*rewind 30 seconds*
"Oh, running a little late today, Miss Earp?" The nurse asked from behind her desk.
Wynonna still didn't trust her and had no intention of interacting with the nurse unless absolutely necessary, so she just smiled and fake laughed as she kept walking. She was surprised that Waverly stopped to chat considering the hurry she'd been in earlier, but the thought didn't slow her down as she made her way into Nicole's room.
"Hey Haught-mess, still snoozing?" She asked smiling and laughing at her own funniness as she walked up to the end of Nicole's bed
She turned instinctively to look at Nicole and found a man standing at the side of the bed with his hand on Nicole's arm. She hadn't noticed him when she'd walked in as the curtain that divided the room was pulled.
Her smile dropped and she quickly reached down to her boot and pulled out peacemaker pointing it at the interloper.
"Who the fuck are you?" She asked angrily
The man looked at her suspiciously "Well, you don't seem right…." he said quizzically looking her up and down and seemingly unfazed by the gun
As Wynonna tilted her head and was about to ask him what the hell that meant, a scared and worried Waverly came running in behind her.
"Nicole?" she whispered
She stopped for a moment behind her sister to see who she was aiming peacemaker at. But she didn't recognise the man, he certainly wasn't the smily angel, or whoever he was, from before who had disappeared. This man was older, his hair was mostly grey and was on it's way to being longer than Doc's and he looked like he hadn't shaved or slept in a couple of days, although he was still a good looking man.
But either way he was a stranger who was in Nicole's room, next to her bed with his hands on her. After stopping behind Wynonna for a moment, Waverly quickly moved along the bed to check on Nicole. She leaned over the bed to look at her and quickly check all the machines. When she was satisfied her girlfriend was as well as she could be, she stroked her hair and turned her attention back to the new man, who she realised was watching her.
He smiled slightly at her as she moved back towards Wynonna
"Now, you seem more like it" he smiled at Waverly
"Who are you?" Waverly asked softly not sure if she wanted an answer or not
He smiled at her again, seemingly ignoring Wynonna and the gun she still had pointed at him. "My name's Samuel and Nicole is my daughter" he said looking down at her
At hearing that, and without the sisters noticing, Thunderbolt stuck her head out of the bag Waverly was still carrying.
"You have anything to prove that?" Wynonna asked still pointing peacemaker at him.
He chuckled and started to reach into his pocket, but as he did and before anyone could figure out what was going on, Thunderbolt jumped out of Waverly's bag, onto the bed and jumped straight onto the man's chest. It soon became clear that it wasn't an attack by the feline, or at least not a violent attack, as the cat started meowing loudly, licking his face and rubbing her face all over the man's face and neck.
Waverly and Wynonna looked at each other in surprise, they had never seen the cat so animated before.
"I didn't think she liked men" Wynonna whispered to her sister. Waverly just shrugged in confusion
While he was being greeted by the cat, the man still managed to pull out his drivers licence and throw it on the bed in front of Wynonna. She picked it up and showed it to Waverly. It did indeed indicate that he was Samuel Haught. The sisters looked at each other and Wynonna put peacemaker back in her boot.
"Alright, alright, Teetoo, come on now…" he said softly to the cat trying to get her to stop, but she seemed to have no intention of doing so.
"I've never seen her like that before" Waverly smiled
He looked at her "Well, we haven't seen each other in quite a while" he smiled. He managed to get hold of the cat and placed her on the bed in front of him. She didn't jump back up at him, but she did continue to rub against him and he was happy to stroke her while she did.
"You must be Waverly" he said to the youngest Earp across the bed from him
"Yes, yes I am, i'm Nicole's…." she wasn't sure if she should say girlfriend, she didn't really know what Nicole's relationship with her dad was like.
"Girlfriend" He finished for her smiling
"Yes, sir….h-how did you know?"
