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Chapter 24 - Chapter 24 - A Nice Shower

Karen and Genie walked through the hallways of the Doctor's ship. Both of them carried a large bag of shopping and Karen wore a new, lovely dress. Her hair was styled and pulled up on top of her head. She laughed with Genie.

"Thank you so much, Genie. I had such a great time."

Genie giggled. "It's my pleasure. I loved it, too. It's nice having a girl to shop with. Although, Arles is pretty close."

Karen laughed. "I hope he has a good time on his date."

"So, do I." Genie smiled, "Dancing. Do you like to go out dancing?"

"Of course. I met Samuel at a bar where there was dancing."

Genie laughed. "Was he dancing?"

"He wasn't."

Genie teased, "And now I know how he managed not to frighten you off, straight away."

Karen laughed.

Genie stopped outside of Arles and Samuel's suite's door.

Karen smiled. "I can't wait to get back to the med bay and see Samuel."

Genie pressed the button to open the door. Both of the girls were surprised to see Samuel sitting at the table, eating something from a bowl. He was wearing a pair of jim jams, t-shirt, and a dressing gown.

Soli sat on his knees next to him.

Rose handed Soli a bowl of soup.

Samuel looked up and smiled at them. "Well, hey!"

Karen covered her mouth and laughed. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled. "This is my suite."

Rose smiled at him proudly and motioned for them to join them. "Do you girls want soup?"

"No, thanks Mum." Genie told her as she sat down the bag she held on the sofa. "I introduced Karen to several new places to eat."

Karen laughed and sat down the bag she carried on the sofa, too. She walked over to Samuel and kissed him. He rose his arms and hugged her as he sat.

"And you can move." Karen held his hands and smiled at him.

"I can. I'm just a bit unsteady on my feet, so forgive me for not standing."

"It's completely alright." Karen smiled.

Soli sipped his soup. "We were talking about the school."

Karen, Genie and Rose all sat down at the table with them.

Samuel grinned at Soli. "No, we were talking about science. Tell them what you learned."

Genie smiled. "I bet it's something he's made you repeat over and over."

Soli nodded. "Yes. Some parts of the atmosphere are Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere and Exosphere."

Genie smiled proudly, "That's right. Great job."

Karen giggled. "That's amazing."

Samuel pointed at him. "And not all planets have those. Some do. Ugh. Mum, I'm sorry. But, I can't eat anymore of this. I feel like I'm going to pop."

"Don't think you have to. You need to take things slowly." Rose smiled, took the bowl from Samuel and returned it to the food replicator. It disappeared.

Samuel sighed. "Slowly. Ugh."

Soli asked, "So, what's the smallest planet?"

"In the entire universe?" Samuel asked.

"Yes. That's science isn't it?"

Rose sat back down at the table with them.

Samuel looked back at Karen, took her hand, and smiled. She could feel the familiar sensation return to her arm as they touched.

Samuel continued to speak to Soli, "Well, I'm not sure. Dad would know, of course. But, if I had to guess, I would say….ummm…. Parvus."

Genie laughed under her breath. "Good one, Sammy."

Samuel chuckled and held up his hand to show his two fingers, only a few inches apart. "The people there are small. Only as tall as my finger."

Soli's eyes lit up. "Are they really?"

Samuel grinned. "Yes. We should go there. It's really interesting. You have to be careful where you step. Imagine yourself among these people. You would be a giant."

Karen laughed.

Rose shook her head. "I've never heard of that one."

Genie giggled. "It's wonderful. Dad took us there when we were little."

Samuel grinned, "Genie thought she could bring some of the people home and get them to live in her dollhouse."

Genie smiled. "I was a little girl. It seemed reasonable."

Rose looked back at Soli. "Eat your soup, and we'll go to the Observation Deck with the other children."

Soli sipped his soup. "I want to stay with Sam. May I?"

Samuel grinned. "I need to rest. But, I'll see you tomorrow."

Soli pointed at him. "Brilliant! Rest then! I have a lot of school that you need to help me with."

Samuel nodded. "Sure thing."

Soli got out of the chair and took his bowl to the food replicator. Karen watched as he sat it on the shelf, pressed a button, and it disappeared.

Samuel raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it. It caused her to look back at him and smile. He looked much more rested than he had before she left and much more alert.

Genie asked. "Where is Tony?"

Rose sighed. "He came up here and got your Dad, then he went to talk to Pepper. So, I've been keeping an eye on Soli and Sam."

Samuel grinned, "She makes me sound like I'm still a baby."

"You are! Just upstairs with the rest of the children. I need to go give you a feed and get you to bed. It's late."

Genie teased, "Same thing she's doing down here. Giving you a feed and getting you ready for bed."

