a/n: I'm sorry for getting this out to you so late, dear readers, but my mom was rushed to the hospital yesterday and everything's been crazy. She's doing okay, but obviously I'm still worried. Any kind words about the fic you can spare wouldn't hurt. (yes I just played the "sick mom" card)

More people this chapter yaaay!

and where was i before the day
that i first saw your lovely face?
now i see it everyday
and i know
Ben Folds, "The Luckiest"

Nick leaned out the farm house's backdoor and waved the all clear. Tom nodded and gathered Kai in his arms. "I'm gonna be real careful, but if I hurt you, I'm sorry," he said. "Me 'n' Nick's gonna get you fixed up just right. M-O-O-N, that spells fixed up."

She smiled up at him and patted his cheek. "I know you will, Tommy. You're my best guys."

The kitchen was bright and sunny this time of day, and like the one at the lake house, it had an island. Nick spread a blanket on the butcher block surface and motioned for Tom to lie her on it. He did, handling her like fine porcelain that might shatter in his big hands, and when he got her settled he took a step back.

His face was pale and white showed all around his eyes. If Nick wasn't careful Tom might go into shock, too, and that was the last thing they needed. Nick smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder, then pointed to Kai. He took Tom's hand in his and pointed from their joined hands to Kai again.

"Hold her hand? Tom can do that, laws yes! It must be hurtin' somethin' fierce!"

Nick nodded and gently guided Tom to the island. He placed Kai's slender, long-fingered hand into Tom's meaty paw and patted them both.

"I'm going to get the supplies from the car," he signed to Kai. He motioned for Tom to stay put and took off out the backdoor. He got Doc Soames' bag from the cargo area, along with the first aid kit. He frowned at the chickens. Maybe while he was working on Kai's leg he could send Tom out here to take care of them.

He didn't need to see all that anyway.

Back inside Tom was still holding Kai's hand, and when Nick came around the island he smiled at them. "Send Tom out for the girls," he signed. "They'll get too hot in the car, and the blood will upset him."

"Tommy, why don't you go see about Miss Ruby and the gals? You might need to bring them in the house if there's no chicken coop."

"Oh laws I clean forgot! But this is a farm. I bet they got chickens." He frowned down at her, then at Nick. "You gonna be okay without me holdin' your hand?"

She smiled. "You did such a great job already, but it's Nick's turn to take care of me now. The ladies need you."

"Yes they do! Okay, Nick, you yell if you need my help. Or I guess you can't yell, but—come find me. And if I see that mean girl I'll come runnin'."

"I don't think she followed us," Kai said. "But you keep your eyes peeled while you're out there."

He saluted them both and headed toward the door. Once it closed behind him Nick took a moment to open as many windows as he could (it was hot and stuffy in the house) before he came back to take her hand in his.

"How bad is it?" he said.

She grimaced. "Hurts like a motherfucker, but I think it's just a graze. Get these jeans off me and let's find out."

He fished through the medical bag and came out with a pair of shears. She glared at him. "You're kidding me."

"It'll be quicker and easier than trying to get them off you. We can find you other jeans."

She sighed and her head fell back. "Yeah all right fine. Go for it."

Starting at the ankle, he cut the leg all the way to her hip. When he peeled back the soggy material he winced. Buckshot. Luckily not a direct hit, or—well. He didn't want to think about the or, because what he was looking at was bad enough.

"I thought it was like mine, but…"

"But?" She craned her head to get a look and the last bit of color drained from her face.

"Okay, calm down, lie back." He pressed her into a prone position and propped her feet up with a wadded up blanket. "Breathe, babe. It's okay."

"You'll—you'll need to clean it first, so you can get a good look." Her hands were so shaky she could barely form the words, and he grabbed one of them and kissed the palm.

"I've got this," he said. "I've got you. Look at me, Kai."

