It's been a week since Mike and Kate talked in his hospital room.
A week since she last spoke to Mike.
A week since he made it clear that he doesn't want a relationship with her.
A week since Kate's already broken heart was smashed into even smaller pieces.
HAMMERSLEY
"Ma'am contact on our radar."
"Is it the FFV we've been chasing X?" Kate replies back to Nikki.
"X co-ords so I can bring it up on the EOD." Dutchy asks as Nikki gives him the co-ordinates and he then brings up the suspected vessel on the EOD
"Boss it's not the one were chasing but look at this." Dutchy says as Kate then comes over and they watch on the EOD what is going on.
"RO try and contact them, X prepared your boarding party." Kate says as she goes over to the maps. "Nikki if those co-ordinates are correct they on the verge of fishing in protected waters. Make sure you get all the details of all their nets and pots, and if they complain tell them we're doing Fishery checks in this area."
"Yes Ma'am." Nikki says as she then puts the call out for Hands to boarding Stations throughout the ship and then heads off. Kate heads back to her seat and watches on after sending the RHIB away.
The boarding goes routine for the crew, it was a Australian fishing vessel who thought they had plenty of room between their nets and the protected zone, as 2Dad's looked at their equipment he found a fault with their GPS unit and he happily fixed it, the crew then went off and picked up all their only net to have been set yet and headed off to a different area after Nikki showed them a better spot to be so their gear didn't drift into these parts again. Since she had noticed after going through all the paperwork and talking to the crew it was their first time out commercial fishing, though they all had knowledge of how to run a boat and three out of the five crew had skipper's tickets.
For Kate being back on Hammersley was good. She was with a crew that respected her, followed her orders and didn't have the issues that Chandlers had.
The rest of the afternoon went by without much else happening. They all had time to write up their reports on the boarding and hand them to Kate who then wrote up hers and emailed them off to Maxine.
As Kate is sitting up on the bridge as they are cruising through the open waters the stat phone rings.
"HMAS Hammersley Lieutenant McGregor speaking."
"Kate, its Maxine."
"Commander White what can I do for you?"
"I take it you're on the bridge?"
"Yes."
"Can you get RO to put the call through to your cabin please?"
"Um yes sure thing." Kate says sounding worried, she then asks RO to put the call through to her cabin as she hands over the ship to Nikki and heads to her cabin.
Once in the cabin she picks up the phone and RO patches it through to her.
"Maxine what is it that you need to say to me that you couldn't do on the bridge."
"I'm ringing to see how you are doing?"
"You got my reports." Kate says hoping she can change the subject.
"Kate I meant personally with yourself?" Maxine says and Kate doesn't reply.
"Kate."
"Maxine I don't want to talk about it."
"Kate bottling it up isn't going to help."
"I'm not bottling it up I'm accepting it. I did as you asked me to do Maxine and it backed fired on me. I reached out to him and all I got in return is even more heart ache. Now can you just let me do my job?"
"Ok then Kate by the way you guys are required to come back to port you guys are doing a supply run and you're the closest asset we have to Cairns." The two keep talking for a few more minutes before Kate heads to the bridge to inform them of their change of course to Home port.
2100 hours Kate is sitting in her cabin reading a book when there is a knock on the door.
"Come in" she says as she keeps on reading.
"Ma'am can I have a word with you in private?"
"Sure thing Nikki." Kate says in reply. Nikki then enters the cabin and shuts the door behind her. Kate stops reading, marks her page and then sits her book down.
"What can I do for you?"
"Um I want to talk to you about Mike."
"Nikki we're not going there."
"But..."
"Nikki." Kate says in a strong officer tone.
"He emailed me asking how you were doing." Nikki quickly blurts out. Kate is left there stunned.
"He did what." She says to Nikki
"He emailed me asking how you were doing."
"So he emails you but not me." Nikki can tell Kate is not at all happy with this. "What did you say back?" She then asks Nikki
"Nothing I came straight here to you." Kate moves over to her desk and picks up the phone.
"RO patch me through to Commander Flynn's mobile please." She says in to the phone and Nikki leaves the cabin not wanting to be there when she rips shreds off Mike. "Oh and RO no listening in to this conversation."
"But Ma'am."
"No RO I will take any fall out if there happens to be one. This is a private phone call." She says before she is put through to Mike's ringing mobile.
CAIRNS
Mike was watching TV when the ringing of his mobile catches him off guard. It was a ring tone he hadn't heard in months, meaning only one thing to him. He picks up the phone and says hello.
"Mike, its Kate."
"What are you doing ringing on Hammersley number?"
"I'm Acting CO right now." She replies back to him with no emotion in her voice. There are a few moments of silence between the two.
"Care to explain why you went through Nikki to find out how I was doing." He says nothing in reply.
