Matt always wondered why people never believed the local rangers and sheriffs department when they said that the conditions are not good for skiers or weekend warriors. This was the fifth set of skiers they'd had to pull off the mountain in the past week and a half and it was getting old. They had been warned but figured that was for amateurs, not them. They'd learned the hard way and had spent a night up on the mountain. The one woman had frost bite on her toes and fingers and one of the teenagers was suffering from a mild case of hypothermia.
As they got the snowmobiles back to the station after dropping off the skiers to a waiting ambulance, he saw Cody's truck was back in the parking lot. As the group trudged into the cabin, the smell of pizza filled the room and his stomach growled hungrily. It'd been a long time since breakfast. He wasn't surprised to see Gunny flopped out on the couch, already munching through a piece, Cody on the other end doing the same.
Robin pointed everyone towards the kitchen and within minutes, they were thawing out next to the fireplace in the main room. Greetings were exchanged with Gunny as everyone found a place to sit or sprawl. The silence that followed wasn't one being forced upon people... it was just simply the silence that comes from hungry people eating and not bothering to take time to talk until that first piece or two were gone.
Finally, after several of the Rangers got up for seconds, Matt looked over at Gunny, "So… how'd it go? You can come back and play with us, right?" he said with a smile.
She looked up at Matt, "Doc said I can't come out to play until I can do a cartwheel." She said her face straight and very serious looking.
Matt blinked and then realized she was teasing him. He rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Seriously, when can you come back?" he asked. He was shorthanded without her and they'd had to rely on the sheriff's deputy to do the flying…he was good but not as good as Frank or Gunny.
She shrugged her right shoulder, "I have to return in one month for a final checkup. I can do light duty till then but according to Doc Trumen, no rescues, no flying, nothing other than light duty of pushing papers." She said. "So I can stay here and answer phones and watch the kids if Robin wants to be your backup." She offered, knowing Robin had been 'itching' to get back out in the field to keep on her toes.
Matt thought it over for a few moments, occupying his time with another slice of pizza while everyone else waited to see what he said. They'd been so busy the past few months that they were all behind in paperwork, including Matt and having a 'full' staff again would help things out considerably.
Finally Matt nodded, "If you don't mind. You can help us get caught up on paperwork and such. If you're up to it, we've got small things to do around here that have been neglected for awhile now. I'll take Robin when we need the full team if you're up to handling the phones and the kids if it happens to be after school. Jessica's no chore unless she starts teething again." He grimaced at that, remembering how all the kids were when they teethed.
Cody had remained quiet for this entire exchange, eating pizza and watching Gunny's expression from the corner of his eye or upon casual glances her way. She finally looked directly at him when she'd caught one of his glances and raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'And what are you thinking….' He shrugged and smirked a little, keeping his thoughts to himself.
Gunny nodded, "I'll have Cody take me up to the cabin so I can get my things. I'll be back tomorrow morning. Might as well make a list of things that need done and get paperwork together for me to do…I'm not going to hunt it down for you though." She said, giving Matt that casual look that Cody knew to mean she was serious. She'd do the work but she wasn't going to chase her tail trying to find it to begin with.
Matt nodded. This took a load off his mind and he was grateful…though she might not be so willing once she saw the list of things that needed to be done. But he knew she'd take care of the things she could and the rest would happen whenever they happened.