Samuel chuckled at his sister.

Karen grinned, "You are such a cute baby, Samuel."

He propped his head up on his fist and looked back at her. "Why, thank you."

Genie smiled. "I'll come help you, Mum."

"Thank you, Sweetheart." Rose smiled and stood next to Sam. "Don't get up."

He relaxed in the chair. "Yes, ma'am."

"And don't try to do anything that's going to put you back in the med bay."

He sighed. "I am a Doctor, Mum."

She leaned down to kiss his cheek, "And I'm your Mum, Doctor Samuel."

Genie giggled and hugged her brother. "Rest."

Rose smiled at Karen, "If you need anything, tell Friday. Just say, 'Friday, send whoever you need to this location, or whatever.' She's rather smart."

Karen nodded. "Okay. I'll keep a close eye on him."

Samuel smiled back at Karen.

After hugging Karen and Samuel, Soli left the suite with Rose and Genie. Karen remained sitting at the table next to Samuel. He took her hand again. She smiled as the familiar sensation began, again.

"I've missed this so much." She told him.

"You are beautiful. Did you have a good time shopping?"

"I did. Genie insisted we get you a few more things than your boxers."

He laughed under his breath. "Yeah? Any of it purple?"

She giggled, "Genie told me about that. I think that's smart."

"Wait until she starts stealing your clothes." He laughed.

She smiled. "So, you can move?"

"I woke up and was able to move. My arms feel like they are about 100 pounds each. I'm really unsteady on my feet. I'll have to have you, or Arles, help me to bed in a bit."

"Well, Arles is on a date."

He grinned. "Really?"

"With a…ummm…hang on. I'll remember this. He's with a Qonse. That's what he said."

Samuel shook his head. "He wishes. Nah, she's not. There's no way to know that."

"She had…blue lines on her face."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Several species have that. There's also make-up to make one appear….ummm….this is all so confusing to me."

"What, Samuel?"

"Us, talking like this. I find it….strange."

"You still don't remember anything?"

He shook his head. "No."

She nodded. "John said it should come back."

"It might not. I'm a Doctor, too. I've seen all of the reports and such." He sighed. "And, that's another thing. Ummm….other things, aren't going to work for a while."

She rose her eyebrows. "You mean-"

"Yes." He nodded his head. "It will probably be the last thing to come back. Well, it's there. Just, not really, working."

She kissed his hand. "It's alright. You are too weak for anything like that. Are you in pain?"

"No. And I should be. I don't know what happened. I just woke up, didn't hurt, and I could move."

She smiled, "Improvement."

He looked longingly at her, "Tell me what I'm missing."

"Samuel, I'll tell you some of it, but I really don't want to tell you everything. I worry that you might not still mean some of the things you might have said-"

He threw his hands in the air. "I do! How could you think that? I'm still the same person-"

"I know you are. But, being told what happened is not going to make it magically appear in your head. Either you will remember it, or it will happen again."

"So, something happened?"

She took his hand back in hers. "Samuel. I'll tell you that you returned. Perfectly fine. You came to my apartment-"

"That's right! You have a new flat I haven't seen."

She looked back up at him as her eyes welled up with tears. "You've seen it."

"Ugh. I hate this! It's….terrible! I know I've made you cry so much already-"

"You haven't-"

"I know I have. I'm so sorry. If I could only-"

She quickly got out of the chair and wrapped her arms around him. "Samuel. Everything is going to be alright."

Her heart leapt when she felt him embrace her.

She knelt down, took both of his hands, and looked in his eyes. "Samuel. I don't want you to think about that. You have made me so incredibility happy by returning. Please don't feel that I'm angry or upset with you about anything. You saved my life that night. I know you did, and I almost lost you. Now that I have you back, I don't want you to be consumed with these thoughts. Just, relax. Recover and all of this will happen on its own."

"What if it doesn't?"

She could see the pain and fear in his eyes. She wiped a tear from his cheek and told him quietly. "I love you. More than anyone has ever loved any other person."

He smiled. "Me too. I know I do."

She kissed his hands.

"Karen." He asked her again. "What if I never remember?"

"You will remember-"

"What if I don't?"

She smiled, "Then we'll make some new memories."

He sighed. "Karen. I can't even explain this. It's like….losing part of myself."

"You are still, you. My Samuel."

He grinned. "Your Samuel."

"And you aren't going to lose me. I'm going to help you through this. Alright?"

He smiled and said quietly. "Thank you, Karen."

"I believe that you need to give this time. Everything doesn't happen at once. You need to slow down. Give yourself time to heal. Give yourself time to remember."

"Phhh…I'm not agreeing to this." He groaned.

