Chapter 24

The first bit wasn't that hard, Bodie was able to add the firewood on his knees. The warmth of fireplace was so alluring, he only wanted to stay there and be radiated by it, but Doyle, he bloody hell kicked and kept on kicking, without moving any other muscle than those of his damn jaws and tongue. So, swearing, Bodie had hauled himself on his feet again, and had already forgotten why when he finally managed to stand up straight.

"Bathroom, Bodie" he heard the guidance. "Get going, or at least don't fall on me."

Bastard. That man really knew how to piss him off.

"Wash your face and hands, those scrapes look nasty." Ray didn't feel comfortable until he heard running water from the bathroom, and a few loud curses that made him grin despite everything. Soap and scrapes were always an infallible stimulant and stinging scrapes would keep Bodie awake for a moment.

"Kitchen, Bodie..."

A deep breath. Right. Bread. Kettles. Tin. Opener. Bodie's fingers hurt like hell them too, Georgie had done a great job with his spikes, he realised it now as feeling was returning. Tea water. Oh the bloody soup into the kettle. Ham. He had forgotten the damn gloves... What else had he forgotten? It was so hard to think. Ham... Cheese. Veggies. What else?

He leaned heavily on the wall next to the table. Nausea, fatigue and desperation came as a giant dark wave and he gasped for air. This was too much... this fucking bloody hell was too much... the dark wave tried to suffocate him, before the constant calls got into his consciousness, someone was calling his name...

Ray had watched his mate paralyse, lost somewhere. Fear was trying to sneak in, but he tried to keep it at bay and concentrate on his partner and managed finally, hell, finally, get through to him, saw him straighten up and wipe his face. "Bodie, hang on, mate. You can do it." Bodie still refused to turn. "Listen, I know you're hurt. You're tired. Tired beyond belief, I gather. Just hang on for a few minutes more, then you get to rest. I KNOW you can do it." Still no glance.

"Do you?" finally a suffocated reply.

"Yeah, I do. I do know that even if you don't. You got us this far mate, you did all the hard work, you bloody hell did it already. Now, we only get you to dry clothes, fix Georgie and eat and you lean back after that, lean back and stop worrying. Oi! There's something boiling over, mate, you'd better have a look."

Coarse curse told Ray that Bodie was back, at least for the time being.

In a few minutes Bodie returned to living-room. "We'll have bread and chicken-soup in a few, and tea is coming too."

Ray was content but forced his partner to start changing his clothes. It was a struggle, but in the end Bodie got to the point where Ray again was holding the pullover and Bodie was wriggling out from it. Ray realised the pain in shoulder must be turly agonizing when the hard-boiled agent let out a pained moan, but Bodie bit his lip and finally got rid of the dirty garment which left sand and dirt all over the mattress and Ray. Gasping and sweating Bodie still couldn't yield to such filthiness but he staggered to find a brush and the dustpan, and he carefully cleaned also the area around shivering, still wet Georgie, and gently dried the little kitten with a towel – of which Ray was very grateful as the tabby had been pressing against him. Georgie shivered even worse than before when Bodie touched him, but he didn't try to get away as Bodie didn't try to move or lift him.

"He's hurt, isn't he?"

Ray saw Bodie wipe his eye and sigh deep. "Yeah... at least his front leg is broken, maybe even crushed. I don't have a clue what the hell I could do about it... I don't know anything about cats..." Frustration and grief tried to overwhelm Bodie.

Ray thought hard. He had a feeling that for his partner this was something far greater, far more important than a question of mere broken bones in some cat. "Well... I guess the basic things still apply. I think he would feel better if the ends of the bones wouldn't move that much, could we try and make some sort of splint? Maybe... well, maybe use some tube or pipe, if there's something here you could split in two or slit open from one side, and tighten it around the leg with some sort of tape? You know, like the straws you talked about? Or something of the sort? It could help him cope until we get him to the vets."

Bodie gave his mate a grateful, shy look. "I'll see what I find in drawers."

