His mobile phone rang and he reached for it with surprise. "Hullo?"
"Hello, Carson. It's Elizabeth. Is everything okay?"
"Oh... aye. Sorry if I upset you with my call last night. I..."
"Don't worry, it's okay. I wanted to tell you that we'll be leaving in twenty days. Would it be okay if Rodney came to see you?"
"Rodney? Here?" he asked incredulously. This was really strange. Why would Elizabeth want to send Rodney here? Or did Rodney want to come for his own reasons? Had they discussed his phone call and this was their solution? He didn't know what to think. "Why?" was all he could manage in the end.
Elizabeth was shocked by his response. When he'd called the other day she'd thought he wanted to know how much time he had left to stay home. She'd thought maybe he'd had a quarrel with someone. But she didn't expect this reaction. "I'm sorry... What do you...?"
"Why does he want to come here? Why do you want him to come here?"
"Carson, I don't know what you're thinking, but Rodney is pretty lonely here and I thought it would be good for him to spend some time with a friend. And he accepted."
He realized he'd got it wrong. Again. These people were his friends. The ones that cared for him.
"I'm so sorry, lass. I didna' mean to be daft. Can I talk to him?"
"Sure. I'll put him on."
"Hey, Carson. Is everything okay?" Rodney sounded puzzled. He'd probably been listening to Elizabeth's end of the conversation.
"Aye. I was just... I had... Are ye goin' to come here, to Scotland?"
"Yeah, if that's okay with you." Elizabeth couldn't believe her ears. Rodney never spoke like this, so calm and considerate. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what it was, nor have the power to mend it. Only they would be able to do that.
-------
When Rodney had arrived at the airport, he'd looked tired and lost. Carson couldn't help thinking how much they must resemble each other. They stopped in front of the small house and Carson remembered how only a few days ago, when he'd first arrived, he had been full of hopes. Now he just hoped he could handle whatever would come next.
His mother was waiting for them inside. "Hullo." she said, her voice cold and even.
"Mum, this is my friend Rodney. We work together"
"Hello, Mrs. Beckett."
"Hullo, Mister...?"
Carson felt like his worst nightmare was about to come true. He wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure how to fix this. His mother was distant, she was going to make him look bad in front of his friend. She was going to hurt him.
"McKay. Rodney McKay." Rodney responded to the unanswered question.
"And what is it that you do? Or is that classified, as well?"
Rodney looked shocked. He tightened his grip on his suitcase as he looked from Carson to his mother and back again. This wasn't what he'd expected.
"I'm sorry, I..."
"I thought y'told me a friend was coming, Carson."
That's all she said, but he knew she was thinking, You couldn't find a friend if you searched the entire universe.
Rodney finally realized he was just standing there, holding the suitcase and staring into thin air.
"So, Carson..."
"I'll show you to yer room. This way."
Looking at his friend, Rodney could see the same sadness that he'd seen when Carson had returned from Hoff - from Perna. He wished he could do something to help him, but how could he, when he didn't even know what was wrong?
When they reached the guest room, Carson sat heavily on the bed and released a long, slow sigh. He was tired of all this.
"Carson... You okay?"
"I don' know, I really thought things would be different... better somehow."
"Yeah, so did I."
"I'm sorry if I made y'think that this was going to be... I just hoped..."
"Don't worry, I didn't exactly receive a warm welcome at home, either."
"Really? What happened?"
Rodney took a seat on the bed beside Carson.
"I went home, to see my sister, to see if she'd received my message. She had. She said I was pathetic, trying to make up for all my mistakes by sending a video that was supposed to make her feel bad for me. I kinda lost my temper."
Carson tried to hide his smile. He'd have liked to be there for that conversation. "I'm sure she'll get over it... in time."
"I hope so."
They both remained sitting there for a while, each absorbed by their own thoughts.
"Well, I'll leave you to get settled in then." Carson said as he rose from the bed. "Maybe you can tell me more after supper."
"Yeah... But make sure there's no..."
"Lemon. Aye, lad, there'll be no lemon around." Carson left the room smiling. Some things never changed. And he was happy that Rodney was one of them, strange as that may be.