Fixing a Broken Wing - Chapter 8
A/N: This chapter is set after 4.15 Flotsam and Jetsam episode. It's also set approximately a week after the previous part.
Mike had lain awake for the last hour, staring at the bottom of the bunk above him. His mind kept replaying the reprimand he gave to 2Dads and Bomber. He knew that was the right thing to do as a CO, but he couldn't help but felt like a hypocrite.
Shouldn't he be more tolerant then about the two young sailors? Should he actually turn a blind eye? After all, he broke those rules ages ago for Kate.
Kate...
He could see this afternoon that the reprimand was also taking its toll on her. Sitting on one of the bulkhead with her head leaning against the railing, shoulder hunched, she looked defeated. He was under no illusion that his indecisiveness was one of the reasons that brought her to the edge. Their interaction after that "coffee" conversation in Karumba had been nothing but professional. Too professional. He missed the meals they had shared over the years. Lately, every time he texted or called her to invite her for dinner, she always had an excuse ready for him. He missed the friendship they had and more importantly, he missed her.
He sighed deeply. Am I too late?
He then got up from his bed and grabbed his T-shirt. With all this thought in his head, he knew that he couldn't go back to sleep. He might as well do his paperwork. But first, I need coffee.
Making his way down the corridor to the galley, he relished the opportunity to experience the peace and quiet of the ship. A moment to reflect. A quiet moment between him and his beloved 'girl'. He could just feel the gentle rocking of the ship and the rolling of the waves beneath it, as if she was dancing with him. His thought was interrupted by the flash of blonde hair in the distance.
Kate?
He quickened his footsteps a little bit, determined not to lose her trail. When he reached the last corner of the hallway closest to the galley, he then stood with his back against the wall and listened to her footsteps.
It stopped.
He then carefully took a peek to the hallway in front of the galley and found Kate stood in front of the wardroom. He quickly stood back against the wall again. Then he heard the sound of the door knob turning. He waited there, listening to the door opened and closed again.
What is she doing in the wardroom?
Then it dawned on him. Dutchy is in there.
Kate stepped inside the wardroom, careful not to wake up the sleeping patient. Surprised that the light was still on, she instantly reached for the switch of the reading lights on the corner to turn it on before she flicked off the switch to the main light. That's better... That way when he woke up tomorrow morning, his eyes would not be blinded.
She then quietly grabbed the plastic chair on the corner and carried it to his bedside. She sat on it gingerly, hoping that it would not produce a squeak. She then breathed a sigh of relief as she managed to avoid making any sound.
For a few minutes, she was fixated by the inhale-exhale movement of his chest. Her eyes then moved to his face. He looks so peaceful... The frown line on his forehead disappeared, as if he no longer carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
She caressed his cheek softly, tracing the soft line on his upper cheek where the crease usually appeared when he smiled. She then ran her thumb lightly on his lips, just like what she did in front of the stable that day. She smiled on the memory. With all the things that happened during this patrol, the kisses and the hugs they shared that day seemed a million years away. But actually, it was only a week ago.
She frowned when she realised that his lips were chapped and dry. She wondered whether there was any lip balm in one of the drawers in this room. She was just about to get up and investigate when the doorknob turned.
She quickly lifted her hand away from Dylan's lips and turned around to see who was entering the room. Expecting the person to be Swain or Bomber to check on the patient, she was surprised to see Mike opened the door and closed it behind him.
Silence descended on both of them. Their eyes met and she could see a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
"Can I help you with anything, Sir?" she finally broke the silence, purposely keeping her voice low.
Mike was quietly assessing the situation. The only ammunition he had at the moment was a mere suspicion. He didn't think it was wise to go on the attack mode and demanding explanation from her with only a suspicion. That would be a suicide. So, for the moment, he was only going to observe.
"Apparently the thermoses in the galley had run out of coffee, so I'm trying my luck here. I forgot we have a patient in here."
