Knock On Death's Door

FDCMuck transcript #24

[FDCMuck image]

KNOCK ON DEATH'S DOOR

Nosedive waves. "Heya!"
Mallory waves. "Hi!"
Nosedive glances at the Duty Roster. "Hey, isn't it supposed to be Duke's night here?"
Mallory nods. "Yeah. I was just wondering where he was."
Nosedive shrugs. "Well, I dunno either, so we both draw blanks."
Nosedive shivers. "Man, turn the heat up, it's cold."
Mallory gives up. "He's probably nicked off somewhere. Even though it's POURING." Moves to turn up the heating.
Nosedive groans and slaps his forehead. "Oh, MAN, I am NOT gonna take that stuff back to the Museum in this weather, I mean, come ON, it's storming outside!"
Mallory sighs. "You better not go without Duke anyway."
Nosedive nods. "Probably not a good idea." He sits down against Drake One. "I dunno about you, but I'm bushed. An' don't make any comments about shrubs and plants, et cetera..."
Mallory says, "I wouldn't dream of it Dive..."
Nosedive snorts. "Shyeah right..."
Nosedive asks, "Aaaaaanyway...?"
Mallory sits next to him. "Anyway what?"
Nosedive sighs. "Ah, nothin'."
Mallory glances at him. She leans back, with her elbows against DrakeOne.
Thunder rattles the windows of the Pond above, and the tremors reach even as far down to the floor of the Ready Room.. as a slight jiggle.
Nosedive glances back. "What?"
Mallory shakes her head. "Never mind." She frowns. "It's times like these I wish we had windows...There's no point in having a storm if you can't see it!"
Nosedive suggests, "We could always go up to the entranceway."
Mallory smiles. "Sure! Let's go!"
Nosedive heads for the elevator..

j 18362
Main Entrance Hall
:::snip desc:::

Mallory has arrived.
Mallory peers through the glass doors at the weather outside. "Nasty."
Nosedive peers out as well, his beak pressed up against the glass. A flash of lightning tears the sky and he jumps back with a yelp. "YIPES!"
Nosedive looks sheepish. "Uh... heh."
Mallory grins, and pats the glass. "It's times like these that make me thankful that I'm not an Earth duck."
A shadowy figure comes running through the pelting rain toward them. The doors are shoved open, and Duke arrives from the parking lot.
Nosedive looks up. "DUKE! Man, we were gettin' worried.. well, *I* was."
Mallory looks surprised. "What were you doing out there?"
Duke coughs. "Nothin'."
Mallory scowls. "Getting wet, obviously..."
Nosedive rolls his eyes. "Naw, he was just singin' in the rain... can you imagine Duke swinging around the lampposts?"
Duke wrings out his sleeve. "Obviously." His voice is a little raspy. "Very funny, Dive..."
Mallory raises her eyebrows. "Need some Strepsils there?"
Duke pulls a face.
Duke *is* hungry though. Starving, in fact.
Nosedive snorts. "It's WAY past dinner, natch you'd be hungry. We'd better hop down to the kitchen, I'm peckish as well..."
Duke hasn't eaten since MuckDonalds yesterday... and not much then.
Mallory has left.
Duke has left.

j duke
Kitchen
:::snip desc:::