She did, and he was alarmed by her pinpoint pupils and panting breath. "I've got you. We'll get it cleaned up and bandaged, and we still have those antibiotics you got. It's not going to be like me. You're going to be fine." He smiled and brushed her hair back from her damp forehead. "You trust me, don't you?"

She nodded. "Past the end of the world."

He smiled. "Okay then. Stay here. Try to breathe. I'm going to dig up some more towels and I'll be right back." He kissed her hand again, the back of it this time, and left her there while he went to find a linen closet. He had to pause in the hallway out of her sight to take a few deep, steadying breaths.

The good news was it had been a glancing hit. The bad news was the buckshot had left nearly a dozen wounds stippled on her thigh, a few of them nasty looking. Some of the pellets might still be in there. Nick knew he was in over his head, but if Kai could be calm and steady while fishing metal out of his already-infected leg, then he could do the same in her freshly-wounded one.

He picked a door at random, but it was a powder room. The next one down, tall and skinny, turned out to be the closet he sought. He grabbed several washcloths and towels, then rushed back to the kitchen.

The process took longer than either of them would have liked, but with liberal use of the local anesthetic he was able to remove every pellet (eight of them) without too much pain. He used nearly a full bottle of hydrogen peroxide (there was more in the bathroom medicine cabinet), then smeared the entire area liberally with her honey salve before wrapping her thigh in gauze. By then it was swollen and purple, and he knew once the local wore off she would be hurting.

Goddamn Julie Lawry. Crazy little bitch.

He still had a few of the pain pills Doc Soames had given him back in Shoyo, but she would need more. Advil or Tylenol weren't going to do the trick. He'd have to find another pharmacy somewhere, because he couldn't go back into Pratt.

For now he gave her the first two pills in a Z-Pak, two of the pain pills, and an extra Tylenol. She took them with a few sips from a bottle of water and offered him a weak smile.

"You did a great job. Amazing hands, as always."

He smiled back, but it felt hollow. He felt hollow, worn-out and exhausted and scraped raw. He could only imagine how she felt. And Tom. Fuck. He had to go find Tom.

"Stay put," he said. "I'll get Tommy and he can carry you to the bedroom. There's one in the front of the house with its own bathroom; that'll be easier than trying to go upstairs."

She nodded and closed her eyes. Her color was a little better, he was happy to see, but he knew she'd need fluids to replace all the blood she lost. Luckily they'd stocked up on that Pedialyte stuff she liked so much. He'd get more when he went foraging for pain medicine.

He kissed her forehead, softly, and left here there. First he went through the house opening more windows, then he went outside to find Tom. It wasn't hard: there was a large, well-built chicken coop fifty yards or so from the house, and sure enough, Tom was inside getting the ladies settled.

"Nick!" he said. He grinned from ear to ear. "Look at this! It's like a chicken mansion! I don't know where the chickens who lived here before are, but I found some feed in the shed over there, and the pump works just fine. Good sturdy fence to protect against foxes, too. Ain't it nice?"

Nick nodded and tried to smile for Tom's benefit, but he didn't really have it in him. He was too exhausted. Tom seemed to understand this despite his normal struggle with social cues, because he stepped closer and patted Nick on the shoulder.

"It's okay, Nick. Tom took good care of the ladies, and I know you took good care of Kai. How's she doin'?"

Nick made a face and waved his hand in a so-so gesture. He shrugged and ran a hand back through his unruly curls. He'd done his best. He just had to hope that was enough. He gestured for Tom to follow him, and they walked to the house together.

Once inside Tom hurried to the island to check on Kai. "How you feelin'?" he said. "Your leg's bandaged up good! Like a mummy! M-O-O-N, that spells mummy!"

Her mouth curved. "I'm feeling a little better. Nick did a great job getting me all patched up. He gave me some medicine that makes me feel swimmy in my head."

"Hope it didn't have no cockroaches in it!"

