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Future setting – post-battle – Alta base medical wing
Jorgen lay in his hospital bed broken and beaten. He’d been unconscious for four days since the crash.
Spensa stood in the hallway and looked in through the window, as she had been doing regularly for several days.
She knew Jorgen had been practicing his cytonic abilities with Gran-Gran. Spensa reached out, trying to see if she could reach him in the nowhere. He felt so far away. Nothing . . .
She stepped inside carrying the only things she thought he might want in a hospital. She had been hoping he would wake today. Something about her senses told her that he would, but he just laid there like every other day, tubes in his right arm. Probably on a lot of pain medication.
His face only had some mild bruising, but she knew he hit his head pretty bad. The flight suit protected him pretty well in the crash and the acclivity rings on his seat helped hold him in place when his fighter eventually went down, but, like I said, he was out for four days.
Spensa walked into the room bearing gifts. It was stupid that she thought she would find him awake today. Why should today be any different?
. . . Because I sense something. Or at least I thought I did.
She wore her normal flight suit and boots. She set the algae chips on his bedside table. She figured he would probably want to eat something other than hospital food. She also brought a copy of the DDF code of conduct. If anything made Jorgen happy, it was following rules, learning about rules, reading and re-reading them. Scud, I don’t know what he wants, I just brought whatever I could find that made me think of him.
She also brought her father’s pilot pin for good luck. It had always helped her and brought her comfort when she needed it and Spensa hoped it would do the same for Jorgen. She placed it on top of the DDF manual and took her seat in the chair by his bedside.
For all that he was unconscious and connected to an IV, he didn’t look too bad. . . Spensa thought.
Spensa scanned the room. Private of course. He was Jorgen Weight for Star’s sake. There was a private radio near his bed that was turned off. A call button for a nurse. The location of his room and his status in the DDF would surely give him such priority that eight doctors would come running if he roused.
She spied his chart at the foot of his bed. She knew she shouldn’t, but being in a hospital room was really boring. And she’d find out about all his injuries anyway, she’d have to know where not to punch him.
She walked over to the door of the room and lowered the blinds so no one would see her snooping.
Spensa hustled over and snatched the chart from the foot of the bed. It was mostly written in doctor speak, but she could make out that Jorgen had suffered a blow to the head that knocked him out, two broken ribs on his right side near the bottom, and some mild contusions which Spensa figured just meant bruises.
Who uses the word contusions anyway? Why don’t people just say what they mean? Doctors just trying to be all fancy.
She replaced his chart and went back to sitting dutifully by his bedside. She wasn’t technically his girlfriend. I mean they had flirted . . . A LOT (especially if poking/punching him in the chest counted as flirting). And they’d shared that one kiss before her mission on Starsight.
But Scud, every intimate moment we’ve ever had seems to be when one of us thinks we’re gonna die. That does not a relationship make.
But she knew how she felt about him, even if she’d never actually admitted it. And she knew he liked her more than she liked him. That was made painfully obvious by the way he always sprinkled those little comments into their conversations.
“You’re important to the DDF . . . and to me. I want you to be safe,” he had said. And he had that way about him where he always stood a little too close for their relationship to just be flightleader and pilot. And when he gently touched her face and looked into her eyes those few times. . . Spensa blushed. Scud.
He’s not even awake or conscious and he’s doing things to me.
Spensa determinedly expelled those thoughts and went back to sitting dutifully and waiting for him to wake up. But she got bored. I mean what was she supposed to do, read the DDF manual? 1) she’d already read it 2) It’s not some amazing trilogy about barbarian heroes on old Earth 3) No, thank you.
She scooted her chair a little closer to his bedside table. She played with her father’s pin for a bit. Then eyed the algae chips.
Maybe just one. . .
Not five minutes later Spensa had consumed the whole basket. They were just SO GOOD!!
Completely full and satiated but still having nothing to do, Spensa sprawled across her chair and looked up at the ceiling. It was a basic, boring ceiling. She could imagine herself floating among the stars. She started to do the practices that Gran-Gran had taught her.