Nosedive senses a party and gatecrashes.
Mallory sits down at the table.
Duke opens the refrigerator door and grabs something to eat.
Nosedive grabs cups for everyone. "Who's for coffee??"
Mallory exclaims, "Here please!"
Duke raises a hand, and turn his attentions back to the refrigerator.
Duke grabs a loaf of bread, peanut butter, a carton of milk and, as an afterthought, an orange from the counter.
Nosedive puts the mugs on the bench and pours the coffee. He adds milk and sugar for himself. "Milk, guys? Sugar?"
Mallory says, "Milk."
Duke dumps his armload of food on the table. "Milk, no sugar."
Nosedive stares. "Whoa, that's one impressive hunger, Duke."
Mallory wonders if he means to eat the *whole* loaf.....
Duke goes to answer Dive, but instead he gives a rattling cough. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and pays it no attention.
Nosedive adds milk to the other two coffees, and then hands them over. Then he grabs his own and sits down.
Duke gives Mallory a dirty look. "O' course not!"
Nosedive frowns. "You okay, Duke?"
Mallory wraps both hands around her cup, and peers at Duke. "You look a bit pale... If that's possible."
Duke nods, rather distractedly. "Yeh, yeh, I'm fine. Don't get yer feathers ruffled." He grins slightly at Mallory's remark.
Nosedive leans on the table and sips his coffee. "Looks like we three are gonna be night owls, huh?"
Duke makes his way over to a chair and collapses into it. Suddenly he doubles over with a fit of coughing, coming from deep within his chest.
Mallory says, "Oh, yeah, you sound fine Duke..."
Duke sighs. "Oh, it's just a little cough. Big deal." He touches his sore throat. "I think I need a drink."
Duke sips his coffee.
Duke remembers what he came for, and begins to eat ravenously.
Nosedive says, "I think you need some Formula 44..."
Mallory asks, "That sounds technical... What is it?"
Duke glances down at his sopping wet jumpsuit. "*I* think I need ta get changed...."
Nosedive grins. "It's cough medicine!"
Duke is suddenly hit by another bout of coughing.
Mallory looks sheepish. "Shows how often I get a cough huh?" Watches Duke. "I think he needs it too..."
Nosedive reaches over and thumps Duke hard on the back... just in case it helps, of course.
Duke pushes Dive's hand away, gasping a little for breath.
Duke shivers and wraps his arms around himself. "I'm gonna get changed... I'll be right back."
Duke now has a full stomach so decides to further explore the Pond and vanishes out the door.
Duke has left.

A little time passes.

Duke walks in from the Hallway.
Duke has arrived.
Duke arrives back in a fresh jumpsuit, his hair combed. But he doesn't look any better. He's pale underneath his feathers, and has noticeably dark rings under his eyes. His step is a little unsteady, which is unusual for him.
Nosedive stands up. "Man, Duke, you are NOT in good shape."
Mallory frowns. "Uh...Duke?"
Duke sits weakly back down, trembling a little. "Gods, I feel strange..."
Nosedive exchanges glances with Mallory over Duke's head.
Duke doesn't notice. "Is it hot in here?" he mutters.
Mallory stands up too. "That's it." Speaks to Nosedive. "Infirmary?"
Nosedive nods. "Infirmary."
Duke glares at them both. "I'm not going anywhere. I just need a little lie down..."
Mallory grabs him and hauls him up. "Lie down when we get there."
Duke starts to feel a little dizzy, and closes his eyes. It doesn't help.
Nosedive rolls his eyes. "And sooner or later a nice shady COFFIN. No pun intended."
Duke resists Mallory. "I'll be fine!"
Mallory asks, "Then you wont mind us double checking, will you?"
Duke is feeling genuinely sick now, and grips the back of the chair for support.
Nosedive says, "Wuh-oh..."
Mallory hopes this isn't going to get messy...
Duke grimaces, the world seems to be spinning around him.
Mallory grabs him quickly, seing him falter.
Duke manages to gasp, "Oh, no-" and then clamps his hand over his mouth and bolts for the bathroom.
Duke has left.

h
Hallway
:::snip desc:::
b
Bathroom
:::snip desc:::

