Hello all! This story is getting a bit more traffic than I expected it to. I hope everyone is enjoying it. A quick note before you get on with this chapter. I went back to chapter 1 and added a little more to the ending so it flowed better into this chapter. Thanks everyone!
Two Months later
I watched as the Doc inserted the needle into my knee.
"Shall I ask just how you obtained thiz injury?" Instantly relief flooded my system as the roaring pain subsided.
"Old war wound. Bullet blew through my knee. I got lucky that it didn't take off my whole leg. Had the reconstructive surgery on it, completely artificial joint. The muscle has a tendency to act up though." Jon nodded.
"How long ago?"
"Going on four years. Laid me up for awhile and almost caused the military to hand me an honorable discharge."
"How long haz it been bothering you?" I shrugged the question off. Jon gave me a look that clearly told me that I needed to answer him.
"About a week and a half now." He tutted under his breath. I rolled my eyes but let out another sigh of relief and leaned back.
"You zhould have come zooner."
"I know Jon, I know."
"If it does act up again, come right at vonce."
"You got it."
"I vould like you to stay for a few hours. Just to monitor you."
"Alright fine." I closed my eyes and placed an arm over my eyes. If I was going to be here, might as well get some rest that I had been missing out on. No afternoon PT for me.
I had lost try of time when I heard the door open. I was in that hazy place in-between being conscious and dreaming.
"Jon, have you seen Ross around?"
"Ja. Vhy do you ask Wes?"
"We were going to get some target practice in."
"She is asleep in vone of the beds."
"What happened?"
"She is having an old injury flare up." I slowly let my arm drop and turned my head towards the conversation but couldn't manage to get my eyes open.
"She gonna be okay?"
"Ja. It is nothing major."
"Alright then." I heard footsteps walk towards the door before pausing.
"She vill be fine Wes. Go do vhatever it vas that you vere going to do." A sigh barely reached my ears before the door opened and closed. I slipped into the darkness that was overpowering me.
When I woke up, I was feeling good as new. Hopping off the table, I tested out the knee as best I could. Bending, twisting, even a little hop but it held up without any pain. That was a major relief.
"I see you are avake." I looked up only to see Jon watching me.
"Knee feels great Jon. Thank you." He gave me a nod. "Free to go?"
"Ja. Keep an eye on it and let me know if it bothers you again."
"Will do." I left the infirmary and headed towards my room. Looking towards my watch, I saw that it was closing in on dinner time. Groaning, it was my turn to cook. Changing my direction, I moved towards the kitchen instead. Charlie would have a fit if dinner was late and Mark probably would too. I didn't need them to know how men got without foot. A muffled shuffled from behind me caught my attention. Hands in my pocket, I fingered my knife. I kept moving a few more paced before whipping around.
Letting out a sigh, I only found that it was Andy. Shaking my head, a smile came to my face.
"Hey there Andy." He had his gas mask off, a rare sight. He gave me a big grin.
"Hiya there Ross!" He came up next to me and we continued on towards the kitchen. "Dinner duty tonight?"
"Yeah. We will see how well it goes over this time." He laughed, remember the last time I had cooked. It had turned out rather disastrous. Skids was the one who always cooked for Jackson, himself, and I.
"I think Charlie still has a hard time believing that you can't cook."
"It's what happens when your father raises you as a son and has the traditional values of Charlie." I ran a hand through my hair as entered the kitchen. "I think I have an idea."
"Want any help?" I smiled over at the man next to me.
"Nah, it's okay. You have dinner duty last night. You don't need to be back in here. Go get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow."
"Sure."
"Yeah go on. I think I can at least manage to not blow up the kitchen. Blowing shit up is Rowans job after all." That got another laugh out of him before he moved off towards out dinning room area which lead to a small area filled with couches and chairs.
I pulled out a steak and some pasta with cheese. If there was one thing I learned how to make from Skids, it was mac n' cheese. Satisfied with the idea for dinner, I began to move about and cook the food.
The boys began to trickle in just as I was finishing up the food.
"Is this going to be edible this time?" I shot a look towards Charlie.
"I tried to warn you. But yes, the food will be edible this time." I saw Wes eyeing me carefully. I briefly wondered what that was about. Bring the bowl of cheese and pasta and steak to the table, the eyes of the men lit up. Steak wasn't available too often and if there was one thing that I could cook was steak. Dad did pride himself on being able to cook some good steak and ribs. Everyone quickly took their helpings as I took my seat next to Wes.
