Chapter 2: True Feelings
If Claire and Nick were ready to give up, Jodi wasn't. 'There must be some way to get Alex and Tess's attention.' She thought as her mind raced with mischievous ways to get the right couples together. She hurried to Becky's room to find an accomplice.
"Becky!" Jodi hollered as she entered her room. "What is it Jodi?" Becky asked irritated at being interrupted during studying.
"We've got to break up Alex and Tess." Jodi declared excitedly.
"We've got to what?" Becky shouted in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind?" She asked, staring at Jodi as if she had three heads.
"Listen." Jodi pleaded with Becky. Becky decided it was easier to listen than argue and waited for Jodi to continue. "I know that Claire loves Alex, and Nick loves Tess."
"How do you know that? They've never said anything." Becky argued.
"They never said anything to us, but I overheard them on the porch talking…" Jodi explained patiently. "So we need to get Alex to see that he really loves Claire, because he does. And get Tess to realize that she really loves Nick."
"Jodi- it's not our place to do anything. They're grownups, they can figure this out for themselves." Becky reminded her. "They don't need us match making."
"Are you sure?" Jodi pleaded with her friend. "Yeah, I'm sure." Becky informed her. "But that doesn't mean I don't agree with you."
"I thought relationships were supposed to get easier as you get older." Jodi moaned as she flopped on Becky's bed.
"Right. Why don't you ask your mum and Terry about that?" Becky reminded her with a laugh. "Besides, if it's meant to be it will be. Who's to say who's right for who?" Her question left Jodi with a lot more questions than answers.
The next two weeks kept Nick busy traveling. He cut his trip short because of his increasing worry for Claire. He wasn't convinced she was okay, and he needed the reassurance that she was taking care of herself.
It had been an unusually hot and humid week at Drover's Run; yet Claire didn't slow down. She was beginning to regret it as the sweat poured down her face, her last bottle of water gone hours ago. Stubbornly she persisted in attempting to fix the fence. Usually Alex would do it for her, but her injured pride refused to ask for his help, and it couldn't wait for Nick to come back, though she knew he would be furious with her if he found out.
As Nick got out of his car, he prayed that she was sitting with the others when he walked into the house. A quick glance confirmed his suspicions. "Where's Claire?" He demanded, startling them with his sudden appearance.
"Hey Nick." Tess greeted cheerfully. "Claire's still working I guess." She answered nonchalantly and unworried.
His worry quickly turned to anger. "You guess? Have you noticed she's been working too hard?" He spat out incredulously, he couldn't believe they were so unaware of Claire's well being and her whereabouts.
"Chill Nick. Claire can take care of herself." Alex casually reminded his brother, not understanding what the big deal was. It was Claire, you never had to worry about her.
"Really?" Nick questioned in disbelief. "Has she eaten dinner all week?" He challenged the group. "Do you know how hot it is out there? Of course you don't, you're too busy to notice." He reprimanded them sharply.
"Damn it." He swore to himself. "I should've known this would happen." Guilt over leaving his friend tore at him as he went out to look for her. "I'm going to find her." He announced and left as quickly as he came.
"Do you think she's in trouble?" Tess asked worriedly to the now somber group gathered for supper.
"I hope not." Meg declared sadly. They were all caught up in their own thoughts about how they could have missed all the warning signs about Claire's behavior.
It was easy for Claire to slip under the radar. She was the one they all counted on to get them through. Meg felt a tremendous amount of guilt for not being there for Claire. She should have known something was wrong. For as independent and stubborn as Claire could be, her behavior of the past few weeks had been downright strange. Meg prayed for Nick to find her quickly and in good health.
'How selfish can I be?' Tess wondered in frustration as she paced the front porch waiting for Nick to return. 'I got all caught up in Alex that I forgot about Claire. Claire's more important to me than Alex.' Tess realized somberly. She finally tired of walking and sat down with her head in her hands. "Besides I don't know if Alex is the right one for me anyway." She finally admitted out loud what her heart had been trying to tell her for days but she didn't want to hear it.
'Could time move any slower?' Alex Ryan complained, as the minutes seemed like hours. He had never considered that Claire would get into something she couldn't handle. 'How could I have thrown away our friendship for a fling with her sister?' He berated himself for his moronic behavior. He hoped it wasn't too late to make amends.