Ray stared after his mate. He had seen a tear... a tear on Bodie's face, a tear caused by a hurt kitten. What the hell had happened out there? And who was this man?

It was pain. Agonizing. Ray didn't know which hurt him most, teeth and nails digging into his hands, Georgie's screams and shrieks, or the deadly pale man who tried to control his shaking muscles and hands in desperate effort to stabilize the leg and it's tiny bones with a combination of cotton, thin cardboard from toilet-paper roller and duct tape.

But finally they made it, and shivering, moaning, totally rugged Georgie was gently put again against Ray's side, under cover, and Bodie straightened his shoulders for a moment before probing quickly Ray's abdomen. "You probably cope a couple of hours at least" he said in a husky voice.

"Sure", Ray was confident. "Maybe now we take our pills and eat?"

Bodie nodded. Then he looked at Ray's bleeding fingers and realised that he hadn't heard a word of complaint from his mate, and without a word he again struggled on his feet, tossed more wood in the fire and fetched a little warm water and wiped Ray's hands clean. And yet once again he managed to stand up, and eventually fetch their food and drinks, and they took their pills and ate in total silence.

For once, the tidy soldier simply tossed their plates, glasses and mugs farther off when they had finished, and they tried in vain coax the still shocked kitten to have a morsel of cheese. After their futile efforts Ray took a look at his partner and their gazes met finally. "Why don't you just lie down now, Bodie" Ray said gently. "If you feel like telling what has happened, do so, but I don't mind if you take a nap or something."

Somewhere deep in his tired mind Bodie realised that his generally impatient mate was performing an ultimate effort of self-restraint. Letting his head finally meet the pillow he sighed deep, wondering if he could make himself to let out any intelligible sentences. Ever again.

Halting and hesitating was his story. Very factual and precise, as his reports usually were, but when Bodie came to the point where he had understood what had happened, looking down the bank, he instinctively hunched closer to his partner whose hand took a hold on his wrist, never letting go until Bodie was back in the house.

"You did a good job again, mate. Bloody hell, you really did a good job... " Ray swallowed, stunned as the reality of their situation really had struck him. No wonder Bodie was so totally exhausted. Chrissake...

"I shouldn't have done that, right?" came a sudden, bitter question.

"Done what? Ok I told you no stunts but yeah I know you had to go over to see..."

Bodie interrupted him. "I mean Georgie. I shouldn't have meddled. It was too much a risk. I should have known. I should have priorised."

Ray hesitated before asking "Well... why did you then?"

The dark-haired man was quiet.

Ray thought of all he had seen, heard and felt here. "You did it because he's a mate, right?" Ray felt Bodie nod after a moment of hesitation.

But the sarcasm and bitterness in Bodie's next words hurt Ray deep. "Yeah. Fucking pathetic, eh? Stupid animal. Two stupids there. I know, so you can spare your breath."

Ray wanted to swear, but he managed to swallow it. "No... you did what you should. You couldn't have left him, eh? That's clear. He was under attack, you were there, you acted, that's all. He got hurt, you saved his arse. That's all too. That's what we're trained to do. He's a cat, yeah, but he's become our partner. We're supposed to look after our partners. So what you did was right, under the circumstances."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

Bodie was quiet for a while. "It wasn't his fault... Bloody hell, all he did was to follow me there... he was so happy seeing me come close he didn't pay attention... it wasn't his fault!"

Ray felt his partner tense, so defensively that it hurt. "You did the right thing. If someone has the nerve to say something else, I'll give 'im a whack."

Bodie felt Ray's fingers let go of his wrist... and search his hand. Tight squeeze.

"Now you rest, mate. Come closer if you're too tired to put a shirt on. If you fall asleep, I wake you up in a couple of hours. 'kay?"

" 'kay." Shyly, Bodie moved closer to warmth. Georgie's head peeked out from under the quilt, and settled down again, with a calmer look in his eyes.

Bodie hid his face against his friend's shoulder.