Deep

Chapter 94 In between Spaces

'Tomi.'

'Hiya,' she said. She came in close and kissed me. I kissed her back, hard and deep. She sat on me, and we became lost in the moment.

 The theatre vanishes. We are in our old bedroom now. She is astride me, her hips beating their own wanton rhythm as she chases release. I urge her on, and soon she comes and collapses on me, spent. We laid there for a while, enjoying the afterglow of our lovemaking.

'I'm mad at you.'

'Oh, you are. Why?' I ask as I play with some idle strands of her hair. Playing with her hair relaxes her. I'm doing it on purpose. She knows that I'm doing it purposefully, which is going to piss her off more. Yes, I like to poke the dragon. 

She grabs my wayward hand and bites down hard.

'Ouch, ouch. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.' She releases my hand. 

'I'm still mad at you.' She said, sounding angrier than before. I roll her over and pin her arms over her head.

'I know.' I bend down to kiss her, but she turns her face away. Instead, I kissed and gently bit her neck. Despite her anger, her body relaxes and she wraps her legs around me. I rise above her and kiss her cheek. 'I'm sorry I couldn't help it, she needed protection.'

'Why you? You have a ship filled with marines. Why you?' she asked. I kissed her neck again.

'It was a hunch, they were all occupied, and it comes with the job.' I stared into her eyes, concern had replaced anger. 

'You got hurt.' There was a sheen of tears pooling in her eyes.

'I had to protect your baby, lover. No matter the cost. She is all I have left of you.' The tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes and down her temples. I kissed them away. 

'Besides, it would get me to you sooner.' 

'So you have a death wish now?' 

'Not particularly.' This is not where I wanted to go with this. 'But I've missed you so, and I've been so alone since you left.'

She wriggles her hands free and cups my face in them. 'You and I will have all the time in the universe, so there is no need to rush, and they still need you. She still needs you.' She pulls me to her, kisses my forehead and then my lips. Soon we made love again, and too soon it was over. We laid there in the musk of our lovemaking. She said to me, 'I'll always be here waiting for you. Right now, it's time for me to let you go. There is somebody else waiting.' 

She kissed me on my forehead, and I woke up with Seki's face close to mine. Her face anguished. When she saw I was awake, she said, 'Hold on, I'm going to get Deepak.' She did not move but stared at me awaiting my response.

I had a tube down my throat, so I couldn't say anything. I blinked at her twice, and she hurried off. 

Leaving me alone with my thoughts. I'm okay with dying if it meant eternity with you...

Seki, Deepak and Cassandra rushed into the intensive care unit. They went through a standard set of questions and my vitals to test my cognitive awareness and determine if I was fit enough to remove the intubation tube. I noticed Seki left the room to give them a chance to work.

Deepak and his team decided I was fit enough to remove the endotracheal tube, and they did. I could not speak because my throat was still inflamed, so I used my comm. Soon the rest of the team departed, leaving only Deepak and me in the ICU.

-Is Alice okay?- Was my first question to Deepak.

'Yes, she is fine. She is very concerned about your state, though. We all were. It messed you up pretty bad. We had to keep you in the "cooler" for two days to repair all the organ damage it did.'

-Oh dear. Sorry for the trouble.-

'It's what we are here for.'

-What about the crew in Stasis?-

'They are just fine. The issues with the network never came close to that area of the ship. It was like it wasn't interested in stasis at all.' 

-I don't think it was.-

'What makes you say that?'

-A hunch.-

'Your hunches are spot on most times.'

-What about It?-

'It is in custody and from what I hear it gave up without a fight. Okay, I know you'll want a ship status report, so I'll go get Seki.' He left and Seki came in.

She folded her arms, her face stern.' What do you mean, you don't mind dying?'

Eeeks.