She was flying amongst them. Touching space. Weightless. Haha, weightless… Lol, because she wasn’t Weightless. She was with Jorgen Weight!
The bad joke snapped her back to Alta base with a small smile on her lips. She looked up at him sleeping there, so peacefully. He looked so comfortable. His arms lay by his sides. Sigh. He was so handsome. The bruising just made him look more rugged like the stories of old.
Spensa mischievously stood up and waltzed over to the door to the hospital room again. She peeked through the window and didn’t see anyone coming from the hall. Should she do it? Would it be weird? Eh, whatever, she was already weird, what’s a little more weird, right?
Spensa tromped back over to the chair and kicked her boots off. She then very delicately and very carefully snuggled into the small twin hospital bed beside Jorgen.
She made sure to lay against his left side because she didn’t want to hurt his broken ribs. And his left arm didn’t have the IV coming out of it so she was free to wiggle into him there.
She rested against him, her chin inching up toward the side of his face and neck, and she inhaled deeply, taking in his scent. Even in a hospital, he smelled good. Why was he always able to smell so good? Like a combination of rugged and polished that she couldn’t quite define. Polished of course because he was from the lower caverns, but the rugged, I don’t know, maybe she was imagining it, but she felt like she could smell rugged from all the space battles he’d been in.
It was the perfect calming scent and she let it wash over her, taking it in. Hopefully no one walked in because it would’ve looked really weird her just being in his hospital bed smelling him.
Spensa let out a deep sigh, one she hadn’t even realized she'd been holding as she felt, for the first time in a long time, perfectly comfortable.
She cuddled up to him and rested her left hand at his shoulder trying to be very gentle. But eventually she let the weight of her arm relax on top of his.
She let out another contented sigh. Please, Stars, let him be alright.
She only rested there for a minute or two before she felt motion. He was stirring.
She looked up and a groggy but smiling Jorgen Weight looked back at her.
Spensa blushed at the fact that she was in his bed, and she REALLY hoped he was actually asleep when she was smelling him. That might be a whole new level . . . But let’s face it, he was probably asleep. Otherwise he would’ve said something like, “Why are you smelling me?”
“Hi. I . . . Um. Came to check on you,” Spensa said awkwardly.
Jorgen just lifted his arm out of her grip and wrapped it around her, bringing her closer, as she moved to rest her head on his chest. He sighed contentedly.
“I can’t think of a better way to wake up.” She could hear the smile in his voice as he said it.
“Really?” Spensa replied. “I can. I’d probably choose to wake up without any broken bones. But that’s just me.”
Jorgen just held her close and lightly kissed the top of her head that was resting on his chest, far, very far, from any broken ribs whatsoever. She wasn’t going to keep him in the hospital any longer than he had to be.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Well, not great considering what happened I suppose, but truth be told, and maybe it’s the pain meds talking . . . , with you here I think I’m on top of the world.” He grinned. “And thank you by the way.”
“For what?” Spensa looked confused.
“You came by my hospital room a few times. I could feel you, or feel your presence, I don’t know. Pushing on my mind. In a good way. It helped bring me home. I kept trying to follow the feel of you back here. I don’t know how to explain it, but I could sense when you were around. And it was good.”
Holding to him so close and hearing him say nice things about her made Spensa blush. She was doing that a lot lately. Luckily he couldn’t see because her head was so comfortably nuzzled in his chest and she refused to move a centimeter. “So it looks like that bit of cytonic training did do some good, then?” she said.
“Yeah, I’ll admit it was weird to have your grandmother as my commanding officer for a week, and I didn’t think I learned anything when I left, but Stars know if I hadn’t felt your presence when I was in the beyond, I don’t know if I could’ve made it back.”
Spensa cocked her head, confused. “The doctors said you just had a concussion. Were you hit with a cytonic blast? One of the weapons that people like me can summon? I feel like I would’ve, should’ve, been able to sense that.”
“I don’t know what it was, but I definitely have some memories from the past few weeks, days, hours. Actually, wait. How long was I out?”
“About four days,” Spensa replied still resting into his side with his arm around her.
