(no subject)
Wishing Stars: Eleven
d/b
Disclaimer: This is fiction
One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six Seven
Eight Nine Ten
Despite Dom’s absence it was a beautiful autumn. The days slipped by in a happy round of duties and small pleasures. The grasses in fields turned red and purple and snow capped the distant mountains. Billy and Justin moved into their new house on the grounds of the school. In the mornings the bells of the clock tower rang clear in the crisp air as the students and teachers hurried to class.
In the evenings Billy and Justin would sit by a tree in the quad and wait for the stars to come out. Billy would think of Dom, imagine holding him, and send a good thought out into the dusk. Then he would tell Justin stories. He told Justin about Puerto Rico, about the warmth and the coqui frog that sang in the trees. He told him about Glasgow and London and Paris. He talked about Zeus and Cleopatra and King Arthur.
“Do you remember it at all? Earth?”
Justin shook his head.
“I was a baby when we left. Charlotte remembered the house we lived in. She talked like you, like my dad, when she was little.”
Billy winced, realizing that he was probably the very last person with a Scottish accent left in the universe.
“Look, it’s the wishing star.”
“Isn’t it beautiful? I can’t help but love it best. It shined on the birth of everyone I love the most.”
~*~
The snow came when the leaves were still red on the trees. Bean said it was a hundred year winter and that it would be a hard one. By the solstice the tenth snow had fallen and the headmaster canceled classes for a week. The staff organized a winter carnival with ice skating and sledding and snowman building contests. The school grounds echoed with shrieks of laughter and delight.
Billy had not sold the house in town. He frequently traveled to the hospital to see new patients. Sometimes Justin came with him to tell the orphaned children about the school. Hope rekindled in their eyes at the news of the sledding parties and the Sunday dinners.
Winter overstayed its welcome but eventually the snow pack melted and there was mud on the tile floors of the school buildings and the smell of wet soil woke Billy in the morning. The world was fresh and clean but dark shadows began to appear under Billy’s eyes. He found himself sitting in a hard wooden chair by Justin’s bed at night, watching him sleep. He sat until his back ached and then went to his own bed. He stared at the ceiling and tried to imagine Dom’s warmth into the cold spot next to him.
“I’m holding you. I’m holding on,” he’d whisper. Sometimes he’d sleep.
~*~
“He said six months. It’s been eight.”
“No news is good news, Bill. I know it’s hard, but they’d let us know if they were…”
Bill shook his head. “I just want word. I just want one badly typed, misspelled missive. I can’t stand not knowing.”
Miranda drew her jumper tightly around her. “I think I’d feel it. If anything happened…I can feel him out there, Billy. I know.”
~*~
Soldiers started showing up at the hospital. Billy thought himself a hardened veteran to wounds and injuries. He’d seen broken children and abused women, but he winced at the sight of some of these men and locked himself away in the men’s room after seeing others.
Spring was giving way to summer when the worst of the lot came in. A young man, couldn’t have been more than twenty, screamed with an unholy howl from the minute he got off the transport. His body was covered in burns and Billy spent three hours just removing his clothing from his skin.
He drove home that night chain smoking and swearing. He got to Miranda’s house late to pick up Justin and collapsed into her arms, shaking.
“Emma and Justin won’t grow up like this, Miranda. I won’t let it happen. It has to end. Tell me it will end. Tell me I won’t have to listen to babies howl in pain anymore.”
~*~
Billy found the quiet ward where his patient was resting the next day. After an hour the young man opened his eyes. He moved his lips but no words came out. Billy held a glass of water to his lips.
“You were there. Yesterday. You helped me.”
“It hurt you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize for them. Will I live?”
Billy struggled with his thoughts. “If you struggle hard, then yes, you will live. Don’t give in. It will be a hard road. I’ll be here. I’ll always be pointing towards the next step.”
The soldier nodded and struggled with his breathing for awhile.
“Tell me your name.”
“Orlando.”
“Where are you from?”
“Sylvan.” Orlando snorted. “Known as the most beautiful people in the galaxy. Until they get burnt to a crisp. Not so beautiful now. Am I?”
Billy put his hand on Orlando’s cheek.. “Pretty beautiful. Your face wasn’t touched by the fire. We can try to fix everything else in a little while. But you’re beautiful, regardless.”
A tear rolled down Orlando’s cheek. “My mother loved my face. It hurts everywhere. Will I…? I wanted to have a family some day. A big one. Will I…?”
“It’s too soon to tell. Don’t worry about it now. We’re not on that road yet. We’re just here. Just you and me and the sun’s shining through the window and it’s almost summer and you’re going to get well enough to go sit under a tree and feel the breeze.”
Orlando nodded and squeezed Billy’s hand.
“What’s your name, Doctor?”
“Billy. Billy Boyd.”
