"Life By Eyes Flashing" Part Two - Opening Wounds by Lieutenant Ethan Chastain Special Guest Writer: Jet Grey as Tyler Porter Graduation from Starfleet Medical was nothing like he expected. The official capacity was immaculate. There were medical dignitaries from all over the quadrant - most with PADDs and an intense look on their faces. This was the recruitment ceremony, graduation be damned. It was all about who could find the brightest for further training. The Daystrom Institute of the Arts had a phenomenal medical sciences program, but only three open spots a year. The Valedictorian, some Vulcan named Vulek, had already solidified himself a spot and the other two were probably going to the number two and three students. Ethan knew that he was good, but there was no chance in hell that he was good enough for Daystrom. However, that was besides the point at present. "Grand Processional," Ethan said as he looked down the boulevard. "What a joke. This is a sick and twisted final test by the Medical Administration to see if we can stand in one-hundred degree weather in thick graduation robes. The credentials better be worth it." The line that they were standing in, which backed up San Francisco's Main Street, couldn't have been longer. Tyler and Ethan stood next to a street light and waited for the throng to push forward. Tugging at his robe uncomfortably Tyler grimaced as the fabric felt as though it was baking his skin. For all he knew, it really was, "you think they'd let us dress up when we're closer to the main entrance. God damn." The crowd then moved a few feet, rolling his eyes, "a whopping four feet. At this rate, we'll catch dinner out here. Miss our first transports, and have our apartment still unpacked." The last statement being absolutely true. "Ty, this ceremony is for the top ten students, isn't it? The rest of us get hoarded into random postings and assignments and that is that. Unless you got nothing lower than ninety-nine point nine percent on everything you don't stand a chance at a high level position." He took off his hat and rubbed the sweat from his brow; it was becoming obvious just how much he didn't want to be standing on that particular street corner. "I want to go home." "So do I," Tyler replied with a sigh, "this is gotta be a sick joke as we stand here baking in the sun. And here I thought I'd get my certificate, the popular pat-on-the-back, and head to my new posting." "I thought it was we get the certificate, we get a pat on the back, and we head to our new postings?" Ethan knew he'd committed himself to the research, but it still pained him when his own companion left the plural out of a sentence. It felt as if he was being written off. He didn't like it. "I'm sorry..." Ethan shook his head and glanced towards the front of the line. Again. "It came out wrong, I?m sorry. I just... I?m still a little on edge about it," Tyler winced. Part of him was still going to feel lonely as soon as Ethan took his posting. And numbing himself to that fact left Tyler saying things he didn't mean. "Ethan, really, I?m sorry. I know I haven't been..." "No, no, we're not going to do this." Ethan put his hands on Tyler's shoulders. "We agreed that we were going to make this work. Six months. It's nothing. Six months is nothing that we can't handle. And, we will. We will." The line started to move, fast, as if people were running for the air-conditioned building. He took off and hoped Tyler would follow. It was just the distraction he was looking for. It just felt daunting. Even if Tyler accepted six months was short. But instead of dwelling on it, he followed Ethan. Within moments the cool air rushed against his skin and he felt his body immediately adjust. Like putting frying pan into ice water, Tyler frowned at how cold it really was in the building. "Yeah, I know we agreed. It's just.. oh I dont know, Ethan. I just know I'll be without you for a while. It's... sucks knowing that." "Drop it, Tyler, not now." His voice was sharp. "This is suppose to be a day celebrating three additional years of school being over." "Bundle of fucking contradictions that will be," Tyler said with an ample amount of frustration showing on his face. Looking straightforward, he twisted his neck a little and decided ignoring almost everything would suffice. "Raya Jenkins and Thad Tulane." Ethan looked up and saw the speakers in which the names were being called. They were already on the biological science experts. That was one field he couldn't be in. There was something about dealing with fungus and tree roots that wasn't as appealling as dealing with the complexities as the human brain. "We're next in the queue as far as specialties go. Well, mine is, you start your own specialty Mr. Nanotechnologist. I'm glad that they could get us together for this." "Me too," Tyler said quietly with nodding approval. "Relell and Alana Bartlett." The large Bolian that had been in front of him, and sweating more profusely than everyone else, finally sighed and stepped into the huge hall. He walked across the set-up stage and accepted his certificate, took the standard bow, and walked down the other side of the stage and out into the reception hall where all the dignitaries were. Ethan turned to Tyler, "This is it." "And now, our last Neurology Specialist and the first Nanotechnologist: Ethan Chastain and Tyler Porter." It was the best moment of his life. Walking down that stage, his best friend at his side, and completing the most important part of his life to date. It felt great to hold