Helena smiled absently as she stroked the soft, furry puffball. Alex had given it to her after his return from the mountains where he and John spent two weeks searching for the creatures. It reminded her of cats she had known, and she affectionately, although teasingly started calling this creature 'Fluffy'. The children though it a perfect name and that was that.
Again Helena smiled. Stroking Fluffy certainly had a calming effect on her, and somehow, when she was in contact with the puffball, she felt a little closer to John; she missed John just a little less.
John, Dave Reilly, Alex, and several others were on an exploratory mission to a new range of mountains that were created during the last 'spring thaw' on Loki. They weren't really mountains, more like really big hills, but the mineral and ore deposits exposed by the shifting strata needed to be explored.
With one last stroke, Helena put the puffball beside her on the couch.
"Sorry, Fluff, time to get lunch started."
Helena reached out to pat the puffball and was about to stand when she suddenly felt an overwhelming rush of pain. Intense, abrupt. It knocked the wind out of her, caused her chest to ache, and made her dizzy. Had she been standing, her knees would have given way. Helena leaned back against the couch, eyes closed, trying to catch her breath. She wrapped her arms about herself and felt the pain slowly mellow. When she moved so she was no longer in contact with Fluffy, the sensations of pain eased even more. She could still feel it, coming to her from a distance, and still very real, but no longer as overwhelming.
"Mom, may I... Mom!!"
Emma was by Helena's side, her eyes wide, trying very hard not to cry.
"Mommy! Are you okay?!!"
Helena took a deep breath and blinked to focus her eyes, then reached for Emma and gave her a hug.
"I'm fine, Emma."
"You looked so funny."
Helena shook her head and swallowed. She was trying to track down the source of the pain that seemed to have come from outside her own body, and keep her daughter calm at the same time.
"No, I'm all right. Really."
Helena smiled but Emma gave her a doubtful look. She pulled back and crossed her arms in a very good imitation of her father, and frowned.
"If I looked like that you'd make me see Doctor Ed."
Helena laughed openly.
"Yes, I would. Come on, let's get lunch started."
"Okay..."
Emma moved out of the way and Helena stood. She glanced down at Fluffy, to see it was wedged in the corner of the couch, trembling slightly. She shook her head, wishing they knew more about the puffballs. She'd seen Fluffy do this before, usually when she and John were both paying attention to it, petting it, but wasn't sure if the trembling were a good thing or a bad thing, or simply a natural reaction to its environment.
Helena turned and started toward the kitchen when she heard the communications screen signal an incoming message. She didn't even try to answer it, as Emma was so much faster than she.
"Mom, it's for you...."
The disappointment in her daughter's voice made Helena smile. But the smile faded quickly when she saw David Kano's concerned visage on the screen.
"David."
"Helena,... we have just received word of an accident in the new mountains..."
"John! Alex..."
"Alex is fine. John..."
She cut him off with a shake of her head.
"When does the rescue Eagle launch?"
"Fifteen minutes."
"I'll be there in ten."
She cut the link, turned toward the kitchen and calmed herself before she crossed to her daughter.
"Emma, where's Richard?"
"Outside."
"Would you bring him in, please?"
"...Okay."
The child hurried out while Helena retrieved her medical kit and double checked to make it was fully stocked.
"Mom?"
Helena knelt and gathered a child into each arm. She met their gazes, willing them to be strong and calm.
"I just received word there's been an accident in the new mountains. Alex is fine, but your Dad has been hurt. I have to go help him."
"Can we come, Mommy?"
"No, Richard, I need you to stay here and look after Emma. Come see me off, then you may stay with David and Tanya until we all come back."
Richard beamed. He liked staying at other people's houses and being asked to keep Emma from being scared. Emma was about to protest when a look from her mother made her understand why she'd said that to Richard. Slowly she nodded and took her little brother's hand as Helena stood up.
"Mommy..."
"Your Dad will be all right, Emma. I promise."
The doubt in Emma's eyes caused Helena to gather her daughter into her arms, bend over and kiss her on top of her head. Emma didn't argue further. Her mom was a doctor. She knew these things.
On their way out of the house, no one noticed the puffball had burrowed further into the corner of the couch, its trembling more pronounced.
Thirteen year old Alex Koenig stood on the edge of the work area, hating that they all thought him too young to help. He could help! He knew more than they thought he did. If his Dad were in charge, he would be helping, but...
"Alex."
"Mom!"
He spun to face his mother and didn't protest the hug she gave him. Feeling her arms around him let him be a little boy again, and he began to tremble. Helena held him close and made soft, comforting noises, speaking gently to him.
