Cht 5
Time to move
Waking to Bear licking her on the face, Shaw opens an eye and shoos Bear away. Slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyes, the lodge was quiet.
"Woof, woof!" Bear urges for Shaw to move, it was now late morning.
Walking out of her own lodge, and following their noses to food, Shaw pushes the entrance door of the first wooden hut open as Bear, and then Shaw, walk through it.
"Hi there!" As a cheery wide eyed young woman greets Shaw at the door, "welcome to Gara Falls Ranch, is there something I can help you with?"
Shaw continues to look through the long hut. A small shop was to her left, selling snacks and cold drinks, as well as having shelves stacked with mosquito sprays, sun hats, sunglasses, a few light pieces of clothing and flash lights, smores DIY kits, lighters and stuffed Beavers, the soft toy kind.
"No, Bear!" Shaw warns just as Bear hovers his mouth over a Beaver, "go!" As Shaw flicks her hand at him.
Bear looks sadly at Shaw, then moves away, closing his jaw. What's a dog got to do for a soft toy?
Looking past and through the small shop, a canteen was busy serving food and coffee. In the middle of the lodge were long wooden benches with groups of hungry young campers and families eating, talking, looking at maps and discussing. On the other side of the wooden benches was another more comfortable and inviting lounge area with a specialist café serving cake and drinks. As it was late morning, approaching very close to lunchtime, the place was getting livelier with chatter, plates clashing, people coming and going in all directions. The footfall increasing by the minute...
Seeing the petite dark haired woman not answering her, the store assistant goes back to stacking the shelves as another set of visitors appear through the door behind Shaw. "Hi there! Welcome to Gara Falls Ra..."
Shaw spots Root sitting by the window on one of the benches, Bear already wagging his tail beside her, "woof, woof, woof, woof, grrrrrr..." As Bear stills his body and stands upright posturing and threatening the man who just sat down next to Root, and getting a little too cosy with her.
Smirking, 'good boy Bear' as Shaw walks, slowly, to the table, relishing.
"Grrrrrrr" as Bear continues to warn the cocky young man while Root giggles at his fear of Bear, and theb turns to gaze at Shaw as she walks teasingly slow towards them.
Reaching the table, "you're in my seat" Shaw says abruptly to Bear's new target.
The man jumps at Shaw's rudeness, and looks between her and the dog.
Patting Bear on the head, Bear stops growling but continues to glare with Shaw, at the young man.
Not moving anytime soon, with his mouth still hanging open, "mo..ve!..." Shaw says slowly exaggerating the word as she says it before continuing to threateningly glare at him.
The now not so cocky man jumps and near yelps out loud before jolting up from the bench and moving away. So far away in fact, he ends up near running towards the exit.
Loving Shaw's possessiveness, Root smiles as she grabs Shaw's arm as she sits down in the now vacant spot. Root leans on Shaw's arm and rests her head on her shoulder while Shaw reaches for Root's unfinished sandwich and starts chomping on it.
Just then Gen clashes her plate and crochery down onto the table before stepping over the wooden bench to sit down in front of Shaw.
Seeing her chance, Shaw swipes at the plate and grabs some fries "Hey!" As Gen reaches over the table and starts battling back for her stolen fries. As Gen is distracted, Shaw grabs her burger and takes a bite.
"Shaw!" Gen shouts as they both spend the next few minutes duelling each other as Root sighs and pouts heavily, watching on from the side as her head was unceremoniously interrupted and shoved off Shaw's shoulder by her battling girls.
Bribing Gen with a milkshake, "and a coffee" Shaw adds, Root smiles as she watches Gen take the money and get up to go buy the drinks. As soon as Gen stands from the bench, Root grabs Shaw and smacks her lips onto hers, relishing, sucking, kissing, making up for the abrupt end to last night. If others in the hut were looking, neither of them noticed.
As Root pulls away, grinning, "hey Sweetie" savouring her moment with Shaw, "did you sleep well?" And hums as she smooths out Shaw's hoodie.
"Gruff!" As Bear moves behind the bench and nudges his nose into Root.
"Sorry Bear, did you sleep well buddy?" Root adds and hands Bear a treat from the bag of treats in Shaw's hoodie pocket, and scratches him behind the ears. Finishing, Bear then lies down on the ground between them, whining as he waits for his humans to do something else.