Duke retches weakly over the bathroom sink.
Mallory walks in from the Hallway.
Mallory has arrived.
Duke closes his eyes, hearing the other two enter behind him. "Didn't quite make it... thought this'd do just as-" he breaks off suddenly and heaves into the basin. He throws up most of everything he just ate.
Nosedive grimaces. "Oh yukkers..."
Mallory bites back a childish 'gross', and looks for a towel.
Duke keeps his eyes tightly closed.
Nosedive ducks into the Boy's Room and comes back out with a towel.
Nosedive hands it to Mallory. "YOU clean him up... I'm standing well away."
Duke braces himself against the sink as his legs go water-weak.
Mallory makes a face, and turns the tap on. "Gee, I hope this doesn't clog..."
Mallory says, "Duke, if you're going to fall down, *sit* down."
Duke lets go of the sink and slides slowly to the floor.
Nosedive asks uncertainly, "Feelin' better now?"
Duke draws his knees up to his chest and puts his head in his hands. "No..."
Nosedive shouldn't have asked, really. :P
Mallory helps him stand, and holds him up. "You can't stay there," she says, nearly gentle.
Duke starts shivering. "It's cold..."
Duke leans against Mallory, and she can feel heat radiating off him...
Nosedive wraps the other (clean) towel around Duke's shoulders.
Mallory has left.
Duke has left.

j duke
Sick Bay
:::snip desc:::

Nosedive senses a party and gatecrashes.
Duke closes his eyes. "I'm sorry about that, Mal... couldn't help it..." he mumbles. His teeth are chattering.
Mallory helps him to a bed. "Sorry for what?"
Nosedive snorts. "Don't feel sorry, Duke. You ain't got a reason to be."
Duke sits down on the bed, wrapping his arms around himself. He suddenly doubles over with a fit of coughing.
Duke recovers from the coughing, but he's laced with sweat and trembling.
Nosedive asks, "Mal, you have any idea where the, uh..." He snaps his fingers a couple times. "The whatchamacallit medicine is? Hoboy. Yeah, I'd make a great doctor's apprentice, I would..."
Mallory grabs a blanket, and tucks it around Duke, forcing him to lie down. "Try the cupboards."
Duke shivers and pulls the blanket tighter around himself. "It's cold..."
Mallory starts opening and closing cupboards, trying to find what she wants. She tosses a thermometer to Nosedive.
Nosedive searches through the cupboards as well. "Uh... Exfoliating cream... No. Lincius Linus, warning, poison... Nope." He snatches a bottle. "Hair cream. HAIR CREAM?!"
Mallory says, "Talk to Wildwing about the hair cream, I'd say..."
Mallory shows Nosedive a packet of tablets. "Panadol."
Mallory says, "I think this is meant to work for basically everything..."
Nosedive looks at the tablets. "Uh, okay. You know best."
Duke curls into a ball under the blankets, still trembling a little.
Nosedive fills a glass of tepid water and hands it to Duke.
Duke manages to sit up slightly, and takes the tablets with a grimace.
Mallory looks doubtful. "I do? Lets hope..."
Nosedive grins slightly. "Well, if they had sugar-coated I'd have bought 'em..."
Duke puts the glass of water on the floor and lays his head back down on the pillow.
Mallory grabs the thermometer back of Nosedive. "Sorry Duke, but open wide..."
Duke opens compliantly, too ill to argue.
Mallory tucks it under his tongue, and glances at her watch.

{Spoof Intermission}

Back *of* Nosedive? Oh, off...
Like *you* never make typos... ;)
I was wonderin' whether you might have meant FROM, not off... ;P
What's the diff?
Will you two forget it already??
( Grammar! Anyway, let's concentrate on the the sick o... on Duke... )
What?? I'd like to hear the rest of that.... >:)
On the sick old man.
You're lucky I'm in the sick bed - or else I'd put *you* there...
Where's that swamp? ;)
I think one patient is enough, thanks.
I seem to recall a *little teensy* piece of blackmail I got on a certain loudmouth kid...
So watch it!
Oh yeah... Ah well, I'm gonna tell her myself anyway. :P So PLAH! Let's get on with the role-play.
You are??? Oh, well.... darn. Yes, let's. ;)
*Her*?!!
You.
Forget it already!! Yeesh!
You started it! I think...