"Your father will be all right, Alex. He's in a lot of pain, but it's nothing we can't fix. He'll be okay. I promise."
Trying not to sniff too loudly, Alex pulled out of his mother's embrace and studied her face carefully. He was still young enough to want to believe everything his parents told him and not question them - much. He was also old enough to know promises like that were often made to make people feel better, and were often hard to keep. Yet as Alex looked at his mother - he did believe her - because she believed it. She knew it.
Helena met her son's gaze and took his hands in hers. Then she looked toward where the rescue operation was underway and let her eyes go out of focus. She could somehow feel the pain John was experiencing, as well as his awareness that she was nearby. Helena smiled gently to herself as she held Alex close.
"I don't know how I know, Alex, but I know. Your Dad will be just fine."
The rescue operation took another three hours. John and Dave Reilly had been standing near the top of a newly formed ridge when the rock began to crumble. They scrambled to make it back to steady ground, but weren't fast enough. Dave's injuries included cuts, bruises, some bruised ribs, a sprained shoulder and a broken leg. Helena busied herself tending to Dave, knowing John would be all right, and so both she and Alex had something to do while they waited.
John Koenig was less fortunate. He'd been able to grab hold of the ledge when the overhanging section gave way, but that had slammed him into the side of the cliff face. The impact knocked the wind out of him, broke three ribs, and cracked two more. Unable to maintain his grip on the ledge, John then dropped ten feet, landing so he was wedged between two boulders, miraculously not breaking anything else. Freeing him without causing additional internal complications was a painstakingly slow process, but ultimately a successful one.
Helena and Alex were waiting for John when the Eagle air-lifted him out and put him down near the medics. John was barely conscious, but he smiled when he felt Helena's hand take his.
"I... felt you with me, Love."
She just smiled and placed a tender kiss on his brow.
"Alex?"
"I'm here, Dad. Mom says you're going to be okay."
John gave his son a weak smile as he met Helena's gaze.
"Believe her, Alex, I always do. Somehow... she knows."
Helena sat by John's bedside, holding his hand, waiting for him to wake up. She knew he was still in pain, but it was duller, more manageable now. She also sensed John's relaxed pleasure in knowing she was nearby.
"Mom?"
She looked up at the sound of her son's whispered voice and smiled to let Alex know it was all right for him to come in. He entered slowly, his eyes wide as he watched his father. In his arms he carried the puffball.
"Is Dad okay?"
"Yes, he's sleeping."
Alex nodded and Helena knew from his manner something was worrying him.
"Alex?"
"I think he's sick, Mom."
"Who?"
"Fluffy. I found him in the corner of the couch, and he won't stop shaking. He won't eat either."
Alex looked down at the creature he cradled in his arms, clearly distressed by the puffball's continual trembling.
"Can you help him?"
Helena reached out and took the puffball from her son. Technically Fluffy belonged to her - a gift from Alex, but she shared the ball of fur with John. They adopted it - or maybe it adopted them, but since Alex had initially found the creatures, and talked John into helping him find more, he took an interest in all the puffballs, especially those that shared space with his family.
When Helena touched the puffball, the trembling began to lessen. She stroked the creature and it calmed even more, the trembling slowly changing to the more pleasant vibrating they associated with Fluffy.
"He's better!"
"Maybe he just missed us."
Alex gave his mother a stern look.
"Mo-om, did you forget to tell him Dad and I would be gone awhile?"
Helena did her very best to suppress a smile and stifle a chuckle. Alex's tone was very much like one she used on him now and again.
"No. You both said goodbye to Fluffy before you left. But you're right, he is better now, Alex."
"Maybe he likes being with you instead of being alone."
"Perhaps. Why don't you leave him here. I could use the company while your Dad sleeps."
"Okay. Alan said he'd stay with us tonight of you want to be here with Dad."
"Tell Alan thank you, Alex. I appreciate it."
" 'kay... Mom,... he's really going to be okay?"
Helena smiled as she took her son's hand.
"Really."
Alex watched his father a moment, then nodded. He gave the puffball a pat, and quietly left the room.
Helena settled the puffball on her lap and began stroking it gently. Fluffy was now gently vibrating in a relaxed, contented way. If he were one of the cats he reminded Helena of, he would have been purring. Helena smiled, then moved Fluffy onto the bed so he was resting beside John's shoulder. She moved the chair closer, so she could hold John's hand and pet Fluffy at the same time.
As she sat there, holding her husband's hand and stroking the puffball, Helena gradually felt a calm settle over all three of them.
* * * * *
* * * * *
Amanda Russell
January 30, 1999