He looked at her a little surprised "Well, the first thing you did when you came in, while your sister was pointing a gun at me,…" he smiled at Wynonna "…was to check that Nicole was safe and sound, also I do communicate with my daughter and she does talk about you a lot…" He laughed "…so I was pretty sure you'd be here"
"Er, well, Mr Haught…" Waverly said as she made her way around the bed to greet him "…It's a pleasure to actually meet you" she smiled sweetly extending her hand for him to shake
"Hey kid, come on" he said smiling and moving past her hand to envelop her in a hug. When he pulled away he said "and you can just call me Sam, no need for this Sir or Mr Haught nonsense" he squeezed her shoulders and smiled down at her. Waverly could see where Nicole got her charm
"Okay, sorry" she smiled "This is my sister Wynonna.." Waverly said gesturing towards her
"Yeah" he smiled "I figured"
Wynonna made no effort to greet him except for a small smile and a semi grunt hello
"I didn't know you were coming" Waverly explained "I..I didn't even know you had been contacted…I mean I would have if i'd know your number…"
"That's okay, the sheriff called me, i'm Nicole's next of kin" He smiled
"Took your time getting here didn't you?" Wynonna said grumpily with her arms crossed. Waverly turned and gave her an evil eye
Sam looked at Wynonna as if trying to figure out how to take that and what sort of answer to give "Well, i'm here now" he smiled "And it seems she's been well looked after…"
"Of course she has…." Waverly started, but was cut off by Wynonna's phone ringing
"Hey Doll's, What's up?" Wynonna said walking away from Waverly and Nicole's dad.
Waverly smiled apologetically at Sam
Wynonna walked back to them "There has been some sort of weird disturbance at a housing development in town so we're gonna go check it out, Will you be okay?" She asked Waverly pointing her eyes at Sam to indicate what she meant
Waverly glanced at him too "I'll be fine, we'll be fine" She smiled "call me if you need anything" she said as Wynonna left the room
After a moment of silence Sam spoke "Would you like a coffee or something Waverly? I saw a machine down the corridor"
"That would be nice, thank you" She answered politely
He smiled and nodded at her then left the room. As he did he noticed the older nurse at her station stop and stand motionless staring at him. He looked at her, but carried on down the corridor away from her. When he got to the coffee machine he stopped and looked at all the options, while he was waiting for the coffee's he turned and saw another nurse, this time younger and male, standing motionless staring at him. He turned back towards the nurses station to see the older nurse still watching. When he had collected both drinks he walked back to his daughters room, nodding and smiling at the older nurse as he entered the room.
As he handed Waverly her coffee he looked at the windowsill behind them which was full of bunches of flowers, at least one bear that he could see and some cards that had obviously been sent to Nicole.
"That is a lot of flowers" he smiled
Waverly turned to look at them "It is, a lot of people have brought them in or sent them, she is highly regarded by the community so…" she smiled
He smiled "That's nice to hear" he said sitting down next to her and taking a sip of his coffee. After a moment he said "So, the doctor tells me that the two of you were in some sort of electrical accident…."
Waverly had sort of forgotten all about that, what with knowing pretty much what had actually happened and it had been a pretty busy week. It took her a second to remember the lie "oh, yes" she smiled "that's what they tell me"
"That's what they tell you?" He repeated confused
Waverly had to think on her toes, electrocutions weren't known to wipe your memory of the event "Yes…well…erm…"
Samuel put his hand up "Okay, hang on, let's just…." He turned to face Waverly properly "Let's cut to the chase, has Nicole told you?"
Waverly smiled nervously "Told me?"
"About herself… and her mother?"
Now how should she answer that? did he mean what she thought he meant? she didn't really know what either answer would generate
"Yes, sir" she said truthfully and a little nervously "That she was…." she pointed upwards to indicate heaven
He nodded "Good…so tell me what happened to my daughter, what really happened" he smiled "and stop calling me sir" he winked
"Sorry" she apologised again, what could she say, she was a little intimidated by Nicole's dad, not because he was scary, in fact he seemed lovely and kind and she could see where Nicole got a lot of herself from, but because she was meeting Nicole's father for the first time, essentially without Nicole being there. She wanted to make a good impression
She took a big swig of her coffee "It's..erm…it's my fault"
"Your fault?" he said raising his eyebrows in surprise
"Yes…I…" she laughed nervously, this was going to sound ridiculous "I was…sort of…possessed by some sort of tentacle monster and she used her… erm…powers to save me" she smiled nervously
"Her powers?" he laughed
"H-her…abilities?…." Waverly tried to correct
He laughed again
"I didn't think she could do that….." he mused once he's stopped laughing
"No, neither did she…I think that's why she's…why we are in this situation" Waverly said turning to look at her girlfriend still laying unconscious in hospital with her arms bandaged up to the shoulder and having machines breathe for her.
He turned to look at Waverly again and reached up and slightly moved her hair away from her neck "Is that what this is?" he asked looking at the still red marks on Waverly's neck
Waverly nodded "She risked her life to save me"
He smiled kindly at Waverly "That sound about right for her doesn't it?" he smiled
"Yeah" Waverly smiled back
There was silence for a while whilst they both drank some more coffee. Samuel sat back on his chair
"So…possessed huh?"
