Summary: Maria discovers that someone may actually be awake. Frau Schmidt has a good laugh with Georg. The children get to spend time with the person they have been missing dearly, and Maria discovers Georg could hear her after all.
Disclaimer: I do not own TSOM or any of the characters.
Chapter Twelve: Who Me?
Georg woke up the next morning to the sound of someone shuffling about his room. "Damn it," he heard when something toppled over and smashed lightly on the ground. When he opened his eyes slightly, he saw Maria moping up the water and glass from the vase of flowers she must have been carrying in. She motioned up to Georg causing him to quickly close his eyes, "Oh don't trouble yourself Georg, I'll get it" she said, almost causing him to laugh out loud. She was so feisty. "Well, I'll have to pick you more flowers I guess," she said brushing her hand against her dress, smearing the water down.
A moment later Frau Schmidt came through the door. "IV change," she chimed walking past Maria to switch the bags. "I received the plans for this coming week, thank you for being so prompt" she added, while working on the bags.
"It should be fairly similar to Georg's plan, I simply adjusted the meals, studying time frames, breaks for the staff, switched which rooms I'll handle the correspondence in and moved both lunch and diner back an hour" Maria shrugged. Frau Schmidt laughed, "Basically changing almost everything he put into place," she said. Maria walked over to check Georg's leg, figuring she was in there anyway. "Do you think I should be doing this, maybe it's best to just wait for him to wake," she said to Frau referencing the schedule and taking on a role of Baroness when she indeed, was not. "I think, the children, the staff, and Georg trust you implicitly, and will follow whatever you decide Maria," giving her a nod of encouragement.
Maria headed downstairs to get the children ready for their day out, but Frau stayed behind to tend his catheter. When Georg felt her hand travel up the sheet towards where the tube entered, to check it was secure, she felt a jolt from beneath her. "What are you doing?" he questioned, his voice extremely hoarse from not using it in days. She immediately pulled her hand back, "The catheter sir, I need to check it, I'm responsible for that and your IV, but…." She froze for a minute and looked down at him, taking a second for who she was talking too to register. "Captain? You're awake!" she cried. He smiled at her enthusiasm. It was so beyond the realm of her responsibilities to be tending to him in such a manner. "Um, does Maria also…" he began, but seeing his cheeks start to flush she answered for him to ease his concerns. "Oh no sir, she takes care of your leg, and she's not here when I check on other things," she said lightly, calming his anxiety.
"Should I go get the children?" she asked, turning to walk out of the room. "Wait, not yet please, I'd like to be seen by the doctor first, before we tell any of them I'm awake." He said, intentionally emphasizing the word. "I'll phone the doctor now, Maria is planning on taking the children outside for the day since she had the wheel chair ordered for Gretl. But hopefully the doctor can come this morning, because Maria is in here multiple times a day and I'm not sure it will take her long to discover you're awake." So much of what she said intrigued him, but he figured he'd start with the first.
"Maria had a wheel chair ordered, but I thought Gretl had pneumonia? Also, since when does she place orders?" Frau Schmidt smiled realizing he had a lot to catch up on, even if he did hear their earlier conversation. "Baroness Maria," she started jokingly, "is very much in charge of things around here sir, the staff and the children kind of just appointed her while you were indisposed, she places all of the orders and it's been going very well. The wheel chair is for Gretl because she's supposed to be on bed rest, but Maria thinks she needs fresh air, so she decided it was a win-win situation," She added, hoping to keep the tone light.
"That is interesting," he said, imaging his staff all calling her Baroness. "Would you like me to…" Frau Schmidt began, but he cut her off answering her question, "No, No I approve of that decision. I think it's wise. But um, you said something else, about her uh, being in here often?" he knew that he sounded like a teenage boy with a crush, hoping the girl noticed him. But that's because he honestly felt like a teenage boy with a crush, hoping the girl noticed him.
"She comes in at least three times a day to change your bandages," she said but seeing the disappoint start to fill his face she added, "though at night she's usually in here for over an hour after putting the children to bed." Immediately the smile flashed back to his face and she knew that her suspicions had been correct, he'd fallen in love with her. "Sometimes she yells at you like earlier", she said causing him to chuckle, "but most times she just talks and talks the entire hour, I don't listen to what she's saying but I'm usually in and out, and walking by outside and such" she said, hoping he didn't take it as an intrusion.
"Frau thank you for everything that you have done for me, for my family, I could never repay you." She leaned in lightly, whispering in a jokingly dramatic fashion, a side he'd never seen of her before, "I should warn you though, Maria has been giving the staff some more breaks, and tried to give me a pay raise, twice, so I think you'd better get well quickly, just to keep an eye on her," she said winking and turning to leave his room.
