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A fierce pain lanced through William Boone's skull and he gritted his teeth until it eased.
"It's getting worse. The spasms are occurring more often now." He whispered to the woman sitting in the hard plastic chair by his bedside.
"They're a daily event now," Sara Matthews kicked herself mentally. Surely there had to be something more comforting that she could tell him, but that desire immediately clashed with her resolve to be honest with her patients and there was not much she could do or tell him at the moment.
"How is Ryan?" Boone asked.
Sara sighed. Most of the time she admired his desire to put the needs of others above his own, but William was too often blind to his own needs. Left on his own, he would run himself into exhaustion. "He listens to my advice." She said carefully and pointedly.
Boone just as pointedly chose to ignore her comment. They sat there in silence until Julia entered the room.
"News?" Boone tried to sit up, but Sara placed a hand on his shoulder and shot him a warning glance. Commander or no, she would chew him out in front of Julia or anyone else who happened to be in hearing range unless he took things easy and rested. Boone scowled at her, but made a visible effort to relax.
"Kincaid made it to Earth. We picked up his signal." Julia said without preamble.
Boone managed a weak smile. Sara still looked troubled, but seemed relieved by the news.
"Good. Keep me posted." Julia left the room, plainly glad to get out of the line of fire.
"I hope he'll get those implants in time." Sara said. "Trevor and Louise are getting worse each day."
Boone glared at her. "I thought you told me their conditions were stable." Sara folded her arms defiantly. "And I thought I told you to focus on your own well being. You can't help anyone if you're dead or comatose, and if you keep it up those will be your options."
"Nice try, Sara but I have had lessons from the best."
Sara's brow furrowed. "Lessons on what?"
"Appearing to answer a question without actually answering it."
"William, you need to rest."
"I need to take care of my people. How are Trevor and Louise? Level with me, please."
Sara looked at the door. "I had to induce comas."
"And you didn't tell me?" He raged. Condor hissed.
"Calm down! I did not tell you because I was asked not to tell you."
"Asked, my whom?"
If he wanted honesty, Sara determined to do her best to comply. Boone could be so brilliant... and yet he could be so thick sometimes. "Mitchell. You did put him in command. He thought it best."
"Why? Because I might be next?"
The unspoken yes crackled between them. "I don't know! Until I was dragged out of my home by the Volunteers in the middle of the night, I had never dealt with a CVI as anything other than curiosities in a medical journal. I'm a neurologist, yes, but I'm going in blind on this one. Even the experts like Dr. Belman don't know all that much about CVI failure, and there have been so few cases that even what is known is questionable."
"Sara..."
"Listen to me William. You, Trevor, Louise and everyone else who has had a CVI for over one year are in danger. If your CVI fails I can't replace it. I can stall the failure, induce a coma to keep you from dying, but that is it. Even the rest of us are not safe. Clair's CVI is only six months old and she is already having problems."
"I thought Clair's problems related more to her CVI being different." Boone reminded her.
"I think hers was an experiment." Sara told him. "And not a successful one at that."
Boone closed his eyes. Would news of Taelon or Jaridian experiments ever cease?
"And then there is you. Your CVI is a huge unknown: the Resistance altered it and it is different than those the rest of us were implanted with, yours is far more complex. Now it is failing. If you take it easy and don't get worked up I guarantee you will be conscious when the replacements arrive. If not..." She gestured with her chin to where the comatose patients were kept.
"I hate this," he grumbled. He could not stand being helpless while the people who entrusted their lives to him were in danger.
"So do I."
"At least Liam is on Earth. He made it through the first hurdle."
"The first hurdle."
"You don't agree with my sending him."
She shook her head, the movement causing a few locks of hair to slip free of her tight clip. "I would have preferred an unknown. If the Taelons learn he is piloting the shuttle they will pull out all the stops. They don't take betrayal well."
"He was the only one of us without a CVI."
"Just because I don't agree doesn't mean I fail to understand the logic."
"You could have fooled me," Boone grinned.
"Get some rest Commander. Or I might use you to teach Julia the proper method for administering sedatives."
"You wouldn't..."
"Want to place bets on that?"
Boone remained silent.
"I didn't think so. You are a very smart man when you choose to be."
Sara left Boone to get rest, closing to door behind her. Mitch and Julia met her in the hall.
"I did not tell him." She said flatly.
"Thank you," Mitchell said staring at the door Sara had just closed.
"He'll be furious when he finds out."
"I'll deal with that when the time comes." Mitch said, a note of hard-won maturity in his voice. "There is plenty of time for him to learn that we have lost Ryan."
"Plenty assuming Liam gets those CVI's and gets back here in time." Julia growled.
"Excuse me," Sara said, not wanting to listen to speculation on what might happen if Liam failed. "I have patients to attend to." She brushed past the pair and walked to the small room where Trevor, Louise, Alex, Sergei, Peter, Juan and the others rested. It was easy to delude herself into thinking they were simply asleep. She went over to an empty cot and ran her hands over the surface trying to blink back tears at the loss of Ryan and the thought that she might have to put William in here.
"Hurry up. She whispered to the absent Liam. "We're running out of time."