Waverly turned towards him and smiled apologetically "Yeah"
"Nicole says that there are a lot of strange things happening in this town, do you deal with a lot of stuff like that?"
"Unfortunately yes, it comes with the Earp name, i'm afraid"
He nodded like he understood, but she wasn't sure that he did, maybe Nicole had told him more about her and Wynonna and what they did in Purgatory than he was letting on.
"So, in your professional opinion, what's your take on that nurse outside?" he asked calmly
"Bessie?"
He nodded and drank
"Well, she has taken good care of Nicole and me….but I had my suspicions about her, she was moved down here from another department just after me and Nicole were brought in here…I don't know, something seemed off, I did some research and I believe she's a angel, well she basically said as much…"
"She did?" He said surprised
Waverly nodded "We, well, I confronted her about it a little, so…." She smiled again "My research showed that she's been here in Purgatory or the surrounding area for at least 160 years, so if she wasn't an angel she was something more sinister and if she was something more sinister and she around Nicole…"
"Hmmm" he agreed "well you're right, she is an angel…"
Waverly turned to him in surprise "How do you know? for sure I mean"
"Years of practice" he laughed, he laughed like Nicole, Waverly thought "You can feel it, or at least I can, perhaps you aren't used to it yet" he smiled "There are quite few around here, but then this is a hospital so that should be expected"
"What do you mean feel it?"
"It's hard to explain I suppose, but it's as if you're drunk, you get a little buzz and you feel calm, relaxed, contented, a little off someplace else, like nothing else matters, all at the same time…" he seemed to be thinking about something "…I haven't felt it for quite a while, luckily, but here, in this hospital it's everywhere…and of course with Nicole, I can still feel it in her… although it was never as strong as in her mother, obviously, I suppose" he smiled "Have you never noticed that? when you are around Nicole? or miss it when you aren't with her?" he asked softly
"I…I just thought that was…"
"Love?"
Waverly blushed and nodded
He smiled at her "Yeah it is as well, but it's a little different with them, angels that is, i'm sure there's a reason it feels like it does, maybe to put you at ease…anyway, as you spend more time with Nicole you'll sort of start to get used to it…hooked on it… when you get that feeling for no reason, or when she's not about, it's normally an angel, but the majority of people just don't feel it…"
Waverly found this all fascinating, if not a little worrying "You know a lot about all this" she said
"I was with Nicole's mother for 15 years before…." his happy demeanour faltered for a moment "…I picked up a few things" he smiled
"Nicole said that when she was younger, you were…hunted…"
"Hunted?"
"Not her exact words but…"
"But, you could say that yes…We did our best, but I think it affected her a lot as a child, well it affected both of us, but moving around so much, having your mother leave like that…"
Waverly nodded, she understood that feeling all too well and she'd been younger than Nicole was when her mother left.
"…It always surprised me that she grew up to be so patient and kind, she definitely got that from her mother" he smiled and laughed a little "I think that's why she joined the police, she always wanted to help people and enjoyed doing it…"
"And she's good at it" Waverly nodded "She's very proud of her job"
"She is" he nodded "…her mother would have been very proud of her choice too"
"Sir, erm, Sam…there was a man in here… a couple of days after Nicole was brought in…" Waverly had to figure out how to explain this "…I found him standing at the end of her bed, I knew he wasn't a doctor or someone from the hospital and as I got closer to him…I felt what you just explained…it made be feel…wrong, like maybe I was going to faint from it…"
Sam thought for a moment "Really? it was that strong?"
Waverly nodded "It was….and Nicole hadn't had her ring on for a day or so…."
He sighed "Then he was probably one of the Powers…the group of angels… Isabel told me about all of the different kinds of angels, you'd be surprised at just how many there are" he smiled "The Powers keep things in order, apparently, so they were the ones who would find those who strayed…I always liked calling them nimrods myself just because it works on many levels" he laughed at what he saw as a funny statement. Waverly hadn't caught on though "Nimrods are hunters…" he explained and Waverly nodded "…but I always liked it as an insult too" he smiled again and Waverly laughed getting what he was talking about "HEY, YOU, NIMROD!" he pretend shouted and laughed "Me and Nicole would always shout that at basketball games when someone fluffed a pass…" he looked at his daughter as he remembered all the times they spent at basketball games together when she was a teenager.