"Mother will be waiting for us downstairs, we'd better hurry" Liesl said urging her brothers to stop fighting and make it downstairs. Georg shook his head smiling remember what Maria had told him the other night. He knew that they had been doing this for a few weeks now, but he never confronted them on it. Partly not doing so because he really didn't mind and partly because he didn't know what he would say to them.
Once the house was cleared, Frau Schmidt had the doctor park around the side of the house and head upstairs to see Georg. He removed the catheter and IV's from him, but gave him a new prescription for antibiotics. "This is one more dosage, to make sure your system clears completely," he said, looking down to check the wound. "The governess has tended to this well, it looks much better, now that the swelling has gone down you can bare weight on it if you can stand it."
Georg smiled "How did you know it was the governess," he began knowing that he never mentioned it. "She ordered I teach her when I was hear the other day," he said uncomfortably, but smiled when he heard Georg chuckle. "Yep, that's our Fraulein Maria," he said half apologetically and half sincerely. "I still suggest you rest for the week, allow the medication to continue to do its work," He said leaving the room.
"Why wasn't I informed!" he heard Maria yelling from down the stairs moments after the doctor had left. Oh no, he thought chuckling to himself lightly. "If there's a doctor here, it means something happened to him, and the only thing I asked was to be informed immediately, so please, explain to me why I wasn't informed!" she began yelling at Franz who looked positively ill at her attack. She couldn't stand him and she felt like he had withheld the information just to spite her. "Maria, just go up to him" he heard Frau Schmidt say, walking into the foyer. Maria ran up the stairs, tears in her eyes, full of concern and anger. When she walked up he appeared to be in the same state as before. Sleeping, eyes closed, and calm. She didn't even notice that his IV was gone. She ran her hand across his cheek, as she did every time she was near him lately.
"You scared me Georg," she began, feeling her heart begin beating at a normal pace again. He wanted to say something to her and now he wished that he hadn't closed his eyes. "Don't you understand, I can't lose you, we can't lose you," she corrected stroking his cheek lovingly. But she noticed something different in the way his face reacted to her touch; it flushed slightly, which it never did before. She looked him up and down and realized that he was no longer connected to any IV's and the bulk where the catheter bag had been was smooth against the bed. She looked on the bedside table and grabbed the newspaper that she had laid there earlier that morning in case he woke up. She took it, folded it in half and began smacking him with it as hard as she could. "Ah! AH!" he screamed, shieling himself from the blows coming at him unexpectedly. "You!" she yelled, still hitting him repeatedly. He started laughing through his screams, and she couldn't help but smile. "How long have you been awake for?" she demanded to know, but was now grinning from ear to ear. "A little while now" he said, knowing she may start hitting him again if he told her the truth.
He took the newspaper from her hand and laid it next to his leg on the bed. As he took her hand in his, she let out a sigh of relief, closing her eyes, trying to memorize the sound of his baritone voice. A voice that she had spent the past few days fearing she may never hear again. "We need to talk about everything Maria" he began, "but first, can you get the children?" he asked.
"Oh yes!" she said, removing from his grasp and clapping her hands together. She left the room to head downstairs, tripping in the foyer. "Children I have a surprise for you all inside," she said picking Gretl up in her arms and heading towards the house. They smiled following her in stride but it wasn't until Liesl spoke that any of them considered it could be Georg. "It's not… is it?" Liesl asked stopping all of them in the foyer. "Well you'll just have to go and see for yourselves," she said, handing her Gretl. She decided that they deserved to have their moment as a family, before she headed back in. Also she figured that she needed to go and apologize to Franz, even though she didn't care too, and Frau Schmidt before she forgot.
As she walked out of the kitchen, having apologized to both of them, she turned to head up the stairs. She could hear Gretl's cough echoing down the corridor and she worried all the excitement was a little too much for her. She was still healing, and still in need of rest even though she was doing better. "Fraulein Maria was in here all the time father," Marta said. "Yes, just like a nurse," Kurt added. "She seemed really worried a lot, she wouldn't tell us that, but we could see it in her eyes. I know she's just as happy as we are that you're awake," Liesl said as Maria walked into the room. "Speaking of," Georg said smiling at her. "Who me?" Maria asked shyly, blushing at the mention of her name. All eight of them just stared at her for a moment while she hesitated in the doorway. They were happy that there father was awake, they were happy that she was there, happy that Gretl was healing and for today, all of them were just thankful.