Her eyes wandered across his body from the IV in his arm to the very thin-looking hospital gown he was wearing. Aaaaand, she was still kinda smelling him . . . Haha! He didn’t seem to care. In fact, it seemed like he liked it when she nuzzled so close.
“Well, I definitely want to hear what you got up to in there, but I think we have a few things to discuss first,” Spensa continued.
“What is it, Spin?” Jorgen asked.
Scud. She had immediately put him into duty-mode where he started using callsigns instead of her name. I swear he even went more rigid like his body was preparing for a salute or something. Must just be habit.
“I want to talk about the battle,” Spensa whispered. “I, you . . . you made a bad call.”
“I made exactly the right call,” Jorgen replied. “I wouldn’t change it.”
“But, things were going down, stuff was starting to get bad. The Superiority obviously had cytonics among their pilots. I am a heck of a lot more trained in that stuff that you are, and they were going to release a bomb.”
Spensa continued. “I should have been the one to fly in there. It was basically a death trap. You compromised your position as flightleader by putting yourself in danger when you know it should’ve been me to go in there.”
Jorgen looked down at her but she wouldn’t meet his eyes. His beautiful brown eyes. “Look, Spin, you’re the better pilot. You’re the more fully-trained cytonic. Scud, I’m basically not even trained at all. There’s no way I would risk you in that. And no way I would risk another of the flight crew. You’re too valuable. Sadie is too new. And I knew if I sent Kimmalyn in there, she wouldn’t have been able to boost her way out. She would’ve been able to make the shot, but not fly out and survive the crash. I made the logical decision. It only so happens that the move also tends to comport with my other rationale: the fact that I don’t want to lose you.”
That was an eloquent speech. Fancy private school boy. Ugh.
“Look, I’m not saying you should’ve sent Kimmalyn in there. You made the right call on it that way. But ordering me to stay back? You know how hard it is for me to follow orders in the first place. And then to see you. . . to see you come out of there. Barely. I didn’t know if you were alive or dead. We thought you were dead. And it . . .” she cut off.
“It what?” Jorgen questioned.
Spensa fidgeted before she started. “I’m not scared of anything. A warrior has no fear, of course, naturally. It’s just that. I’m ready to die. I would die for Alta. I’m no coward. I can handle dying. But . . . I don’t think I can handle it if you died. I don’t think I’m prepared for that. Every time I’m off on a ledge where I shouldn’t be it’s you who talk me down. And, I guess what I’m saying is I need you. As a flightleader of course!”
That last awkward addition at the end was so dumb. Why did I say that?!
Another blush coming.
Ugh, why am I doing that so much lately? What great warrior blushes!
“Spensa, you may think you’re not ready to lose me, but I KNOW I’m not prepared to lose you. I don’t know what I would do if . . . if . . . if that happened.” Jorgen went quiet for a moment and then continued. “Look, DDF manual says you should be prepared for anything, but I’m not prepared for that possibility. At the same time, I also know that Igneous and Alta can’t afford to lose you. You may not have liked it. But for the good of every Defiant, that’s the call I would and should make time and time again. I’m the dispensable one of this pair.”
She nearly punched him then but remembered that he already had broken ribs. Scud. Those needed to heal so they could properly continue their relationship.
“Don’t ever say that again,” Spensa growled angrily.
“I mean, I won’t, if you don’t want me to. But it’s the truth.” Spensa glanced up at him and Jorgen looked tired again. Like he’d been unconscious in a hospital for four days. He really was going to need time to heal. He was just acting so happy and chipper when he woke up she thought he could handle this conversation. Maybe it was a little too much too soon.
“Let’s just talk about something else,” she said quickly changing the subject. I brought you some presents.
“Oh, yeah? What did you bring me?”
“Uh. Well. I brought you some algae chips but I sort of ate all of those. Sorry. I brought you my father’s pin, for good luck, so you’d wake up. I know it always brought me comfort. And anyway, I also brought you the DDF manual of regulations and rules for pilot conduct.”
“Why did you bring me the DDF manual?” Jorgen looked confused.
Spensa looked up at him, embarrassed, and sheepishly murmured, “Because . . . I don’t know, you like rules and things.”