"No, sweetheart. No cockroaches. Promise." Her eyes fluttered closed, then open again. "Can't believe a word that girl says, Tommy. She was a bad person."

His brows knitted together. "She called me a bad name."

"I know. She did Nick and me, too. Different bad names, but it all shows what kind of person she is."

Nick hovered behind Tom, and Kai's eyes drifted to him. "Ask him to carry you back to the bedroom. You need to get some rest."

She nodded and focused on Tom again. "Hey, Tommy, do you think you could carry me back to the bedroom? Nick said there's one at the end of the hall. I think I can walk, but Nick says no, and he's the doctor."

"Haha, Doctor Nick! He's real smart. I bet he'd be a good doctor."

"I bet he'd be a great doctor," she said, mostly for Nick's benefit, since Tom's back was to him. "A pirate doctor." She smirked at him, and he saw that the drugs were starting to kick in.

"A pirate doctor!" Tom cried. "Because of the eye patch! You're a mummy and he's a pirate!" He frowned. "What's that make Tom?"

She gave his beard a little tug. "Superman, obviously."

"Yeah!" He spun around and punched the air. "Superman!" He paused and his expression turned pensive again. "You know what though? Can I be Dolly instead? I know she's a real person and Superman's pretend, and I'm a boy and she's a girl, but I think I wanna be Dolly."

She signed what he was saying to Nick, who grinned with genuine delight for only the second time since meeting Julie Lawry—the first being when he'd helped Kai up from the bench and she'd laughed and he'd kissed her nose. That seemed like a thousand years ago, a last moment of innocence before the shooting started. Now he wasn't sure he'd ever get the smell of Kai's blood out of his head, or the sight of her wounded leg and blood-soaked pants as he peeled them away from her skin.

"Of course you can be Dolly," she was telling Tom. "What's your favorite Dolly song?" She held her arms out to him, and he scooped her up off the island.

"That's a real hard question!" he said. "Maybe '9 to 5'? But also 'Jolene'! No, '9 to 5'. Workin' nine to five, / what a way to make a livin'! / Barely gettin' by / it's all takin' and no givin'!" he sang loudly enough to echo up and down the hall.

Kai giggled and her head lolled against Tom's shoulder. Whooo those were some good drugs. She felt like she was floating, but then she realized she sorta was, since she was being carried. Her leg was a dull, aching throb, but a faraway one that she didn't care much about. It would leave a nasty scar. Maybe Nick could kiss them, like the others.

Tom laid her down on the bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, but it was much too hot for such things. She didn't kick them away because she knew he was just trying to help. Instead she smiled at him and patted his cheek.

"You're a good boy, Tommy. Thank you for taking such good care of me."

He blushed bright red and waved a hand. "Friends take care of friends, don't they? And you and Nick are my best friends."

"That's right," she said. Her eyelids felt like they had weights tied to them, and she could feel her attention drifting. "Besties." She struggled awake and glanced at Nick. "Why don't you head out to the car and start unloading a few things? Nick'll be out there to help you in just a minute."

"That's a good idea! It's almost suppertime and Tom's gettin' hungry, ain't I just!" He took Kai's hand in his and stroked it. "You feel better, Kai. We gotta get to Hemingford Home to see Mother Abagail."

"I haven't forgotten. I'll do my best."

He grinned at her, waved at Nick, and left. She could hear him singing "9 to 5" again, and his voice faded until the screen door slammed behind him. She shoved the covers down and peeled off her shirt.

"I can't sleep in this stupid bra," she said. She half sat up to undo the clasp, but Nick stopped her.

"Be still. I'll get it." He unhooked it and draped it over the chair. She still wore the remains of her jeans, so he unbuttoned them and slid what was left down her legs before he helped her back into her top. "I need to go help Tom." The line appeared between his brows. He glanced down the hall and back at her. "I don't want to leave you."

"I'll be okay," she said. "Just gonna sleep."

