Chapter 11: Home Sweet Home

July 6, 1991 – Saturday

Ellie looked at the house that was in front of her. It was Alan's house. A house she knew nothing about until two days ago. She helped him make his way to the one step that led up to the porch. He had crutches and was given a few lessons in how to use them at the hospital, but he wasn't very good at it yet.

The porch was quite large, having room for four chairs and a small table. It was cemented in and connected to the rest of the house. She walked to the front door and used the key Alan had given her. She opened the door, pushed it open, and turned around to face him.

"Okay, let's get you inside, shall we?"

Alan smiled, although she could see that he wasn't looking forward to climbing the additional two concrete steps leading up to the front door. He was staring at them with a look of dread on his face.

"Don't worry, I'll help you. It'll be just fine. Come on, give me your hand," she said, as she reached out to him.

He took her hand and the two of them managed to get him up the stairs and into the house. After they were inside, Ellie took in her new surroundings.

"So this is the home of Dr. Alan Grant. It's more homey than I thought it would be."

Alan looked at her in a weird way.

"What do you mean?" he asked, as he readjusted the crutches and began to hobble to the nearest couch.

He wasn't having an easy time with those crutches. He had never had a reason to use them before, and he couldn't believe the pain in his arms and good leg already.

"Let's just say that I didn't even know you had a house until yesterday. I thought you just lived in that trailer at the dig site."

Alan reached the couch. When she saw him attempting to sit down, Ellie hurried over to him to help.

"Well, I do mostly stay at the dig site. I don't stay here very much."

"Why's that? It's a beautiful house, Alan."

"It brings back memories of Kathryn, mostly," he said.

Ellie wasn't prepared for the answer and the way he just blurted it out like that. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She looked closer around the room and realized that Kathryn must have been the one to decorate everything so beautifully.

"Oh, Alan. I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's okay. Really. I have no idea why I told you that."

"I don't mind. I just wasn't quite prepared for it, that's all."

Alan looked up at her. She had moved backwards some, awkwardly looking around the room. He smiled and patted the section of couch right next to him.

"Come here," he whispered.

Ellie smiled back and gently sat on the couch next to him. She was about to say something, when Alan leaned in and kissed her. She placed a hand on his face and returned the kiss. After a few seconds, he stopped kissing her and looked into her eyes. She was absolutely beautiful.

"Thank you for coming to find me."

Ellie wanted to tell him exactly how she felt about him. How she realized that she loved him, when she thought he was gone forever. How she was certain that she had fallen in love with him, and with every passing second, she seemed to love him even more. She wanted to blurt out all of these feelings.

"You're welcome," was all she could manage to get out.

He was having the exact same thoughts as she was. He knew that he cared for her deeply. In fact, that's all he thought about, while he tried to walk out of the Badlands. He was certain that he loved her, but he didn't know how she would feel about him declaring his love, especially since he had just mentioned his deceased wife like that.

"Ellie, I need to tell you something."

"Sure."

"It might be a little awkward," he said.

"Go on," Ellie said, nodding at him.

She was hoping it was what she wanted to hear. She waited patiently, as she stared at him.

"I love you," he simply stated.

Ellie felt a burst of excitement come alive inside herself. He had said it out loud! He had said the one thing that she had been thinking for the past couple of days. He had acknowledged his feelings, and now if was time for her to do the same.

"You do?"

The correct version of the words, she had lined up in her head, came out completely wrong. I'm a complete idiot! She glanced down for a second, and then looked at him again. He smiled at her.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he answered.

Ellie leaned in and blindly placed her hand on his leg. Her position caused his broken leg to suddenly hurt. The mood was broken, as he winced in pain. She backed off a little bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, disappointingly.

"It's all right. I think I need more medication."

Ellie quickly changed the subject. She had no idea why she was finding it difficult to express her feelings. She had already told a friend about how she felt. Why couldn't she say those same words to the object of the discussion.

"You really should get your rest now," she said, as she stood up from the couch, "You want me to help you to your . . . bedroom?"

Alan felt as though he shouldn't have revealed his feelings. It didn't look like Ellie felt the same way, as he had hoped. He decided to give up for the night.

"No, no. I'm going to sleep right here I think."

"Do you want me to stay here with you?"

Alan looked at her, trying to figure out her mixed signals.

"Well, if-" he began to say.

"Because you should have someone here to watch over you. At least for the first night," Ellie interrupted.

Alan laughed at the awkwardness in her voice.

"I'd love for you to stay," he said.

Ellie smiled.

"Okay."

"You can take the spare bedroom, if you want to," he suggested, "The master bedroom is under major construction."