{End Spoof Intermission}

Nosedive picks up the glass of water and puts it on the table beside the Medicom bed Duke is in.
Duke rolls closes his eyes again, and the thermometer slips a little from his mouth.
Nosedive takes the thermometer out and studies it. "HOLY MOTHER OF DUCKS!!"
Mallory peeks over his shoulder, and looks at Duke in a new light. "Whoa...."
Duke winces at Nosedive's yell and mumbles something, rolling over.
Nosedive bits his bottom beak. "Oops, sorry Dukester.."
Mallory says, "Something tells me that Panadol isn't that strong...."
Duke starts to drift off.
Nosedive shrugs. "It can take about 15 minutes to start working..."
Mallory glances up. "I heard that you shouldn't let people with high fevers go to sleep..."
Nosedive points at the recumbant thief. "See?" He pauses. "Wha'?? Oh maaan... DUKE! WAKE UP BUDDY!"
Duke mutters something but doesn't appear to wake up...
Nosedive gives Duke a gentle shake.
Mallory considers their options. "We can either keep him warm, since he says he's cold, or we can try and cool him down...."
Duke tosses his head from side to side on the pillow, frowning in his sleep.
Nosedive thinks. "Keep him warm, but get some ice and wrap a teatowel around it. That's the best of both worlds."
Mallory has left.
Nosedive groans. "Ah damn."
Mallory arrives from the Hallway.
Mallory has arrived.
Nosedive hollers in Duke's ears, "WAKEY WAKEY!!"
Duke mutters, "Rance, get yer damn fel outta my bedroom..." and drifts off again.
Mallory ties the tea towel to his head carefully.
Nosedive stares. "Hoboy, this is another sense of livin' in the past..."
Mallory asks, "Who's Rance?"
Nosedive says quietly, "His brother."
Mallory says, "Oh."
Duke starts panting for breath, in the grip of derilium.
Nosedive almost does a dance with worry. "DAMN! We need a doctor here. Or at least someone with medical train... AHA!" He snaps his fingers and them dives for the cupboards again. "Now where's that medical book?"
Duke shakes his head from side to side, moaning. He starts talking again, but the words are too jumbled to make out.
Mallory uselessly tries to wake Duke up, nudging him gently.
Nosedive finds it and flips through the pages until he finds the symptom's diagnosis page.
Mallory asks, "What's it say?"
Nosedive pales. "Not good. It keeps tracing to pnumonia. Treatment's antibiotics."
Duke makes a low moaning noise in his throat.
Mallory stares at Duke. "I remember from school...People used to *die* from that..."
Mallory asks, "What does it say other than antibiotics?"
Nosedive reads out, "Lobar pnumonia causes a high fever - often with delerium -; if it is extensive the lack of normal lung tissue means the oxygenization is inadequate and the patient becomes very short of breath and may lose consciousness. Before antibiotics lobar pnumonia was often fatal, but nowadays penicillin typical produces a dramatic cure in 95% of cases."
Nosedive snaps the book shut. "That's all it suggests. Penicillin."
Mallory heads for the door. "I'll see you later."
Nosedive blinks. "What??"
Mallory turns, and walks backwards. "I'm going to find some pennicillin," she says simply.
Mallory thinks she sees Dragaunus, and runs off in that direction.
Mallory has left.
Dive coms Mallory with "You won't. Pennicillin is ONLY given out by doctors, and it differs for every illness. It might kill him, or be too weak, unless we get the right doseage."
Nosedive drags a stool over and sits down beside Duke's bed. "Come on, Duke," he pleads. "Wake up! Please! Oh man, I don't wanna lose you too.." He's almost crying.