"Wait, I should—" He stood up and turned a circle until he found what he was looking for. The bed had had several of those decorative little pillows on it, and he'd piled them in the corner. He grabbed a few of them now and carefully bent her knee and stuffed the pillows under it. "I think it should be up like that. Shouldn't it?"

She gave a slow, vague nod. "Reduces swelling. Help me lie flat."

He pulled the pillows out from behind her and carefully rearranged her so that she was stretched out with her bad leg elevated as high as he could get it without too much discomfort.

"Is that okay?" he said.

"S'fine. S'good. Just gotta be above my…" She trailed off and tapped her chest. She smiled at him and booped his nose. "Told you you'd do the same for me."

"Kinda pissed that I have to. Goddamn if I got my hands on that girl—" He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He didn't really have too much of a temper: he went with the flow and didn't let things get to him. But everyone had a limit, and Julie had sailed past his with barely a pause. Calling Tom and Kai names. Lying about him hitting on her. Fucking around with Tom when he was obviously sick and upset. Then, of course, the cherry bomb on the shit sundae: shooting at them. Shooting Kai.

His knees gave out and he sank down onto the bed with his head in his hands. If her shot had been a little more accurate she could've hit Kai in the back. Or nicked an artery. She could've shot Tom, too. Hell, they could all be dead right now!

He groped for Kai's hand and caught it in a fierce grip. They sat like that a while holding onto each other like clinging to a lifeline. Eventually her fingers went limp in his, and when he turned his head to look at her she was asleep. Her forehead was crinkled and her lips pursed, and he knew she was in pain despite the medication.

He rubbed his thumb across the lines on her brow and planted a soft kiss there. The worry lines eased, and her mouth formed his name. He smiled. Sniffled and rubbed his forearm across his eyes. "I love you," he signed, even though she couldn't see. "I love you, and you're mine, and you're going to be fine. No other option."

July 23
Rae Brentner was two days from home, well on her way to Hemingford Home, Nebraska and Mother Abagail, when the voice told her to turn around and go back. She knew it was Mother Abagail's voice because she'd heard it in her dreams dozens of times by then, but when she heard it in the waking world she wondered if maybe she'd lost her damn mind.

Or—because Rae was a woman confident in her own abilities and mental soundness—if it weren't some trick of the Dark Man's. He'd tried offers and bribes and threats, and so far none of it had worked, so maybe now he was resorting to outright trickery.

Except it didn't feel like a trick, and it didn't feel like the Dark. It felt like Mother Abagail, and it felt important.

So she'd packed her shit, turned her truck around, and headed back to Pratt.

It was closing in on noon when she pulled into her driveway, and somehow she was unsurprised to see a car already there: a small SUV, American. A hybrid. So no one from around here, then. Rae got her shotgun from the back, checked the barrels, and warily climbed from the truck.

The day was already hot, but nothing she wasn't used to. There were tracks in the dust leading from the SUV back to the chicken coop and animal pens. Someone big, heavy, and someone else a bit smaller. She squinted against the sun, but she didn't see anyone moving back there, so she headed for the house.
The back door was open to let a breeze in through the screen. They either hadn't discovered her solar panels or didn't know how to work them. She eased the screen door open, grateful that she kept the springs well oiled, and stepped into her kitchen with the shotgun raised.

A large man in jean shorts, a Superman t-shirt, and red suspenders appeared from the hallway, and when he saw her he threw his hands in the air. He was white, with a crew cut and a bushy beard, and he wore thick glasses on a tether, like he was in the habit of losing them.

"Don't shoot!" he said. "Oh laws oh laws not again! Please don't shoot, ma'am! My name is Tom Cullen and I'm forty-two years old and developmentally disabled. I have trouble recognizing social cues, so please do no be alarmed if my behavior is strange or off-putting. I can't read or write, but I have other skills I can do, including manual labor. Please let me know if you have any odd jobs that you need help with. I live at number Twelve Allen Drive in May, Oklahoma with my mother, Sadie Cullen. Do you have any questions?" He paused a moment, then held up a finger. "Wait, I got more! I'm here with my friends Nick Andros and Kai d'Arnaud. Nick is deaf and mute, and Kai got hurt real bad yesterday. We're on our way to Hemingford Home, Nebraska to see Mother Abagail."

