Prompt #22 - "Left Behind"
So, I'm super-new to this community as I just followed a few links here. I'm seven chapters into this fic, but haven't worked on it since October. I decided to continue the storyline of two other fics by combining them into this story, and the plot went epic on me. The story is also alot darker than my usual stuff.
I chose Chapter 2 of the story as the excerpt. The main character are Ronon Dex, Jennifer Keller, and an OC (hopes this doesn't drive people away).
Left Behind, Chapter 2
Seraih blinked against the hazy edges of sleep and shifted in the bed-not her bed. She inhaled deeply the strange smell of her foreign surroundings. She winced open her bleary eyes to take in the otherworldly glow of cool colors and a steady beeping that increased in pace as she shifted and tried to sit up. Her body refused to cooperate. She felt so weak. Seraih slumped back against the lumpy pillows and ran a hand over he sleepy eyes and through her mess of curls. She felt something tug against the back of her left hand. She brought her hand in front of her face and was startled to see a tube attached to what looked to be a needle that disappeared into her vein.
Her stomach recoiled at the sight, and she gulped down air to swallow back the bile that bubbled in the back of her throat. She took deep breaths as her vision became sharper, and the incessant beeping matched her racing heart.
This was not home. She needed to be back there with Andri. Where was he? Why was she here and he not at her side?
Her wonderings were cut short at the sound of rustling fabric and the light clinking of metal. A pale blue curtain had been pulled back, and a petite young woman with long hair the color of fresh straw walked briskly to her bedside. She was a stranger, but her eyes were warm, friendly.
“Hello,” the woman smiled. “I'm Dr. Keller How are you feeling?”
“Heavy,” Seraih replied before she thought better of it.
“Well, consider that a good thing, since you're still pregnant.” The woman looked up from the console she was reading, “We went through a lot of trouble to keep you that way. Do you feel any discomfort at all?”
Seraih shook her head and then lowered her chin to focus on the large swell of her belly. Yes. She is still with me, she thought. Her child was not meant to be born for at least two lunar cycles. It would explain why she had awakened in this . . . facility, an apparent place for the infirm.
Dr. Keller nodded and then produced a cuff of black material with a gauge at the top. A thin tube was attached on one side and there was a elliptical ball at the end.
“Oh, I'm just going to take your blood pressure.” At Seraih's obvious apprehension, she added, “Don't worry. It doesn't hurt at all. You'll just feel a bit of pressure around your arm. Okay?”
“Uh. . .okay,” Seraih replied, using the strange expression of affirmation. She had meant that her mind felt weighed down, rather than her body. The weight of the life inside her was no burden at all. She drew strength from it's presence, and it kept her grounded, centered. Whenever she tried to reach back in her memory to the time before this moment, she felt something like a vice tightening around her thoughts, reigning them in.
It was very similar to the pressure she felt around her upper arm as Dr. Keller pumped air into the cuff. The woman was studying at the gauge, and seemed to be counting something, so Seraih waited until Dr. Keller began decompressing the cuff to ask.
“How did I come to be here?”
The woman looked at her with concern now. “You don't remember?”
Seraih let her eyes drift to down to her hands and tried to recall how she got here. She remembered the cold sensation that knifed through her gut that morning (was it yesterday?) and Andri's reassuring words and parting embrace. She tried to move past those images, forward in time, and she felt an unusual dread, as if she were a child who had wandered too close to the edge of the Risan Heights only to be snatched back and tugged away to a safe distance as her aunt shrieked admonishing words. She shook away the memory and then looked back to Dr. Keller's patient eyes. “No, I . . . I cannot,” Seraih confessed. She was afraid now, and the beeping sound quickened.
“It's alright,” the woman stepped closer and patted her hand. Her touch was reassuring and cool, and Seraih's eyes lit with realization.
“You are Jennifer . . . the doctor,” she exclaimed.
“Yeah . . . how did you know?” Jennifer looked at her with wonder and curiosity.
“Ronon,” Seraih admitted, though, she debated how much she should reveal of the conversation. After a moment she said, “He has spoken of you before.”
Seraih watched with interest as Jennifer's eyes widened, and her cheeks acquired the faint tint reminiscent of wild nesra. At the time, Seraih thought Ronon had been exaggerating with his description of the young doctor who had caught his eye.
Someone cleared their throat, and they both looked to the right.
Jennifer turned and walked away, disappearing on the other side of the curtain. “Ronon,” Jennifer said with poorly masked enthusiasm. Jennifer must have noticed it too, for when she spoke again, her voice was lower, and more controlled.
Ronon mumbled something too low for her to hear, but Seraih grew excited at the familiar sound.
“Oh it's fine,” Jennifer said, and Seraih imagined her waving her hand dismissively. “I was just checking her vitals. She's doing extremely well.” There was a pause, and then Jennifer's voice lowered as well and she could no longer make out their conversation.
After a few moments, the Satedan emerged around the curtain, and Seraih felt a wave of relief wash over her entire body. The leather vest he wore was one she had completed for him near the end of last summer. He wore it well.
As he approached her bed however, she saw the worry in his green-brown eyes and the dark circles beneath them. He had not slept in many days. All was not well.
“Where is Andri?” she demanded to know. Ronon would tell her the truth, reveal to her the fact that her treacherous mind held captive.
