridger was almost at his wits end to get Lucas to talk to him. Kristin assured him that physically he was recovering better than expected, although it would still take time. She was hoping to take the flexible cast off his leg by the end of the week, hoping it might help give him a little more mobility.

She had been a little concerned about his lack of enthusiasm when she had banned him from long work hours, only allowing him a certain number of hours a day on the computers. There were requests coming in from the whole boat now they knew Lucas was back, hoping to gain some of his expertise, but so far, all their efforts had been for naught.

Lucas hadn't even tried to argue with Kristin or Bridger about the restrictions on his computer time, and this worried them both. A Lucas that wasn't using a computer had never been heard of.

Tony Piccolo overheard Kristin talking to Bridger about the teenager's sullen mood and his lack of sleep over the past couple of days.

"He is healing nicely, Nathan, but that won't continue if he doesn't keep taking his medication. I know he hates the way it makes him feel groggy and says how it takes away his independence, but short of turning to direct threats, he refuses to take any more. He should have had two doses by now."

"I don't want to appear to be the heavy here either, Kristin. But he won't talk to me. I have tried. Hell, I think half of the boat has noticed and offered to help, but Lucas keeps shutting us all out."

"Let me try," Tony suggested, stepping out so that he could be seen. "With you guys, he knows you want him to talk, so he doesn't. With me, talking is not expected or a requirement, so he just might."

Kristin and Bridger both startled at the third person addressing them, but upon seeing Piccolo, pondered that thought for a minute.

"I don't want him upset," Kristin warned, looking back at him, knowing the man's propensity for going too far sometimes and saying things off the cuff that sometimes didn't go down well with others.

"Just give me the pills he is supposed to take," Tony declared, not offended by the small lack of faith in him to solve the problem. "I will be back in a minute."

Both Bridger and Kristin waited outside the cabin, feeling a little foolish about waiting in the corridor. Piccolo returned with two steaming ceramic mugs and motioned for the doctor to dispense the pills.

"Knock, knock," Tony called out loudly as he walked through the door without waiting for an invitation.

Bridger was able to stop it from sealing closed and allowed it to stay open just enough for him and Kristin to hear what was going on between the two friends.

"You coming in here to lecture me about going to bed too, I suppose," Lucas accused, not turning his head, but recognizing Piccolo's voice.

Kristin and the Captain thought for a minute that Piccolo's plan was going to fall flat before it was even put into effect.

"Nah, you are big enough to decide that yourself," Tony said, sitting down in an armchair that was positioned a few feet away from the bed. Bridger often liked to read late at night, and allowed himself a little more comfort with the large chair.

"Well you are the first one around here to say that," Lucas said, surprised at his friend's understanding.

"They are just afraid for you, Luke," Tony said plainly. "They had a pretty big scare back at the hotel when they saw you fall out that window. Don't be surprised if they hover around for quite a bit longer yet.

Tony held out one of the mugs to the teenager, secretly relieved when it was accepted with curiosity.

"Coffee?"

"Nope, something a little easier on the stomach."

Lucas began to grow skeptical again, thinking that Tony had been egged on by someone else, but was surprised when he took a sip of the milky beverage.

"Hot Chocolate!"

"Yeah, just warm enough to slide down your throat," Tony said in pleasure, enjoying his own drink. "My grandmother always used to say……..,"

"Did you ever have a relative that didn't have something to say?" Lucas interjected before taking another warm mouthful.

"Hey, anything that tastes this great, has to be good for what ails you," Tony defended. "It is her recipe you know. Passed it along to my mother. Tried to get Nick to make it a couple of times………," leaving the sentence unfinished.

Lucas knew what the score was with Tony's estranged mother and father. Not a lot different from his own. He knew enough not to bother commenting.

"I guess you already heard by now about throwing in the towel about the deal with Collins," Lucas questioned, changing the subject completely out of the blue, but just where Bridger had wanted it to go.

Bridger could scarcely believe that the teenager was being so open and honest when he had asked several times.

Maybe Tony had been correct about them trying too hard and just allowing things to happen naturally.

"Doesn't mean anybody thinks any less of you for sticking up for yourself, Luke." Tony goaded him into explaining what he was feeling.

"I know that," Lucas began to say, but stopped, knowing that it was part of exactly what he thought people would say about his lost venture. He had waited for the jibes to come about not being ready to handle rejection, and they had been right too, he didn't handle it well.