Jorgen laughed loudly and then quickly cut off after feeling the pain in his ribs.
“You are the cutest,” he grinned.
“I’m not cute, I’m a mighty warrior,” Spensa shot back.
He just leaned down to very gently kiss her on the lips. She moved up to meet his embrace so he wouldn’t futz with his ribs again. Stars, it was a kiss. Not passionate and breathy because breathing hard is bad news for someone with cOnTusIOnS. But anyway, it was a great kiss because it was Jorgen. Spensa’s heart fluttered and she was so deliriously happy that this man was alive.
But that made her sad again. And she broke off the kiss, opening her eyes, the flash of a despondent look on her face.
Jorgen, as intuitive as he is, asked what was wrong. From his perspective she had been cute and they had just shared a great kiss and now she was sad.
“Is it my breath?” he asked.
“No, no, it’s not that at all. Although you should brush your teeth when I leave,” she joked, but not really.
She just kept thinking back to the fact that she had almost lost him. And that, every big step in their relationship not relationship happened because one of them thought they were going to die. Or they were celebrating that one of them didn’t die. Was this relationship real? Or was it just a bunch of wild emotions floating around in space because every month seemed to bring a new catastrophe for Skyward to overcome?
“I guess, I mean, we’re not . . .” in a relationship, she wanted to say. “What I’m trying to ask is, is this real?”
Jorgen looked confused. Even confused, he looked so cute. “I’m not following.”
“This. Us. Are we just together because bad stuff happens around us and we cling to the nearest person for support. Or is this real?” Spensa looked down, ashamed. “You know what, never mind,” she added. “Don’t answer that.”
Jorgen had been through enough. She had already put him through one trying conversation and he hadn’t even been awake ten minutes. Why would she load more on top of him? Stupid stupid stupid.
“Really,” Spensa continued. “Don’t answer that. Sorry I even brought it up. You should be resting. I’ll . . .” she made a move to get up and he just continued to hold her against him. Not giving her the space she needed to get up without hurting him.
“No,” he replied. “Anything that’s on your mind is important to me. I can handle it.” Jorgen Weight. Always a pillar of strength.
“Look, Spin . . . Spensa, I don’t know how you feel. I can only speak for myself here. But I’m in this. I hadn’t really thought about it before and I guess you're right that some of our . . . closer moments came when something dangerous was afoot but we’re in the DDF. What we do is always going to be dangerous. I’ve been wanting a relationship with you for six months. I remember the first day we met in class and you had such a fire and energy to you, it was impossible to ignore. It was hard not to just stare at you in those early days, but I hoped you didn't notice."
Spensa thought back. No, she really hadn't noticed.
Jorgen went on. “And now, I mean . . . back when there was a risk of you disappearing to another planet, and maybe never coming back . . . Scud, this is harder than I thought. When you were about to leave and you were facing near-certain death, you kissed me, remember? And I won’t lie, in that moment, just being with you, I was soaring, the happiest person on all of Detritus. And now you’re here, with me, in my hospital room, and we're together and it just seems so right. You being here with me is exactly what I want. I’m a better me when I’m just near you. So what I'm saying is, I’m in this. Peacetime or wartime, you and me together is all I want. So the real question in all this is, do you feel the same?”
That was a hard thing for him to say. Spensa knew it took a lot of courage to be so vulnerable. Vulnerability wasn't her strong suit. And that last part sounded so painful for him to get out. He was already wounded once this week and now he opens himself up to get hurt again. And this time acclivity rings can't save him.
Spensa's eyes grew damp at the thought of how much pain he must be in, because of the crash, because of her. Because she knows what he wants and it was a dick move to bring this up ten minutes after he woke up. She's kicking herself but they're in this conversation now. And it's not like his feelings are unrequited. She just needs to say it. Here goes nothing.
“I’ve never done this before,” she replied after a long moment, "the relationship thing, I mean. The only people I ever really had before I joined DDF were my mom, Gran-Gran, and Rig.” Jorgen made a little face at that last name but hid it quickly.