Duke tosses and turns in the bed, tangling his sheets.
Duke subsides a little and mumbles, "Dive...?"
Nosedive blinks. "Duke??"
Duke degenerates into mumbling again.
Mallory presses a button on her com and you get this message: "I'll come back really angry then after being blocked."
Dive coms Mallory with "How about you just break the door down??"
Mallory presses a button on her com and you get this message: "And come back, give him the penicillin, and kill him. What a plan."
Dive coms Mallory with ":P Touche.."
Mallory has arrived.
Mallory enters, spinning her pucklauncher on one finger.
Mallory looks very dark.
Nosedive sighs. "Duke.. come on, you can get through this, huh? You've gotta have been through worse. *Please*" He jerks up almost guiltily as Mallory enters.
Nosedive looks at her expression. "Don't tell me..."
Mallory sits down near Duke's head. "I wont."
Nosedive discreetly wipes away a couple of tears, and then resumes his watch.
Mallory glances up. "What did he say?" She looks around for a tissue.
Nosedive says, "He just said Dive.."
Duke falls silent for a while, but his eyes move rapidly behind closed lids, signifying a dream. His hands twitch occasionally.
Mallory nods.
Duke mutters, "Nuh- no... no... I didn't mean it... oh gods..." between his teeth.
Nosedive looks worried. "Bad dreams.."
Nosedive realizes he has to go to bed. No matter how hard he wants to stay up.
Mallory strokes Duke's head, pulling back her hand when she finds it wet.
Mallory says, "Night Dive...."
Nosedive gets up. "Night Mal."
Nosedive hovers near the door. "Seeya later Duke."
Mallory asks, "Why don't you sleep in here?"
Mallory says, "There's enough beds."
Nosedive thinks that's a good idea. He climbs up onto the bed next to Duke, but sits there. "I'm not tired.."
Mallory understands.
Duke suddenly gasps and sits bolt upright, his eyes flying open but unseeing. "MAL! HE'S BEHIND YOU!"
Duke stares at a point behind Mallory, his eyes wide in terror.
Duke rasps, "Oh, no... Not you..."
Nosedive almost falls off the bed in surprise. "What the heck-??"
Mallory is startled, and, like an idiot, glances behind her, and then back to Duke.
Duke escalates into hysteria. "YOU'RE DEAD!!" he howls suddenly. His eyes are wide and glassy. "Oh, please, no, I didn't... didn't mean it... Please..." He degenerates into muttering, and slides back onto the pillow again, his eyes closing slowly.
Nosedive blinks. "What the heck was THAT all about?!"
Mallory doesn't know. She has to stop herself from shaking. "Don't ask me..."
Nosedive hesitates and frowns. "He's reliving the past, huh?"
Nosedive shivers. "I don't wanna KNOW what happened."
Nosedive says, "All right, maybe I do."
Mallory shrugs, and gets herself a glass of water, almost spilling it.
Nosedive slides off the bed and kneels down beside Duke. "Duke.. come on, snap out of it, old man.. And you KNOW I mean that in the nicest sense.. Wake up, *please*."
Mallory mutters. "And if that doesn't get a rise out of him I don't know what will....."
Nosedive smiles faintly. "Duke... come on! You're practically my brother! Hell, I'd say you were like my dad but that's something neither of us want."
Mallory stares at the floor, silent.
Nosedive sighs, and then stands up again. "I... really should be going to bed now. Call me if... He's not... Tell me how he is tomorrow, okay? Night."
Mallory says, "Night Dive."
Nosedive goes home.