"Sorry that I missed out on our practice today…"
"I know ya were in the Infirmary." I passed him a weird look. "Went lookin' for ya when ya didn't show."
"My fault. Should have told you I was heading. Didn't realize that Jon was gonna make me stay to make sure that all worked well."
"What happened?"
"Old injury from when I was a bit younger was acting up. Tends to every now and then. Doc I have at home normally just lets me take care of it on my own. Tried to let it get better on its own as I had none of my medicine." He just silently asked me to elaborate. "About five years ago, I took a bullet to the knee moving someone out of the way. Pretty much shredded it to bits, leaving me lucky that I didn't completely lose the leg at that point. My right knee is an artificial joint, there was so much damage that they couldn't do anything with what was left. It is all good, the tendons just like to act up from time to time. They had to pretty much let those mend themselves after sewing up what they could. Nothing really serious. Just makes it suck to move around." The rest of the table was fairly silent as everyone was stuffing their faces with what I had cooked. I took that as a sign that they were enjoying what they were eating. Taking a few bites myself, I found that I had hit the nail on the head.
"How often does it act up?"
"Not enough to keep me from doing my job." He looked towards me.
"Didn't mean it like that Ross. Was just curious." I let out a sigh and rubbed my hands over my eyes.
"Sorry Wes. I know you didn't. Force of habit I guess." He shrugged it off but his body language changed a bit. I could tell that he was put off with the way that I had addressed the question. I mentally cursed myself for letting it slip like that. It was something that had been pushed when I had come back from injury so it was an automatic response. I was going to have to put this right but that wasn't going to happen now. I would have to figure out exactly how and exactly when. I would do it though. Seeing I was now going to get nowhere with him, I turned my attention to Andy.
"Better attempt this time around?" The pyro looked up at me, grinning. It was a common sight on his face, when we got to see his face that was.
"Delicious. Major improvement from last time."
"Good. Skids taught me the mac n' cheese recipes. It was one of his favorites, especially when he was sick." I paused at the memory, missing Skids at that moment more than I had yet.
"You mention him before…who is he?" I blinked, brought back to the world.
"He was my younger brother. Not in blood but we were close enough that people use to think we were related. Ryan was a good kid, really good kid. We were pretty much the only ones the other could rely on growing up." I looked down at my food, suddenly having lost my appetite. "He is probably going out of his mind with grief." I swallowed and decided I was finished. Andy didn't question, knowing that he had hit a soft spot for me. I brought my own dishes back to the kitchen. Then I headed to my room, not really wanting to deal with any one anymore.
I was laying on my back, staring at a picture of Jackson, Skids, and myself when a knock on the door came. I ignored it, still wanting no interactions with the guys. The knock came again, whoever it was proving to be persistent. Once again, I ignored it.
"I'm sorry boys…I'm sorry that I could be a better friend, a better leader. I shoulda never brought you into that situation. It was a suicide mission from the damn start. I'm sorry that you went through hell when I went missing, that I put you through that."
"I'm sure that they forgive you." I nearly jumped out of my skin as I looked over towards the source of the sudden voice. Ben was standing there, watching me. "I'm sorry for the fright. Just wanted to come and make sure that you were alright. You left dinner pretty quick." I gave the Texan a soft smile and a small nod.
"Yeah. It is nothing." He moved over and sat down on my bed.
"Missing them?"
"Didn't realize quite how much until I had to start talking about them." He laid a hand over mine and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"I think pretty much everyone here has loved ones that they miss."
"Difference between me and you guys, you know that they know you are here. I have a feeling that they believe I am dead…and for all I know I am. This whole world seems so different from where I came from." I closed my eyes and gathered myself for a moment. "They joined the army because I did. They followed my footsteps to ensure that we would not be separated too long. They worked their asses to make sure that they were placed with me. When you are all another person knows, for the majority of their life, there is a bond there that surpasses friendship and family. I am petrified that because I am gone…they will lose it. There always had been a joke that rang with a hint of truth passed between us that we couldn't live without the others." I ran a hand through my hair.
"Well you are here now ain't ya?" I gave him a weak smile.
"That's what I am worried about."
"I am sure that they will be okay. They sound like they have good heads on their shoulders and would know that you wouldn't want their doing anything stupid." I gave his hand a squeeze this time.
"Thanks Ben."
"Anytime sweetheart." He stood up and gave me a smile. "Looks like you could use some sleep to get your mind off of that stuff. Take a shower and hit the sack." I gave him a half-hearted mocking salute. He left the room without another word, leaving me to get up and do what he suggested.