“I definitely, I dunno, feel things for you. And I always know I can turn to you. And I want to turn to you. You make me stronger, better, happier, I don't know. I mean when I saw the eyes for the first time, you were the first person I went to. Actually, the only person I went to. And somehow even though I felt psychotic and thought I was hallucinating, you believed in me. Even the worst of times, you seem to make things brighter. I mean, I didn’t even tell Rig about those things, and he's my closest friend.”
The smallest flash of a smile came to Jorgen’s lips and then he dispelled it immediately before Spensa could notice.
“Do you want to be with me? I mean, I know you’re physically here, in my bed,” he teased. “But I’m definitely not going to die anytime soon. And you're not either if I have anything to say about it. It's not like we're not going into combat ever again. But here, now, I guess we can call this peacetime. Do you want to be with me even if the war's not raging? Even if it doesn't look like either of us is going to die?"
Well that's an easy question, she thought.
“Yes,” Spin giggled. Jorgen didn’t think he’d ever heard her giggle before. “Yeah, I definitely want to be with you.”
“Then . . .," Jorgen paused, "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Jorgen made a face at how unbelievably lame that sounded. Here was the hero of Igneous, Alta, Detritus, the whole shebang. They had both faced near-death and made it out the other side. And he says something as lame as, do you want to be my girlfriend?
Spensa giggled, kissed his shoulder, and scrunched up her face. The term didn’t seem to fit quite right. But the words were already out of his mouth. “I mean if you want that of course,” he added. He made a motion like he was going to run his hand through his hair but quickly stopped at the slight tug of the IV.
“I don’t even know where to start with the word ‘girlfriend.’” Her tone was light but it definitely put the word in air-quotes. "I have no idea how to do girlfriend things.” Spensa looked up in thought. She knew Jorgen had probably dated before, and in the lower caverns no less. She wasn’t sure what was expected of her. Maybe I should ask FM for some tips.
“Okay, sorry if “girlfriend” is a loaded word but I don't care what you call us. I just want to be with you. We make our own rulebook.”
“Mmmmm, that makes sense," she said into his chest. "So what rules do you want to follow?” she teased and poked him gently in the ribs. Obviously making fun of the fact that even in the fun things in life, Jorgen Weight LOVES following rules.
“Well, I mean, I want to spend time with you. And I like holding you like this. I wanna kiss you like this.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Her heartrate spiked but she wasn't the one hooked up to a heart monitor, so she dove in with everything she had. Her lips parted and their tongues met and she leaned closer and closer into him with the full weight of her body, melding against his perfectly. It was a longgggggg kiss until the heartrate monitor beside the hospital bed started singing a little too quickly. They broke off the kiss, laughing a little at the heartrate monitor.
Then Spensa became painfully aware how close they were, and how thin Jorgen's hospital gown was.
Jorgen looked up embarrassed and silently thanked the Stars that even with the girl of his dreams pressed into him kissing him while he wore practically nothing, the only thing that happened was the heartrate monitor going off.
Jorgen glanced toward the door, checking that it was still firmly closed with the blinds sealed. It was. He did not want anyone to come in at the moment. He was doing everything he could to keep himself in control.
Spensa is similarly trying to control herself. The guy she's pressed into is hot as balls, rich, and madly in love with her, an amazing pilot, brave and steadfast and, ... and she can daydream about him later! Come on, Spensa, you're half on top of him, enjoy the moment. She smelled him again. He looked at her like she was an adorable weirdo, and then shook his head and smiled.
“So I guess, erm . . . I mean, back to the conversation," he said as the heartmonitor finally hit a normal, steady rhythm again, "You have any rules you wanna throw in there?” He squeezed her gently once to him as he said it and looked down at her affectionately.
“I mean, I don’t really like rules.” Jorgen put on a look of shock and mock horror. She smiled at him. “But the ones you said are good with me so same, I guess, backatcha.”
Spensa sent her gaze down back over his body and the thin hospital gown and sheet that covered him. Then, realizing her gaze lingered in certain areas just a little too long, she quickly looked away and closed her eyes. She leaned into him and felt his body close to hers.
