Chapter Text
Usually, there's a designated time during the day when the crew can talk to their families while they're in space. Today, that time is supposed to be 19:30, so when Houston asks to talk to Jeremy alone at 16:53, Christina gets nervous.
Jeremy also looks concerned, but he makes his way over to the computer and puts on a headset. Christina keeps her back turned from him, continuing to plug numbers into the spreadsheet she is working on trying to give him as privacy as possible in such close quarters.
"What happened?" Reid asks when Jeremy takes the headset off a few minutes later. Christina keeps her gaze focused on her iPad, but she can't help but listen in.
"I…sorry," his voice breaks. Christina turns around, making eye contact with Victor before her gaze settles on Jeremy. Reid's hand is on his shoulder and he is…crying.
She starts to feel herself thinking about all the worst case scenarios. She finds herself praying, despite not being religious at all, that no one had died.
"I'm sorry," Jeremy repeats, scrubbing a hand over his face. "It's alright," Victor assures. Jeremy takes a deep breath, "Katelyn's in the hospital. She had a seizure at school…"
Christina's heart breaks for him and everyone else involved. "I'm so sorry, is she okay?" She asks, pulling herself closer to him. "I don't know…Catherine said she's responding to medication, but that she keeps having smaller ones."
"Do they know what triggered it?" Victor asks. Jeremy shrugs. "What can we do?" Reid asks, one hand clasping Jeremy's shoulder. "Nothing…that's the worst part." He inhales shakily.
"I think what Reid means to say is…what can we do for you?" Christina rephrases, touching his other arm. "I'll be okay…I just need a minute." He tells them with a nod.
Christina glances between Victor and Reid; they all decide at the same time to pull Jeremy into the center of a group hug.
"Oh, thank you…" he says, his head resting on Christina's shoulder. "Of course," Victor says sincerely. "It's gonna be alright." Reid adds. Christina doesn't know what to say so she just pulls him closer.
—
Katelyn is doing better. The doctors are going to keep her for observation but by 9pm, she's been seizure free for three hours. The doctors hadn't said it yet, but Catherine warned Jeremy that they were most likely looking at an epilepsy diagnosis.
Jeremy's able to get work done, but everything still feels off. It feels wrong to talk about anything other than work, but it also feels wrong not to voice what everyone is thinking about.
And then 7:30pm comes around. She smiles as she greets her husband. "Hey, Tina," she frowns…he sounds solemn. "Did something happen?" She asks keeping her voice down. Reid turns when she says it anyway.
Bobby sighs, struggling to form the words before murmuring, "Maria died this morning." Christina feels like the world stops for a few seconds. There's only one Maria he could possibly mean…her childhood best friend. Granted, they hadn't spoken in a long time. Still, it hurts.
"Okay," she says, keeping her voice even. "I was going to tell you when you got back, but if you want to be at the funeral, I need to ask them if they can postpone it. They want to do it on Friday in Jacksonville."
Christina has to think about that for a minute. As much as she loved Maria, she doesn't want to make her family go out of their way amidst their grief, just to make sure she can come. "No, that's okay." She says with a tight smile.
"Alright, I won't say anything. I'm really sorry, Christina…" she shakes her head. "I'll be okay," she wants to say something else, but she can feel Reid watching her.
"Are you sure?" Bobby asks sympathetically. "Yeah, she…" she stops that sentence; if Reid hears her continue that sentence he'd know someone died for sure. And she really doesn't want to take away from Jeremy's pain. "I'll be fine."
"Okay…I love you." She smiles genuinely this time. "I love you too." She takes the headset off. Reid looks at her expectantly. "Everything okay?" She nods, even though that isn't true.
Maria is… was such a kind soul. She only has fond memories of her. Whilst Christina spent her childhood dreaming about becoming an astronaut, Maria always wanted to be a social worker. And according to everyone in her hometown, she grew up to be an incredible one.
—
Christina is always the last to fall asleep. She thinks maybe her body does it on purpose, like maybe it wants to make sure everyone else is safe and accounted for before it can relax. Tonight, she stares out the window, it's difficult to see the stars up here. The Earth is too bright; but there's one that she can see so clearly…
"Something on your mind?" She jumps, she really thought everyone was asleep. She looks down, Reid shifts in his sleeping bag so he can see her better. "There's a really bright star…" she says, looking back at it.
Reid is quiet for a few minutes before he says, "I can't see it."
"I'll show you tomorrow." She says, closing her eyes. "Is there anything else?" He asks. He always seems to know when something's wrong.
"It's just hard to sleep when you've got a view like this." Christina says dismissively. "I get that."
A longer stretch of silence settles between them. Christina tries to fall asleep, but she can't. "…Reid?" She says after a while. She doesn't get an answer.
So she lets herself cry. It's silly. She really hadn't known Maria especially well, not as adults anyway. But when they were kids she knew everything there was to know. She looks back at the star with tear filled eyes and for a moment, she believes that the star is Maria…and everything is right with the world.