Chamalla and Ambrosia Part Two
Chamalla and Ambrosia
Part Two
Rating: Totally suitable for anyone who watches BSG.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters...DRATS!
Bill Adama was woken suddenly to the sound of stifled screams and the thrashing of covers at his side.
“Laura…” he mumbled as sleep was replaced by rapid concern.
He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He’d meant to watch over her as the effects of her Chamalla and ambrosia cocktail wore off but even Admirals get tired and soon he had succumbed to the lure of shutting his eyes, just for a moment at first but then the moments slid by un noticed as he slipped into a peaceful dream.
The same couldn’t be said for the woman thrashing around in the covers next to him.
Her body was soaked, hair strewn across her face, covers tangled around her limbs, binding her within them, clinging to her as she fought for freedom.
“No! NO! LET ME GO!”
Her first coherent words were discouraging as he attempted to pull the covers away from her but found that they were tightly twisted around her kicking legs.
“Laura!?”
Her arms flung out and instinctively he caught them, just in time, preventing himself from being hit inadvertently in the face, holding her firmly by the wrists and marvelling at the sheer strength she seemed to possess in her sleep.
“Laura!”
Still her hands grasped upwards, reaching for freedom as he held them as still as possible, his body half covering hers to stop her from tangling the covers even further around her and preventing her from falling from the bed into a heap on the floor, though what was keeping him on the bed he wasn’t sure.
“Laura, its Bill…you’re here” He tried to reason with her “in my quarters, on Galactica, Laura wake up…”
Her eyes opened in a flash, staring up but somehow looking straight through him. With a look of horror he had never seen before she let out a yelp of fear.
“This isn’t real…” She gasped as one of her wrists broke free and she began to scramble at the covers, pushing and yanking to get away.
“Laura…Laura…it’s just the Chamalla, you’re having a bad dream…”
She shook her head violently, her hair falling away from her face as slowly her body began to shake.
“No…” She cried out desperately “this isn’t real…” she sobbed uncontrollable “Bill…” For a moment he half thought she had come to her senses but soon realised that wasn’t the case “…he’s gone…he’s gone…they’re all gone”
Her body was shaking, wracked with sobs that escaped her lips unashamedly. He pulled away and quickly she pulled her legs towards her, still bound tightly in the covers she made no further attempts to free them from their restraints, instead her arms wrapped tightly around them and she buried her head in her knees, sobbing. Pressed up against the top of the bed she quivered, whether from cold, exhaustion or fear, he couldn’t tell.
“They’re never coming back…he’s never coming back….”
She continued through the sobs, her muscles tensing periodically with such force that the bed shook with her.
“They’re all going to die and…”
He reached out to touch her but for some reason, stopped himself, unsure whether physical contact would do her any good at that moment.
“…and I’m going to die alone” Horror filled her words, haunting her voice and causing his heart to wrench in his chest. He felt sure that if he were looking into her eyes right now, the image would haunt him forever “…Oh Gods….I’m alone…”
Unable to stop himself he reached out to her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder and instantly regretting it as she let out a piercing scream and scrambled to get away.
“DON’T TOUCH ME YOU FILTHY CYLON!”
His body jumped instinctively, a rush of limbs and covers and he found himself scrambling from the bed as somehow she managed to curl herself up even tighter.
“Oh Lords of Kobol” her sobbing continued through the words “hear my prayer…” but soon he couldn’t make them out, hushed and drowned out by the shivering and chattering of her teeth.
He began to panic, unsure what he was meant to do. Turn on the light? Call someone? Call the Doctor? Get her a drink? Wrap her up? Panic? Remain calm? Run around? Stay still?
*I’m not made to handle this…* he panicked to himself. But handle it he knew he must, and would. He’d handle worse before, hadn’t he? He’d survived. Cylon attacks, two bullets to the chest, a trek through the wilderness on Kobol and so many other things, surely he could survive this? But that wasn’t the problem, he didn’t fear for his own survival. No. He feared for hers. Every day, without fail, he feared for her. This, well this just made it so much worse, so much more real, so much more horrible.
“Laura…”
Still her sobs continued.
“Laura, please…it’s Bill. I’m here. Please, Laura, let me help you”
Slowly her head lifted and her eyes, deep and dark in the dim light, stared back at him. Haunted and distant.
“You’re not Bill…” Her voice was breaking “he’s gone…he’s not coming back now…he’s not coming back…”
Bill Adama was a strong man but there was only so much he could take before it began to sting at his soul. That line had been crossed when she started sobbing. Now, as he felt himself beginning to break under it all, he slowly held out a hand to her. Holding it there, in front of her, he beckoned her to take it not just to reassure her but to reassure him.
She shook her head, softly at first but then more fiercely.
“You’re not Bill” She said firmly. Her words, her voice, her manner, all reminded him of a scared child. All the time he had known her, through everything, he had never seen her look so vulnerable.
“You’re trying to trick me!” Anger began to rise within her “You can’t trick me!” She began to get louder; almost on the verge of screaming “I won’t let you!” At that she made a desperate attempt to rush from the bed, but still tangled in the sheets she succeeded only in getting half way off the bed before landing in a heap on the floor. Her arms pulled in towards her, desperately clutching at the carpet.
“I…” She coughed, the fall having knocked the air from her lungs leaving her gasping for air, she wheezed a little as his strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and in one swift move she was back on the bed, laying motionless, her eyes glazed over staring at the ceiling as he pulled the covers deftly from her cold soaked body and scanned her quickly with his eyes, looking for any sign of injury. He couldn’t see anything wrong but still she remained still, staring upwards, her eyes distant and unfocused.
“Laura…” He began to regret not calling Doctor Cottle the night before when he found her alone, in the dark of his quarters, sat strangely alone on the floor, an empty bottle of ambrosia discarded next to her and the soft admission that her Chamalla hadn’t tasted so bitter that night.
“Laura…”
Slowly she began to shiver again and he rushed to the draws, pulling them open until he found a thick blanket, which he rushed to wrap around her as she lay, still shivering, in the middle of the bed.
“Laura?”
Slowly her eyes began to focus and drained, her shivering began to subside.
“Bill…?”
*Finally…* He thought to himself, a smile tracing his lips.
“Yes…”
She frowned a little, her eyelids half down, blinking and confused.
“Bill…what are you doing in my bed?”
He pulled the blanket a little tighter around her, wrapping her up with the tenderness and care he was rarely given the opportunity to show.
“I’m not in your bed, Laura.” He spoke as if explaining something very delicate to a child, shifting to get a better view of her, satisfied that she hadn’t hurt herself in the fall from the bed “You’re on Galactica.”
She slowly reached a hand towards her face to rub the dull throb she was beginning to feel build in her temples, wincing as she felt the ache of strained muscles clenching.
“What…what am I doing here?” She couldn’t remember, confusion clouding her thoughts “When did I…”
He shook his head, silencing her as he carefully brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face.
“You’re okay Laura, you’re safe. I’m here.”
She seemed to relax and soon Laura Roslin, President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol was once again asleep. This time peacefully. Exhausted and spent, she slept and didn’t even stir as Bill Adama returned from his bathroom with a damp cloth and began to gently wipe her brow.
“It’s okay Laura,” he repeated time and time again, soothing and calm “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Part three this way...