She turned back to meet his gaze again, “I guess that makes you my boyfriend now?” she ventured. He grinned. “And my flightleader?” The grin left his face just as quickly as it had come.
“Yeah, we’ll have to figure that out as we go along. Now that we're official, I need to send up a quick report to Cobb so our superiors are in the know," Jorgen said, all business. "But we’re full pilots so it's not like there are restrictions on pilots dating so long as we keep our commanding officers informed."
“Stars above you actually have to submit a report just to say that we started dating?! Cobb has been annoyingly calling us lovebirds since the first day of class. My money says he probably already knows.”
“He probably does," Jorgen admitted. "But DDF Rule 14-a-6 requires an official report. Just a short statement and some yes or no questions and fill in the blanks.” Spensa noted that Jorgen did all that from memory. She glanced to her left where the DDF manual sat at the side table. He really did have the whole book memorized. She said as much.
"No, I do not have the whole book memorized. Just the important parts." Jorgen looked a little embarrassed, but Spensa felt her heart swell. 14-a-6 was the important part because of her. Jorgen might secretly be a romantic.
Spensa gave a little huff. “I hate paperwork but I guess I’ll fill it out since you’re, you know, hospitalized and all that. How many pages is it? It can’t be that long, right?”
“Don’t worry, it’s only six pages,” Jorgen said.
“Six pages just to say that we’re boyfriend and girlfriend?!” Spensa said aghast.
“Yes, well, it would be shorter if I wasn’t your flightleader. But don’t worry, you don’t have to fill it out. I’ll do it. I don’t mind the paperwork.”
“No no, you’ve been through a lot. I’m the one who gets to walk out of here on my own two feet today. I should do it. And besides, probably better to fill it out sooner rather than later. I don’t want to get in trouble for sneaking into your hospital room here again. It would be really awkward if some nurse walked in to change your bandages and found me here. Might have some explaining to do.”
“Um . . . Spensa, you don’t have to fill out the report.” She gave Jerkface a quizzical look. He better not be backing out already. They just had the arduous, awkward relationship talk. That better not have been for nothing! And she was still practically on top of him; he can't dump her already. Not like this.
Her quizzical look started to turn angry as she waited for what he had to say next, quietly hoping she didn't put her heart in his hands for nothing. She liked him, A LOT. He wore his heart on his sleeve. She was more guarded, but she still cared for him deeply. She knew the separation would be harder on her than it would be on him. Maybe too much for her to bear right now. That's why she didn't think she was ready for a relationship. It's not that she didn't love him. It's just that she'd suffered enough heartbreak for one lifetime.
Jorgen looked sheepish and averted his gaze from her and toward the wall instead. “You don’t have to fill out the report because I already did, a couple months ago actually.”
Her sigh of relief was not audible, but it felt like a weight had lifted off her chest. She wasn't broken, but she shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion so quickly. Maybe another future conversation to work through with Jorgen Weight. But she'd be smart this time. This is another future conversation. He really does need to rest.
Jorgen looked back to meet her eyes and said, “Remember when you came over and found me in the garage back on base? I was working on my car and you wanted to hang out. And we just sat in my car in the garage and talked for hours. I got absolutely no sleep that night! And then we noticed it was morning and each snuck out separately so it didn’t look weird?”
Spensa’s thought back and recalled that night fondly.
“Anyway,” Jorgen continued, “after that, instead of going to sleep, even though I was dog tired, I . . . don't be mad, but I requested and filled out the 14-a-6 form for us. I had hoped, I don’t know, I had thought, that maybe that was the start of something for us. I would never have filed it without this conversation of course!” he added quickly. “But anyway," he looked down at her. She didn’t reply. "Are you mad?” he asked.
Spensa paused, and thought about it. A little presumptuous of him, cocky sonofabitch. . . But at the same time it was kind of sweet. He knew what he wanted and just needed her clearance to go through with it. A slow smile spread across her lips, and she brought her face close to his.
Spensa licked his lower lip softly with her tongue and bit down gently on it. He let out a staggered gasp. His mouth parted and her tongue found his. She closed her eyes and he closed his, finding themselves completely absorbed in one another. Her hand wandered gently across his abdomen, up his chest, and to his neck where she gripped the backed on his head and pressed her face to his.
