Chapter 10
"Hey, you ready for some grub?" Wolf asked Miller as he met him in the lobby. He could already smell the breakfast buffet and really wanted to eat and get over to the hospital to spell the others.
"Yep, I'm ready when you are." Miller said, Wolf wore a smile as he could tell the man was looking around for Larrin. He had to admit it was adorable to see Miller infatuated with a woman even if it was his sister.
"She's still sleeping off all the feast she ate last night, Buddy." Wolf told Miller with a chuckle. He was amazed Larrin hadn't ended up vomiting from the amount of food and drinks she had consumed. But he did know when he checked in on her and Kathleen this morning both were still sound asleep. He didn't have the heart to wake them, so he quietly closed the door behind him and left them to sleep.
"I wasn-" Miller started, a blush gracing his cheeks as he was caught but Wolf stopped him as he just too soft hearted to make Miller stammer and be embarrassed for being so obvious about Larrin.
"Don't bother. I'm not that stupid. I know you're keen on my sister but you should know that she's going places and I don't want you or anyone getting in the way of her potential." Wolf told him, he liked Miller a lot and trusted him to do right by his sister but he felt the need to be clear about what he wanted for Larrin.
"I wouldn't stop her from doing anything she wanted." Miller said, his eyes went wide as he realised the insinuations that could be taken away from what he said. "I mean as long as it's all legal of course." he added trying to cover his bases as he really didn't want to get on Wolf's bad side.
Wolf just chuckled and clapped him on the back as he really liked how easily flustered Miller was. It was reassuring as he honestly preferred Miller over the last guy Larrin had been interested in. Now that guy had been one slimy douche bag.
"Just treat her well and don't come to me for sex advice. Cause I don't want to know." Wolf told him, he couldn't help but laugh as Miller's face went beet red.
The first thing Rachel heard was the slow and steady beep of a vitals monitor. She took in a slow breath as her body felt like it was made of soft fluffy clouds, it felt really good but when she tried to take a deeper breath a tight pull in her chest stopped her. She frowned at the sensation as it wasn't very nice.
She opened her eyes slowly and after a few moments of blinding light and blurry vision everything came into view. She was lying in an hospital bed in a private room surrounded by flowers which made sense given she'd been shot. Her mind snapped at the memory of that but whatever drugs that pouring through her IV didn't let her dwell too long as she felt a warm hand stroke the side of her face making her close her eyes in pleasure. She melted in it as it had been so long since someone had touched her with such familiarity. She automatically thought of Tom as she remembered his invitation to find him.
"Hey,"
Rachel frowned slightly as that didn't sound like Tom's voice but Tex's. She opened her eyes and saw him smiling down at him and even if he wasn't Tom, she smiled up at him as he was such a good friend to her as he always made her feel better when she was at her lowest.
"Tex." She said back, her voice sounded slightly rough to her ears as her throat was a little scratchy. He smile turned a grin.
"It's good to see you awake." he said as he took her hand into his and gave it a gentle squeeze reminding her of how he'd been there right after she'd been shot and stayed with her as she'd been packed up into the ambulance.
"You stayed." Rachel said warmly as he'd kept his word.
"I told you I'd be with all the way." he told her in a low voice, he moved back from her but kept his grip on her hand as a woman wearing a doctor's coat and scrubs moved into her line of vision.
"I'm Dr Clarke, how are you feeling?" Dr Clarke asked Rachel, she spoke with a odd accent that Rachel couldn't place. Rachel couldn't help but be slightly distracted by how beautiful the woman's eyes were as they were a brilliant grass green colour that stood out with her tanned complexion and dark hair.
"Very high." Rachel replied which earned her a chuckle from the Doctor and Tex.
"We might have turn down the Morphine drip a tad." Dr Clarke said with a smile as she checked Rachel over going through the routine of looking at her vitals read out and checking her pupils before asking questions to judge Rachel's memory. She went over what Rachel's injuries were and what she had done and the prognosis. All that was completely lost on Rachel's foggy brain but given the woman looked cheerful it meant everything had to ok.
