Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic break, and that you have a great 2012. I have been away so apologies for the break in updates. I have literally gotten back within the hour, and this is basically the first thing I am doing. I hope you all enjoy it, this one is a whopper length so hopefully it can make up for time in between chapters, next one should be up soon! Thanks to Zoe6 again, who has given me a new found appreciation for hyphens. PS. Thanks to anyone who wrote a review or wrote a fic, I have 76 alerts waiting for me - I love you all!
"Wash what are you doing?" Taylor said with an absolutely incredulous look as she sat up on her bed.
"I'm getting out of this damned bed sir." Alicia replied, obviously frustrated.
"I don't think that's a good idea Wash." Taylor warned, standing just inside the doorway of her bedroom.
"When did that ever stop me? When would that stop you?" Both smiled, realizing they were as bad as each other.
"Hmm, I thought the doc said at least two days before you were off bed rest?"
"I have been in bed for two days and I am ready to get out sir. Now you can stand there and keep pretending like you have a chance of convincing me or you could help me get up." She answered, getting straight to the point.
Sighing, he realised she wouldn't budge, and joined Wash on her side of the bed. He held out his arms to her and she wrapped her hands around his forearms. Holding on tightly she slowly pulled herself up with the support of the Commander. Now standing, Wash felt much better. Although there was still plenty of pain, she was up and ready to walk to see the doctor. With maybe a little help.
"You set Wash?" The Commander asked, searching her face for discomfort or second thoughts even though he knew her well enough by now that he wasn't going to see anything she didn't want him to.
"Ready to get out of here sir." Alicia replied, letting go of one arm, so they could make their way from her bedroom to the kitchen.
"Breakfast?" Taylor asked.
"Nope, I'm getting out of here." She answered straight, even though the Commander laughed at the response. They continued through to the front door and Alicia took her first steps outside of her house for what felt like a lifetime. She had never been comfortable with getting injured, not for the injury itself but the time taken off, the fact that she was out of action. Today she was extremely happy to get out of the house, even if she was going to see the doctor to rebandage the offending injury.
She held a tight arm on Taylor as they stood out the front of her house. Wash looked from left to right and Taylor noticed.
"Wash, did you wake me up this early so no one would see you injured and getting help from me?" Taylor asked, still surprised at the lengths Alicia went to, the severity of her compulsiveness.
"No sir, I was just very keen to get out of the house." Alicia answered, a smirk breaking out of her face as they started to walk towards the hospital. Alicia was still leaning heavily on the Commander, but she didn't mind. She only hoped he didn't. She didn't have enough energy to be embarrassed at the moment, and she knew he would be the last person to ever judge her on such things.
"Whatever you say Wash, whatever you say." The Commander grinned, looking back down at her. She looked up and smiled, before focusing on the challenge at hand. They were going slowly, she knew Taylor would call it progress but she thought of it as pathetic. She was struggling, but she was still moving which was good, she figured. The trip to the doctor was not usually very long, but with her impediment it took them at least an extra half an hour. She had noticed the length of time it was taking her, but accepted the fact disapprovingly; she could no longer push herself further and knew she needed to take her time.
Alicia didn't notice the way that her Commander was looking at her from time to time, with admiration and respect. He was still amazed at her stubborn nature, but it was one of her qualities, even though it never ceased to annoy the crap out of him it was particularly endearing and respectable. She was focused strongly on moving her legs, which also gave him the chance to appreciate the feel of her leaning on him.
"Almost there Wash." He assured her, trying to encourage her.
"I am not a child learning to walk so don't talk to me like I am one." She returned through gritted teeth. Alicia looked up, stunned that he would say something so patronizing.
He looked back down at her, looking straight into her eyes with his eyebrows raised. Almost apologizing, but really she could tell he was making her step back.
"Sorry sir, that was out of line. I am just hurting a lot, and wish I was moving a lot faster." She admitted, automatically feeling sorry about her previous words. Alicia gave him an apologetic look along with it.
"It's okay, I get it. Anyway we're here now." He said, forgiving her. Still leaning onto him they made their entrance.
"Alicia, Commander you're up early." Dr Shannon greeted them as Taylor led Alicia to the physio's chair in the far back corner of the hospital.
"Didn't want to get caught in the crowd, Doc." Taylor responded, helping Wash onto the table. He could see her scowl from the pain; Dr Shannon noted the expression as well.
"Alicia did you take any painkillers this morning?" Dr Shannon asked, washing her hands at the sink before she made her way over to Alicia.
"No, I guess I was in such a rush to get out of the house..." Alicia trailed off, her voice coming from under the chair in the opening.
