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1. [DL-N] A Moment
From: "Ben Tate" <tatebj@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 22:19:53 -0800
From: "Ben Tate" <tatebj@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-N] A Moment
Day 6 - Afternoon
*This is a moment.*
As Galen lay on the bed, he found himself latching onto that thought,
forcing it through his mind again.
*This is a moment.*
If he just focused on that, each moment as it passed, maybe he could
keep
from thinking about ... He tried to stop the thought, but it was too
late.
The pain washed through him, the dull ache resounding from head to toe.
He
knew it was the ache of his body healing, but it was taking so much
longer,
and seemed so much more ... present. He had been in worse shape many
times
before.
But this time was different in one very im****tant way. He was older.
His
body didn't heal quite as fast as before.
Breezy's stern lecture's about staying in bed or he would never heal up
right floated through his mind, but he didn't think he would be able to
stand it much longer. The pain was made worse by knowing that there
was so
much going on outside.
Breezy kept him up to date on events, but it wasn't the same. There
was a
need for him to be out there, NOT bed-ridden, NOT laid up and certainly
NOT
this morose shell of pain.
He forced himself calm. Jeneve had been by this morning, coming at his
request. She had given him permission to speak tonight at T'rell's
memorial
service. He needed to conserve his strength for that.
<..>
He awoke and had a single moment of peace, and then his body reminded
him of
where he was. He grimaced at the stiffness in his arms and legs, the
muscles aching from his injuries and from the disuse of staying abed
all
day.
He sat up with a grunt. Time to test my strength and see if I'm up for
tonight. He slowly rose to his feet and felt the blood rush to his
head.
He put his arm on the bed to steady himself. "I can't even stand up"
he
muttered to himself.
All he needed was for Breezy to see one stumble and he'd be back in
this
bed.
He needed to be up there tonight, to say what he could about his
friend. He
couldn't let his body betray him or T'rell's memory.
He just needed something to prop up his strength, to ... He paused.
The staff here had given him some pain medication when he first
arrived.
They had stopped it a bit ago because of the addictove nature of the
drug,
so they said.
But he seemed to remember ... Rummaging in the set of drawer's next to
him
he found the bottle. They had left it there for Breezy that first
night, so
she could give him more should the need arise. He figured the staff
normally wouldn't have let a potentially addictive substance sit out in
a
patient's room, but the circumstances, the chaos of that night probably
had
jumbled the fact that it was still here.
He eyed it carefully. Addictive they had said. But he hadn't had any
in a
few days ... And after all, it was just for tonight, right? His body
needed
the strength, and he wasn't about to back down and stay abed while
T'rell
was honored. He quickly downed two pills and put the bottle back where
he
had found it.
Then, after a thought, he pulled the bottle out and grabbed one more
pill.
Just in case the first two starting running out before the night was
over.
<..>
Day 6 - Evening
"But I have said enough," she said, her voice now betraying the
weakness of
her body. "All that remains now is to honour our fallen comrade,
T'rell, and
there is one here better qualified for that than I..."
Galen made his way to the stand, the pain ebbed by the pills but still
present.
*This is a moment.*
He held to that thought as he rose to the lectern and gazed out at the
crowd. He saw Breezy, he saw M'lent, he saw all the faces of those he
knew.
Clearing his throat, he began, "No one will argue that T'rell was a
saint,
least of all me. So I won't sell him to you as that. But there were
two
sides to him, as there are for all of us. He was rough, he certainly
drank
far too much when he first arrived, and he never backed down from a
fight,
even when he should have. But he was fiercely loyal, protective of his
....
" he swallowed hard and pushed forward "friends, and lived by the code
of
honor and training he taught. He fought against many personal demons
and in
the end, he got the upper hand on them. He died as he lived, for the
warren, for his friends, for what he believed was right. And it is for
that
that we honor him tonight. He shaped the men and women that protect us
here
and in them a part of him will remain." He felt his legs begin to
weaken
again, the pain drumming in his head louder and louder. He cleared his
throat and finished by simply saying, "T'rell, you will be missed."
He headed back into the crowd and as the attention focused on Jeneve
again,
he quickly slipped the pain pill into his mouth and swallowed it. His
strength was fading fast and he needed to honor the others who had
fallen
recently ... He wasn't about to let his body dictate to him what he
could
and could not do.
He moved close to Breezy and focused on what was being said. The pain,
ever
present, slipped into the background as the medicine took its effect.
But
it was still there, and he moved his thoughts away from it once more.
*This is a moment.*
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NRPG: Tree, thanks for letting me sneak in a little guest spot here.
Keep
up the writing guys, I'm enjoying the posts.
Ben Tate for Galen
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