Chapter 11
"So you still going up to Iowa?" Wolf asked as he and Miller were stationed outside of Dr Scott's room. They'd been standing outside the room for over a couple hours. In which they had been a companionable silence for until Wolf spoke up. He'd been mulling in his thoughts about Larrin, Miller and his duties not just as a Naval officer but as a brother and friend to two people he cared about.
"Yeah but all transport has been grounded for the moment. So I'm stuck until I can sort some wheels out." Miller said, he'd already looked into it before he and Wolf went to breakfast.
"I'd like to go with you." Wolf said to him.
"But what about Larrin?" Miller asked, he thought it was bad he was leaving but he didn't want to take Wolf from his sister after they just reunited.
If he were honest he hadn't wanted to go alone but had been to afraid of how it would look if he asked someone to go with him. He wanted to show he was just and strong and gruff as the rest of the men. To ask his friends to join felt like it would be misconstrued as him needing someone to 'hold his hand'.
"She'll understand. I just need to get her somewhere to live and access to my pay so she can get food and proper boots. Anyway, someone's gotta have your back and I want to go." Wolf told him. Miller gave a closed lip smile grateful that Wolf would go with him.
"Ok, cool." Miller said playing it cool even though it meant a lot.
"Wow" Danny said as there was truly no other words one could say as he and Kara stepped two feet into their new home that had been given to them.
"Yeah." Kara said a little stunned and it was not a good stunned either as they got a 4 bedroom home like she requested but it looked like the house hadn't been renovated since the 1970s. In fact it looked like everything that was ugly about the 70s had been violently vomited throughout the interior of the house. Or so Kara dreaded as she couldn't get past the front door.
Hideously brown and cream patterned wallpaper and shag pile carpet of a horrible fluoro orange colour ran through the front hallway. There were creepy lizard statues stuck to the wall like they were climbing the walls. That was just the hallway; Kara wasn't sure she was ready to progress further into the house just based on how repulsive the interior designing was so far.
"We can renovate it right? You didn't sign anything about keeping the house as is?" Danny asked trying to find the silver lining of the cloud. It looked so beautiful from the exterior, the house from outside looked like it had been built in the 1900s and Kara had loved it but seeing the insides made her want to run back and demand for a new house.
"It's 100% ours to do what we want. We could set it on fire." Kara said, she had to admit it setting the house on fire sounded like a pretty good plan to her even though they wouldn't do that.
"At least it looks clean , just got a little dust." Danny remarked ignoring her comment about setting a fire.
"Yeah." Kara said her eyes still wide in shock. She knew better than to expect a beautiful home but she had hoped for something just a step above what they had.
Danny looked to the woman he was going to marry and saw how crestfallen and shocked she was by the state of the house even though they hadn't made it past the front door. He had hoped to propose to her in their new home but right now it didn't feel like a special time. He had planned to do it last night but then the immune had popped up ruining his moment. The ring was burning a hole in pocket and he didn't want the memory of their proposal to include creepy wall lizards.
"I can't have a baby here." Kara said as she couldn't bring herself to step into the house. Hell even Halsey wouldn't enter the house when Danny directed him too which to her was a bad omen. Danny turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile.
"How about you go back to the hotel and have a long soak. We have the rooms for three days." Danny said as he rubbed her arms in a soothing manner.
"What are you going to do?" Kara asked him as she didn't want to leave him to brave it alone but her emotions were getting the better of her as she just wanted to cry.
"I'm going to check it out and make sure there's no nasties around that might hurt you and the baby. Clean up the dust." Danny said. He figured whatever weirdo lived here might have a reptilian fetish and he wanted to make sure there weren't any snakes or other creepy crawlies. He was also mentally adding up all the other things he needed to check that he'd enlist help to strip out as much as the carpeting and wallpaper so he could sleep at night with
"Ok." Kara said, she patted his arm and turned on her feet and left the house, she barely made it down the path when she saw Tex come out of the house next door and wave at them.
"Hey Neighbour." Tex said with a smile.
"Hey, you got the house next door?" Danny asked him as he followed Kara down the steps with Halsey at his side.
"Yep," Tex said to them as he leaned on the railing of the front porch or so they assumed as the front lawn of Tex's place was just as overgrown as theirs. It basically looked like his head was poking out of the bushes.
"That was quick." Kara remarked as she had to follow up with the housing department twice just to get their house. Yet Tex looked like he was all settled in at his place.
"Well, when I told them that I was housing six people who wouldn't be bothering the housing department for a place they just handed the keys over." Tex told her.
"More like the lady that he talked to swooned from his Southern charm." Larrin said her head popped out of the same bushes and smiled at them.
"I'm from Reno but I'll forgive you given you're Australian." Tex told her in a light teasing manner.
"Gee thanks." Larrin said making a face like she didn't know why she should be upset about it. She looked to Kara and Danny with an excited smile as she loved that she had a bedroom and was surrounded by people she felt safe with. It was something that felt rare and precious to her. "So how does your place?" Larrin asked them as she was over the moon about having Kara as a neighbour. She really liked the woman.
"Ah, it's got charm." Kara said lamely as she didn't have the words to describe it and knew if she tried she'd cry because the house needed a lot of work if it was anything like the hallway and their baby would grow up in shag pile carpets and lizards statues staring at him or her. She felt Danny's hands on her shoulders as he gave her a gentle squeeze to comfort her.