"Well I think I'll start you on some new ones today. They are to be taken morning and night; they're not as strong but will last for a greater period of time. You can grab them on the way out." Dr Shannon explained, as she started unwrapping the left leg of Alicia's bandage. Alicia was now wearing the shorts that the doctor had cut for her days earlier, allowing herself to Alicia's injuries. Taylor had set himself up on the side of the bench across from the chair, facing Dr Shannon. She was holding up Alicia's left leg and unwrapping the bandage. She could feel the tension coursing through her body from the pain being released from even this straightforward action. She wondered how the recovery would go if she was struggling with such a simple act as lifting her leg.
"How have they felt lately Alicia?" Elisabeth asked as she finished undressing the injury.
"They're fine Doc." Alicia spoke from underneath the chair, trying to ignore the sting or the itch in her legs.
"Wash, now is the time to take off the brave face." The Commander had caught her out, damn man knew her too well.
"The Commander is right, it's crucial that you tell me the truth about the injury. If you don't I won't be able to help you and then it's going to take you much longer to heal. I can tell you that the cuts seem to be healing quite regularly, but you need to tell me more especially in case there's something wrong." Dr Shannon explained while Alicia sat there unpleasantly agreeing.
"It itches lot, I can't stretch out or bend my leg and I am still struggling with putting any pressure on it even with the pillow" Alicia released her words quickly, trying to get them out before she could regret her weakness.
"The itching as you well know is just the healing taking place, the skin mending back together. Your struggle with flexing your leg is also okay; the wounds are very deep and hit some tissue and very nearly missed muscles. Your legs will be like this for a couple of days. This is the same for your inability to put pressure on your legs, it is a very serious injury and it will need its time to heal properly. But you have been extremely lucky to escape infection; the lack of swelling and redness is good. Out here, infection is almost certain, so both you and the Commander did a good job of washing it out and protecting it." Dr Shannon appraised, Alicia mentally noting to thank the Commander for it, among other things. Dr Shannon went on.
"I know that it hurts a lot, but over the next week it should get much better. You need to keep moving around, and you still need to see me once a day, in the mornings if that still works for you. I'll take your stitches out in a couple of days; I just need to see how fast your leg heals. But at the moment, while the cuts are so fresh, the best thing to do is to keep it elevated and stay off your legs as much as possible. Use the pillow as often as you can, if you're eating or on the couch. It will help with the pain." By the time Elisabeth was done talking she had unwrapped and wrapped both legs, washed over the cuts and was finished.
"Thank-you so much for all your help Dr Shannon, I'm sorry to be such a bother." Alicia said through her teeth as she pushed herself up from the table. She saw Taylor jump up and come over to help Alicia get to her feet. She still had to lean on him, feeling just as incompetent as before. But she knew if she wanted to get back to her place before the day was over she was going to need Taylor's help.
"It's a pleasure Alicia, and please call me Elisabeth." Elisabeth replied as she packed up her things, putting the old bandages in the bin as the Commander and his lieutenant slowly left the building. It was still early, and Alicia was not as worried this time around about anyone seeing her.
Luckily enough there was only a person or two out and about at this time of morning. It was such a struggle to move that all she could focus on was walking nonetheless. Well, that and the feeling of the Commander holding her up, with his arm wrapped around her back and the other holding her arm. Slowly step-by-step, they made it back to her place just as the rest of the colony was beginning to wake up.
Six days later, Alicia was once again in the physio's chair, which was fast becoming her new favourite piece of furniture after the amount of time she had spent there. She was here to get her stitches out, all of them. Though she had had a war's worth of stitches in her time, she was the slightest bit nervous about getting them out this time. Not that she would ever reveal it, but she was. Not only over the fact of the crazy amount of stitches she was getting taken out but... But nothing. She was a strong woman and she didn't need anyone to be here. But she did. Reynolds had offered to stay, he knew how on edge she had been lately, but Alicia knew he had a shift to report for. And, well, the Commander wasn't here. He was out, beyond the gates. He had left two days ago, which had put her in charge. Alicia hated it when she had to step in while he was OTG, it was nothing about the position of being in charge, it was about the fact that she was stepping in because he wasn't there.
Taylor had left for the usual training session OTG. He would usually not be the one to make the trip outside the gate, but Alicia was still under no condition to do anything and he had insisted that he wanted to show some of the new guys OTG as she usually would by helping better prepare them for what the jungle had in store for. It was the final part of training, Alicia ran it twice over two weeks for each new group. They went for the weekend, and Taylor would usually doubt the necessity of the activity, letting half his soldiers out with Wash, but he knew that it provided the invaluable experience that the soldiers would need later on in their careers. Alicia struggled to accept the fact that she was not taking her trainees out, but she knew Taylor would do as good a job as her, if not better.