"We're not going to talk about this right now." She pat his hand, "I want to take a shower. Would you like one?"

He closed his eyes, "Oh, you read my mind."

She giggled and stood up. "Good. Because, I'm sure I don't know how to work that damn thing."

"You'd be surprised. It's not that much different."

She stood in front of him and held out her hands. "Okay. Come on. I'll help you in there. Is there a bench?"

"Yeah." He told her as he stood up on shaky legs and put his arm on her shoulder. She helped him walk through his bedroom, and into his bathroom.

He let go of her and leaned against the cabinet. He explained to her how to work the shower, using lavender scented water. She closed the bathroom door and smiled at him as she slipped off her knickers.

He groaned, "Oh, this is better than telly."

She laughed. "I've missed you so. Come on, let me help."

He untied his dressing gown and she took of off of him, hanging it on the peg on the wall. She returned and helped him off with his t-shirt. "Have you had a shower?"

"I have no idea. The transporter has a scrubber filter on it. I feel like I've had that happen a few times."

She slowly met his lips and began to kiss him. The electrical current moved from her lips to his. A wave of comfort washed over him from her. She felt him put his hands on her cheeks as she opened her mouth to invite his tongue to come in to dance with hers. They snogged for a few minutes as the smell of lavender steam took over the room. She smiled at him. "Feeling better?"

He smiled, "Yes. Thank you, Karen."

"We probably need to do this quickly before you get too tired."

He nodded. "Alright. You're in charge here."

She pulled off the dress and bra that she wore, turned to check the temperature of the water and nodded. "Okay. I'll help you with the rest of this."

He took her hand and stopped her.

"Baby, what is it?"

"There was some, bruising there. I need to do this bit. Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay."

He pushed his jim jams down and she helped him step out of them. They carefully moved into the shower and he sat down on the bench. He enjoyed watching her wash her hair under the warm water.

"Karen, just….do that all night. That's brilliant."

She giggled and twisted her hair behind her. "I'm so excited to have a shower."

"And I'm excited to be here for it." He laughed.

"Do you want me to bathe you?"

"Just, bathe yourself. I'm enjoying the show. We'll get to me." He smiled.

She giggled, "Are you warm enough?"

"I'm fine. I love the lavender. That was a good choice."

She slowly lathered herself up and teased him as she rubbed her body slowly. He didn't take his eyes off of her as he wore the goofiest grin on his face. "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Can you do this for me when I'm well?"

"What? Shower?" She laughed.

"Oh, yes." He groaned. "This is….oh, it's hot."

She giggled, "Of course. Although, I doubt you'll be able to keep your hands to yourself."

He smiled. "I can't wait for that."

She giggled.

He watched her rinse herself, and then she moved to wash his hair. He closed his eyes as he sat. "Oh, this is the best. Thank you, Karen."

She felt him wrap his arms around her waist as she scrubbed his head. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He told her.

Karen saw a small black patch on Samuel's back, stuck to his shoulder. "What is this?"

"That's a vital patch. Dad is keeping an eye on everything. That's the only reason he agreed to let me come back to the suite. I wanted out of the med bay. Too many visitors."

"Who has come to see you?" She asked as she helped him stand up and rinse his hair.

"Everyone. And I'm glad to see them, of course, but…there's something about being back in your own suite that seems to keep people away. Dad agreed and let me come here to rest. Well, Mum was keeping them at bay for me, too."

"Momma Bear." Karen giggled.

Samuel chuckled, "Oh, you don't even know. Rose Tyler is the ultimate Momma Bear."

"You haven't gotten to know me well enough yet." Karen teased. "Sit back down so you don't fall."

He laughed under his breath and sat down on the bench again. "Oh, I can already see that about you."

She continued to wash him. "It's not a bad thing."

"Nah. Not at all." He took a deep breath leaned on his arms as he looked up at her.

"This is wearing you out. I can tell."

"No. I'll be alright. Tell me, why aren't you in school?"

"Arles contacted my professors and they gave me extensions on everything. But, after I thought about it, I decided it would be a better plan to drop the classes now so it wouldn't hurt my GPA."

"I don't understand any of that."

She lathered his skin. "Basically, you can tell them you don't want to take a class before a certain date. The class then doesn't appear on your records, so it doesn't hurt your overall grade."

"That was what you were thinking about doing with Latin. I remember this now."

She smiled. "You remember the Latin?"

"I think I do. We studied Latin together."

She smiled proudly, "We did."

"I was sitting in the floor, drinking glass of water-"

"Yes! Do you know where we were?"

He thought. "No. I remember sitting my water on your book. It made a ring and I knew you would be cross. Did I tell you about that?"

She giggled. "Now you have. I didn't know about that."