Hearing Root sigh, "you insisted on bringing them. I said to leave the kid in the car" Shaw shrugs and teases.
Pouting and gazing back at Shaw, looks like Root will have to plan if she and Shaw were going to have some alone time.
Standing beside her small mare, probably more a pony as Shaw squints her eyes at it, Gen is standing excitedly giddy, it was her first riding lesson.
"and you must be" as the perky instructor's assistant makes her round, ticking off the students.
"Gen, Turing" Gen answers grinning at the young assistant.
"OK Gen, you ready?"
"Yeah!"
"Aaaaand you must be..." As the perky assistant turns to look at Shaw.
'Far too perky' as Shaw only stares back at the assistant.
Getting awkward, Gen answers for her, "she's my Ma," before Gen and Shaw turn to look at each other, and then simultaneously shrugs. Guess that was the end of their 'what should I call you' conversation then.
"Alright Ma, don't worry," the perky assistant continues to enthuse, "Gen is in safe hands" as she moves to the front of the horse and guides Gen to stand sideways on with the saddle. "OK Gen, when your ready, I want you to put one hand on the front of the saddle and hook one foot onto the stirrup, and haul yourself up onto the saddle by throwing your leg over it. It's quite hard to do so take your time."
Gen nods frantically before moving her hands onto the saddle, and places a foot onto the stirrup.
Shaw watches on in amusement as she watches Gen struggle like a sack of potatoes.
The assistant stands awkwardly swithering on whether to move to help Gen as usually the parent would have stepped in by now to help their child.
Frustrated, "MA!" Gen shouts as she glares at Shaw.
Quickly straightening out her stifled laughing, Shaw finally moves to help Gen. Clasping her hands together and bending down slightly, Shaw waits for Gen to put her foot put into Shaw's hand instead of the stirrup, and as Gen did so, Shaw straightens her legs and throws Gen over the saddle.
Seeing Gen finally sit on the horse, "have fun sweetie" Shaw teases with a fake smile as the assistant does her final checks on Gen and her pony.
Narrowing her eyes, "thanks, I will" Gen says lowly as she also looks down at Shaw.
"Shaw," Gen calls lowly after watching the assistant walk away to help another child, "do you think Root is gonna be OK?"
Softening her expression, "don't worry about Root kiddo, she'll be fine," as Shaw rests her hand on Gen's leg to reassure her. "She has us. You just, have fun, OK?"
"OK riders, we ready?" As the instructor shouts to her young charges for the day.
Nodding, "Shaw?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it OK to call you Ma from now on?"
"Yes!" As the chorus of excited teenagers shout back.
"Sure"
And they were off, the small group of kids trekking on their ponies.
As Gen's pony starts to move away, "Ma!" Gen calls, turning around. "I love you," then grins and canters away with the rest of the group of young novice riders.
Standing blinking after Gen, Shaw takes a moment before walking from the stables down to the field.
Looking across the field, Shaw spots Root riding in the field, others standing around leaning on the wooden pillar posts also watching.
Root, with a genuine smile on her face, so relaxed, canters elegantly as she confidently directs the horse. With her height, the fine chestnut stallion, Root's long riding boots, crop, leather gloves, riding blazer and shirt, even with that daxn helmet, Shaw couldn't help but think how beautiful Root is.
'Equine therapy (EAP) can be effective in learning communication, trust, and identifying behavioural patterns, whether it is the horse or the patient's behavioural pattern. Horses are genuine, non judgemental and trusting animals, and so patients learn instantly from these creatures.
Horse are also ideal creatures due to the similar dynamics, in that they eat together, work together and must live with others, just like a family unit...'
"She's looking fine, a very proficient rider" as Shaw turns to the woman now standing beside her. "Of course I have only met her for a few hours so we will keep monitoring her, but from what you've researched, what we've discussed and changes you've already made, I'd say your wife is recovering well. If not she is certainly in very good hands" as the older woman stretches her hand up to greet Shaw, "Dr Turing, it's nice to finally put a face to the voice."
"Dr Raynes" as Shaw jumps down from the post she was sitting on and shakes Dr Raynes hand. "Is there any other changes I should be making, symptoms I should be aware of that may reoccur?"