"Can I ask you something?" Lucas said, the tone of his voice changing to a more serious one as he swallowed the last of the hot chocolate, still holding the mug in his hand.

"As long as it is not about my ex-girlfriends, you know you can."

'Ex-girlfriends' Lucas thought to himself, smiling a little and filing that piece of information away in the 'To Do at an inopportune moment' pile.

Tony inwardly smiled too, knowing that there were very few secrets kept between them, if any. Both knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. You couldn't share a room with someone for long before you got to know a little too much about each other than they wanted you to know.

"What would you have done? I mean would you have turned down a twenty-five million dollar deal just for the sake of your pride?"

'So that is what this glumness has been all about since coming back from the hospital' three people thought to themselves.

"You know, Luke, being me and all, I would have probably taken the twenty-five million," Tony said. "And no doubt so would have most people aboard this tug, given the chance."

"Oh," was the only reply that Lucas could muster to that open admission.

Bridger was about ready to burst into the room and kick Tony hard for not saying what Lucas was hoping to hear, until he heard the next sentence.

"But we are not you, Lucas. Don't try and be like the rest of us. That is what sets you apart and makes you better as a person."

"What that I am willing to give up my dream just like that because I freak out over someone using my father's name in the same sentence as mine?"

"No, Luke, because you do care about the things you do. Once you get to people my age and older, we give up on our dreams and rarely give them a second thought. They are not dreams anymore, they become brain farts that we have when he eat too much."

Lucas laughed out loud at that original interpretation, but immediately regretted it as he coughed and his ribs began to throb. Tony waited a minute or two, watching carefully that his friend was doing alright before getting his attention again.

"And don't be afraid of what anybody else says about what you can do. Because as sure as hell the rest of us can't keep up with you on a good day. Let them come to you next time and throw themselves at you for your chip or whatever it is. Make them want to pay double and triple the money because they know that there is nothing else out there like there like your genius mind."

Lucas had no words to say in return for the humbling things that Tony was saying to him. His emotions were not far from the surface.

"Dare to dream, Lucas."

About ten minutes later, Bridger crept into his own quarters, having listened to the two friends talk for a few more minutes before the room fell into silence.

As he and Kristin approached the bed, he saw the reason for it. Lucas was out like a light, reclined against a large number of pillows behind his back, no doubt helping to ease any pressure off his ribs.

Bridger reached over and took the empty mug out of the teenager's sleep limp hand before it could fall to the floor.

"Whilst they hadn't solved all of the problems tonight, by the relaxed expression on Lucas's features now, the little talk by Tony had gone a long way into helping Lucas understand that he had made the right choice for him and that it didn't matter what other people thought.

"Thank you for everything you did here tonight," Kristin said, placing a second blanket gently over the sleeping form.

"You said some really nice things to Lucas and I think he really appreciated it."

Tony responded by shrugging shoulders in his usual nonchalant manner and heading towards the door, hoping his friend would get some restful sleep. Not wanting any praise for helping a friend.

"Didn't say anything that wasn't true, Doc."

The End

Author's Notes – okay – WAY longer than was originally intended. I had a computer crash and lost some stories, and had to rewrite others. Got carried away with the loose ends and finishing it off. Late as usual, but this story is complete now – I hope you have enjoyed it.

Please ignore my medical advice – as it is not correct procedure in most cases. I didn't want to do just a 'take to the hospital and let him come home' chapter. The ending might sound lame, but I wanted the talk to be with Tony not Bridger.

I did originally have a scene with Darwin at the moon pool – but have kept that for another time and another story.

Other updates coming as soon as I can.

I will now be putting all of my stories on my Yahoo Group pages – jbu9715 at – and will give messages when stories are updated or written. So if you want to talk to me at any time, please feel free to join.

I will continue to put stories on Fanfiction as well. My author's page contains all upcoming stories if you want to check it out.

This story changed direction a few times – and even the ending. It was always intended from the very beginning when I first started writing that the hiding place of the device would not be revealed.

The only thing I was never happy with – was the title of this story – I usually choose titles that mean something – and this was one of my poor choices. I don't know what it should have been – but something else.

The next story to be updated – not sure – quite a bit written for a couple of them – but not sure yet.

Love you to reads and review.

JULES