"But it needs some work." Danny said to them.
"You look like there are dead bodies over there." Tex joked.
"It's interior needs gutting." Danny said.
"How bad? You want me to take a look?" Tex asked with a frown as Danny and Kara were very capable people but they looked a little shell shocked. He actually felt for them as Kara was 15 weeks along and he knew pregnant women liked to nest before the baby came.
"Yeah, later though. What's your place like?" Danny said accepting his help, he'd need everyone he could get as he wasn't going to let Kara do anything but pick paint colours and furniture.
"Pretty sweet. Come over and see for yourself." Tex said waving them over. Danny and Kara didn't waste a second in leaving their new home to check out Tex's. Walking up the driveway they could see it looked the same as theirs. The garden and front lawn were overgrown and the style of house was identical.
But once they stepped inside they noticed a huge difference, the interior of Tex's home looked like it belonged on the cover of 'House and Garden'. There was no dingy hallway, no shag carpets or creepy lizards statues crawling the walls. the bottom floor was open plan living as there were no walls except for the back area where there was a ground bathroom. a sun room and stairs up to the second floor. Bare wooden and stone pillars held the second floor in it's place but it didn't detract from the space. The space was light and airy as the walls were painted in cream with white accents. Natural light filtered through the windows and a couple of well placed skylights. It had polished wooden floors and the décor was French provincial meet hipster as the lounges were plush and brightly coloured, with patterned cushions to off set the wooden features and cream walls.
"We had to clean it up a little and I'll need a machete for the garden but it'll do." Tex said in a nonchalant manner like it was just normal to have a house this fabulous.
It was like walking into an expensive home magazine and Kara just wanted to cry as it was perfect. She looked to Danny and could see that he was just as shocked by the contrast. She didn't want to say it out loud but she wanted this house.
"You want to trade?" Kara asked Tex in a hopeful tone. Tex gave a laugh and shook his head.
"Not really, this place is what I need. It's 5 bedrooms and a granny flat out back. But you guys are welcome to the granny flat or a room in the house until your place is up to scratch. Hell, I'll help you fix up your place, I'm pretty handy with a hammer. Think of it as baby shower slash housewarming gift from the Nolans." Tex told them with a smile.
He had a feeling he was going to helping out a lot but he liked to pay things forward and when he and Claire had been newly married and Kathleen on the way; their friends and family had helped them out. Plus he'd need something to keep him busy so he wasn't in Kathleen's hair. He knew his daughter had an independent streak, something she got from him, so he knew better than to just get in her space all the time.
"You haven't seen the place yet." Danny told him in a warning tone.
"It can't be that bad." Tex said to them.
"It is." Kara told him.
Rachel laid in the bed listlessly with no visitors and nothing to do but think as her pleasant high from earlier was gone. She wasn't in pain but she was more coherent and aware of situation. She felt cold even under all the blankets Part of her wanted to remove the tube from her chest that was helping her breathe by draining the fluid only because it felt so unnatural to have something stuck into her body, it wasn't the only thing that made her uncomfortable but until she had more strength she was stuck lying in bed looking to the ceiling counting the hours until they released her.
She looked to the Kale flowers and thought of Tom and the 180 he pulled on from being flirty last night to going back to the aloof Captain. She wondered what she had done wrong, had she said something, but as much as she racked her brain she couldn't figure it out. She heard a soft knock and looked to the door and gave a soft smile.
"You're back." Rachel said to Tex, glad he was back as she didn't want to be alone with her thoughts any longer.
"Said I'd be and I brought you something." Tex said with a smile as he held up a backpack. He moved to the side of her bed and pulled up a chair. He sat down and opened the bag.
"My cardigan" she smiled as Tex pulled her favourite thick grey cardigan out the bag. He draped it over her upper body before he pulled the next item out of the bag. It however perplexed her. "Socks." she said.
"First thing I thought about when the morphine was fading was how cold my feet were." Tex said as he moved to the end of the bed. She couldn't argue as she was under three blankets and still cold. "May I?" he asked.
"Please." Rachel as she couldn't help but smile as it felt like a role reversal given she had taken care of him during the trial phase of the vaccine and now he was taking care of her.
She knew it was bad but as Tex slipped the first sock on her foot she was a little wistful that it wasn't Tom as it was probably the closest she would ever feel to being Cinderella. Last night she had the dress and now a handsome man was slipping socks onto her feet. He might not be Tom but Tex was definitely handsome in his own right and she couldn't help but feel touched by his thoughtfulness.
"Thank you." Rachel told him.
"You're welcome, how do those feet feel now?" Tex asked as he retook his chair.
"Better, so how's your daughter?" Rachel asked him, as she didn't want to talk about herself. She had been introspective for the past few hours when she wasn't asleep and would rather hear about his news.
"She's ok, though I'll be honest. I have no clue what I'm supposed to do to help her and be in her life. Besides being present, putting food on the table and putting a roof over her head." Tex said in a self deprecating manner.
"You'll figure it out." Rachel assured him as she didn't know all the details about his relationship with his daughter only that he felt responsible for any rift was between him and Kathleen but she knew he would fix it.
"Mhm hopefully." Tex said as he really didn't have a clue what he was doing.