Rae listened to this entire speech with a growing sense of incredulity. What the hell had Mother Abagail sent her home to? She lowered the gun and eased her finger off the trigger. "There are other people here with you?" she said.

The man nodded his big head and beckoned her to follow him. "My friends Nick Andros and Kai d'Arnaud. Nick is deaf and mute—"

"No, it's okay, I got that part. What happened to your other friend? The one who's hurt?"

"Oh laws!" He pressed both hands to his face and wagged his head back and forth. "It was awful, wasn't it jus'?! Yesterday we met this mean girl who called us mean names, so Nick and Kai told her to go away, and we thought she did, but then she came back and she shot at us! She shot Kai! Nick got her all patched up, and we've been takin' turns sittin' with her. It's Nick's turn now, and I was gonna go check on the gals when I walked in and here you are."

"The gals?" He'd only mentioned two people, so who the hell were these gals?

"Miss Ruby and her free range gals! My chickens! Their names are Miss Ruby, Miss Emerald, Miss Opal, and Miss Pearl. M-O-O-N, that spells chickens!" He beamed at her, and Rae felt her own lips twitching in response.

"Well Tom, they sound like wonderful ladies. My name is Rae Brentner, and this is my house. Maybe you should take me back to meet your friends Nick and Kai."

Tom paused a moment. Shifted his weight from one foot to another. "Well…I'd like to do that, but…now that I think about it, how do I know you're not mean like Julie? She seemed nice at first, but then she wasn't nice at all."

Rae set the safety on the shotgun and set it aside. Maybe a mistake, but Mother Abagail had sent her back for a reason, and she didn't think it was to be attacked by a deaf-mute, a developmentally disabled man who loved chickens, and some girl who'd gotten herself shot. "I promise I won't call you names or try to shoot anyone. I was on my way to Hemingford Home, too, when I—" She hesitated a moment. "When I had a dream that I needed to come back here. Mother Abagail told me some people needed my help."

Tom's eyes went wide behind his glasses. "Well ain't that a kick in the head?! She told me to wait for Nick and Kai back in May, and one day there they were! And now we're best friends."

"Well then, seems like she knows what she's talking about."

"I guess so. Okay, they're back here. Nick can read your lips and he can write, but usually Kai says what he says because they both know sign language. Tom knows sign language too! T-O-M, that's Tom!" He chattered the whole way down the hall and showed her all three names he could sign. When they reached the bedroom (Rae's bedroom), he stepped in ahead of her and waved.

Rae peeked around him to see someone slumped over in a chair pulled up to the side of the bed. He stood, alarm written on his face, and she took note of the messy, curly hair. Scruffy beard. Eye patch. The figure in the bed was a woman, thigh bandaged and sweat standing on her face. It was hot in here, despite the open windows. This room got a lot of morning sun.

"Nick, look! This lady here's Rae Brentner, M-O-O-N, that spells Rae Brentner! This's her house! She was on her way to see Mother Abagail when she told her to come home to find us. She had a gun when she came in, but I think she's actually nice and not mean like Julie."

Rae cast him a sharp look. "Julie?"

"Julie Lawry, the mean girl who shot Kai," he said.

"Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!" Rae said. "Julie Lawry. Of course it was her."

Nick came around the bed to put himself between them and the woman lying on it. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her, suspicion creasing his forehead and tightening his full mouth.

