The Captain's Lady (6 page)

Eric decided this was not the time to pursue it, all too aware there were things from his own past that were too painful to discuss. Sometimes it was better to just let it go. He would wait for another time when she was ready to open that wound. Rubbing her arm in a gentle caress, with sure swiftness he changed the subject. There were still many unanswered questions. And he needed some answers. “Abby, why did he take you on the boat, and where was he taking you?"

"I don't know, I mean, I never understood where we were going. I asked but he wouldn't answer. I tried to look at it as an opportunity to get away. Do you think he was planning something?"

Eric had his suspicions as to what Seyed planned, but the way Abby frantically searched her memory, eyes squinting, convinced him she truly had no idea. “It's okay. Do you remember how long you were out there, on the dinghy?"

Abby furrowed her brows as she struggled to remember, the shadows flashed across her eyes. “I think I saw the sun come up twice.” Shaking her head in confusion, she added, “but I don't remember when you found me."

With a cautious breath, he decided to go ahead with the question that burned in his throat, but he remained watchful for any rise in agitation, not wanting this ongoing questioning to becoming too much for her to handle. “Do you remember seeing any other boats out there? Any at all?"

"No, none. I remember lying there, praying he wouldn't find me. I kept watching the horizon expecting to see his boat appear. I knew if he found me he'd kill me.” She sniffled. “He was probably going to kill me anyway. To throw me overboard or something when we were far enough from land."

Eric watched her eyes narrow as she struggled to remember something. After a moment, looking for all the world like a forlorn child, her eyes met his.

"I saw no one."

Eric stood up, hovering for just a moment over her. “Okay, I think that's enough for now. Get some rest, I'll send the doc back in."

Abby started to squirm, trying to sit up while peering sheepishly at him.

"What are you doing?” He put a hand on her shoulder, to stop her.

A deep heated blush began to crawl up her neck. Mortified and gritting her teeth, she spoke in muted tones as if someone might overhear. “I have to go to the bathroom."

Eric sought to contain the laugh bubbling up inside, all the while stunned at her display of modesty. Before she even realized what was happening, he reached down, scooped her up, and carried her to the bathroom across the room. Opening the door with one hand, he deposited her beside the toilet. “Do you need any help?"

She stammered, “N-no, I can manage by myself, thank you."

He turned in the doorway. “Call me when you're done. I'll carry you back to bed."

Eric stood on the outside of the bathroom door, struggling to restrain the rising chuckle at her obvious embarrassment. The innocent reaction made him want to gather her up in his arms, hold tight, and sooth away all the discomfort. His spine prickled, as a vague guilt washed over him, a reminder of the rules of professional conduct and that his duty as captain must come first. He needed to reign in these impulses to cross the line he was finely treading.

The toilet flushed and the water turned on. The sharp stifled cry worried him. “Abby, are you all right?” He pounded on the door, fighting the urge to barge in.

"Yes, I'm fine.” The reply was strained, with an underlying edge of pain.

"Can I come in, are you done?"

"Yes, I'm done."

He opened the door. There she was, leaning against the sink, pale and trembling. He reached her side in two quick strides. “What's wrong?"

"N-nothing. I just forgot about my ankle and put too much weight on it."

It seemed so effortless for him to scoop her up and carry her back to bed, where he deposited her with infinite care. Reaching for one of the pillows scattered on the bed, he carefully lifted the injured ankle and placed the pillow under it, to keep it elevated.

"Thank you, Captain."

He sat beside her on the bed, gently massaging the flesh above the injured ankle. “How does it feel now?"

Startled out of the hypnotic void, she was overcome by a desperate need to hide, as the deep scarlet flush of embarrassment rose up her neck and heated her cheeks. “It's better, doesn't hurt anymore. Thank you."

Opening her eyes and looking up, Abby was unable to miss the skepticism displayed there.

"Really, it feels better."

He hesitated a moment, drew in a deep breath, and with some reluctance removed his hand. Rising to his full height, an emptiness seeped within at the sudden disconnection. This closeness was becoming addictive.