"There maybe times of lapse, but that would be normal. The main thing is that you continue to reassure and offer a safe environment for Mrs Turing to recover. It's important that she feels safe, to allow her to continue building on trust. Only then can a patient feel safe and know it's OK to show their genuine feelings. Of course love and support is also important, but from catching a glimpse of your family at the hut earlier, I think you and your daughter have that covered already" as Dr Raynes chuckles and winks at Shaw.
Nodding, the two Doctors continue to look out to Root, who is now starting to jump over small obstacles on her stallion.
"Thank you, Dr Raynes"
"Don't thank me, you're the one doing all the work... And besides, you're on vacation remember? Try to relax and have fun yourself. After all," as she leans in close to Shaw "you can't look after others if you don't look after yourself."
After a moment of still looking at Shaw's serious expression, still deep in though, Dr Raynes let's out a chuckle before slapping her hand on Shaw's shoulder, squeezes it, and then leaves, "if you need me, you know where I am" as she waves Shaw goodbye.
Finished riding, Shaw watches as Root canters back to the stables.
Knowing her girl is watching her, Root can't help but feel proud, glancing over at Shaw as she canters up to the stables slowly.
Whistle...
Squeak, squeak, Bear picks up his beaver toy and stands up from the fence to run to Shaw.
'Root had to go buy that thing!' As Shaw shakes her head at Bear.
Bear responds by tilting his head and wagging his tail at Shaw, Beaver in mouth as he continues to hold it, dribbling all over it.
Bang... Bang... Rrrrrrrr...
Whinnying and squealing, Root's stallion throws his two front legs into the air as Root goes into shock, freezing, as the beaten up pick up truck rustles away.
Continuing to kick and whinny, the chestnut stallion jumps side to side and canters off as it throws Root off it's back in it's confusion.
Landing, luckily, on a heap of hay bales, Root tumbles safely onto the stable ground as a few stable hands and others run to Root's aid.
"Oh my gosh! Are you alright!?" As one of the stable hands reaches Root first, looking her over.
"Don't move, I'll call the EMS" calls one of the managers of the stable, scared of a lawsuit.
As the stable folk get more panicked about how to handle this guest's fall, a crowd of other guests start to gather, a few grooms men having already ran off to try stop and rein back the fleeing and bucking chestnut stallion.
Reaching the stables, Shaw pushes the stable hand and manager crouching next to Root out of the way and moves into Root's beckoning outstretched arms, and embraces her.
"Sameen" Root calls softly into Shaw's ear.
"Are you hurt?" Shaw answers back on full medical mode.
Pulling away, Shaw gives Root the once over before landing back on Root's eyes, her usual pout now back in place, indicating to Shaw that Root was fine. Shaking her head, Root continues to pout as she keeps her arms around Shaw's neck, unwilling to let Shaw stand back up. Rolling her eyes, Shaw gives in and leans back down to pick, and then scoop, Root into her arms. Standing and taking a couple steps...
"W... Wait... Should you be doing that? Shouldn't she see a Doctor first?" The stable hand asks trying to stop Shaw from leaving as she stands in front of Shaw. The manager standing beside her colleague to add back up.
Shaw glares at the stable hand, making her jump a little but sweat a lot at Shaw's challenge.
All the while Root has dropped her head onto Shaw's shoulder and continues to gaze adoringly at Shaw like she was living out a Mr Darcy scene.
Looking down and seeing Root wasn't going to be of any help, Shaw takes a deep breath, "lady, move" as Shaw says threateningly with a fake smile, "I am a Doctor, and she's fine."
"Woof, woof!" as Bear adds to Shaw's instructions for them to move aside.
"Oh... O..K..." As the stable hand and manager finally move to the side to let them through.
The crowd of people also separate and part as they watch Shaw carry Root out of the stables with their dog and his squeaky soft toy following close behind. The show was over.
'Offer safe environment.. Trust' as Shaw contemplates while listening to the water run in the bathroom. As much as Shaw loved a little pain with her pleasure, Root had been a little off, even for Root.
"given your propensity towards violence, is what you're doing conducive to what you're really trying to achieve? From what little you can tell me, you're line of work is, dangerous. For someone already on edge, add to that the idea that her partner may, one day, never return home, you have to ask the question of whether this is the right environment to be in at this moment."