Claire swore as she hit her thumb with the hammer for the hundredth time that afternoon. "God, I can't remember it being this hot before." She mumbled as she wiped the sweat from her brow. She had taken off her long sleeve shirt, and was now working only in a tank top, but she still felt like she was on fire. 'Maybe I should've stopped a while ago.' She thought briefly about turning in for the night. "I'm almost done." She convinced herself to keep going, desperate to finish the fence.
As she reached the next peg on the fence, a wave of dizziness hit her as she clung to the broken fence for stability. She closed her eyes to block out the pain as her body collapsed tiredly onto the wire of the fence.
"Claire!" Nick shouted urgently as he sped through Drover's Run on Gypsy looking for her. He had searched almost the whole property when he saw a broken fence on the northwest border that got his attention. As he got closer his heart froze as he saw her lying on the fence motionless.
Jumping off the horse he was at her side in an instant. "Claire." He whispered, shocked at her appearance. HE gingerly pulled her off the wire; glad to see she was all right save for a few scrapes and cuts. He did notice however that her body was burning up to the touch. Without a second thought, he carefully picked her up in his arms, noticing how much lighter she seemed. He threw her on the horse and got on holding her to his chest as he hurried back to his car.
Tess and Alex were sitting silently on the porch when the sound of a horse approaching alerted them. Tess jumped to her feet and hurried to meet Nick when she saw the sight of her sister leaning against Nick's chest.
"Claire!" She shouted horrified. Alex was a step behind her in case she needed his support. Or in case he needed her support.
He couldn't believe that was Claire sitting there in Nick's arms. That sight was odd enough, but her looking so weak and ill was disturbing to Alex. He thought she could do anything, and to see her like that reminded him that she was still human after all. He felt sick to his stomach thinking about the part he played in how this whole drama was playing out.
Nick eased Claire down off the horse and into his car. "I'm taking her to the hospital, meet us there." HE commanded the two as he backed his car out of the driveway and sped down the road.
"Meg! Jodi! Becky!" Tess hollered as she ran into the house. "Nick's taking Claire to the hospital." She choked out with a sob.
"What's wrong?" Meg wondered in shock. "I don't know." Tess replied. Meg got Terry and the two girls into the truck, while Alex and Tess followed close behind in his Ute.
The couple was silent for the first few minutes of the drive, both caught up in their own thoughts. "What are we doing Alex?" Tess wondered aloud. He wasn't sure what she meant so he let her continue. "The person we both care about most of all is in some sort of pain and we caused it." She whispered softly, upset at herself for finally realizing the truth. They were both in love with other people.
"We're so foolish." Alex agreed, in a rare subdued mood. "It's not that I don't like you Tess…" He tried to explain without hurting her feelings. "It's just that…" he trailed off not sure how to finish.
"I'm not Claire." Tess chimed in with great insight. "And you're not Nick." She added with a small smile.
"What have we done?" Alex cried out in frustration at the predicament they now found themselves in.
How could they explain to Nick and Claire? Would they forgive them their stupidity? Tess didn't blame them if they didn't. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it sooner. Maybe this whole mess wouldn't have happened.
"Don't blame yourself Tess." Alex encouraged her knowing what she was thinking.
"Why not?" Tess argued. "Claire wouldn't be in the hospital if I'd been more attentive to her needs and available to help."
"Maybe." Alex conceded, "But maybe we wouldn't have realized where our true feelings lie." He declared hopefully.
"Besides, we all should have been more attentive to her. She's just so used to not having people around to care for her, that we kind of take her for granted." He commented astutely.
"Please be alright Claire." Tess prayed as Alex sped along behind Terry's truck. The short trip seemed much longer than the one to Gungellan.
Claire was already in the emergency room when they arrived, so they were sent to the waiting room where Nick was pacing the room impatiently.
"Do you know what she was doing?" Nick accused Alex as soon as he walked into the room. Alex had never seen his brother so mad; he didn't make any sarcastic remarks.
"She was fixing a broken fence on the northeast border." He declared angrily. "That's your job Alex! If you had talked to her for five minutes in the last few weeks you would've known that."
The nurse interrupted before Nick fully exploded. "Nick Ryan?" She called gently for the young man to follow her down the hallway to get the report on Claire from the doctor.
A/N: This is my first McLeod's Daughter fanfic, so please be kind and constructive. I've only watched a few episodes but I fell in love with it and had to start writing! Please review.