Space DogS

Valerie dreamt. The blackness melted away back to the room at home. Her vision returned and she saw the lights from the Christmas tree pulsed slowly on and off, changing colours across the spectrum.

Her parents and boyfriend were looking at her. This was the real memory. She had just come home, kicked off her shoes in the hall and entered the lounge. Her boyfriend Antoine was an unexpected delight as she thought he was still on patrol with the EPA. He had wrangled a few extra days off by covering extra shifts the past month. He was grinning at her. She loved that wolfish grin. It was the same grin he had used the first time their eyes had met back at the academy.

Her father poured a glass of wine and offered it to her.

“Merry Christmas. Your mother will join us in a few minutes. She had to make a few calls.” her father said.

Valerie took the glass and sipped. It was one of her favourite champagnes.

“Very good” She said. How did you get hold of this.

“It was Antoine. He brought it.”

“And how did you manage that.” said Valerie, holding onto Antoine’s hand and smiling.

“Well there was this EPA officer who owned me a favour.”

“There always is.” said Valerie. “What was this favour?”

“Problem with an ex. I got him shipped out to another base.”

“Isn’t that like abusing your power” teased Valerie.

Antoine's face darkened briefly, then he smiled. “You do not know the situation. He was a bit abusive himself. Anyway the ex saw this as promotion. “

“The guy mustn't have thought much about the officer.”

“He became an ex after he left. Anyway good champagne isn’t it?”

Antoine smiled, but Valerie got the distinct impression some part of the story did not fit.

Marie, Valerie’s mother came into the room. “Right, sorry for the interruption. Hospital had a bit of a staffing issue and needed my approval to call in extra staff. With all the budget cuts you need a receipt to go to the toilet. “

Valerie was shocked. Her mother wasn’t this brazen normally. Then she saw her mother’s wine glass was empty. Antoine's and her father smirked.  

“How long have you been drinking?” asked Valerie.

“It’s Christmas. They shouldn’t be phoning me anyway. Charles come with me and help with the dinner and leave these two alone.” She winked at Valerie’s father Charles. They filled their wine glasses and the two went off to the kitchen.

“Finally I have you to myself.” said Valerie. She wrapped her arms around Antoine and pulled him close.”

Antoine stiffened slightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought the champagne would make this easier. “

“The officer. We have become quite… close”

Valerie let go of Antoine and took a step back. “Of course the ex was a man, so the officer must have been a woman. You sent him away so you could get close to her.“ Valerie could not believe how she had not seen this coming. This was the first time Antoine had come to see her in a month - always being busy when she rang.

“I am sorry. “ said Antoine. “Apologise to your parents for me.” He put his glass down and before Valerie could react headed towards the door.”

Valerie came to her senses and rushed after him.

“Can’t we talk about this. Your not being fair. “

He turned. “Sorry Val. You were my first real love, but things have changed. I’ve changed.” He shook his head, turned to say something, thought better of it and left.

“Antoine...Antoine..Who is she - the bitch !” Valerie could not believe that six years had just ended in less than two minutes. She did not have her shoes on so couldn’t race after him. She turned to look for them grabbed them and ran outside. The taxi was pulling away already. Where had that come from? The whole thing had been carefully thought out with military precision.

She came back inside and tried pouring some of the champagne. Realising where this had come from she flung the bottle across the room hitting the tree. The thick glass did not break just hit the ground pouring the contents around the tree. She collapsed to the ground, eyes brimming with tears that would not come.

Her parents found her red eyed staring at the tree and bottle a few minutes later.

“What happened. Where is Antoine ?” asked her mother.

“Hope he rots in hell, the two timing shit.” growled Valerie. “Do we have any more alcohol?”

“Err. Yes in the fridge. Could you tell me what is going on.” asked Charles.

“Could you leave us dear. Bring the wine. Me and Valerie need to talk.” Marie said to Charles, her brow wrinkling slightly.

 

Valerie woke with a start. Everything was white. Her throat was dry… must have been the alcohol. “Hangover. Yes that’s what two timing shits cause.” Valerie looked around and was confused. This was not her bedroom. Something nearby was chiming. The room was white and she could make out machines around the place. She felt resistance along her arm. She looked at it and saw a drip. Her face felt tight and she realised she had an oxygen mask on. Valerie began to panic. She whipped off the mask and tried to  call for her parents. A nurse came in.

“Valerie - Don’t worry. You’ll be fine, but you need to keep the mask on.” said the nurse urgently.

A doctor entered. She recognised him from the base.

She tried to speak, but the nurse was trying to put the mask on.

“If she doesn't want it on, don’t worry. She can put it on herself if she needs to.” Said the doctor to the nurse.

“Valerie. You are suffering from Hypoxia. That is Oxygen Starvation. You were lucky, you managed to pull the spare oxygen mask in the hopper onto your face before blacking out. “

Valerie tried to talk, but found her mouth too dry.

“Here drink this.” The doctor reached for the pitcher on the side cupboard and poured some water into a glass. She gave the water to Valerie. “Little sips.” he said.

Valerie did as she asked. Eventually her voice returned.

“How did I get here?” she croaked.

“As far as we could tell, this is what we know. After the crash, you left the hopper as protocol dictated in case of fuel or radiation leakage. You returned a little while later. From the look of you, you had no choice. Your oxygen was nearly out, your suit was punctured and you were slowly bleeding out. You managed to get the emergency battery power back on, send the automated distress beacon and attach the emergency oxygen in the ship to your helmet in-flow before passing out. We found you and brought you back.”

“How long… was I out?”

“We have had you unconscious while your body healed. The puncture to your leg was sceptic and we were worried about brain damage - but fortunately the scans have shown no major trauma. You have been out for four weeks.”

“Thanks.” said Valerie. She liked military hospitals. Straight to the point and clear. No medical mumbo-jumbo or stretching out all the medical procedural crap.

“Your parents are here if you want to see them? Only a few minutes though and then you need more rest.”

Valerie nodded. A tear went down her cheek.

The doctor left. She heard a conversation outside and then as if by magic - Marie and Charles were in the doorway. They looked tired, but the look of relief on their faces was the best medicine in the world.