Title: Blame It On The Rain
Author: Carly
Feedback: Yes please, I would love it!
Characters: Kate and Dave
Spoilers: None for viewers that are up to date with the current Aussie season.
Timeline: Set not long after Kate kisses Dave while they're playing pool.
Notes: This is the second McLeod's Daughters fic I've written - I had the urge to write something Kate and Dave-ish cause I love them to death. I haven't written a fic of any form for about 4 months now until this sudden burst of inspiration hit me - I may be a bit rusty but I'm just happy to be writing again! I hope you all enjoy. And apologies if I've gotten any details wrong!
- -
The wind howled mercilessly around Kate's little car as the rain that accompanied it thumped down in all directions. Kate gripped the wheel determinedly and squinted her eyes in a fruitless effort to see through the blur of water and wipers on the windshield.
'Another great situation you've gotten yourself into, Manfredi,' she thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She should have been at Drover's Run right now doing paperwork or something, waiting for the rain to let up. But no, she had to open her mouth like an idiot and offer to go into town for Dave to pick up some supplies for him. It's like she lost total control of her senses whenever he was around, and it was ten times worse when he would flash that gorgeous smile of his her way.
"I'll go into town. I've finished all my jobs for the morning anyway so I'm all yours." Kate cringed at how lame that last phrase came out but Dave didn't seem to notice as he grinned at her.
"Thanks Katie-san, you're a lifesaver."
Kate smiled at his nickname for her but quickly returned the frown to her face. She let out a sigh of frustration. She couldn't even stay annoyed with him… even though he wasn't really to blame in the first place. It wasn't his fault that he made her stomach explode into a surge of excitement whenever she was around him. And it wasn't his fault that she actually envied the animals he tended to because of the amount of attention he paid to them. Animals! How ridiculous was that? No, if anyone was to blame it was the SBFC; that is, the 'stupid big fat crush' she had harboured for him for too long now.
Jodi always said to her that she should just, 'Chill out and let things happen naturally', but she wasn't really the kind of person that lived the carefree life. She had a five-year plan for heaven's sake! Although falling for the local veterinarian wasn't exactly part of her original agenda. 'Hmm, maybe I should pencil that in…'
A large crackle of thunder jolted her back into reality and she focused intently on the road once again. It was no more than a few minutes later when her mobile rang. She quickly put the earpiece in and answered.
"Hello?"
"Katie-san, just checking you haven't drowned on me!"
Kate tried to fight the smile creeping up her mouth. "Yeah thanks, Dave. Remind me never to help you out again."
"Ah, you say that now but you forget I possess the undeniable Brewer charm," he replied cheekily. "And besides, you're the best helper I've got. I can't lose you."
"I think it's safe to say you've got this helper for the long haul."
"Good to hear. Listen; are you nearly at Drover's? I don't like the thought of you driving in this weather, especially cause I sent you out in it."
"No I'm about twenty minutes a…" but she stopped abruptly, feeling the right side of her car suddenly give out.
"Kate?"
"What the…" she began before realising she was veering dangerously all over the road. She felt her heart jump a little, as she comprehended that her right front tyre had blown.
"Kate? Are you there? What's wrong?" Dave's hesitant voice rang out through her ear.
Kate tried to slow down in order to pull over but the muddy road had made this difficult, not to mention she still couldn't see properly because of the downpour. "My tyre blew out," she replied, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. "I'm just trying to get to…" But she never got to say the rest because she had to break suddenly to avoid the enormous cow that had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the road. Her mobile phone flew off her lap and under her foot where she accidentally stomped on it in her hurry to stop the car, hanging up on Dave in the process.
The last thing she heard was Dave yelling out her name before it cut out. She spun haphazardly until she hit something solid with a thump.
- -
Kate's eyes fluttered open and she gingerly reached up to her forehead. It was bleeding. She then realised her head was resting on the steering wheel and her neck felt like it had been strained. She tried to collect her thoughts.
'Okay, I was talking on the mobile to Dave, tyre went out, saw a cow…'
"Oh God," she moaned. "I hit a cow!"
Kate forced herself to lift her head as gently as she could, trying not to think of the shooting pain in her neck. She braced herself for the hefty heifer she expected to see but was instead met with a fencepost. The relief that spread through her was short-lived as she registered exactly what had just happened.
"My car!" she yelped.
Her pride and joy, her baby, who had never had more than a dent in it now had a fence post-sized dent in the front of it. She wanted to get out and see the extent of the damage but the rain was so harsh that she had no choice but to stay inside.
"Perfect. Just perfect."
Kate wondered what she was supposed to do now. Her phone lay smashed under her foot so that was no use. 'Dave,' she recalled again. He would have had to realise something went wrong and alerted Tess or Stevie by now. She felt slightly better that help was hopefully in its way. In the meantime she'd have to sit tight and try and block out the splitting ache in her head that had pounced upon her without warning.
The water made a steady beat on the roof as she sat there in a trance like state. This accident would have to cap off an incredible list of crazy things that had happened ever since her brain decided to shut down whenever Dave was concerned. The strip-o-gram incident at Tess and Nick's combined bucks/hens night was a close second. As well as the kiss she had impulsively planted on Dave's lips at the pool game the other week. Kate felt her stomach flip. She had to admit that was one time she didn't altogether mind acting like a crazed person.