"I'll be back later, to see how you're doing.” He reached down and smoothed back the stray wisps of hair from her forehead. “Remember what I said: you're safe here."

There was a tenderness in his words that somehow got into her psyche. And for some inexplicable reason, she truly believed him. The dark brown eyes smoldered, becoming darker in intensity. This protective cover was invoking feelings she had never felt before.

It was suddenly as if time stood still. Still unable to believe this was really happening, she beamed up at him.

Hesitating for an instant, then with fierce determination, he headed toward the door, where he stopped and threw an intense look over his shoulder. Then he shut the door with a swift, solid clank. The questions and the moment lingered in the air.

She gazed into the space where he'd just stood, feeling an uncertainty as to what had just transpired between them.

Her heart beat with the speed of a hummingbird's wings and her palms were sweating like a nervous schoolgirl's. It was like she'd just been heaved into a cold shower.

From the hallway came a swishing sound. Someone was outside the door.
A guard?

Tingling numbness stole the precious breath as alarm rolled through her. How could she have misunderstood? He didn't believe her story!

The pain of the moment caught her completely off guard, piercing the still-gaping wounds in her heart. Over and over.

Closing her eyes, Abby stifled the sobbing with shaky hands pressed over her mouth. “Please no, not again."

As the tears fell, the pain and hurt changed to fury that once again she had been deceived.

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Chapter Six

Lieutenant Larry Saunders avoided conflict whenever he could, but when facing a problem that could escalate into something bigger, he firmly believed in sitting down face-to-face and trying to work out the problem. He was a diplomat, not an aggressor. Even as a youth, he chose the role of peacemaker, searching for the good that existed in everyone, though sometimes it was buried deep.

Several of the enlisted men moved over to let him pass as he pressed on to the mess hall. It never failed to amaze him that the majority of the personnel looked like kids, which was not surprising as so many of them were under twenty.

The voices and buzz of conversation allowed him to regain his focus. Walking in, he was assaulted by the number of crew still seated in the cafeteria-style benches. Looking around, he spied Gail Carruthers seated on the right at the far end, talking with some other crew members.

With steely determination, Larry headed for the group. Their heads were gathered close together; the conversation appeared serious. That nagging prick in his gut was back as soon as one of the girls spotted him. Each of them turned and stopped talking as he closed in on them.

When he reached the table, most of the crew rose and made a hasty departure. The three remaining female crewmembers took that moment to gather their trays and stood at attention, acknowledging him as required. “Carry on."

"Yes sir,” they replied.

"I need to talk to Abby.” He said and they too their leave.

Larry did not miss the tension that cast a cloud over them. The instincts that guided him were now screaming about trouble brewing, including Carruthers’ insolence in not addressing him appropriately. It was an intentional slap in the face in front of the crew. In the past, he'd let it go. Disturbed by this escalating behavior, his first reaction was to try to put an end to the problem here and now.

He took the seat across from her. His disbelief flared when she started to rise. “Sit down; we need to have a chat.” Holding his narrow hand up, he waved her back down.

Gail met his gaze straight on; the challenge in her eyes was unmistakable.

"Tell me, please, what that was all about.” He squinted in mild annoyance as he tilted his head toward the women scurrying from the mess hall.

The abrupt turn of her head scattered the unruly curls of her hair, as she watched the retreating women with a defiant tilt of her chin. Turning back to face the scrutiny, she began to fidget at the mounting pressure. “Nothing, sir, I was just having lunch with my fellow crew members."

"Yeah, right."

Flushing, her eyes began to flit away. She was, after all, smart enough to know that lying eyes were difficult to hide. Larry was astonished to realize this was probably the first time someone pissed him off to this degree. It was clear if she used this attitude with the captain, her dismissal from the room had been just. This attitude was completely unacceptable. Then a sudden wayward thought replaced the anger; could he get away with giving her a good swift kick in the rear end? Stifling the image, he struggled to suppress the grin that twitched at the sides of his lips. He sucked in a deep, controlled breath, aware it was his responsibility to clear up this situation here and now. “So what happened with the captain in sickbay?"

