✅ Project SETI 3: Eve's Advent

Part XI: Progress

"That's good," Nova replied cautiously, "but... does that mean there's a blood clot somewhere other than his brain...?"

Julia waited until the data on his chest and torso area appeared before she spoke again. "Mm... no, looks good so far—" she paused to allow the report to finish completely, "yeah, his cardiac arrest seems to have been related to his brain damage, not a clot."

Nova frowned. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved by that or not. "What else does that thing say?"

"Nothing I didn't already know," she said with a sigh. "But his wounds are healing well, so there's that to be thankful for."

At that moment, the beeping from Gabriel's monitor increased and his chest hiccupped. He tried to cough and gasp at the same time, and Julia immediately turned to tend to him.

"That's it, that's it," Julia cooed softly while she extubated him. She rubbed his throat afterward and placed her hand against his chest to feel for movement. He kept breathing at a slow but steady rate. "He's breathing on his own."

"Thank god," Nova murmured under his breath while Julia moved away to dispose of the endotracheal tube.

"It's a really good sign," the doctor sounded relieved while she positioned the sheet beneath Gabriel again. Nova moved to help her right away. "I'm going to assess his consciousness again when we get back to his room—this might mean he's going to wake up after all."

Once they were back in Gabriel's room, the first thing Julia did was ease a mask onto his face—even though his respirations were regular, they were too spaced out to maintain a normal oxygen level. The number began to tick back up as soon as he had supplementary oxygen, and his other vital signs remained normal.

Nova didn't know what else to do but watch silently as Julia did her assessment. He felt nervous but hopeful at the same time; he realized that even if Gabriel did regain consciousness, he may never be the person he was before the head injury—mentally or physically.

"Gabe," Julia said to him, in a normal tone of voice. She shook his shoulder and repeated herself a little louder, "Gabe."

After a beat, Gabriel opened his eyes—not all the way, but enough that it sort of looked like he was awake—very sleepy, but awake.

Nova moved to his side when he saw this and picked up his hand. "Gabe...?"

His eyelids fluttered when Nova spoke, and then they slowly closed again.

"This is good," Julia assured him while she moved to find something in the supply closet nearby. "He didn't respond at all to his name before."

"I—I want to try something," Nova stammered; he felt a little unsure of himself.

Julia turned around with a reflex hammer in hand. "What did you have in mind? I was going to test his response to pain next."

Nova blushed so deeply that his ears turned red. He suddenly felt intensely embarrassed. "I, er... I want to kiss him."

"Hmph," Julia let out a brief, stifled chuckle and averted her gaze for a second. "Well, I never judged Gabe for that sort of thing, and I'm not going to judge you either."

Nova quietly cleared his throat and recomposed himself. "Okay."

He leaned over the side of the now-inclined bed and carefully eased the mask off of his face. He set it on the pillow on top of his head, within easy reach when it was time to put it back. Then, with a hand cupping Gabriel's face, he pressed his mouth over his and gently plugged his nose to fill him with his hot breath. Gabriel exhaled the forced respiration slowly and naturally, and while he did, Nova grasped his jaw with both hands and kissed him deeply. He sucked at his lower lip and slipped his tongue in his mouth, and then, when he noticed his heart rate was spiking, he bit him, as delicately as he could while still causing some pain. Gabriel inhaled sharply and flinched, and his eyes opened again.

"Gabriel?" Nova urged him again. He loosened his grip on his head and tapped his fingers against his cheeks. "Gabriel, baby, it's me—Nova. Say something."

Julia nodded to herself as she watched. Nova was doing pretty much exactly what she was going to do next and allowed him to continue.

"... mm... damn!" Gabriel blurted out. He kept looking at Nova, but he looked very confused and not all there. "Ugh... I—I'm... try."

Nova frowned. On one hand, he was relieved to hear him speak again, but he could see and hear how hard it was for him to articulate, and the intense worry was visible on his face.

"Yes, dear—I know you're trying," Julia said gently as she moved to the opposite side of the bed Nova was standing at. She slipped the oxygen mask back onto his face when his breathing started to grow panicked. "It's okay, Gabriel. Can you turn and look at me?"

Gabriel blinked and seemed to take a few seconds to truly register what she had said. He turned his head as asked, but as he made eye contact with Julia, he looked even more puzzled than before.

"You're doing so good," Nova purred reassuringly and took his hand. "It's okay."

"Can you lift each of your arms?" Julia continued. She knew that confusion was generally par for the course when waking up from a coma, but she didn't like how he looked at her. She watched as Nova released his grip to let Gabriel raise his arms up, and he did with ease. He looked somewhat stiff, but managed it nonetheless. "Yes—just like that. Perfect."

Gabriel slowly tilted his head to look at Nova when he firmly grasped his hand yet again when he was done demonstrating his motor ability. He opened his mouth to speak, and he took a few deep bracing breaths as he attempted to answer something Nova had said to him early on. He'd been able to hear some things that were happening around him and being said to him, but one instance was sticking out in his mind right now.

"Nn... no... Nova," he finally said. He blushed when he continued, "I—I... l-love you—too."