A/N: Thanks again for reads and reviews. Brendan's wife Dana makes her first appearance here. As established in Duck and Cover (if you haven't read that), Dana and Auggie were best friends growing up and throughout high school. She began dating Brendan, who is almost 4 years older than them, when she was a freshman in high school.
Chapter 7
"What a difference a day makes." Ben Rosen noted as Auggie descended the porch steps.
"Yeah," Auggie blushed. "Thanks," he managed as he climbed into the passenger seat of Ben's car.
"I'd ask you how you're feeling, but it's all over you." Ben came around to his own seat. "There has to be a story behind this."
Auggie laughed a little. "Yeah. Basically my brother Troy gave me a swift kick in the ass, and my brother Brendan sat there while I cried on his shoulder afterward."
"Yeah?" Ben wasn't quite sure what to make of that.
"That's pretty much what happened. I mean, he didn't actually kick me, but he treated me like he would have before."
"First time for that?"
"From my family? Definitely." Auggie paused for a second. "And we're going to check out an apartment downtown this afternoon, too."
"Yeah?" Ben had vocally opposed Auggie's move back home. He would have preferred that Auggie stay in the VA Domiciliary over the current situation, but it had ultimately been the other man's decision to make. "How did that come about?"
"Troy knows a guy who has a place that might work."
"And you're okay with that."
"I mean, yeah. I feel like I've just gone backward since I've gotten home. It was so different than I thought it would be, but I haven't lived there for like 12 or 13 years. I'm not sure what I was expecting." Auggie shrugged. "I'm just starting to feel like maybe there are options."
Ben placed his hand on Auggie's arm. "That's all you have to realize. You don't have to figure it all out today or next week or next month. I just don't want you to feel like you have nowhere to go. Tell somebody what's going on." Auggie nodded. "I know it seems hopeless at times, but you have to reach out. And if you can't do it for yourself, do it for me or for your Mom or your brothers or all the people who want you here."
Auggie had heard that Ben had seen combat time in Afghanistan at the very beginning of the war. It boosted the doctor's credibility infinitely with the guys at Hines. If anyone could understand even a portion of what was going on in their seemingly wrecked lives, this guy was probably going to be the closest. He might have the answers they needed, that Auggie needed. "How did you transition back?"
Ben thought about it for a moment before answering. "Work helped. I could take a lot of what I was feeling and experiencing and find a meaningful place for it working with patients." He continued. "I didn't always want to be a psychiatrist, but after going through some of the struggles myself and seeing so many other people coming back with the same reality as me, I didn't see how I could do anything else. Anywhere else."
"Have you lost guys? Back here I mean."
"Yeah," Ben whispered. "Too many. You can see what's happening, but sometimes nothing gets through. You pray and hope that somehow they'll find a way through it, but not everyone does."
"But there are successes, right?" Now Auggie felt he needed to bolster Ben's mood.
Ben laughed. "You turning shrink on me, Anderson?"
"I felt bad for dampening the mood like that."
"Let's leave it at this," Ben decided. "It's a real shitty job a lot more of the time than I feel like yI'm helping folks. But someone's gotta do it, and I figured it might as well be me."
"You're fucking awesome at it, if that helps at all." Auggie put his opinion there.
"You know, it does a little."
They pulled into the parking lot next to the soccer fields and made their way over to the sideline with Brendan and Dana. Auggie introduced Ben to his brother and sister-in-law before the psychiatrist headed out.
Dana, barely containing her excitement at seeing her life-long best friend for the first time in weeks, nearly knocked him over with her embrace.
"You look a little less like what the dog chewed and the cat dragged in than Brendan described last evening."
Auggie laughed and kissed her cheek. "Always nice to see you, too, Dana."
She linked arms with him and they set off across the park away from the whistles and bustle of the soccer field.
"Don't you need to watch the kids?"
"Oh, Brendan can do that. Half the other mothers haven't even figured out the offsides rule yet. And they all think their kids are the next Pelé." She scoffed. "Thankfully hockey will be starting soon and we can be done with this crowd."