"Just as I thought. You're a bloody coward Mike." She says crossly to him
"No I'm not."
"Yes you bloody well are otherwise you would have emailed me yourself, not used Nikki as the middle man."
"I wasn't sure if you would even read an email from me."
"Don't use excuses with me Mike. I reached out to you and what did you do, you threw it back at me. You damn well know I wanted to fix things between us but you chose not to. I told you Mike not to do what I did the first time around. Not to shut me out but you did." She gets out before breaking down into tears again. God all I do is cry over this man she thinks to herself. There are a few minutes of silence between the two.
"How are you doing?" He asks his voice soft and quiet sounding. As she wipes more tears away from her eyes. She says nothing to him.
"Ok I take it you aren't doing that well then." He replies hoping she might say something to him, but all he can hear is the soft sound of her trying to control her breathing. He knows she was crying just before and is most likely still crying now.
"If this is your way of getting me to understand what I did to you. I get it. I got it back then too."
"But you wouldn't talk to me about it."
"Because I knew if I did…I was given orders Mike. If it had been you in the same boat as me you would have done the same thing."
"No I wouldn't have." He comes back with without anytime to think, this to Kate means he is being truthful about this because he took no time at all to think of an answer to her silent but knowable question.
"Yes you would have Mike, if it meant saving my career and your own."
"No Kate I would have told Maxine where to go."
"And be court marshalled."
"Yes if it meant we got Tahiti, got us." He quietly adds on the end. They both go quiet.
"I came to you in the hospital totally scared that you would turn me away and you did Mike, your mother knew I was worried about you shutting me out, and what did you do, you did that. One minute you're holding me allowing me to cry into your chest, you provided me with comfort then…." She stops just thinking about it makes her eyes flow more tears. "I need to go I have a warship to run."
"I love you Kate." He says
"You have a bloody funny way of showing it." She says before hanging up on him. Not returning those three words. Even though she does love him and always will. She doesn't wont to make this easy on him, well not to easy she knows she does have a lot to make up for and will have to meet him half way at least, but first he has to provide her with the evidence that he isn't going to shut her out like he did in that hospital room or give her mix signals as well.
After hanging up the phone she heads to her bathroom and has a shower, allowing even more tears to fall down her face.
Why do I keep crying over him?
Why does he have such a hold on my heart, on me?
Mike on the other hand stays lying in his bed, he rolls on to his side facing towards his window his back to the door, and he has silent tears fall down his face. Going over the things that had been said to him over the week by his parents and Maxine.
Mike, Kate was doing as she was told. I told her to end it so that you would stay. But as per normal for you Mike you turn it all around so it is all about you. Making you sound like the victim. She was one also Mike, she was hurting too over it all. I don't say she wasn't because she was. I could see it every time you two came into my office. Your father is right though Mike you're a bloody idiot for doing what you are doing to her. She reaching out to you, she isn't afraid of saying she was wrong, but you. God Mike I don't know why she still loves you but she does and your treating her like trash.
"Mike have you spoken to Kate yet?"
"No"
"Why the hell not?"
"Mike she isn't going to bother contacting you not after the way you treated her last time you saw her. You hurt her badly."
A few days later.
"Mike what is it going to take her being in hospital too before you pull your finger out and fix all of this."
"It's not that simple dad."
"Bloody hell it is, all you got to do is say sorry and ask her back, ask her if you both can try again."
"There is a lot more than you know about dad it's not that simple."
"Oh yes it is and I know far more than you even realise son. Fix it before it is far too late to be fix."
"Dad."
"Don't dad me son at the rate you are going you will only face up to the fact that you love her more than you care to let on to us is when something happens to her. So do it before something does happen to her." His father says as he leaves his son to think. Mike then gets his laptop out had decides to email Nikki to find out if Kate is ok or not. That way he can judge if he should or shouldn't contact her.
I shouldn't have emailed Nikki like I did. I should have contacted her directly.
Mike has now been in Cairns Hospital for two weeks and the doctors are happy to let him return home into the care of his parents. He has to go in daily for physiotherapy on his leg, has to use a wheelchair for a tad bit long till his leg is strong enough to take his weight for more than a few minutes at a time. They are hoping for a full recovery but so far they aren't too sure as there was a lot of damage to already damaged tissue, tendons and ligaments. Time is going to be the only way to find out if he will or won't be back out on the water or not.
Since the phone call from Kate he hasn't spoken to her. He has been getting the cold shoulder from his parents about it all as well and then Maxine well yes Maxine let rip into him over what he did as well.
"So how long are you two staying here for?" He asks once he is home and sitting on his couch.
"For as long as it takes for you to recover enough that the doctors are happy for you to be left alone." His mother says to him and he can tell form the tone she has used that his parents are still not happy with him.
