Steve pulled Catherine to his chest, he was so blessed to have this woman in his life. "Thank you for watching my sister last night."
"Wasn't an issue at all. 'Cena and I get along well and Mary needed you." Responded Catherine, thankful she had the less lively of the two sisters. Spending the last few days in the hospital had drained her of a lot of energy. She couldn't imagine going out drinking, and after seeing Mary this morning, she was thankful she hadn't.
"Yeah, this Doris situation is eating away at her more than she wants to admit." Steve said, still holding Catherine in his arms.
"What about you? How are you doing with it?"
"It surprises me to say that it shocked me, and it shouldn't have. Doris was a spy first and a parent second. I just can't imagine being willing to give up my children, no matter how old they are."
Catherine pulled her face back from Steve's chest, "And that is why you are going to make a great father one day."
Steve smiled, the last few months they had talked about building a family and he was looking forward to it. Never in his life had he imagined he would have or want a family. He had been a solitary man for a good chunk of his life, so this idea thrilled him. He wasn't ready yet, but they would build one in the future and he looked forward to it.
"I love you so much." He said, as he leaned down and kissed her.
"I love you too, but I'm going to go take a shower, fall into a bed, and stretch out."
"Good plan and be safe. Will you call the hospital room when you head back this way?"
"Of course." She leaned up and kissed him again.
Steve had hugged Mary goodbye before they left the hospital building. He watched Catherine walk up to Mary, who had given them some space, and the two ladies walked in the direction of Azucena's apartment.
#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#
Azucena was beginning to get uncomfortable in the recliner, but she wasn't about to get back in the hospital bed. She was struggling to situate herself in the chair better when Steve returned to the room and witnessed the contortion act occurring in the recliner. He knew better than to rush over and offer help. 'Cena didn't like people in her personal space or touching her. Add that to the fact that she was fiercely stubborn, he stood in the doorway, "You want some help?"
"I'm good, thanks." She responded, but her voice gave away the fact that this subtle act winded her and she was exhausted. He continued to watch her shift in the chair until she had found a comfortable position. When she finally settled, he could see how much energy it had taken out of her, "How are you doing?"
"I'm ready to go home." She answered, honesty bursting forth from her tired person.
"I'm ready for you to come home too." He replied, with just as much enthusiasm.
"How was last night?"
"Mary is struggling and she was going to make some destructive choices, so I thought it was best to spend some time with her."
"Makes sense to me. Honestly, you deserved to relax and get away from here as well."
"This doesn't bother me." He said, gesturing to the hospital room. He ambled over to the other recliner and made himself comfortable. He was going to be here for a good chunk of the day.
"No, but you have to take care of yourself. It seems like you've been taking care of me a lot."
"That's what family does. You did the same thing for me when I was in the hospital. Besides, I haven't seen you in a months." He replied, thinking back to the past few months that felt rather empty without his sister to talk to. It would be one thing if she was on the mainland and he could call her and catch up. However, these months had been different. He had never wanted to draw the analogy, but it felt like she had died.
Azucena thought about the past few months and how much she missed her family. However, that was in the past and she wasn't going to think about the past. She was ready to move forward, and that included going back to the island and getting her life back in order. "Tell me about Eddie. What type of dog is he?"
Steve found the jump in conversation interesting, but he followed along with her thinking, "Eddie is a yellow lab."
"How old is he?"
"They said he was five and he is a busy guy." Steve said, with a little chuckle in his voice.
"I'm happy you guys found each other."
"He was a big help after you left." Steve offered, surprised with his honesty. He had been lost the first few days after Azucena left. The only thing that kept his head on straight was the fact that he had WoFat to chase after, Catherine to ground him, and then Eddie. Eddie was a creature in need and Steve would do anything to help him.
Steve decided to change the conversation, "How was Roswell?"
"Arid." She offered, ready to put the place behind her.
"What about the people?" Steve asked, trying to get her to open up about her life here.
"The people I worked with were great. Mary and Marshall were wonderful."
"I saw the library books on the kitchen table. You didn't sign up to take classes?" Curious why his sister wasn't in school. Azucena was one of the most driven young women he had ever met and school had always been her priority since he had met her.
"I couldn't finish my degree in nursing if I went back to school out here. It would have been a way for WoFat to find me. I didn't see the point in working towards a degree I wouldn't use, so I got books from the local library to stay on top of my studies."
Steve hadn't taken this into account with her starting over in the Program. He had assumed since she hadn't finished her degree, it wouldn't have been an issue. However, the more he thought about it, he understood. "Sorry to hear that."
"Meh, it makes sense. And honestly, I was willing to do anything that would keep WoFat away from me."
"Speaking of him," Steve paused, hesitant to bring it up. However, he needed to ask, but he didn't want to put any pressure on her, "Do you remember anything of what happened?"
Azucena glanced down at the hospital floor and then back to her brother. He was slightly surprised when she looked him directly in the eye, "No, and honestly, I'm not certain I want to."
"I understand; I'm just happy you are safe. If you remember, that's fine. If you don't ever remember, that's fine too. There is no pressure. The goal now is for you to come home and go back to building the life you want."
"And he is locked up again." She added, needing him to say it again. She was pretty sure for the rest of her life she would need to hear that WoFat was in prison and not out trotting around the globe.