He wiped the water from his face. "Where were we?"

"In a Penthouse in New York."

"With Tony?"

"No. At a hotel." She continued to bathe him.

He thought. "I don't remember this."

"Don't try to remember it."

He groaned, "I want to remember it."

She leaned down and kissed him. "Everything will come back. I believe it will."

He nodded.

She looked at the bruising on his thighs. "I'll be careful here. Is it sore?"

"It looks worse than it feels. Dad says the electricity damaged a lot of tissue there."

She nodded and traced her fingers from his bruised thighs to his groin. "What did he say about this?"

He shook his head. "It's going to have to heal. It's going to be a while."

She gently washed him.

"Karen. How long were we in New York?"

"Four days." She told him and helped him up to rinse him off.

He held onto her, "So, I'm missing five days. Is that right? Well, and the time I was gone."

She reached up and turned off the shower. "Yes."

"Gosh, that's nearly a month."

She reached out and got a towel. "So, do you know what happened?" She wrapped the towel around his shoulders and started to pat him dry.

"I've put a lot of it together. No one is really telling me what happened. I'm missing my bracelet and my watch, which I don't understand."

She pointed at his bracelet that she wore on her wrist. "I have them. Your watch is back in my room in Florida with your wallet, phone, everything you had in your pockets. And you put the bracelet on me."

He looked completely confused. "Why?"

She helped him sit back down on the bench, then knelt in front of him. "Look. You should know. Let me help you get back to bed-"

"And you'll tell me?" He took both of her hands and looked in her eyes.

"I'll tell you." She continued to dry him off.

"Okay." He took the towel from her. "I can finish this bit."

She pointed at him. "Do not try to get up. I don't want you to fall in this shower."

He tossed the towel on his head and mumbled, "Alright."

Karen got out and dried off. She wrapped a towel around herself and twisted up her hair. Then she helped Samuel, towel around his waist, into the bedroom. He sat down on the bed with an exhausted sigh.

"Stay here. I'll get you some boxers."

She quickly went back into the sitting room and returned with the two bags of shopping. She pulled out a pair of bright blue boxers and held them up to show him. "Blue?"

He smiled. "My favorite."

She helped him on with them. "Arles thought you probably needed some more pajamas."

He was already lying down and pulling the duvet over himself. "I'm alright."

"Do you want some tea?"

He lay with his eyes closed. "No."

She looked surprised. "I know you're tired, then."

He pointed at her. "Explanations. You can tell me while you dress."

She pulled on a nightgown and closed the bedroom door. "We went to New York to celebrate our one week anniversary-"

"Do people celebrate that?"

She giggled. "Oh, we've had that talk." She lay down in front of him. He caressed her face as he looked in her eyes.

"So, we went to New York. When did I tell you about Mum?"

She smiled, "I figured it out when the manager of the hotel mentioned that Stark's office had called for something."

He nodded. "And you're okay with that?"

She kissed his lips. "Of course I am. Samuel, I love you because you are my Samuel. Not Samuel Smith."

He smiled and relaxed, closing his eyes.

"I know that's a big deal to you."

"It is a big deal." He told her with his eyes closed.

He rubbed her back as she played with the hairs on his chest. The feeling of comfort went through his chest and spread through his body. He felt safe.

"And then, that last night we were there-" She continued to tell him softly, "These Vesuos came into the Penthouse. They killed the guys that were with us-"

He opened his eyes. "Who was it?"

"Timon and Aaron."

Samuel closed his eyes tightly, "Damn."

"I don't know how you knew they were coming, but you took off your bracelet, put it on me and told me that everything was going to be alright."

He opened his eyes and she had begun to caress his cheek. He kissed her hand.

"They told us that they had Tony. You told them you were Soli and you would go with them."

He rose his eyebrows. "I did?"

"It was so brave. Samuel, I couldn't love anyone more."

"Nothing will ever happen to you, Karen. I'll never allow it."

"You told the bracelet to send me to Arles. He hasn't left my side until he put my hand back in yours."

Samuel smiled. "My favorite brother."

She laughed, "Mine, too."

He closed his eyes and relaxed.

"Samuel, you need to sleep. I believe you'll remember everything as you get well."

He rubbed her back. "One more question, and I'll go to sleep."

"Sure."

"Did you get the grant?" He asked sleepily.

She smiled proudly. "I have gotten four."

He opened his eyes, "Four?!"

She giggled. "Shhh….I'll explain later."

He smiled and closed his eyes again. "My Indiana Jones."

She rubbed his chest. "Is this helping?"

He relaxed as the sensation pushed through his chest and spread through his body. "Yes. Karen, I love you."

She kissed the end of his nose. "I'm so glad you're back."

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