He smiled at her after the medics had left, at least they knew what they were doing and cared about it. He felt turning his attention to Kat to hear what she said. The relief Eric felt at Katâ€™s words were immeasurable. This all could have turned out into a big fight which he didnâ€™t want to happen. They were good friends, or at least they were getting there. Both confessions today took a lot out of both him and Kat he was sure. To him it was as if he was going through a fresh start. Never had he had someone to talk to openly like this before. Kat was the first one to know this much about him, even he learned something about himself he never thought possible.<br/><br/>â€œI do apologize though, I should have thought better of the situation and acted accordingly. Normally I donâ€™t do things like that.â€ He said once more before letting it drop. He paused and looked at the floor and said more to himself than to Kat, â€œyouâ€™re the first person to know even this much about me, Iâ€™ve had no one my whole life.â€ Looking up he brightened the mood, â€œyouâ€™ve become, in the short time weâ€™ve known each other, the light in my shadows, the star in the nights sky bringing joy. You are the only one I would trust implicitly with both my life and my sanity.â€ It was his turn to confess, and his turn to say, â€œI might have to say the same about me, if I start babbling slap me or something.â€<br/><br/>A short laugh and he winced, there were broken ribs, he was sure of that. Pressing a hand to his side he felt a twinge and removed his hand quickly. It hurt and he shouldnâ€™t be messing with it anyway, he might only make things worse. The pain began to subside but it still lingered, a moment he thought about the pills him and Kat taken. They really were powerful stuff and he made a mental note to thank Ryan for them.  Coming back to the present he felt the shuttle jerk suddenly and the pilot saying something to them, â€œsorry about this, there is some debris from the battle with Riddickâ€™s ship. The clean up team is already at work but weâ€™ll have to play dodge the broken ship for a while.â€<br/><br/>Eric grabbed the arms of the seat they put him in. His knuckles were white and he felt the blood drain from his face as a pain shot through his chest. Damn. He thought waiting for the wave of nausea to pass. This was something he hadnâ€™t anticipated, nausea and the ability to hold on as hard as he did to those arm rests. He didnâ€™t dare to take any deep breaths at the moment because he worried that one of his ribs were trying to impale his lungs and he wasnâ€™t ready to take that risk. Daring to turn his head to looked to Kat and smiled encouragingly. Even if he felt like he might have a mini panic attack he wanted to encourage Kat and hoped that none of this made her injuries any worse. He did have to give the pilot props for that one large bump though, it seemed to be the only one the ride to the ship.<br/><br/>Just as he thought that he could see the fleet lead ship up ahead through the front window. The bay doors opened and they were granted access to the ship after a short code. Safely parked the medic team went to work grabbing their gear, allowing the ships team to come in and put both Kat and Eric on gurneys. At first Eric was going to protest but the look on Samanthaâ€™s face made him keep him from arguing. As the head of the medical team for the Shalona fleet she had the authority to keep them from working for months on end if she saw fit. She was intimidating as hell and she had a commanding presence that made people listen to her. It was one of the reasons she rose through the ranks so fast.<br/><br/>Lying on the flat gurney he watched the lights go by and found himself counting the distance from the shuttle to the medical bay. He coughed once and tasted something metallic on his tongue before they reached their destination. At first he didnâ€™t think anything of it when he saw the look on the medical teams face as they looked at him. Samantha, always in control said, â€œwe wonâ€™t be able to do anything about it till we get to the medical lab, just watch him closely till then.â€ She said then paused, â€œand keep a close eye on Kat as well, she was hurt worse, we are going to have to tread carefully.â€