A coolness issued from Gail as she tensed. She sat up straight, as if someone had pulled her by the scruff of the neck. With a clenched jaw and pursed lips, a shadow of obscurity appeared from within.

"At ease, Carruthers. Please, let's speak freely."

She raised her eyebrows with a sudden uncertainty, the visible scorn illuminating her eyes. “All right, sir. The captain obviously doesn't like me and he makes no bones about it. I was just doing my job when he walked in and started questioning me about the patient. I told him how she was doing, then for no reason at all he got mad and told me to get out. I did nothing wrong, sir.” The change was unexpected as tears replaced the tightly reined-in features. Her chin began to quiver.

Why the old saying,
beware of a woman scorned
, popped into his head, he had no idea. Blinking, Larry realized that the one-sided explanation sounded like the excuse of some spoiled kid in high school. Then the sudden memory flash of an earlier conversation with a fellow officer on the Vincent stopped him cold. There had been a subtle mention of Carruther's unacceptable attitude along with a run-in she had with a former commanding officer. Troubled, Larry stared at her now, wishing he could recall the details. With a flash of self-anger that he'd ignored it at the time, he made a mental note to check out what trouble lurked in her past.

Her voiced dislike of the captain was a problem. So was stirring up trouble. And, from the expressions on her crewmember's faces, that's exactly what she'd been doing. Allowing a sigh of frustration to escape, he realized this conversation was going nowhere. He slipped out of the seat and paused while frowning, openly displaying his disappointment at her childish behavior.

The impulsive, quick move to jump from her seat earned nothing but a stern hand waving her back down. “Gail, I'm not your enemy. I'd appreciate it if you just leveled with me. Frankly, your attitude needs to change. You sound like a whiny high school kid with a chip on her shoulder."

Gail didn't respond.

All right, if that was the way she wanted things. He tried just once more. “If you need to talk, I'm here to listen."

He waited a few unresponsive seconds before turning and leaving; he did not miss the open defiance in her disregard for protocol. Once again, she remained seated when he stood. Sighing, hyper-aware of the dark cloud this girl carried overhead, he wondered why he had never sensed it before. Running a hand over the coarse hair at the side of his head, he noticed the few curious stares from some of the lingering personnel. Ignoring them, he stepped out into the passageway, acknowledging that he could no longer dismiss Gail's behavior.

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Chapter Seven

As promised, Eric returned to sickbay later that evening. The change in Abby was like salt and pepper, like ketchup and mustard. Now she greeted him by glaring daggers from the bed she sat on. Confused, he shot a quick look over to the doctor standing at the counter by the door, papers in hand. Larry simply shrugged his shoulders in reply. Popping the pen back into the tan shirt pocket, he approached Eric before he could move any closer to Abby, eyebrows raised in a mock gesture of resignation.

"How long has she been like that?"

"Since I got back."

"What's going on, what happened?"

"Uh ... I thought you could tell me."

Eric glanced over at Abby then back at the doctor, and shrugged.

"I presume your talk didn't go well."

"I thought it went pretty good, all things considered. She wasn't mad when I left.” Eric crossed his arms and shook his head. “Just what the hell happened in the interim?"

"No idea.” Larry patted Eric on the shoulder as he started past him. “Maybe you can find out. I need to go check on some supplies I ordered."

Eric acknowledged with a wry quirk of his lips the doctor's lame excuse to leave. “Go then. I'll talk to her."

Abby virtually glowed with anger, a slow steady boil ready to erupt. The dazzling blue eyes were blazing; her crossed arms appeared to tighten as they balanced stiffly on the protruding belly. There was an air of unpredictability and Eric realized in that moment if she had had something handy to throw, it most likely would have hit him by now. Wary, he lowered himself into the chair beside the bed. “What's going on, Abby?"

A mirage of emotions played on her face as she blinked back tears that now swelled in her eyes. She swallowed, her lips quivering. “Just when were you going to tell me about the guard at the door? You obviously don't trust me. What did I do...?” The tears refused to be restrained. They burst from her eyes and flowed down her cheeks as she clapped shaky hands over her mouth.