"He…the man…well, the nimrod" Waverly said smiling, she sort of wanted to join in calling him that "He didn't do anything…he just left when I spoke to him…Well I mean he did disappear when he left the room, I went after him and he was just gone…"
"You went after him? huh! I do like you" he smiled "Yeah they do like disappearing…I know it doesn't help with worry, but there really isn't anything you can do with them, you can't attack them because you're too overcome by that feeling, you can't find them once they've disappeared, they aren't like Bessie or the others here at the hospital, their jobs are to stay on earth in human form and… help, but nimrods have their own rules and missions…" He explained
"What if he comes back?"
"I have to say I have never known one to appear and then…. not do anything…the only ones i've known were chasing Isabel and according to Nicole they took her and left and that was that" he shrugged "to be honest I don't know"
They both sat in silence for a while finishing their drinks and thinking about different things. Sam tried not to but ended up thinking about his beautiful wife and all of the nights that they had to rush to pack their things and their daughter up and escape from where ever they were. Waverley was contemplating what she could do about the nimrod, if Sam didn't know how to stop him what on earth was she going to do?
"So…Isabel is Nicole's mum?" Waverly asked softly, diverting the conversation to hopefully something a little nicer
Sam smiled sadly and nodded his head "Yeah…she was lovely…I swear you have never seen anyone more beautiful in your life…" he smiled and looked into the distance
"Oh, I don't know…" Waverly smiled and looked at Nicole
Sam laughed "Well, yeah that's true… So much of her reminds me of Isabel…" he sighed "…too much…" he ended so quietly Waverly nearly didn't hear it
"It's a beautiful name"
"It is" Sam said "But don't you dare shorten it" he said wagging his finger comically "She didn't like that at all" he laughed "Just like Nicole…"
Waverly frowned "Oh?"
"No, I remember when she was younger, she went through a phase of wanting to be called Nic, but it didn't last long…all the boys at Basketball kept asking if she wanted to be a boy and stuff like that and what with her questioning…things, she put a stop to it after a few weeks" he laughed "I sometimes call her it just to mess with her"
"I didn't know that" Waverly confessed "Or that she played basketball…I suppose her height helps…"
"Yup, that's one of the few things she got from me, her height….and her hair…although you wouldn't know it now" he smiled running his hands through his now grey hair.
Waverly smiled, he was easy to get along with and he reminded her so much of Nicole that it sort of made her sad.
Over the next couple of hours they talked and laughed. At one point Bessie came in to check on Nicole and change her bandages again. She acted differently with Sam there, she kept looking at him through the corner of her eye as if he was suddenly going to attack her or surprise her, But she still got on with her job. When she had undone the bandages on Nicole's left arm Sam noticed a mark that looked different to the rest.
"What is that?" he asked pointing at his daughters arm from his side of the bed
"I-it is just part of the scarring…" Bessie said dismissively as she quickly got on with redressing the still red arm. She really seemed like she wanted to get away from him
After she'd left Waverly mentioned it "Well, that was weird, she's never that quick or dismissive…and she didn't like you!" she smiled and laughed at Sam
He smiled "That's because she knows who I am"
Waverly was confused "What do you mean?"
"What I did doesn't happen very often and really isn't something that should happen" he explained
"What you did?" Waverly still didn't know what he meant
"Me and Nicole's mother…" he clarified
"Oh..of course" Waverly laughed at her own stupidity
"It's only happened a handful of times, if that, and they certainly don't get away with it for as long as we did…and there are even fewer like Nicole" he said looking at his daughter
Before Waverly could say anything he asked something else "Waverly, do you know what that was on Nicole's arm?"
Waverly had seen what he was referring to while Bessie was there "It's been there all the time, but I don't know what it is, I just assumed it was part of the burns…"
"Yeah, it could be…" he said thinking "…it just looks different, it's a large patch, the rest seems to be less patchy more lines…." he shook his head and smiled "Oh, it doesn't matter, the main thing is that they're getting better" He smiled again trying to reassure the young woman in front of him, but he had his suspicions as to what the larger mark was. When Waverly had told him what his daughter had done he'd been surprised. He didn't think someone who was only half angel would have to power to be able to do that all by herself, and now seeing that mark, if only from across the bed, he realised that she hadn't done it by herself.
Another few hours passed and visiting hours were up.
As they got ready to leave Waverly leaned over Nicole and stroked her forehead and hair "I'll see you tomorrow, baby" she whispered and kissed her girlfriends cheek. She then walked away to the end of the bed so that Sam could do the same.
He leaned over his daughter and whispered "Hey there, little girl, You just concentrate on getting better, okay? don't you worry about anything, because you are being well taken care of, okay honey? you know I will always love you" he kissed her forehead and looked down at his daughter for a moment, then made his way out of the room with Waverly.