Ronon told her.
Andri was gone.
. . . . .
Read from the beginning HERE.
I chose Chapter 2 of the story as the excerpt. The main character are Ronon Dex, Jennifer Keller, and an OC (hopes this doesn't drive people away).
Left Behind, Chapter 2
Seraih blinked against the hazy edges of sleep and shifted in the bed-not her bed. She inhaled deeply the strange smell of her foreign surroundings. She winced open her bleary eyes to take in the otherworldly glow of cool colors and a steady beeping that increased in pace as she shifted and tried to sit up. Her body refused to cooperate. She felt so weak. Seraih slumped back against the lumpy pillows and ran a hand over he sleepy eyes and through her mess of curls. She felt something tug against the back of her left hand. She brought her hand in front of her face and was startled to see a tube attached to what looked to be a needle that disappeared into her vein.
Her stomach recoiled at the sight, and she gulped down air to swallow back the bile that bubbled in the back of her throat. She took deep breaths as her vision became sharper, and the incessant beeping matched her racing heart.
This was not home. She needed to be back there with Andri. Where was he? Why was she here and he not at her side?
Her wonderings were cut short at the sound of rustling fabric and the light clinking of metal. A pale blue curtain had been pulled back, and a petite young woman with long hair the color of fresh straw walked briskly to her bedside. She was a stranger, but her eyes were warm, friendly.
“Hello,” the woman smiled. “I'm Dr. Keller How are you feeling?”
“Heavy,” Seraih replied before she thought better of it.
“Well, consider that a good thing, since you're still pregnant.” The woman looked up from the console she was reading, “We went through a lot of trouble to keep you that way. Do you feel any discomfort at all?”
Seraih shook her head and then lowered her chin to focus on the large swell of her belly. Yes. She is still with me, she thought. Her child was not meant to be born for at least two lunar cycles. It would explain why she had awakened in this . . . facility, an apparent place for the infirm.
Dr. Keller nodded and then produced a cuff of black material with a gauge at the top. A thin tube was attached on one side and there was a elliptical ball at the end.
“Oh, I'm just going to take your blood pressure.” At Seraih's obvious apprehension, she added, “Don't worry. It doesn't hurt at all. You'll just feel a bit of pressure around your arm. Okay?”
“Uh. . .okay,” Seraih replied, using the strange expression of affirmation. She had meant that her mind felt weighed down, rather than her body. The weight of the life inside her was no burden at all. She drew strength from it's presence, and it kept her grounded, centered. Whenever she tried to reach back in her memory to the time before this moment, she felt something like a vice tightening around her thoughts, reigning them in.
It was very similar to the pressure she felt around her upper arm as Dr. Keller pumped air into the cuff. The woman was studying at the gauge, and seemed to be counting something, so Seraih waited until Dr. Keller began decompressing the cuff to ask.
“How did I come to be here?”
The woman looked at her with concern now. “You don't remember?”
Seraih let her eyes drift to down to her hands and tried to recall how she got here. She remembered the cold sensation that knifed through her gut that morning (was it yesterday?) and Andri's reassuring words and parting embrace. She tried to move past those images, forward in time, and she felt an unusual dread, as if she were a child who had wandered too close to the edge of the Risan Heights only to be snatched back and tugged away to a safe distance as her aunt shrieked admonishing words. She shook away the memory and then looked back to Dr. Keller's patient eyes. “No, I . . . I cannot,” Seraih confessed. She was afraid now, and the beeping sound quickened.
“It's alright,” the woman stepped closer and patted her hand. Her touch was reassuring and cool, and Seraih's eyes lit with realization.
“You are Jennifer . . . the doctor,” she exclaimed.
“Yeah . . . how did you know?” Jennifer looked at her with wonder and curiosity.
“Ronon,” Seraih admitted, though, she debated how much she should reveal of the conversation. After a moment she said, “He has spoken of you before.”
Seraih watched with interest as Jennifer's eyes widened, and her cheeks acquired the faint tint reminiscent of wild nesra. At the time, Seraih thought Ronon had been exaggerating with his description of the young doctor who had caught his eye.
Someone cleared their throat, and they both looked to the right.
Jennifer turned and walked away, disappearing on the other side of the curtain. “Ronon,” Jennifer said with poorly masked enthusiasm. Jennifer must have noticed it too, for when she spoke again, her voice was lower, and more controlled.
Ronon mumbled something too low for her to hear, but Seraih grew excited at the familiar sound.
“Oh it's fine,” Jennifer said, and Seraih imagined her waving her hand dismissively. “I was just checking her vitals. She's doing extremely well.” There was a pause, and then Jennifer's voice lowered as well and she could no longer make out their conversation.
After a few moments, the Satedan emerged around the curtain, and Seraih felt a wave of relief wash over her entire body. The leather vest he wore was one she had completed for him near the end of last summer. He wore it well.
As he approached her bed however, she saw the worry in his green-brown eyes and the dark circles beneath them. He had not slept in many days. All was not well.
“Where is Andri?” she demanded to know. Ronon would tell her the truth, reveal to her the fact that her treacherous mind held captive.
Ronon told her.
Andri was gone.
. . . . .
Read from the beginning HERE.