The women was small, no more than 5'4" or so, with a trim and sturdy figure clad in dusty cords and a dark blue button up blouse. She wore cowboy boots and a much-loved brown hat, and her long black hair was plaited down her back. She looked like she was Native American, maybe, but he wasn't sure. Her face was lined from the sun and—he thought—laughter. It was a kind face. A good face. Something told him he could trust her, but after yesterday he was more wary of strangers.

"My name is Nick Andros. I'm deaf and mute. I can read and write, and I'm fluent in ASL. I can also read lips." Written below that in a different pen, "I'm traveling with Tom Cullen, a mentally disabled man, and Kai d'Arnaud. We're on our way to Hemingford Home, NE and Mother Abagail."

Everything Tom had told her in the kitchen. As Rae read the note, Nick had pulled out his pad and scribbled something else. They traded pieces of paper. "How the hell do you know Julie Lawry?"

Rae rolled her eyes and shoved the note in her pocket. "That little bitch has been a bane on this town her entire life. My son started going out with her sophomore year of high school—they're the same age—and I didn't like it, but at first she seemed fine. Polite. He was crazy about her. Turns out she was just plain crazy.

"She'd show up here at all hours of the night, call any time she pleased. She had to know where he was every second, and if she even thought he was talkin' to another girl, she'd flip out. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and broke up with her. That night she showed up with a baseball bat and bashed out half the downstairs windows before the Sheriff got here and hauled her off."

Nick flinched.

"I can't believe she survived this goddamn thing."

"I guess he's gotta have people too," he wrote.

She snorted. "Unfortunately." Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. "You look 'bout half dead on your feet. Tom here told me your friend was shot. Mind if I take a look? I was a nurse before I met my husband and moved here to become a full-time farmer."

A visible wave of relief passed over him, and he waved her around the bed. On her way she stopped and picked up a framed picture from the top of the bureau. "This's my husband and me on our wedding day, twenty-two years ago this past April. In case you're wonderin' if this really is my house."

Nick took the picture from her and studied it a moment before handing it over to Tom.

"Well I'll be!" he said. "It's a small world, ain't it just!"

Rae looked up from studying Kai's bandage and for a moment her eyes met Nick's. "Hey, Tom, weren't you on your way to check on the chickens?"

"Yes I was! Gotta go see about the girls! You okay, Nick?"

Nick nodded and held up his hand in an okay gesture.

"Okee dokee! See ya later." He saluted, then waved, and left the room.

Nick nodded his thanks to Rae. He pointed at Kai's leg, then back the way Tom had gone, and shook his head.

"No, nothing he needs to see." Rae touched Kai's forehead, and her eyes fluttered open. When she saw an unfamiliar face above her, she shrank back against the pillows. "It's okay," Rae said, her voice low and soothing. "My name's Rae Brentner. This's my house. Look, Nick's right there."

She turned her head, and when she saw him her entire body relaxed. He signed something to her, and she glanced back at Rae. "Mother Abagail sent you?" she said.

Rae nodded. "A voice out of the blue. Thought I was losin' my mind."

"Ha. Same thing happened to me. I'll tell you about it sometime."

"You do that. Okay, I'm gonna take this bandage off to get a look, and you walk me through what happened."

Nick perched on the bed beside her, and she signed as she spoke. She told Rae about Tom's illness, meeting Julie, the horrible things she'd said. Rae rolled her eyes again and gave a knowing nod.

"Vicious little bitch."

She told her about getting shot, and Nick took over to explain how he'd gotten her back here and cleaned the wound. "I need to go into town—not Pratt!—to get something else for the pain. I only had a couple of pills left, and they've worn off. Low on bandages, too. There are some gloves in the doctor's bag there, but we need some more."

She grabbed one of the last pairs of gloves and snapped them on. "What did you give her?"

Nick pointed toward the nightstand, and Rae picked up the empty prescription bottle to study the label. "This is from right before the flu," she said.