that credential and step into the hall of other doctors and specialists of medicine. "We made it Ty, we made it this far. One step down, a million happy more to come. Six months or otherwise, they are just small steps." Before Tyler could respond, Bryon and Alicia weaved through the crowd. Getting the duo's attention, Bryon grinned, "Ethan, Tyler, look at us now, huh?" "Where will you two be posted at?" "Alicia and I are headed for the Beta Quadrant. She'll be on the Lancelet, and I'll be on the Union." Tyler looked at Ethan. Suddenly the thought of them being a little apart wasn't so bad. Ethan nodded absently, staring into his achievement. "Yeah." "Ethan! Tyler!" His mother's screeching voice transcended everything else in the crowd. Ethan's mother ran up, hugged both guys and then kissed both of them. "You two are so cute in your robes. You are so wonderful. So, what ship is lucky enough to get the two best doctors in the fleet? Huh?" She looked at both of them, smiling every moment. "The Dresdin," Tyler spoke up with a smile. Somehow telling Ethan's mother they were going to be apart for six months would only make her frown and possibly take it out of proportion. Then again, she might be more understanding. Tyler just never knew what to do whenever she was around. If she detected a hint of omission, Tyler would not make out this building without bleeding ears. "Wonderful! The Dresdin is a good ship!" "Mom, you don't know that," Ethan said with a smile as he grabbed two glasses of Champagne from a passing waiter and handed one to Tyler and one to his mother. "She says that so she can sound supporting when she honestly knows less about it than we do." Patricia Chastain looked at her son, "And is it a crime to try and support my son and his boyfriend with something like this? Is it? Tyler? Is it a crime to offer some words of encouragement?" "Not at all," Tyler shook his head. It was becoming strangely amusing, but he let it go. Tyler started it, Tyler would follow through with the lie. Six months later, it wouldn't be a lie at all. Elbowing Ethan, "come on, she's right. You know she is." "You always side with my mother," Ethan replied as he shook his head and realized that Alicia and Byron had disappeared as mysteriously as they had appeared. "Mom, I'm ready to get out of here and get packing. We've got two days and an entire apartment to clean up. Plus, we have a celebratory dinner that is waiting for us." Patricia put her hands up, "Say no more, say no more, I just wanted to come over and give you guys the words of encouragement and tell you how proud I am of both of you. You two are going to do good things, I can feel it." She kissed them both again and smiled, holding the outside cheeks of each boy. "I love you both." "We love ya too," Tyler replied with a bigger smile. She really was a sweet woman. Having never known his mother, Patricia really did feel like a mother to him. Putting his champaign glass on a table, Tyler motioned for Ethan and him to move out of the crowd. It took a few minutes longer than expected. And the exit never looked so far, yet so near. Of course, it was a memorable moment, and many of their friends were saying their goodbyes. "I didn't know Alexis got accepted to the Vulcan Academy," as the two headed out the building. "Yeah, and her fiancee Pablo got assigned to a deep space research vessel near the galactic core. Makes us being separated for six month something that should be considered a blessing and not a plague." They walked along the green hill that would go over a hill and back to their residence. "We made it," Ethan said as they topped the pinnacle of the hill. "Alright, alright," Tyler resigned, "you're right. God knows anymore of this split apart proof that our postings are better than the others is gonna make me crazy." Making their way down the hill, Tyler got more of a feeling he should get interested into Ethan's career instead of blindly follwoing. "So, what do you think you could expect from the research center?" Ethan found himself staring out over the ocean again. The night had cooled. The sun was getting ready to go below the horizon and that familiar dusk light rippled across the water again. It was his favorite pasttime. "I don't know. Something about neurological accelerates. Something that will speed up the administering of medicines to the neurological system. Faster response time. Anything past that is still classified to official researchers only. As it should be." Tyler nodded, understanding. "I?m feeling nervous about my field. No one's done anything on a full time basis like I?m going to. But it's going to prove exciting. When you get on board, maybe we can culminate a different research combining both fields. I don?t know exactly what for now, but I'm sure we'll think of something? What do ya say?" "Shh," Ethan said, silencing Tyler's words with a solitary finger. He motioned to the setting sun, "Just watch this with me." Tyler did as told, watching the sun set slowly as the last filaments of lights disappeared into the horizon as the skies changed into a dark mass and the stars began twinkling at random. It was the first time Tyler truly appreciated what Ethan saw. In their three years together, he never once spent enough time with Ethan looking at a sunset or sunrise and be dazzled by the beauty of it. Taking Ethan's hand, he squeezed on it for a moment, enough to tell Ethan he saw the beauty in this. --------------------------------- Any questions? Get answers on any topic at Yahoo! Answers. Try it now.