"Alright children lets let your father get some rest, and Gretl, back to bed for you sweetheart." She said walking over and reaching her arms out to Gretl. "Will you lay with me Fraulein Maria?" she asked softly, allowing herself to be pulled into Maria's arms. As Georg opened his mouth to protest on her behalf he stopped when he heard her reply, "Don't I always sweetheart?" she said as she poked her playfully and carried her out of the room giggling.
Georg knew that he needed to get some rest. His body was still weak, and his leg was still throbbing but he found it impossible to sleep. Every time he would close his eyes he would snap them open, listening for the sound of Maria's voice, petrified she would leave again. He wasn't even entirely sure why she was here, or how long she planned to stay. Lieutenant Darren couldn't have been thrilled his soon to be bride was back in the Von Trapp household. It made him feel sorry for the position she must have been in. He considered what he had told Fredrich, in those fleeting moments after the crash and he wondered if that's why she was here. Surely she didn't need to come out of an obligation, and further he hated to think that's the only reason that she was there.
Maria walked into his room and he wondered when she had become so comfortable doing so. "Can't sleep?" she asked, taking the thoughts right out of his mind. "Unfortunately not," he said studying her as she tended to his leg. She was so at ease touching him, arranging him, and doing so with such a gentle disposition. "Maria, it's not that I'm not thrilled to see you, but how did you get here? Why are you here?" he asked, needing to know if his earlier suspicions were right. "Well, there was an obligation to fulfill, and I came back to fulfill it," she said avoiding the question. She didn't want to get Fredrich in any sort of trouble by revealing that it was his word they trusted to bring her back here.
"So Fredrich honoring my selfish request to have you raise my children if something were to happen to me, has no baring on your return?" he asked suspiciously, knowing that she wasn't giving him the full story. She looked up at him briefly, and glanced back down at his leg continuing his dressing, "Oh that," she said shaking her head. "Maria, it was wrong of me to do that, forgive me?" he said. He said the words in a rush of panic, knowing there was no one else in the world he could trust to care for his children, but he never considered what that would do to her and Darren's life together. They had never signed up for that, to parent seven children not even having a chance to have any of their own.
"When I found out you were in the accident, you and Gretl, I would have came even if you hadn't said a word to Fredrich." She said honestly. "And how does our Lieutenant feel about this new turn of events, don't you have a wedding to be planning" he began, but when he motioned down towards her engagement ring he realized, foolishly, for the first time she wasn't wearing it. "Oh, Maria, I'm sorry" he said. What if his accident had been the reason that they were no longer engaged. He honestly didn't know if he could ever forgive himself. "Is it, … it's not because of,…" he said motioning towards his leg. He wanted to say the accident, him almost dying, Gretl almost dying, but he knew he would have become too emotional if he tried, so he hoped his gesture would suffice.
"No Georg, please, that wasn't why," she said, not feeling ready to reveal to him everything that had happened between her and Darren.
"I can never repay you Maria, for taking care of our family," he said laying back and closing his eyes. She replayed his words over and over again in her mind. "Our?" she asked, playfully swatting him with the newspaper from earlier. "Well, I hear a lot of things in this bed and since the staff has already promoted you to Baroness, and the children have promoted you to mother, we might as well share the household don't you think?" he said jokingly. She smiled, thankful to hear that they wanted her here as much as she wanted to be here.
"So, it's all right if I stay than?" she asked.
"I don't honestly believe the children or the staff would let you leave after some of the changes you've been implementing," he said seriously.
"Thank you Georg, truly" she said, getting up to check on Gretl. She didn't think he would have asked her to leave, but it felt better that she had his approval to stay.
"Oh And Maria," she heard him say, as she stopped in the doorway and turned back slightly. "I love you too," he said, as her jaw dropped to respond, she was pushed slightly by Frau Schmidt walking in with fresh linens. "Oh sorry dear," she began continuing to walk into the room. Georg smiled wickedly as her face turned a shade of crimson red. "I uh," she began but knowing she had no idea what to do she turned out of the room quickly, rushing towards Gretel.
"Is she okay?" Frau Schmidt asked, helping sit Georg up. "Oh she's fine, I just told her I love her and I think I startled her a bit," he said laughing at the awkwardness of the situation. "Well, it's about time," she mused, laughing in stride.
Note: Thank you to everyone who helps give me feedback, whether it be just a one line review that you liked something, or disliked it, to the people who really go above and beyond to help me. I really enjoy writing this and I'm glad that you guys have come to love this storyline as much as I have. xo!
