The Three of Us

Part 38 - The Bridge

As Malcolm's spirit had promised, thirty years elapsed. And they were trying times, but the Reed-Hayes family all had each other, and that helped immeasurably.

By 2054, all of the Ikaaran adults were dead, killed by the decline. It had been a century before the kickback to the past, and that seemed like it could have been a thousand years, a million, even, as so many lights went out, almost at the same time. The last one was the youngest, Corda. José found her one morning, gone, in the bed they had shared. He wept as he dressed her in a simple green and white gown, the one she had worn for their wedding, and he carried her corpse through the halls, bringing her to the Observation Lounge which had, sadly, become the place for final good-byes.

But that had happened twenty-eight years before. As the crew aged, relationships drifted into areas that were a lot more similar to what Lili had had with Jay and Malcolm. There simply weren't enough older women to go around.

And so Sophie found herself with two fellows, and Colleen had three. It was rarely sexual – they were all at least sixty years old, and some of the crew members were even in their eighties, like Lili was. Jay was already over ninety.

Hence the unconventional relationships were more likely to be a choice of dates for Movie Night, or hand-holding while looking at the stars or listening to Rex and Meredith sing, as they still did, even though she was in her eighties and was forgetting more and more of their repertoire as time passed. But it was enough, and goodnight kisses and embraces easily lasted until morning.

=/\=

It was the early morning, and Jay and Lili were sleeping. Before the alarm – which was still set at the ungodly time of oh four hundred hours – Lili cautiously opened her eyes. She would always listen for Jay's snoring, as it assured her that all was well. But that morning, he was quieter, and she feared the worst. But his chest was still rising and falling. She snuggled closer to him.

Her time as sous-chef continued, even though she should have been long retired. She didn't mind working, but it was tiring. So she would help and would supervise, but the reality was that Joss – her apprentice – did the vast majority of the chopping, serving and cleaning up. But she still got up for the breakfast shift. Will, on the other hand, was rarely working before lunchtime. He was getting to his end, too, and was having some memory issues as well. Even though Lili was going deaf, she was still better off than he was, so she would often be the one to remember to make a vegan version of dinner, or add the salt or whatever. Will, increasingly, was becoming less reliable for that.

But this was still the morning. "Are you asleep?" she asked Jay softly.

"Huh? Um, yeah."

"Silly man."

"I always wondered how you'd react if I said yes to that question. How ya doing this morning, Mrs. Reed-Hayes?"

"Pretty well. I'm gonna make you blueberry pancakes because I know you love them."

"Won't other people notice if you're just cooking for me?"

"Silly man! I'll make them for everybody. But they're really gonna be for you."

He looked at her strangely. "Uh, I'm not so sure I'm going to be able to have any."

"What?"

"I, uh, Lili, I dunno how I know this, but something is off. I don't, uh; I don't think I'll be eating anything."

"Let's go to Sick Bay. You'll be able to get your appetite back."

"No, Lili," he said. "I think I might never eat anything ever again."

They were both quiet. "Don't leave me, Jay."