A FEW MINUTES LATER

Duke opens his eye and tries to focus. "Wha'...?"
Mallory jumps up, and races to the other side of the bed. "Duke?"
Duke blinks and frowns. "What... what happened?"
Mallory says, "You got pneumonia, and you passed out..."
Duke puts a hand on his chest and takes a breath, wincing at the rattling he feels there. "Oh... that explains it..." he says fuzzily, still a little out of it.
Mallory grabs a pillow off the last bed, and stuffs it behind his shoulders, helping him to sit up.
Duke lets his head loll back against the wall and tries to breath deeply, but the rattle in his chest doesn't make it easy.
Mallory squeezes his hand, wishing she could help.
Duke shifts a little and sits up further. "I had a nightmare, Mallory..." he says almost piteously. It's not so much the illness bothering him as the fever hallucinations he had.
Mallory says, "Tell me about it."
Duke closes his eyes briefly, and a shadow crosses his face. "It.. it wasn't like the others. It was at first, and everything... happened... the way it always does, but then I was in here, and he was behind you..." Duke shudders to a stop.
Mallory looks a little sad. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me."
Duke turns his face away from her and studies the far wall.
Mallory tries to cheer him up. "Hey, you want something? I can get it..."
Duke doesn't turn. "I'm fine, thanks."
Mallory feels like she's intruding on something, and she goes back to her chair quietly.
Duke doesn't seem to notice. He stay in that position for a long time. When he finally does turn, the feathers under his good eye are wet.
Mallory says, "It wasn't real...."
Duke says quietly, "It was real the first time."
Mallory listens to Duke's painful breathing, as if making sure it doesn't stop.
"What were you doing out there?" she whispers, not really caring if he hears or not.
Duke closes his eyes, feeling dizzy again. "It's not important." He opens his eyes and looks directly at Mallory. "But I wasn't stealing anything." Duke's voice is too tired to be defensive.
Mallory believes him, surprisingly. "Try and stay awake, OK? You...really scared us before."
Duke nods. "What... happened, before? All I remember was a bunch of dreams..."
Mallory shrugs. "You called out a couple of times."
Duke closes his eyes again, feeling exhausted. "Great."
Mallory takes a deep breath, and talks fast. "You aren't gonna die, are you? I mean, I know you probably don't know, and you don't even want to know, and you probably wont, but I figured that maybe you could just give us a bit more assurance..." she trails off, feeling about 3 years old.
Duke opens his eyes wide and looks at her. "Oh, Mally... I'm not going anywhere!" he pauses. "At least I hope not..." he adds under his breath. He speaks up again. "I've cheated old Death there a few times to many to let him get me wit' a little pneumonia..." Duke chuckles and looks at the ceiling.
"Death an' me will continue our little feud for years to come..."
Mallory smiles a little, and looks away. "Good..."
Duke suddenly doubles over with a violent bout of coughing.
Mallory's relief ebbs away a little, and she stands. "There has to be something I can do..."
Duke leans back against the pillow, gasping for breath a little. "No... no... I'll be... okay..." he manages, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Mallory sits back down with a thud.
Mallory rocks back and forth on her chair, fidgeting.
Duke concentrates on breathing properly for a while.
Mallory notices that his ice has all melted. "I'll go get some more."
Duke smiles slightly. "Thanks..."
Mallory thinks she sees Dragaunus, and runs off in that direction.
Mallory has left.
Mallory has arrived.
Mallory enters, spinning her pucklauncher on one finger.
Mallory undoes the tea towel, and replaces it with the newer, drier, colder one. She pauses, then gives the wet towel to Duke to clean his face off with.
Duke smiles warmly at her, just holding the towel for a moment. "Thanks Mom..." he teases gently.
Duke uses the towel to wipe dried sweat from his feathers.
Mallory flushes. "I just don't want to smell you as well as hear you..."
Duke chokes and looks a little embarrassed. "Oh."
Mallory hides her own embarrassment, by taking the towel off him and tossing it into the nearby basin.
Duke fiddles with his hands for a while, then lets them rest on the bedspread.
He finally looks back up at Mallory. "I'm sorry for bein' such a pain, Mal..."
Mallory glances up, a half smile on her face. "You're not a pain. You're just impossible, that's all." She grins, to show she's joking.
Duke smiles back, but it's halfhearted. There's something else on his mind.
"Mal, what happened last night?"
Mallory pauses. "It wasn't anything to do with you. It wasn't anything you did."
Duke looks awkward for a moment. "Was it something someone else did?"
Mallory looks a little sarcastic. "Could be a possibility, since it wasn't you."
Duke tries not to fume at her tone of voice. "I'm just asking, Mal. If I 'wasn't me', then who did I look like?"