"He was attacked," Kai told her. "Some assholes jumped him on the road outside Shoyo, Arkansas. A doctor there got him patched up and wrote him that prescription." She gritted her teeth against the pain as Rae peeled the bandage off her leg. "Then, later, the lead asshole came back to try to finish the job. That's how he lost his eye."

Rae cut him a look. "Is that why you already had the antibiotics?" She'd noticed the Z-Pak on the nightstand too.

He nodded. "Kai got them back in Arkansas." He explained about shooting himself and the subsequent infection, and Rae's mouth moved in a grim curve.

"Sounds like you two've been through it."

"A little bit," Kai said. "How's my leg?"

"What is this?" Rae said. "Why's it all sticky?"

"Oh. That's my salve. Honey, yarrow, and calendula."

She lifted a brow. Used the wet washcloth Nick had for Kai's brow to wipe the honey off her skin. "Where'd you learn that?"

Kai let out a long, pained breath and her face scrunched. Nick squeezed her hand; she flashed him a grateful smile. "My Grandmère."

Nick signed something and Kai glared at him. "I'm not a witch! Jerk."

Rae studied the look that passed between them, and a question was answered. The boy was clearly head over heels for her, worshipped the very ground she walked on and the air she breathed. The girl would take a leg full of buckshot for him any day, and she positively glowed when he raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

They'd been through it, as Rae had said, but at least they'd had each other. Clearly, to them, that made all the rest worth it.

"You did a good job here," Rae told him. She pressed lightly against the wounds, very aware of Kai's pain, and leaned down to sniff her leg. "I don't see any signs of infection. Looks like you got all the shot out, too. Got any more of that salve?"

Nick pointed out the jar on the nightstand, and Rae nodded. "Good. Some of these deeper wounds need to be packed. Just…these two here, I think. Have you been cleaning them?"

"This morning," Kai said. "With saline."

"Almost out of that, too," Nick said with a frown.

"Okay. I'm going to use the last of it to soak these gauze pads to pack the two deeper ones. After that I'll redress it with your honey salve. For now I want you to stay put, but starting tonight we need to get you up and walking. Up and down the hall at first, then longer." She took note of the Pedialyte bottles. "Excellent. Someone knows their patient care."

"My wife was a doctor," Kai said. "She stopped practicing not long after we got married, but I paid attention."

"Smart girl. After I finish here, Nick, Tom, and I will go get the solar panels started again. No one needs to be in pain in a house this hot."

Nick and Kai exchanged a glance. "Solar panels?" she said.

"Mhmm." Rae had turned away to prepare the packing. "The farm is entirely energy independent. Has been for the last ten years or so. Before I left for Nebraska I shut it all down, wrapped the panels to keep them safe from the weather. Just in case. Won't be hard to get it all goin' again, especially with help."

"How long have you been here?"

She turned back and cast Nick a look. He nodded and took Kai's hand in his. "Squeeze as hard as you need," he signed with his free hand.

"As long as we've been married," Rae said. She gently folded the gauze into smaller pieces and packed them into each wound as she spoke. Kai gritted her teeth and tried to listen. "My husband died two years ago. Cancer. My son came back to help out after college, and my daughter was a sophomore at Berkley. The flu took them."

"I'm sorry," Kai said.

Rae's brows lifted in a shrug. "Same story for all of us, ain't it? Some white man somewhere gets cocky and there we all go. Finished what they started with smallpox and syphilis."

"At least they took themselves out too, this time," Kai said with a brief, strained grin.

Rae smiled back. "Cherokee," she said.

"Kānaka Maoli. Hawaiian. Half, on my mother's side."

She nodded as if that were another question answered. "When was the last time you had a tetanus shot?"

"Ummm…"

"More than fifteen years ago?"

"Maybe?"

"If you don't know, then you need one." She looked at Nick. "I hope you're making a list."

He tapped his temple and nodded.

"After we get the solar panels going Nick and I can head into town—not Pratt, don't worry—and grab the supplies we need. How are y'all on food?"