She nodded and began to walk in the direction of the hallway. She was so furious with herself. Why had she acted in that way? Why was it so difficult to go after what she wanted? And why was the master bedroom under construction? As she rounded the corner, she turned, suddenly getting more gutsy.

"I think you should sleep in the bed. That couch isn't good for you," she said. Then she took a quick breath. "And I love you, too, Alan," she stated, just as simply as he had.

He stared at her from the couch. It took him a minute to register what she was saying, as he still wasn't quite with it yet. He smiled.

"Okay," he said, easily giving in to the order from the beginning of her sentence.

She approached him.

"Come on, I'll help you," she said, grabbing one of his arms.

He let her have her way. It hurt him to get up, but he did it anyway. He wrapped an arm around her neck, while she grabbed the crutches that where propped up near the couch. She handed him one, as she continued to use herself as the other one. With some direction, since she didn't know where she was going exactly, she helped him to the spare bedroom. They had passed the master bedroom on the way and Ellie glanced inside. There was no bed in there. Only a dresser, a ceiling fan, and a wooden ladder. The room was completely white, except for the dark blue carpet. She made a note to ask him about that later.

They walked across the spare bedroom, in unison, passing by the light switch. Ellie helped him get situated on the bed, and then she turned toward the doorway. He reached out and grasped her hand.

"Where are you going?"

"To turn the light on,"

"Why?"

"I don't know," she said, laughing, "This is all a little bit awkward, you know."

"Yeah. But it doesn't have to be."

He pulled her toward him, and she settled on the bed next to him. They both were sitting there trying to think of something to say. Finally, Ellie broke the silence.

"When you were missing for those four days, I realized something. I realized that I had fallen in love with you. That I didn't want to think about going on without you. Somehow, we connected."

"I feel the same way, Ellie."

"Well, that's a relief," she replied uneasily.

He laughed.

"Yeah."

He put a hand on the side of her face, leaned in and kissed her. The kiss lasted a few moments, and then he moved his face away from hers.

"When I was out there . . . in the darkness . . . at first I thought of Kathryn."

Ellie continued to look at him. He could tell she was still uneasy when he would bring up Kathryn.

"It's not what you think. At first, I thought I was going to die. That's why I thought of her. I figured I was going to join her. But then I began to think of other things in my life. Mainly you. Okay, well, really . . . only you."

Ellie sat there listening, as she began to tear up some. He continued.

"I decided that I needed to get up and walk out of there, so that I could see you again."

She wiped a tear away and embraced him tightly. He hugged her back, and then they sat at the end of the bed for a few minutes, with him rocking her gently back and forth. He finally spoke again.

"I think I need my rest now."

Ellie let him go and wiped some more tears away.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Come on, I'll tuck you in."

She stood up and helped him get situated under the covers. Alan watched her look around for something, and then she walked out of the room.

"Be right back," she said, as she disappeared.

She quickly returned with some pillows from the couch. She also had some pain pills and a glass of water. She handed the glass and the pills to him and then she gently picked up his cast and placed some pillows under it. He winced some, and then he took the two pills.

"Why don't I just take this thing off? It's removable," Alan suggested, handing her the water glass.

After the surgery, he had received a ski-boot type cast that could be removed, mostly for showering. And it was made perfectly clear that the cast should stay as is, for a specified amount of time. Ellie smiled. It was just like a man to read the situation wrong, thinking he could take it off to sleep.

"I'm aware of that, but the doctor said to leave it alone for 48 hours," she explained as she set the water glass on the night stand.

"Okay. Fine, then," he complained.

He gave up quite easily, as he knew better than to argue with her on this point. She pulled some of the covers over his legs, and then brought the covers midway to his chest.

"Comfortable?"

He nodded, indicating that he was.

"Good. Let's go to bed."

She walked around the other side and got into the bed, and into his awaiting arms. She laid there quietly, snuggling with him. It was very quiet in the room and Alan could suddenly hear her crying.

"You okay?" he whispered.

"Yeah. I'm just happy. I really can't believe that you're here right now."

"That makes two of us," he said.

She reached around him, to hug him, and caused him to wince again.

"Sorry."

"It's no trouble," he said, reaching over and holding her hand where she had placed it.

Being in his arms was exactly what she had wished for a few nights ago, when she had thought she had lost him forever. She was as happy as she had ever been, right at this moment. But she was also more tired than she had thought, as she hadn't really had the chance to get very much sleep in the last week. She closed her eyes, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat, and quickly drifted off to sleep. Alan stayed awake until he could hear her breathe steadily, indicating that she was asleep. He closed his eyes, too, surrendering to his own exhaustion.