The incessant beat on the roof had become quite dull now and not as busy. Kate focused her eyes outside and noticed that the rain had cleared up somewhat. She went to move to open her door but sat back sharply and clutched her head in pain.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow."
Okay, checking the damage to the car was going to have to wait seeing as it felt like someone was repeatedly throwing bricks at her forehead. She glanced down at her hand and saw the dried blood on it. She didn't even want to know how big the gash was. 'I think I'll just rest my eyes so the spinning stops…'
Kate didn't know how long she had been sitting there with her eyes shut – Seconds? Minutes? – But she could hear her name being called out. Where was it coming from? It sounded far away but strangely close all at once.
The driver-side door suddenly swung open and she jerked away in response, startled and wincing at the pain in her head and neck.
"Kate!"
There was the voice again… She slowly opened her eyes and was met with a very scared and disheveled looking Dave.
"Hey…"
He reached his hand up to gently brush the hair away from the cut on her head. "Oh my God, what happened to you? You said something about a blown tyre and the line went dead."
"I… I hit a fence cow."
Dave looked at her in confusion. "Kate, don't be alarmed but I think you have some serious concussion going on upstairs."
"No, no…" she said, trying to face him. "I thought I hit the cow that strayed on to the road but it was really a fence post."
"Right… wait there." He got up and jogged to his car, returning quickly with his brown vet bag. The rain, although easing up, was still falling on him.
"You're getting wet."
"And you're hurt, I think I know which is more important right now."
She glanced down at his bag then back up at his face with a bemused look. "So you're going to… treat me? I don't think I need to be vaccinated at the moment."
"Ha ha, very witty, concussion girl. No, I just want to clean up your wound a little and then we can get you to the hospital just in case."
Kate smiled faintly as he tenderly dabbed at her wound with cotton wool. "I'll be fine. It's nothing a wheat bag, some sleep and a few headache tablets won't fix."
"You're going to the hospital whether you like it or not, Katie-san. No patient of mine gets second-class treatment. Even if you don't exactly have four legs and make bleating or neighing sounds," he added with a wink.
"There we go," he said a few minutes later. "Good as new."
Kate braved a look at herself in the rearview mirror and was met with a scary sight.
"I look like the Bride of Frankenstein!"
Kate's hair was matted with blood and her head had a bruise on it the size of a small country.
"Ah, I don't know," Dave replied. "You look pretty good to me. Like a Picasso painting, 'Kate a la car crash'."
Kate gave him a look. "Like I said, the Bride of Frankenstein."
Dave stood up. "Okay, we need to get you out of here. Can you stand up?"
"I think so."
She undid her seatbelt she realised she was still wearing and went to move forward but the Dave-bliss induced state her mind had gone into became unfogged and all the pain came hurtling back.
"Actually I think I'll just stay here. Who needs to move anyway?" Kate whimpered, shutting her eyes tightly.
She heard his footsteps retreating and opened her eyes to see him put his bag back in his car and walk to her car once more. He leant down so he was eye to eye.
"I'll just have to carry you then."
"Huh?"
"Well you can't walk and I'm not leaving you here so," he held out his arms, "your chariot doth await you m'lady."
Kate felt a blush creep up her cheeks. "Oh… right. Um, if I'm too heavy you have my permission to drop me okay?"
Dave just smiled at her before sliding one arm around her back and another under her legs, lifting her up and out of the car cautiously. Kate awkwardly rested her arms around his neck not really knowing how to act. She wasn't feeling heavy-headed anymore, that's for sure. Light-headedness had completely taken over.
Dave walked as slowly as he could, not wanting to shake her around too much. Kate watched as the last petering drops of rain clung to his hair, face, and eyelashes like crystals. She had a sudden thought.
"Where are the others?"
He looked puzzled. "What others?"
"Tess, Stevie, the Drover's Run others. I just thought you might have rounded them up for backup?"
They arrived at the passenger side of his car. Dave still held on to her though and gave her an intense look she had never witnessed before.
"When your voice cut out I dropped everything and ran to my car. No one else really factored into my thoughts…I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
Kate couldn't stop staring at him but for once she didn't care. He steadily lowered her down so she could stand. Not that her knees were really up for standing at the moment, and it had nothing to do with her head injury.
She took a deep breath. "Dave I…"
A loud bellowing noise interrupted her though and she cursed to herself as the moment broke between them. A flicker of something transpired past Dave's eyes. Disappointment? Kate didn't even dare hope that though to save the disappointment she knew she'd feel in herself if it weren't true. They both looked over to the direction of the noise.
It was the bloody cow.
"I guess it wasn't the concussion talking then!" Dave chuckled, clearing the air of uncertainty between them.
"Told you so," she replied, covering her confused feelings with a half-hearted smirk.
He opened the door for her. "Come on, let's get you to a doctor."
Kate smiled and held on to the door to step in. She felt his hand clasp over hers for a split second and give it a tight squeeze. Kate looked up at him, but he only smiled at her and quickly walked around to his side of the car.
She sat herself down and sighed inwardly. She was going to have to revoke her membership in the SBFC club. Because just then in that moment she had bypassed a stupid big fat crush. Just like her poor car had done, she had crashed headfirst into love with this man. There was no point denying it anymore.
End