fermata

[isthisart]

Linya sees Dr. Cheung onto a ship other than the Ariel, which agrees to tote him to Komarr very, very slowly, knocking him out for each jump and having someone look after him when he comes around green in the gills. It's not going to be a fun trip for him, but it's better than trying to collaborate with a multi-week conversational turnaround time. It's pricey - the ship has nonperishable cargo with no deadline at its destination and already employs a medtech, but still - but she thinks it's worth it.

Her business on Earth concluded, she examines the list of tourist attractions she didn't get around to, determines that none of them are worth sticking around for, and gets on a much faster vessel and goes all the way home. The first thing she does when there is go looking for whichever of the Count or Countess is easiest to find.

Comments

[greatcomposure]

"He had a... conversation... with Miles just now. At a guess, I'd say he was moved to apologize to Miles about something, and doing so reminded him that apologies are an available course of action when one has made mistakes that affect others."

[isthisart]

Linya laughs. "Well. Thank you for the consult. Any idea when Miles can be visited?"

[greatcomposure]

"Not yet. I'll let you know first thing."

[isthisart]

"Thank you."

And Linya goes off and composes a reply to Simon, which she does in fact open with,

Simon,

Your apology is accepted. I acknowledge that my circumstances are exceptional and am glad that I located an opportunity to demonstrate my harmlessness sooner rather than later; thank you for your openness to necessarily finite evidence.

Likewise,
Linyabel

And she settles in to wait for Miles to be allowed visitors. (Quinn will not be allowed into ImpMil hospital territory on the grounds of being foreign military personnel, but Linya doesn't have that problem - nor, any longer, an equivalent one.) It takes two days, and then she and Cordelia (and an Armsman to conduct them on the journey) go in. Linya hopes that at least some of Quinn's story was embellished.

[thisvorlunatic]

Well, there's Miles, lying in a hospital bed, both arms wrapped up completely in bandages and immobilized at his sides.

He smiles weakly.

[isthisart]

"Hi. Tell me where it doesn't hurt at least to a sufficient degree that I can kiss you?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"My face is mostly fine," he says encouragingly.

[isthisart]

So he gets a proper kiss, then, with her leaning carefully to avoid jostling his arms at all. "I was hoping Quinn had exaggerated."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Well, what'd she say?"

[isthisart]

"She told me that you fired an antique pistol complete with recoil when you already had a broken shoulder and were then even further bounced around. She told me this complete with gory details. Which I have barely just enough medical education to find specifically alarming rather than reducible to 'there ensued injurious action'."

[thisvorlunatic]

"That's... just about accurate, yeah. Although she seems to have omitted the part where I was bounced around beforehand too."

[isthisart]

"No, that was included, it just graduated from expected 'my husband is a mercenary admiral' levels of appalling into a new tier at the point where your shoulder was already broken and you had to shoot a slug-thrower with that arm." She kisses his forehead and smooths his hair.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Aha. Well, now you know to adjust your expectations of appallingness upward," he jokes. "Anyway, I was hardly going to shoot with the other arm, then I wouldn't have had any totally functional arms left. That's generally considered a major drawback in combat."

[isthisart]

"One which you soon suffered, to hear Quinn tell it, or is that solely for symmetry?" she asks, gesturing at his bandaged left arm.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Ah. No, my left arm was doing pretty well when I got here, the surgeons just suggested that while they had to replace most of the bones in the other they might as well do both, and I agreed."

[isthisart]

"Quinn said you had two fractures in your forearm and a broken finger. Apparently I'm meant to categorize that as 'pretty well' - I decline to call it 'totally functional'."

[thisvorlunatic]

"All right," he concedes, "that's fair."

[isthisart]

More forehead-kiss. "Hopefully soon you can come home and we can figure out some combination of hand-feeding and liquid-nutrition-plus-straws that works for you while not being hospital food."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I admit the hand-feeding doesn't sound so bad."

[isthisart]

Kiss. "All right. And I suppose I'll shut up the fur somewhere in case it snuggles too energetically for comfort."

[thisvorlunatic]

He snorts. "Thank you."

[isthisart]

"You're welcome. It's been very nice to have in your absence, though."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I'm glad."

[isthisart]

Kiss! "Simon apologized to me," she mentions. "After formally clearing me to know the things I know. It would have been rather awkward if I had remained barred from knowing them, I suppose."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Yes. But apologized? That's - interesting. When?"