"Well, everything looks in order. So for now, just take it easy and rest." the doctor told her as she moved to the end of the bed and pulled a pen out of her lab coat jacket.
"Ok, when can I get out?" Rachel asked, Dr Clarke smiled in amusement as she picked up Rachel's chart and wrote some notes in it.
"Not for a few days. You just had surgery. So just take it easy and I'll be by to check on you in a few hours." she told her, Rachel watched as the woman walk away and saw Tom walk into the room. She couldn't help but light up at the sight of him as he came in with a vase of flowers. He stopped a couple steps in and looked to her and then Tex for a moment before he gave her a strained smile.
"Hey," he said to her. He looked tired as he was dressed in his usual outfit of BDUs and boots, not a wrinkle in sight but he had a tired expression and dark circles under his eyes.
"Hey," she replied softly. Tex cleared his throat and Rachel felt slightly embarrassed for openly ogling Tom and ignoring Tex who still held her hand.
"I'll leave you two." Tex said politely trying to bow out of the room as he knew that now Tom was here Rachel would want him over Tex. It was easy to tell by the way her eyes lit up when he was around. He was just the friend and he had learned to accept that it was enough.
"You don't have to." Rachel said as she felt like she was missing something but couldn't figure out what. She also didn't want him to leave just because Tom was here. she knew it was selfish but Tex's presence was a comfort that she didn't want to lose just yet.
"I kind of do." he said with a smile. "I need to go check in with Kathleen and make sure Wolf's sister hasn't corrupted her." Tex joked, Rachel frowned at his joke as the drugs were muddling with her sense of humour.
"I thought she was a lovely young woman. Very bright." Rachel said defending the woman as she felt like she were looking at a younger version of herself when she spoke to Larrin.
"I know, just teasing. I'll be back later, if you want." Tex said letting her have the choice of his company instead of forcing it on her.
"Of course I want you to come back." Rachel said as she wondered why he would even think she wouldn't want to see him. Tex smiled at her words and Rachel basked in it as he's good moods were always so contagious.
"Ok, then I'll be back later." Tex said, he pressed a kiss to the back of her that he was holding before he let her go and walked out of the room. She didn't miss Tom stepping out of the way as Tex exited nor how the room suddenly seemed to grow a little cold with Tex's absence.
Rachel looked to Tom and watched as he moved to the end of the bed looking stiff and formal he held up a vase of Kale flowers.
"I must look really bad." Rachel joked weakly as Tom just stared at her with a neutral expression. The joke seemed to crack a small smile but it was a strained smile. She didn't know why but she had imagined he'd race to her bedside and take her hand.
"You look alright for someone who's been shot." he told her, he held up the vase. "I didn't want to come empty handed. But didn't know if you were allergic to flowers." Tom said awkwardly as he'd picked the most hypoallergenic flowers not that it mattered given she was already surrounded by a florist shop of flowers.
"I'm not but thank you for gesture. It's very thoughtful." Rachel said, she loved kale flowers as they were structurally beautiful to look at from the way the petals curled into a flower and the petals themselves as the pattern of veins and colours. They were also hardier as they lasted longer in the vase not too mention they could be eaten even though they were incredibly bitter in comparison to the leaves.
She watched as Tom placed the vase on one of the tables with the other arrangements before he moved back to the end of the bed. Part of her ached for him to show her the warmth he had last night.
"I just wanted to come by and let you know that we caught the man who shot you. He's a immune soldier. We're still trying to figure out how he got into the hotel and if he's alone but you're safe. You'll have two guards at your door at all times and we've vetted the hospital staff." Tom informed her.
"you couldn't wait to put a guard on me again could you?" Rachel teased as she'd been shadowed since she killed Neils only to have her freedom taken from her again but this time by the immunes.
"It's for your safety." Tom said missing the joke entirely. He didn't think anything about this was amusing as Rachel getting shot had been an eye opener and made him realise how lapse he'd been with the security at the hotel and with that of his family. He just assumed they were all safe but now he knew better. They were all targets and by extension their families as well. It was why he was working tirelessly to organize housing and transport for his family as he didn't want his father and kids living in a ghost town with little security. He needed them safe and to focus on reconnecting with them which meant that he had to deny his wants and focus on them and looking after the crew and helping them reintegrate into society while the ship was in dry dock being repaired.