Her breathing grew heavy and he tried to keep his steady. She propped up her full body weight so he wouldn’t have any to deal with but still he tried to pull her against him, both still very much aware that they could go no further without damaging his ribs. But the kiss continued. Heart rate monitor spiking. Spensa pulled away. Both were breathy. Jorgen a little pained and breathy from his injuries but you wouldn’t know it from the smile on his face. They looked over at the loud obnoxious beeping sound. Heart rate monitor had hit 132 and was only slowly falling.
Just then a nurse busted in through the door looking worried and then a little shocked as she took in the sight before her. Clearly she had been concerned for her patient and now she could see her patient was doing more than fine.
Spensa looked down, a little embarrassed, but she didn't care. She didn't know the nurse and she was happy being in Jorgen's arms. That is, until Cobb hobbled in behind the nurse and nearly spilled his coffee as he looked over the room, his jaw going slack with surprise . . . I guess even if he had guessed at their relationship, this is not how he expected to get that confirmed.
Spensa quickly got up off the hospital bed. Too quickly. She heard Jorgen wince. She stood next to the hospital bed, upright and back straight in front of her commanding officer. She looked back to Jorgen who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else right now. She couldn’t see her own face but it probably matched Jorgen’s. Bright red.
Cobb addressed Jorgen. “I told them to notify me when you woke so I could get a debriefing on what you saw, Lieutenant Weight."
"Um, yessir," Jorgen said quickly. "Debriefing. I am ready at your earliest convenience."
"Clearly not," Cobb replied angrily. He said it as a rebuke, but then he smirked and the pair knew Cobb well enough to know that he was making fun of them. Teasing.
Cobb continued. “Take a breath, Lieutenant. Get settled. Be ready for a debriefing when I come back this afternoon."
"Yes, sir," Jorgen promptly replied. No salute. IV doesn't allow that.
Cobb turned, "And Spin!”
“Yes, Sir!” Spensa immediately stepped into a salute.
“I’ll be expecting a 14-a-6 report on my desk by the end of the week.” Spensa swore she could see the slightest grin on Cobb's face before it vanished as he sipped his coffee. Cobb turned and walked out, forcing the nurse out in front of him.
- Long pause -
Stars Above, that was mortifying!
Spensa turned back toward Jorgen. There was a mild pause before each broke into laughter.
"Well, I guess he found out sooner than we expected."
Jorgen reached over from the hospital bed to grab her hand and pull her closer.
Spensa stepped forward and leaned over him, meeting his eyes and staring at that perfect jawline, those dimples, his black hair. She was caught up in his smile until she leaned down and pressed her forehead to his, sending him a cytonic message, one you don't hear with your ears. It seemed to say, “until next time.”
She migrated toward his mouth and planted three small, soft kisses on his raw lips. She squeezed his hand in hers, and said, “I’ll see you later,” and turned to go.
“Goodbye, beautiful,” he replied beaming.
She was grinning as she looked back at him. She sat down to put her boots back on and simply thought, We can make this work. I want to make this work. He’s mine. I’m his.
With a twinge of sadness, she stood up and left him to rest and recover. She would be back tomorrow, and that pre-filled out 14-a-6 form would be on Cobb’s desk ASAP.
She left the room feeling giddy. The embarrassment was fading, taking a backseat to all the happiness she felt. Maybe this was a good time for some flight practice, burn off some steam.
Spensa walked down the hallway of Alta base medical building. Her father’s pin is in good hands. Jorgen will give it back to her when he recovers. Spensa is feeling a little uneasy though. That was a big moment for her. A small sigh. It was hard, but deep down she knows her heart is in the same strong, steady, rule-following hands as her father's pin. And even a warrior such as herself can admit that her future looks a little brighter and happier with him in it. It's not weakness to need people, to want those you love in your life.
Spensa is pondering where love fit into the lives of her warrior heroes of the past.
A warrior does not break easily. A warrior does not fear. But the stories said nothing about a warrior not being able to love. And this warrior's got it bad. ;)