"Not bad," Kai said. "Mostly canned stuff, of course. We've got a good amount of water, too."

"Once the electricity's going again, the well pump will work." She smiled and finished wrapping Kai's leg. "So will the hot water heater."

"Hallelujah," Kai said. Nick nodded fervent agreement.

"Like I said, it looks good. Keep up the antibiotics, clean and re-wrap it at least twice a day, and let's get you that tetanus shot. Also we have to make sure you're getting plenty of fluids and eating well. You can start walking tonight, but no strenuous exercise"—she cut Nick a look as she said it—"for at least a week."

"What's she think I'm gonna do?" he signed to Kai when Rae turned her back. "Make you run a marathon?"

Kai snickered, and Rae turned back with arms crossed over her chest. "Yes, that does mean exactly what you think it means. Don't make me separate you two."

"No, ma'am," Kai said. "I hurt too much for strenuous exercise anyway."

"Mhmm. For now."

"Is this your bedroom?" Kai said. "I can move upstairs if—"

"No, don't be silly. Yes, it's my bedroom, but you don't need to navigate the stairs. Once it's cool enough to be habitable I'll sleep in my daughter's room, and Tom can have my son's. You two stay down here." She gave Kai a long look. "You're about my daughter's size. She was a little shorter, but close enough. There are some sundresses, things like that, up in her closet. Easier for you to wear than pants or even shorts while you heal."

"Thank you," Kai said. "I'm glad we chose your house."

Rae smiled a little. "I'm glad Mother Abagail sent me back." She patted Kai's arm and gave it a squeeze. "Hang tight. We'll go get the power up and running, then we'll be quick as we can with those pain meds. In the meantime, Advil." She handed her a bottle of water and four tablets. "No time to mess around; prescription strength. You don't have an ulcer, do you?"

She shook her head and swallowed the medicine. "No, my stomach is fine."

"Good. Any allergies?"

A brief shrug. "Pollen."

"Okay. Nick, I'll go get Tom and meet you outside. Don't be long."

He nodded and signed his thanks. Rae left them there, and he wiped a hand over his forehead like he was exhausted. He (gently) collapsed next to her, and she grinned.

"She's very efficient," she said.

"We lucked out. She used to be a nurse. Her house has solar panels! I feel better about all of this."

"Me too," she said. She touched his cheek with gentle fingers. "She said you did a good job. Even without her I would've been just fine."

"Hopefully," he said. "I'm still glad she's here." His expression turned pensive. "I can't believe you handled everything by yourself when I was sick. I didn't realize—I mean, you told me, but—I didn't really understand just how scary it must've been."

"Hmm. Well, to be fair, I only kind of sort of liked you back then. Not like now, when I'm really attached."

His face scrunched and he poked her shoulder. "Liar."

She smiled up at him. "Kiss me and go help get the AC turned on. Rae was right: it's too hot to be in his much pain." He did, long and easy and slow. His tongue curled against hers and his lips were soft and familiar as breathing. He felt the little hum of pleasure she made, and he pulled away to kiss her forehead and her nose.

"Love you," he said.

"I love you too. Thank you."

His head tilted in a question.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Being you. Putting up with me. All of it."

"Any day. Every day," he said. His mouth quirked. "You're stuck with me now."

She fisted her hand in his shirt and tugged him back for another kiss. "Good," she said. "Now go, before she thinks we're up to strenuous activity and makes you sleep on the couch."

"It's mean to tease, Kai. A week is a really long time."

"Poor baby. Maybe we can figure something out." She kissed him again, then gently pushed him away. He paused in the door to study her, and she gave him a puzzle looked. "What?"

"Nothing," he said with a wistful smile. "Just—I'm glad I met you."

She tried to fight a grin. "Sap."

His lips curved in that half-smile. "Yep. Get some rest. I'll be back soon."

"I know you will," she said.

they're gross I'm sorry!