"Has anyone been to look at the house?"
"NO we took it off the market."
"Mum."
"No Mike you're in no fit state right now to be house hunting, let alone selling this place. You're not even able to work. You own this home Mike. Stay put for now." She says forcefully to him.
"Look mum I know I've made some not so happy choices over the last few months but it is what it is."
"Really Mike your made a complete mess of things to be honest. You've let the best thing to happen to you walk right out of your life yet again. Why this time I have no bloody idea, apart from your own damn pride." She says as she walks off.
"Mum it's not that simple." He says back to her.
"Nothing ever is when you are involved son."
"Mum you don't understand what it was like."
"I understand better than you think I do. Your very much like your father in that regard. And if I had allowed him to get away with half of what Kate is letting you get away with then you wouldn't be here and neither would your sister or brother plus I wouldn't be married to him." She says before leaving the room. Mike follows her.
"Mum?" he says questionably. And she ignores him.
"Mum." He says more forcefully, she turns at looks at him
"Your father wasn't saying things to you just for the sake of saying them he was hoping you wouldn't make bigger mistakes than what he made." She says before heading into the bathroom and closing the door on him, he takes the hint and heads back to the lounge but as he passes his bedroom he stops and backups and enters his bedroom instead. He mangers to close the door and then gets himself onto his bed, before lying down to rest and think.
BACK OUT ON THE WATER
For Kate is had been a long week she had been hoping that after ringing Mike herself over the email to Nikki that he might ring her and talk to her but nothing. She only way she found out what was going on was either via Maxine or the emails that Lisa was sending her on him. She knew he was being discharged today and wondered if he would find out when they were due back in port and maybe come and see her.
"Ma'am you ok?" Nikki asks when she notices Kate was steering off into space.
"Yes Nikki I'm fine."
"Yea right." She quietly says to her and only Kate hears this and sends her the daggers, but all Kate gets in return is a smile.
"He gets out today doesn't he?" She asks and Kate nods in an affirmative.
A mayday call then gets Nikki off the topic of Mike and back on the job at hand. For the next few hours they deal with the mayday call.
"So are you two going to sort out what is going on or do I need to lock you both in a room together and not let either of you two out till you sort it out?" Nikki says to Kate while in her cabin later on that day.
"I've tried Nikki, Mike's the one that…"
"Right so I need to have words with him then."
"Nikki just leave it."
"No not when I know how hard it is effecting you and don't lie to me I hear you crying at night." The look on Kate face.
"You do it in your sleep I've heard you when going or coming off watch. The others being as we are here a family haven't questioned you because I told them not too. Plus the look you get when someone brings up his name is enough for them to know things are well between the two of you right now." Nikki says to her. "Look next shore leave we get you should go see him even if things don't work out how you won't them too."
"No I'm not he's made it perfectly clear what he wants. I tried I did as Maxine and his mother asked me and it made things worse. So no, now if you don't mind I would like some time alone." Kate says, and Nikki knows Kate is struggling with this whole Mike thing so she decides to hatch a plan. A plan she hopes will work and she even gets Dutchy into it as well only because she knows the Dutchy knows far more than anyone else on the boat about what went on between the two of them.
The following day is firing up his emails when he notices that he has an email from Nikki, the subject line makes him smile.
'DON'T YOU DEAR DELETE THIS BEFORE READING IT OR HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE ON YOU MICHEAL FLYNN' Trust Nikki to come up with something like that. He says as clicks on the open button.
Well done you opened the email. Now do not stop reading till you get to the end, as stated in the subject line all hell will break loose on you if you do.
You need to fix things with Kate and yourself.
She pretends that she is happy but she isn't. I look at her and I see what I must have been like after Josh died and I can't let her go through that heartache you both know how long it took for me to come right. Not when the person who has her heart is still alive and kicking and can fix what is going on.
The only thing getting her through each day is the job. Oh and she is working hard she sure is hell proving those big bosses they made a huge mistake in not promoting her to CO she runs Hammersley as if she's been CO for years not a few weeks and the crew they back her up 110%.
I forgot how great it is working on Hammersley how much of a family feeling you get. I just hope when Kate gets her promotion they keep me on here as Kate's 2IC.
But anyway back to3 you. Fix this Mike please for everyone, but mainly for you two you are both meant to be together not apart.
We meant to be docking in port in a few days all depending on supplies, maydays, and alike you know the drill nothing ever goes to plan when Hammersley is involved. Why don't you come down and see her face to face, try and take a step forward please.
Anyway must go due on the bridge.
Nikki
Mike reads through the email several times before moving away leaving the email open for anyone to see, and his mother reads through it when she finds it. She rings Maxine and they spend about twenty minutes talking about the email, Hammersley and of course those two, Mike and Kate.