Orlando smiled and sighed like he was safe at last. “I knew it. Dom told me. He told me there were angels out there and they had your name. He told me if I was bad hurt and I wished hard enough I’d end up in your arms. He said I wasn’t to die if I saw you until I said that he loves you and that he’s holding on to you.”
Orlando closed his eyes.
“You saw him? You saw Dom?”
Orlando snored and Billy fought the impulse to shake him awake. He called Miranda and told her he wouldn’t be home that night.
~*~
“What happened to Dom? Do you feel okay? What happened?”
Orlando smiled.
“I feel like shite, Doctor, thanks for asking.”
Billy rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to be professional but…I can’t. What happened to him? What can I get you?”
“Water.”
Billy held a cup to the soldier’s lips with trembling hands for what seemed like an eternity.
“We were planet-side. This forest. Mountains all around. Lakes. Bugs biting. Rations for food. No shower. Just this command station in the middle of nowhere. We’d sit up late at night. Have a fire. Just us nobodies and General-fucking-Mortensen and Dom-master-mind-Monaghan. They liked me. They told me about you. About this place. Dom said, whoever survived, had to tell you. We laughed, the rookies, didn’t think they’d find us. But they were looking. Came one night. Blew everything to shit. I was in my bunk. Trapped under my burning bunk and a wall with my best friend on fire and screaming above me. Dom came and he pulled at me. Blood all over his face. Don’t know if it was his. Had to leave me. I told him to go. He kissed my cheek. Someone had to pull him away. My best friend’s charred hand fell on me. I went away into the blackness. I saw your face. Dom always drew your face and I knew you. Thought I was dead. You asked me my name.”
Orlando signaled for more water and Billy held up the cup.
“Nurse! Do you know anymore? Did Mortensen go with him?”
“They ran off into the trees. I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you more.”
Billy was on his feet, his pulse racing, but he paused to kiss Orlando’s cheek. “I’ll be back. I promise. Thank you.”
~*~
Miranda was sitting in the garden. Her face was white and a letter hung limply from her hand.
“Miranda.”
“Wounded and missing. We regret to report that General Mortensen is wounded and missing. That’s all. That’s all they have to say.”
“I think Dom’s with him.” He took her hand and they ran for Billy’s mailbox. A similar letter was within and they stood staring at each other for long moments.
“I can’t,” Miranda said. She sounded like a small girl and Billy stood still as he watched her break. “I could do everything until there was this.”
Billy didn’t know where he found the strength to hold her when she crumpled into his arms. After a moment whatever strength there was left him and they sank to the doorstep, weeping into each other’s arms.
~*~
d/b
Disclaimer: This is fiction
One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six Seven
Eight Nine Ten
Despite Dom’s absence it was a beautiful autumn. The days slipped by in a happy round of duties and small pleasures. The grasses in fields turned red and purple and snow capped the distant mountains. Billy and Justin moved into their new house on the grounds of the school. In the mornings the bells of the clock tower rang clear in the crisp air as the students and teachers hurried to class.
In the evenings Billy and Justin would sit by a tree in the quad and wait for the stars to come out. Billy would think of Dom, imagine holding him, and send a good thought out into the dusk. Then he would tell Justin stories. He told Justin about Puerto Rico, about the warmth and the coqui frog that sang in the trees. He told him about Glasgow and London and Paris. He talked about Zeus and Cleopatra and King Arthur.
“Do you remember it at all? Earth?”
Justin shook his head.
“I was a baby when we left. Charlotte remembered the house we lived in. She talked like you, like my dad, when she was little.”
Billy winced, realizing that he was probably the very last person with a Scottish accent left in the universe.
“Look, it’s the wishing star.”
“Isn’t it beautiful? I can’t help but love it best. It shined on the birth of everyone I love the most.”
~*~
The snow came when the leaves were still red on the trees. Bean said it was a hundred year winter and that it would be a hard one. By the solstice the tenth snow had fallen and the headmaster canceled classes for a week. The staff organized a winter carnival with ice skating and sledding and snowman building contests. The school grounds echoed with shrieks of laughter and delight.
Billy had not sold the house in town. He frequently traveled to the hospital to see new patients. Sometimes Justin came with him to tell the orphaned children about the school. Hope rekindled in their eyes at the news of the sledding parties and the Sunday dinners.
Winter overstayed its welcome but eventually the snow pack melted and there was mud on the tile floors of the school buildings and the smell of wet soil woke Billy in the morning. The world was fresh and clean but dark shadows began to appear under Billy’s eyes. He found himself sitting in a hard wooden chair by Justin’s bed at night, watching him sleep. He sat until his back ached and then went to his own bed. He stared at the ceiling and tried to imagine Dom’s warmth into the cold spot next to him.
“I’m holding you. I’m holding on,” he’d whisper. Sometimes he’d sleep.
~*~
“He said six months. It’s been eight.”
“No news is good news, Bill. I know it’s hard, but they’d let us know if they were…”
Bill shook his head. “I just want word. I just want one badly typed, misspelled missive. I can’t stand not knowing.”