"Where your kids actually are the next Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux."
"Well, if the skate fits…" she ventured. They both laughed before Dana quieted and gripped his arm tighter. "I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me, Auggie."
"Dana, come on." He sighed. "You were there more often than anyone else, almost once a week."
She slowed her steps and then stopped. "Yeah, I was. But I didn't realize how bad it was."
Auggie shook his head sharply. "No way. You're not blaming yourself for anything here."
"I thought you'd want some time at home with your mom and dad, settle into things."
"Yeah, and I was doing great until I thought, 'If only Dana would come see me. Guess I'd better think of ways to kill myself instead.'" He gave her hip a little shove with his. "That's exactly how it went down."
"It's a little too soon for me to laugh about this, Auggie."
"Okay. I can understand that, but it's laugh or cry right now, and I've gotta try a different approach." They started moving again. "I know there's a long way to go still, but honestly talking with Brendan and Troy last night and today, it's the first time I really started thinking about anything other than getting through rehab and whether or not it was even worth it to try." He shook his head. "It was like some kind of fog starting to lift and this crushing weight always pushing me down got just a little bit lighter."
She hugged his arm close and went up on tiptoes to kiss his smooth cheek. "I'm glad. Brendan's glad."
"Thanks for sending him last night." It was something she'd think to do.
"It was 50/50." She revealed. "He was really upset when he got home. He wanted to come right back, but I convinced him to give you a chance to get to sleep first."
"Well, thanks. Either way, it was actually nice to have him there, even after he scared the bajeezus of me when I first woke up."
Dana laughed again. "At least it wasn't your mom!"
Auggie smiled. "She stops by often enough."
Dana nodded. "Listen, I know you're going to look at this apartment today, and I hope it works out well, but if it doesn't seem right or if you don't want to do it, you don't have to. We can help you find another place, or you can stay with us."
"Dana," he tried to protest.
"I'm serious, Auggie. We're hardly ever home between sports and clubs and meetings. There'd be plenty of toys and sports equipment underfoot all the time, and I promise not to cook or clean for you." She paused. "I am a mother, but I'm not yours."
Auggie smiled. "It's a good offer, but I think Troy's actually right on this one. I have to be on my own now, with the safety net of you guys around, to see how things go."
"Well, if you crash and burn, as though that's ever happened, the offer stands."
"Thanks."
They circled back to the fields to find that Troy had arrived on time and he'd brought Rhett with him.
Although Brendan and Dana had seen Auggie both at Walter Reed and frequently since he'd gotten back to Hines, and Troy had tagged along two or three times, Rhett hadn't seen his brother since Christmas the year before.
The two hugged rather stiffly, Rhett seeming unsure and apprehensive around his younger brother and Auggie not exactly sure how to put him at ease. Troy, either totally or not at all oblivious to the situation, took it upon himself to completely overlook this and get on with the day. He handed Auggie a folder with some information about the apartment for him and Brendan to take a look at as they headed toward the destination.
"I couldn't figure out how to get it printed in Braille on that short of a notice. The guy at Kinko's said they could send it out, but it would take a couple of days. I'll know that from now on," he explained.
Brendan gave Auggie the tiniest shove to indicate what would have otherwise been either raised eyebrows or an eye roll.
"Yeah, Troy," Auggie responded, as it seemed like his brother was waiting for him to say something. "We'll look over it."
"I also thought we could grab lunch in the neighborhood, you know, check it out a little, before we meet Henry at the place."
"Is Henry his first or last name," Brendan asked, knowing that with Troy's crew, either was possible. Auggie made a poor attempt to stifle a chuckle.
"Mom said you two have been like this all morning," Troy huffed. "Don't act like idiots in front of this guy. He's a Senior VP."
Brendan and Auggie lost it again. "I'm sorry, Troy," Auggie gasped for breath. "That wasn't even funny." He tried really hard to even out his voice. "We'll try harder."
"Yeah, well, just act like you have some sense," Troy pleaded as he put the car in gear and they started out on their way.
TBC