The team had been gone for two days, and were expected back soon. The whole colony was slightly off while Taylor was out, and everyone could see just how tense Alicia was about it. She walked around with tense shoulders, barking orders at everyone and anyone and although she still had a limp to both her legs, she was nearly damn well running around the whole place. Soon enough someone had called her on it, and none other than Doctor Elisabeth Shannon. The day before she had to go into the infirmary twice, once in the morning for the usual bandaging and a second time so Elisabeth could try and relax the Lieutenant.
"Alicia, I know this is tough for you, and yes believe me I know all about it. My husband goes out there every two weeks so I know what it is like, but we both know that the Commander will do everything in his power to come back safe and sound. I know it's hard to listen while I tell you this, but you honestly need to relax, it isn't any good for you or the colony. Your poor legs are suffering, and if we're not careful you may pick up an infection the way you have disregarded your body recently." Elisabeth spoke confidently, only Alicia let it slide, knowing the doctor had everyone's best interests in mind. She was still slightly worried to know that the doctor had noticed the little respect that Alicia gave to herself while the Commander was out.
"Yes I have noticed Alicia, you've got big bags under your eyes from not sleeping and you've been running around the colony like you're racing. If you keep putting this much pressure on your legs, they are never going to heal properly with all the added stress." Alicia sighed, agreeing with everything that the doctor put forward. She hated the reality of Elisabeth's words, but realised that she really needed it. After that Alicia made sure to go get a few hours sleep that night, even if it was on the table in the command centre; it wasn't great but she felt slightly better for it.
But here she was, worrying over nothing and just hoping that Doctor Shannon had a decent pair of scissors on her.
"I'm well aware of the fact that you have done this before, but I'll just run it by you anyway Alicia. I'm going to inject an anaesthetic to both legs, usually stitches wouldn't need it but due to the severity of the injuries I think that it will do you some good. I'll start with your left leg and make my way across. Are you ready Alicia?" The doctor asked as Alicia heard her pull a portable bench over that she assumed held the utensils needed for the task.
"I'm ready when you are Elisabeth." Alicia replied, enjoying the first name basis they had reached, it made her feel like she had a friend in the doctor, and that was something new and exciting for her. Usually she struggled to bond with other women, she was just very different to them, and there was always a struggle to understand each other. But Elisabeth and herself had found common likes in everything from medic work to books to waiting for their loved ones to come home. Although Alicia had never admitted it, barely to herself, she knew that Elisabeth had some awareness of her feelings for the Commander. They often found themselves waiting together for their respective partners to come back. If only she could make him understand, but even then.
Alicia suppressed the sigh that was just waiting to emerge, before she felt the little tug of the first stitch being taken out. Obliviously she had missed the needle, but she was most certainly not going to be missing the stitches from the pain she was getting just from the start. She took a big breath in and mentally prepared herself for the long wait ahead.
It was halfway, when the doctor announced that she had finished Alicia's left leg.
"Alright I'm ready to move onto your right leg whenever you're ready Alicia. If you want to take a break..." Elisabeth started but was denied quickly.
"No, let's finish this now." Alicia replied sturdily, there was no way she was going to stop now. She wanted it all to be over with and Taylor back home. She heard Dr Shannon rummage around, moving across the room gathering more supplies. She released the tension she had been holding in, letting her arms come under and rub her eyes. Her hands were slightly tingly from holding onto the chair quite hard. Alicia pulled her arms back around to the top, lay them beside her body and waited for Dr Shannon to come back.
Elisabeth came back over, and with no time to spare had begun. She had applied the anaesthetic to her second leg just as she had finished earlier, so there was now a numbing in Alicia's leg. But as the stitches came out one by one she could still feel the tug. She subconsciously gripped back onto the chair, Alicia had started to tense her body again. She tried to pull herself away from it, going through drills that she could use for her next training session when she heard a pair of boots come up beside the bed. She opened her eyes and saw Taylor's boots looking at her. He walked towards the inside of the room and she heard him stop beside the bed, across from Elisabeth.
She struggled not being able to see their interaction, but then she felt his hand prying hers away from the side of the bed and taking hold of it. His warm hand gently squeezed hers, and she squeezed back. The only reason she hadn't jumped up to check that he was uninjured was the fact that he had managed to walk into the infirmary without a problem, and Elisabeth wasn't questioning him. Both these facts made Alicia feel extremely better, and some of the tension in her body was released. After that, for the next hour she didn't feel the stitches coming out, but only his hand holding hers. Alicia could feel how damn right the moment was.