Miranda drew her jumper tightly around her. “I think I’d feel it. If anything happened…I can feel him out there, Billy. I know.”
~*~
Soldiers started showing up at the hospital. Billy thought himself a hardened veteran to wounds and injuries. He’d seen broken children and abused women, but he winced at the sight of some of these men and locked himself away in the men’s room after seeing others.
Spring was giving way to summer when the worst of the lot came in. A young man, couldn’t have been more than twenty, screamed with an unholy howl from the minute he got off the transport. His body was covered in burns and Billy spent three hours just removing his clothing from his skin.
He drove home that night chain smoking and swearing. He got to Miranda’s house late to pick up Justin and collapsed into her arms, shaking.
“Emma and Justin won’t grow up like this, Miranda. I won’t let it happen. It has to end. Tell me it will end. Tell me I won’t have to listen to babies howl in pain anymore.”
~*~
Billy found the quiet ward where his patient was resting the next day. After an hour the young man opened his eyes. He moved his lips but no words came out. Billy held a glass of water to his lips.
“You were there. Yesterday. You helped me.”
“It hurt you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize for them. Will I live?”
Billy struggled with his thoughts. “If you struggle hard, then yes, you will live. Don’t give in. It will be a hard road. I’ll be here. I’ll always be pointing towards the next step.”
The soldier nodded and struggled with his breathing for awhile.
“Tell me your name.”
“Orlando.”
“Where are you from?”
“Sylvan.” Orlando snorted. “Known as the most beautiful people in the galaxy. Until they get burnt to a crisp. Not so beautiful now. Am I?”
Billy put his hand on Orlando’s cheek.. “Pretty beautiful. Your face wasn’t touched by the fire. We can try to fix everything else in a little while. But you’re beautiful, regardless.”
A tear rolled down Orlando’s cheek. “My mother loved my face. It hurts everywhere. Will I…? I wanted to have a family some day. A big one. Will I…?”
“It’s too soon to tell. Don’t worry about it now. We’re not on that road yet. We’re just here. Just you and me and the sun’s shining through the window and it’s almost summer and you’re going to get well enough to go sit under a tree and feel the breeze.”
Orlando nodded and squeezed Billy’s hand.
“What’s your name, Doctor?”
“Billy. Billy Boyd.”
Orlando smiled and sighed like he was safe at last. “I knew it. Dom told me. He told me there were angels out there and they had your name. He told me if I was bad hurt and I wished hard enough I’d end up in your arms. He said I wasn’t to die if I saw you until I said that he loves you and that he’s holding on to you.”
Orlando closed his eyes.
“You saw him? You saw Dom?”
Orlando snored and Billy fought the impulse to shake him awake. He called Miranda and told her he wouldn’t be home that night.
~*~
“What happened to Dom? Do you feel okay? What happened?”
Orlando smiled.
“I feel like shite, Doctor, thanks for asking.”
Billy rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to be professional but…I can’t. What happened to him? What can I get you?”
“Water.”
Billy held a cup to the soldier’s lips with trembling hands for what seemed like an eternity.
“We were planet-side. This forest. Mountains all around. Lakes. Bugs biting. Rations for food. No shower. Just this command station in the middle of nowhere. We’d sit up late at night. Have a fire. Just us nobodies and General-fucking-Mortensen and Dom-master-mind-Monaghan. They liked me. They told me about you. About this place. Dom said, whoever survived, had to tell you. We laughed, the rookies, didn’t think they’d find us. But they were looking. Came one night. Blew everything to shit. I was in my bunk. Trapped under my burning bunk and a wall with my best friend on fire and screaming above me. Dom came and he pulled at me. Blood all over his face. Don’t know if it was his. Had to leave me. I told him to go. He kissed my cheek. Someone had to pull him away. My best friend’s charred hand fell on me. I went away into the blackness. I saw your face. Dom always drew your face and I knew you. Thought I was dead. You asked me my name.”
Orlando signaled for more water and Billy held up the cup.
“Nurse! Do you know anymore? Did Mortensen go with him?”
“They ran off into the trees. I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you more.”
Billy was on his feet, his pulse racing, but he paused to kiss Orlando’s cheek. “I’ll be back. I promise. Thank you.”
~*~
Miranda was sitting in the garden. Her face was white and a letter hung limply from her hand.
“Miranda.”
“Wounded and missing. We regret to report that General Mortensen is wounded and missing. That’s all. That’s all they have to say.”
“I think Dom’s with him.” He took her hand and they ran for Billy’s mailbox. A similar letter was within and they stood staring at each other for long moments.
“I can’t,” Miranda said. She sounded like a small girl and Billy stood still as he watched her break. “I could do everything until there was this.”
Billy didn’t know where he found the strength to hold her when she crumpled into his arms. After a moment whatever strength there was left him and they sank to the doorstep, weeping into each other’s arms.
~*~