"Fade to Black"

[Trichon 0]

<<start log>>

 

Trichon took short staggered breaths as the small hovercar sped off towards the nearest triage center. He didnt harbor any delusions, he was dying from radiation poisoning. He couldnt stop coughing and his whole body was covered in burns but yet he was felt cold. He looked up and saw the tears in Merris eyes and tried to squeeze her hand just a little to assure her he was still there.

 

Merri hung on fiercely, both to his hand and to his mind. Trichon wasn't leaving her if SHE had anything to say about it! Barely aware of the tears streaming down her face, she prayed to Whoever might be listening, begging not to lose her mate. She lost track of time, so that when the vehicle stopped, she was startled to be pulled away from Trichon so he could be removed from the car.

 

As he was gently moved into the triage center he looked over at Merri, he didnt want her to leave his side. The honest truth was he was scared of what was happening. He tried to look around the center and he saw other people suffering. There cries cut him to the core. Somewhere deep inside he couldnt help but feel a little responsible for all this suffering. He wasnt able to save Arcadia or the people of Risa. She followed, never more than a meter from his side even when the available medical staff swarmed around him, setting up IV lines and working with tissue regenerators. Somewhere in the background, a portable power plant hummed loudly. The sound of it burned into Merri's brain, over the hubbub of voices and other noises. That power source was Trichon's only hope. Without the tissue regenerators and spot-focused stasis fields, he would die.

 

He looked up to Merri. He could see the fear in her eyes, "So tell me something beloved..."

 

"If you die, I'll kill you," she tried to joke.

 

"You know your a terrible liar honey." he coughed again and tried to shoo away one of the nurses. He tried to lift his arm but it felt so heavy to him. "So do I look as bad as I feel?"

 

"You look like hell," Merri said, the words catching in her throat. "Maybe you'll learn to stop playing hero."

 

He grinned for a moment and then started having a coughing fit. "You know me better than that. I had a job to do up there."

 

"You disobeyed orders," said Merri, frowning a little. "What's going to happen if they court-martial you?"

 

Under his breath he wheezed, "I dont think there going to get the chance to do any court martialing. Unless its post-humous." He turned and started into Merri's puffy eyes tear soaked eyes, "Merri you have to promise me something.."

 

"You're not going to die," she insisted. "What do you want me to promise?"

 

"That you'll move on....." he didnt break away from her eyes not even once he stopped for a moment between the tears in his eyes and the coughing, "That you'll not do something stupid if the worst should happen."

 

Merri bit her lip and shook her head slowly. "You're not going to die," she insisted again.

 

It was becoming difficult for him speak verbally so he opened his mind to her. ~~You know as well as I do what my chances are here. You were an engineer just like me. You were taught what happens when somehting like this happens.~~

 

~~You have to want to live,~~ Merri told him. ~~These doctors are doing the best they can for you, but your mind is the most powerful medicine of all, dearest. I don't know what healing powers your people might or might not have, but I do know that wanting to live most often makes a difference in questionable cases.~~ She touched his face tenderly with one fingertip.

 

~~I want to live...~~ his eyes closed as he tried to fight back the tears, ~~I want to see our children grow up and have kids of there own. I want to grow old with you and talk about the good old days.~~ his coughing grew louder now and the nurses flocked to his side.

 

~~Sleep,~~ Merri told him, her hand still lightly touching his face. ~~Sleep and heal.~~ Did he know? She wondered, since he mentioned children. Did he know that she had not had her implant replaced, that she had done nothing to prevent children?

 

He reached up to try and wipe away the tears at her eyes but he couldnt work up the strength to barely move. He wanted to drink in the image of Merri. There was so many things he wanted to tell her, but he couldnt find the way to put his thoughts into words. So instead he just opened up his mind to her and let go of everything for just a moment. With his mind wide open, she was able to wrap her own thoughts around him, easing him toward sleep. Around them, a doctor and several nurses still worked with drugs and machinery, keeping Trichon's body going long enough for healing to get well underway. But Merri wasn't aware of that. She was aware only of her mate's pain and despair, and the bright bond that held them together. He could feel Merri pushing him to sleep with her mind, and as he drifted off he lost all awareness of his body. A bright light bloomed around him, and he was almost sure he would not awaken again. In a way, it was a relief. That was his last thought before the bright light faded to blackness.