Nodding as Shaw continues to hold the phone to her ear, "so you would recommend... I find another job?"
"I cannot tell you what to do Dr Turing, only advise you of what I analyse. From what little you can tell me about your wife's case, it seems that both your lives are full of dangerous work. Since you both live and work in such an environment, do you think Mrs Turing feels obliged to continue acting this way for the relationship to be normal? After all you both met in an adrenaline fuelled environment did you not? So a change of environment will help her recover in the short run, but to then put a patient back in the same situation after recovery is..."
"Temptation everyday" as Shaw cuts in and confirms the line of thought out loud.
"Exactly. Actions will always speak louder than words."
Silence...
"I'm sure this isn't something new, what I'm telling you. Dr Turing, from our previous conversations I know that you have done an extraordinary amount of research yourself already. Every patient is different, and you are in the best position to judge what's best for you and you're wife."
"There is a lot to think about."
"Yes, but whatever you decide, come up to the Ranch. If nothing else, it will be good to just get away for a while. I'll pencil you in, and you can call to confirm when you're ready..."
As Shaw hears the water turn off, Shaw stands as Bear continues to chew merrily on his new soft toy in his dog bed, squeak, squeak, squeak....
Wrapped in a towel, Root spots Shaw walk into the room with a glass of ice in hand, stalking towards her. Biting her lower lip, Root was a little apprehensive after, even she conceives, she went a little over board with the ice at the Suffolk Hotel. Watching Shaw now stand beside her as she leans down to place the glass on the bedside table, 'pay back?' Root questions as Shaw reaches out for her.
Placing down the glass on the bedside, Shaw gazes up at Root momentarily, and stretches out her arm, curling it around and up Root's back, and then pushing their bodies together to kiss. As they break, Shaw slowly pulls away Root's towel and drops it to the ground before placing a knee on the side of the bed and pushing them both down onto it.
Completely naked, and Shaw still fully clothed, Root couldn't help feel a little self conscious as she blushes as Shaw straddles her waist and continues to lean down and kiss her.
'Show her its safe...' As Shaw stops kissing Root and sits up, lifting her arms above her head invitingly.
Gazing at Shaw for a moment, and then smiling, Root sits up and pulls Shaw's hoodie and tank top off in one movement before leaning down to suck on Shaw's nipple and simultaneously reaching down the front of her pants, teasing Shaw.
Laughing, Shaw relishes in Root's hands for a moment before standing to shuck off her own pants while Root lies further back, making herself more comfortable, on the bed.
Crawling back on top of Root, Shaw gazes at Root for a moment, then kisses her softly before pulling away and grabbing the glass. Picking up an ice cube, Shaw puts it between her teeth as she uses it to draw across Root's upper chest, then down the middle of her torso. The ice melts just above Root's belly button as she shivers and tenses from the cold, the liquid sliding down her body. Shaw quickly retraces the path with her tongue, both licking off the water and warming Root's body again.
Taking another ice cube and biting down on it, Shaw draws around Root's nipple before licking and then sucking on it as that cube too, melts.
Moaning softly at the confusing sensations, Root readies herself for what may come next, only Shaw kisses her nipple and then stops, now sitting up on Root's waist. Propping herself up on her elbows, Root is confused as she looks at Shaw, who only replies by stretching out and shaking the glass in offer to Root.
Clink, clink, clink, as the melting ice rolls around and hits the glass. Root raises her brows in surprise, before sitting up and taking the glass, "Sameen" Root calls softly as she breathes on her face, so close.
Smiling back, Shaw stretches her arms out horizontally, surrendering.
Curling her arms around Shaw's back, Root dives in on Shaw's lips, kissing her passionately, fervently, with more love than even Root thought was possible.
As Root flips them around on, Shaw wanted Root to know she didn't have to go to extremes to her attention.
As Root flips them around, Root saw Shaw's complete trust in her as Shaw relinquished control.
This time Root was gentle, as she bites down on an ice cube, 'my turn' as Root's eyes light up with her smile, and goes to draw the ice slowly over Shaw's torso while it's Shaw's turn to curl her feet and tense her stomach at the cold sensations. Root quickly retraces the path with her tongue, simultaneously licking off both the water and warming Shaw's body back up again.
That night, for the first time in a long time, Root sleeps peacefully through the night.