"Is everything ok?" Rachel asked him as she didn't understand why he was distancing himself from her.
"Yeah, look I need to get back to work." he told her.
"Ok." Rachel said, Tom gave a nod and left the room leaving Rachel feeling a little heartsick by his abrupt exit.
"You look terrible." Kara said to Larrin as the woman sat back in her chair looking pale and tired. She hoped it wasn't the food as the three of them had really enjoyed the breakfast buffet to the point that Kara felt like she should be classified as heifer instead of human.
But she couldn't help but overindulge as she was officially on maternity leave and no longer on restricted food limits which applied to every sailor on the ship so everyone got their share. So it'd been hard for her given her pregnancy made her hungry all the time and even though Danny shared some of his food with her. It was nice to finally eat as much as she wanted without worrying about it.
"I've forgotten how to sleep on a mattress. It was like rolling around on a marshmallow" Larrin told her as she sat back and rubbed the back of her neck. She had tossed and turned for a few hours before exhaustion took over and made her sleep but all in all she'd guess she had about four hours of sleep. Definitely not enough.
"How did you sleep?" Kara asked Kathleen.
"Good," Kathleen said with a smile, she was still a little shy around Kara and Larrin but she was slowly coming out of her shell. Kara had a feeling the girl was overwhelmed the same way Larrin was about being in St Louis where everything seemed rather too good to be true. So she was treading carefully to save herself when things went south.
"She snores." Larrin commented as she took a sip of coffee.
"I do not." Kathleen said defensively though she had no idea if she snored or not. But then she saw the smile on Larrin's face and knew the woman was joking which was a relief.
"So do. Bet you get it from your father." Larrin commented with a smile as she looked over Kathleen's shoulder.
"What's this?" Tex asked as he came to the table.
"Dad!" Kathleen said, her eyes lighting up as she saw him. She hated how part of her always expected him to leave and come back. She was so used to him leaving it was hard to expect him to stay and yet after all the times he left, she was still not immune to feeling of being abandoned.
"Hey, sorry I got pulled away." Tex said as he sat down at the table next Kathleen, she couldn't help but beam at the fact that he always kept his word.
"How's Dr Scott?" Larrin asked from across the table.
"Out of the woods and in recovery. What's with all the empty plates?" Tex asked as there was about 8 plates on the table. The girls had decided it was easier to pile up 5 plates; each with one different kind of food that they placed in the centre of the table and then shared from there onto their own plates. It had been fun.
"You're paying for breakfast right?" Kara asked Tex with an expecting look before Larrin got a chance. Tex smiled wryly as he could see Kara was joking but decided to be a gentleman given the women had helped look after Kathleen in his absence.
"I guess I am, did you three leave anything left for the rest of the crew to eat?" Tex asked teasingly as he slung an arm over the back of Kathleen's chair and sat back.
"No, they all had to find another restaurant." Larrin deadpanned.
"Most of them were up and gone early. We have three days to sort out long term accomodation and travel arrangements before this hotel gives us the boot for actual paying guests." Kara said.
"I see you're in no rush." Tex said. "You going home to Norfolk?" he asked.
"I want to but there aren't any planes going home and I have to speak with Danny. But I've already put in a request form for housing here. I'm told I'll know by the end of the day." Kara told him.
"We should probably talk about what we're going to do." Tex said to Kathleen. His daughter smiled as she liked how he said 'we' as it meant they'd be a family together. He looked to Larrin. "And what's your plans?"
"I'm playing it by ear at the moment. Why? You offering me the lounge?" Larrin asked him.
"I don't have a couch yet but sure, you're welcome to it." Tex told her as he knew Miller would be going out to find his mother and while he didn't know what Wolf's plans were, he'd figure the man would want to set Larrin up and follow Miller given the two were a team.
Since Claire was gone Tex felt he needed to step up and be the full time parent to Kathleen which meant giving his daughter a home and stability. Something he didn't mind extending the invitation to Larrin as Wolf was family and by extension that made Larrin family as well.