"Yes, he is locked up in an incredibly secure prison." Steve realized she needed him to confirm he wasn't getting out ever again. He felt compelled to elaborate, "He's heavily guarded and the guards are changed every day, so he won't be able to build a relationship with any of them."
She nodded her head, feeling slightly better about the WoFat situation. She knew deep down that no matter how many times she heard he was in prison, an inescapable one at that, he would still haunt her. There was always the possibility that he could get out. In her life, she knew there were no guarantees.
Steve could tell she was deep in her thoughts, thoughts that seemed to weigh heavy on her. He considered asking her if she wanted to talk about it, but she started rambling before he could begin to ask the question. He missed this, the quiet she displayed right before she unloaded about whatever was being mulled over in her brain. This was the sister he had missed.
"You know I don't blame you, right?" She suddenly announced to him, pain and sadness on her face.
"About what?" Steve asked, assuming she had been referring to WoFat, but thought it best to clarify.
"About WoFat finding me before you could find him." She didn't even pause, she was just ripping off the Bandaid. This had been eating away at her whenever Steve had been around her after she woke up. He had a sadness in his face each time he looked at her.
She knew her brother, and she knew there was a part of him that carried guilt that he had not been able to prevent this. She knew there was a part of him that blamed himself for what happened to her. "I know you said you were going to do your best to find him and I have no doubt that you tried. But I remember how long it took WoFat to resurface after the first time we faced him. It seemed to take forever, so I knew it wasn't going to be easy or quick. I know he is cunning and willing to wait for the right time to strike. So I guess, what I'm saying is, don't blame yourself for this. I can see the guilt in your face every time you look at me and I need you to know this wasn't your fault. You understand that, right?"
He forgot how easily his sister could read him, but then again, she was good at reading people. After everything she had experienced in her life, she was leery of people and studied them a great deal. He took a deep breath, leaned forward in the recliner, and looked directly into her eyes, "'Cena, he almost killed you for the third time. I listened on the other end of the phone as he tortured you. You begged to go home to Jack rather than endure anymore pain. Maybe it's because I can remember it and you can't that you can forgive me, but I can't forgive myself."
She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, she could feel pain spread across her face, but she ignored it, "Steve, it doesn't matter if I remember everything tomorrow, ten years from now, or never; I know you. You did everything you could to find him. I'm sure you were sick with worry, constantly thinking about different ways to uncover his location. The truth of the matter is he is the Devil in human form. There is nothing you could have done to prevent this. Not even the U.S. Marshalls could stop him from finding me or every government agency on the planet. This is not your burden to take on, so I'm telling you, let this guilt go. It's not yours to carry."
His sisters were stubborn, and he could tell that this little exchange had costed Azucena almost all of her energy. She was maintaining eye contact with him, but her body was beginning to sink in on itself in the chair.
"You're tired and I can see the pain creeping into your body. How about we get you back in the bed and let you sleep?" He offered, wanting her to rest and recover.
"Not until you tell me you are going to let this go." She said, sinking her heels into the discussion.
"'Cena," he rubbed his hand across his chin, pushing down the frustration he had with his kid sister. She wanted him to forgive himself for something that was going to eat away at him for the rest of his life. He hadn't been able to protect her.
"Don't." She verbally pushed back against him, tired, but holding her ground. "I'm going to sit here and continually tell you that you are not responsible for his behavior. Just like I'm not responsible for his behavior or Wood's behavior or any of the other bad guys you chase down on a daily basis. They made their decisions and we have to deal with the consequences. The only thing you can hold yourself accountable for, is to help me go home and recover from this."
He watched her body fade, but the passion in her words was strong. If she had been stronger, Steve knew her hands would have been talking right along with her mouth. He knew what she was telling him and she wasn't wrong. However, he held himself to a higher standard. Yet he knew she was going to pass out shortly if he didn't get her to calm down and relax. With a deep breath, he replied, "I promise I will work on letting this go, but can we please get you back in bed so you can rest and maybe take some pain medicine?"
She examined his face, studying the details of how exhausted he looked, "Yes to the bed, no to the pain medicine."
"I'll take it." He said, as he stood up and walked towards her. He watched as she slowly and gingerly stood up with the help of the walker in front of her. He could see the pain of all the healing cuts run across her face as she moved. As she slowly ambled towards the bed, he let his hand hover near her back, in case she lost her balance and fell. Secretly, he was afraid her legs would give out on her because of the pain.
She managed to sit on the edge of the bed, and through various experiences in the past, he helped her get comfortable. He pulled the sheet up to her stomach, concern in his voice, "You sure you don't want any pain medicine?"
"No," she closed her eyes for a moment, "Can we just turn on some movie and forget everything for a little while?"
"We can definitely make that happen." He agreed, pulling his chair closer to her bed. Grabbing the remote, he sat down next to her and flipped through the channels until they found something that would work for the both of them, Mrs. Doubtfire.
She slowly reached out for his hand and held it, thankful he was here. Steve noticed five minutes into the movie, her grip loosened and she was fast asleep. Exactly what he had wanted her to do all along.
Thank you to everyone who continues to read and leave notes. They mean more to me than you will ever know.
Elle: This chapter is for you. And I love the fact that you reread the story from start to finish. I do that with some of my favorite stories on this site, so that is an incredible compliment. Thank you so much!