Mallory brings out her pucklauncher, and absent-mindedly starts pulling it apart. "You don't look like anyone but yourself." She sighs. "I don't really want to talk about it. I'm sorry for startling you, okay?"
Duke looks sideways at her, and decides not to press the issue. "Alright."
Mallory smiles, happy she got off so easily.
Duke thinks he'll find out another time... when he's feeling a little less worn out.
Duke suddenly remembers something. "I have something for you, Mally!"
Mallory looks curious. "What?"
Duke reaches into a pouch on his belt and draws out a few photographs and negatives. He hands them to her.
You say, "I kept my word..."
Duke smiles. "Nosedive wasn't thrilled about giving them up."
Mallory grins, and stuffs them in her pocket to be ripped up later. "Thanks."
She undoes a small, fake looking compartment on her own belt, and tosses him a negative.
Duke places it into his pouch, where the photographs were. "Thank *you*."
Mallory says, "That felt very underhanded...."
Duke pulls a face. "I know. I guess I didn't really know how you felt until the same thing happened to me. I guess it took that much to make me try a little harder to get those photos from the kid."
Mallory hides a smile. "Uh huh."
Duke leans back against the pillow, his exhaustion finally catching up with him.
Mallory looks sympathetic. "Next time wear a raincoat."
Duke chuckles weakly, looking at her with a too-bright eye. "I kinda... ran out after you walked out on me last night. I didn't think to take anything with me." He is beginning to feel a little hot, and kicks off the blankets.
Mallory looks regretful. "It wasn't walking out on you...It was making a hasty exit before I made a fool out of myself."
Duke looks questioning. "Made a fool outta yerself?"
Mallory wishes she'd kept her beak shut. "I'll explain later." She rolls her eyes. "You've had enough excitement.."
Duke *is* tired... but he's also worried now. "I want to hear it, whatever it is. C'mon, we won't get a chance later. Nosedive'll be around."
Mallory back pedals. "Not a fool, really. Just...Well...Not me. Argh! It won't make sense!"
Duke reaches out and takes her hand. He's becoming increasingly tired, but also want's to know. "Please, Mal. I'll listen. You listened to me..." Mallory sighs. "Sit back, it's a long story."
Duke lies back and closes his eyes, but forces them open a moment later as he feels himself begin to drift off. "Okay. I'm listening..."
Mallory says, "I joined the military when I was about 17. My parents weren't as thrilled as they could have been, but they knew that it was the only thing that was gonna make me happy."
Mallory blushes slightly. "I'd never...well...slept with a guy before. My parents had pretty high morals, and I saw how happy they were, and I guess I thought maybe that was what was behind it all."
Mallory continues. "So I went. Got set up in my barracks. There was this officer who has meant to look after the new recruits. He came knocking one day, and I let him in." Mallory stares off into space, expression tone. "Well, he wasn't there to check on my well being if you get the point."
Duke looks down. "I'm sorry. Did he...? I mean, did you stop him before he...?"
Mallory sighs. "No. I couldn't. He was a lot bigger."
Mallory says, "After that I gave up on 'waiting'. I decided to block it out as much as possible. That worked. But a couple of times, I've just been back there...."
You ask, "Did you report him?"
Mallory shakes her head. "Who'd believe me?"
Mallory snorts. "I remember the first time it came back. The guy left me the next day."
Duke isn't sure what to say for a long moment. "I'm sorry..." he finally repeats. "But I'm not going to leave you because of that. I swear it."
Mallory nods. "You don't have anywhere to leave too." she notes.
Duke shrugs. "I wouldn't leave if I did. I know when I'm onto a good thing." He smiles slightly.
Duke adds, more seriously, "If it ever happens again, just... tell me, okay? I know there's nothing I can do..." He can't think of how to finish that sentance.
Mallory says, "You'll just have to bear with the...interruptions, and not take it personally then." *sighs* "The only thing you can do is let me go."
Mallory yawns tiredly. She puts her head down on the bed.
Duke shakes his head. "I don't wanna see you go runnin' off all alone like that, Mally. I'll just try an' be there for you, I guess. It's all I can do."
Duke allows himself to slide further down on the pillow, until he's lying down again. He absently strokes Mallory's hair.
Mallory smiles. "More than anyone else ever did," she mutters. She closes her eyes, and starts drifting off. "Don't die, Duke..." she mumbles as she falls asleep.
Duke chuckles softly. "Not while you're around, sweetheart..." he whispers, and slowly drifts off himself.

THE END

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Nylessa Drakely
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