Peter’s heart sank at the sight of the toy. Though it reminded him of Blake’s death, it also reminded him of the smile on the father’s face when he received it. “Is there a spacesuit glove in there?”
Anya searched through the bag. “I don’t see it, why?”
“When I went to the spacecraft after the explosion, I found his glove floating with that toy attached.” Peter took a deep breath as he looked back up at the ceiling. He took a moment before turning back toward her. “That was the final confirmation Blake was dead. That toy is Matthew’s. I gave it to Blake as we were strapping him in prior to launch.”
Her voice trembled with sadness. “Oh.”
“I want to make sure Suzy gets both.”
Anya’s voice rose. “Oh, she’s here. You can give this to her now if you want.”
Shocked by the news, Peter jerked his head up painfully. “She’s here?”
Anya nodded as she compressed her lips. “Yeah, in fact that’s why I’m here. After I learned about the explosion from Dmitri, I went over to her house to offer support. When she got the call to fly to the ship, she asked if I’d accompany her.”
Peter assumed Allen flew her out. “Where is she now?”
Anya gave a modest shrug. “Not sure. I was with her in the ship’s chapel when I learned you were starting to wake. She could still be there. You want me to go check?”
“So she knows Blake didn’t survive?”
“Yes, I was there when she was told.” Anya looked to the floor as she shook her head. “It was devastating. I held her in my arms as she cried.”
Peter fought through the pain as he forced himself up, yanking out the wires and tubes connected to his arm. Instantly the sound of alarms filled the small room.
Anya frantically raised her eyes as she cried out over the screeching noise, “What are you doing? You know the doctor told you to stay in bed.”
Peter was determined. “I’ve got to see her. Those men were my responsibility.”
Anya put her hand on him. “Stay here, I can go get her.”
Peter was not wavering. “No, I want to go to her.”
A nurse came running in. She quickly determined the cause of the alarms and growled, “What are you doing?” She quickly flipped a couple of switches, cutting off the obnoxious sounds before pushing Peter back down onto his pillow.
Not having the strength to fight, he gripped her hand and looked her directly in the eyes. “Sorry, but I just learned the wife of my friend who I was unable to save is on this ship. I must see her.”
The nurse grabbed at the loose wires, preparing to reattach them. She answered in a frank tone, “You need to stay here. We can bring her to you.”
Anya stepped between the two and gently put her hand on the nurse’s shoulder. Her voice was surprisingly fierce. “Clair, this is very important to Peter. I know he should have contacted you before disconnecting himself; we’re very sorry about that. But a man died on his watch and he wants to personally give his condolences to his wife.” She leaned in, whispering loud enough so Peter could hear. “I’m sure you can understand why he would want to go to her, and not have her come to him.” She straightened back up and resumed her original tone. “She is in the chapel. I can wheel him over in a wheelchair and have him back in a jiffy.”
The nurse looked down at Peter. He flashed a pleading expression as she studied his face. “I couldn’t do this if we were on land.” She turned to Anya. “I’ll give you five minutes.”
Anya soon had Peter wheeled up to the small chapel’s entrance. Suzy was sitting alone in the front pew in the dim room.
Anya whispered. “Do you want me to push you in?”
In a hushed but direct tone he answered, “No, I need to do this alone. Please help me up. I want to walk in.”
“Honey, you should stay in the chair.”
Peter gave her that look.
Anya positioned the chair and locked the wheels so he could get up. “Okay, but you sure are being stubborn.”
With her help, Peter used all of his strength to get out of the chair. He had an extra tough time moving his left leg, feeling the pain shoot throughout his body with each change in its position. Once he was standing, he reached for the open door handle to steady himself. He leaned over and gave her a kiss. “I’ll be okay.”
She pointed down the hallway. “I’ll be standing right over there, waiting. Just call out if you need me.”
He flashed a quick wink before reaching for the doorframe, struggling to hold on to steady himself. He patted his robe pocket to ensure he had Matthew’s toy before taking a few painful steps into the small chapel up to the back pew. With only three rows of pews, Suzy was only a few feet away. Her blonde hair glowed lightly from a soft spotlight aimed down on the multi-colored stained glass window pane at the front of the room. As he resumed his movements, the sounds caused Suzy to turn. Her face was blotchy, eyes red and puffy from crying. She instantly recognized him. She solemnly stood and reached her arms out toward him.
Supporting himself with one hand on the pew, he reached for her with the other. As they embraced he softly said, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”
She pulled away a little, a tear running down her cheek. “You did everything you could to save Blake. Jesse told me how you risked your life for them.” She took a deep breath. “Jesse feels guilty he wasn’t on that ship when the explosion happened. But because Blake was the one scheduled to do the spacewalk, he didn’t have the connection for the oxygen pack.” She fell silent for a moment as she looked toward the stained glass. “I guess it was his time.”
Peter put his hand on her shoulder. “I feel like I let him down. That I let you down.”
She turned with a stern look. “Don’t you ever think that. Thanks to you, he had a fighting chance. You were willing to lose everything for them. I will always hold that dear in my heart.” She put her head down. “I blame EarthOrbit for putting Blake in a faulty spacecraft.”
Peter wanted to tell her the cause of the accident but couldn’t.
Suzy grabbed his hand. “Blake looked up to you. He was constantly talking about your moon mission, especially when you two were training together. He was looking forward to flying with you.”
Peter lifted his head as he looked directly into her eyes. “He was a great man, with a good soul.”
She bit her lower lip. “Blake told me you were going to strap them in before launch. Did you?”
With a bleak smile Peter tried to stay strong as he answered, “I did. They were both so excited and ready. Just before the hatch was closed, Blake did ask me to tell you something.”
A ray of hope appeared on her face. “What?”
Peter took a deep breath as he took a moment to look at the stained glass. He turned back. “He wanted me to tell you he was thinking of you and how much he loved you.”
She tilted her head slightly as another tear started to trickle down her face. “Really?”
Peter put his hand on her shoulder. “Yes, but I told him he could tell you that himself when he returned.”
She looked away as she brought a tissue to her face, lightly dabbing her eyes.
Peter removed his hand and reached into his pocket. “You remember the toy plane you gave me?”
Suzy turned and answered with sadness in her voice. “Yes.”
Peter took her hand and placed the plane in the center, closing her fingers around it. “This was with Blake up to the moment he died. While I was rescuing Jesse, he took the time to attach it to his glove, showing how much his family meant to him, that he was thinking of all of you up to the last minute.”
Suzy lightly caressed the toy and fought back more tears. Peter bent down and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek before turning to walk out.