Long Distance Romance - Drabble Challenge
For wander_lust_79
Written for the OneSweetLove LJ drabble challenge.
The tag…Long distance romance.
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When her bottom met with something sharp, pointy, and decidedly un-chair like, Jen leapt up with a squeak, sending her desk chair spiraling across the tiled floor. She grabbed the back and stopped it’s merry-go-round spinning. There, on the seat was a delicately carved wooden bird.
A familiar ache squeezed her heart as she carefully lifted the hand crafted animal. She leaned back against her desk, cradling it in her palm. She examined it carefully, turning it this way and that, admiring the painstaking work that had gone into the carving. The exquisite detail outlining the tiny feathers, the shape of the beak, even the hooked claws at the end of the miniature feet.
She wrapped her hands around the small creature and closed her eyes.
God, she missed him.
With a deep, slow breath, she once again cursed the fates for keeping them apart for so long. She’d tried everything she could think of to combat the evil spirits who were so intent on killing her with such agonizing slowness. She’d changed her routine. Changed what she ate, what she wore, even started wearing her hair differently. She’d questioned various people on their beliefs, prayed with them to 7 different gods, and had even let Nurse Meyers talk her into participating in a half naked Wiccan cleansing ceremony.
Nothing worked.
He was still there…and she was still here.
No matter which here was there.
If she walked through the gate, he passed in the other direction. If he returned to the city, she was off-world. If she was in the city, he’d be across the galaxy. They passed within hours of each other, and three day’s ago, she’d missed him by two minutes.
She’d nearly strangled poor Chuck when he’d broke the news. She’d run as fast as she could from the infirmary to the gate room…but hadn’t been fast enough. She’d missed him. Again.
And it was killing her.
Slowly, but surely, it was killing her.
She didn’t just miss him…she ached for him. It was like waking up each morning to find a piece of her soul had been torn away. No matter how many late nights she pulled, how many off-world excursions she used to take her mind off him, the fact still remained.
He wasn’t at her side.
At first, the only sign of their passing had been subtle hints in clothes and supplies. A damp towel left in the bathroom. Dirty clothes exchanged for clean. A discarded rucksack. At some point it shifted to notes. Hastily scribbled messages left on the bathroom mirror or the pillows on the bed. Then she’d noticed he’d left behind one of his knives, a small gouge in the blade. That night she’d killed off another lonely evening with Laura, learning how to use a sharpening stone to even out the edges. She’d left the repaired dagger on his pillow.
It was gone two days later.
The following night she’d returned to her room after a lengthy stint in the OR, to find a small bouquet of wildflowers on the table next to her bed.
From there the gifts ranged from small trinkets, to carefully thought out prizes. It didn’t even come close to taking the place of having him with her in person, but it assured her he was safe. Alive.
She sighed and opened her eyes. Her gaze dropped to the delicate little bird sitting in her palm. She traced the edge of its wing. There was no doubt in her mind it had been carved by his hand. She smiled in wonder at how he’d had the time to learn such a wonderful skill. That he kept it a secret didn’t surprise her. Ronon was a man with many secrets. But she didn’t mind. Half the joy was in peeling away the layers to find the man who lived beneath the gruff exterior.
Her eyes burned. How much longer could this possibly go on?
She looked at her watch.
Four a.m. Another endless night nearly over. With a heavy sigh she hooked her foot around the leg of the chair and pulled it towards her. There was nothing left to do but bury herself in paperwork and hope the curse broke before she did.
She straightened away from the desk and dropped towards her seat.
A shadow moved in the corner and she jerked, landing on the edge of the chair instead of the middle. The castors spun and shot the wheeled demon out from beneath her. She landed hard on her rump on the cold floor behind her desk.
She tipped her head back as the light above was completely blocked.
She clasped the tiny bird against the base of her throat. Breath left her lungs. “Ronon?”
He squatted beside her.
Her free hand rose, hovering in the air next to his cheek. She was afraid to touch him for fear this was just another one of her dreams.
He tipped his head, brushing his cheek across her fingertips.
With a soft cry she launched herself forward, demanding validity in a heated kiss. Her abrupt attack knocked him off balance and he toppled backwards. She fisted her hands in his shirt and followed him over, her mouth not leaving his. She released him only because she was feeling lightheaded from a lack of oxygen.
“Hey you,” he grinned.
“Hey you,” she smiled.
“That was quite a welcome.”
She shrugged.
“If I go out and come back in will you do that again?”
“Leave only if you want to die,” she said firmly, “because I assure you, if you leave me alone that long again, I will kill you.”
“In that case, I’ll stay.”
“You’re a wise man, Ronon Dex.”
“Only with you, Jennifer Keller.”
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END
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