She looked at him sceptically. Surely he could boil water and make coffee himself, rather than looking for a ready-made coffee that Bomber had prepared beforehand? It seemed that lately, Bird had been the coffee girl around the bridge too, spoiling the boys. She would definitely have to think of more activities for the young girl to break that habit. But for the moment, she would indulge whatever game he was playing.
"Mike Flynn and his coffee addiction, why am I not surprised?" the corner of her mouth turned up slightly.
He chuckled. "Yup. You know me too well Kate."
She could feel the hidden meaning behind those words. You are not playing fair, Mike Flynn!
He looked at her intently for a few seconds, before turning his attention to the sleeping figure on the bed. "So, how is the patient?"
She welcomed the distraction and turned to look at Dylan's face again. "Sleeping. The painkillers must have knocked him out."
"He has been injured so many times during his time with us." Mike stated his observation quietly.
Too tired to reply, she just nodded at his statement. She hadn't been able to sleep at all tonight. Her mind was a mess. She was worried about Dylan. She felt sad that they had to lose Bomber because of the whole fraternisation rule. Most of all she was frustrated by her own situation. Two men; both were serving on the same ship. It didn't matter where she turned to; there were huge brick walls on both sides with capital "F" written on it.
She came here to find peace and quiet, to draw strength from Dylan. Although at the moment he was asleep, his presence always calmed her. But the presence of Mike ruined her intention. Annoyance started to build inside her for his bad timing.
"Why are you really here?" Kate gave him a long stare. "I'm sure it's not for coffee."
"I can ask you the same thing, Kate." He shot back at her, refusing to back down.
She was about to reply when she heard a groan.
"Dutchy?" Kate got up from her seat and stood closer to the bed. She saw that he was trying to move his right hand to cover his slightly opened eyes. Worried that he might pull his IV needle out with his movement, she grabbed his hand and placed it back down on his side.
"Ssshh... Close your eyes... Go back to sleep..." whispered Kate softly.
She was aware of the increased tension in the room. She really hoped that Dylan would go back to sleep straight away, avoiding a more complicated situation.
"Kate? Is that you?"
No such luck, Kate.
She sighed inwardly. She could feel Mike's hardened gaze on her and Dylan, but she ignored it all. Instead, she tightened her grasp on Dylan's hand and leaned closer to his face.
Dylan needs me now.
"Hey, how are you feeling?"
"A bit sore." Dylan crunched his forehead trying to remember what had happened to him. "Why am I here?"
"You don't remember?" she looked at him worriedly.
"I remembered joining the shore party to the island, the gun battle, but then it's blank..." He tried to open his eyes once more, but his eyes were so heavy, so he had to be satisfied hearing Kate's voice instead of looking into her eyes.
"All those running in the island tore up your stiches. I guess your body simply couldn't handle it and you fainted."
Swain was right. He didn't remember a thing.
"I'm still so tired..." He groaned again.
"You should go back to sleep then."
"Only if you stay here." He pulled her hand to his chest, unwilling to let her go.
"Dylan..." Realising the slip of her tongue, Kate froze. She then looked back at Mike, who stood rigidly in the corner of the room.
Mike tightened his fists. He was beyond angry. He was livid. He couldn't believe what he had seen, the intimacy, the hand holding, they even called each other by their given names. What the hell is going on?
Afraid that he couldn't control his anger any longer, he searched for Kate's eyes and flicked his head towards the door, quietly demanding an explanation outside.
Kate reluctantly nodded. She waited until Mike went out of the room before trying to pry her hand from Dylan's grasp.
"Where are you going?" Dylan held her hand even tighter, confused as to why she was trying to get away from him.
"Cup of tea." She cringed at her excuse. It was the exact same one she used earlier that day.
"Oh, okay then." He loosened his grasp. "But you'll come back, right?"
She chuckled at his childlike behaviour. Men could be such a big baby sometimes.
"Of course. I won't be long." She then kissed his forehead lightly and squeezed his hand one more time before following Mike outside.
"Care to explain what was that, X?" Mike didn't even wait until Kate closed the ship office's door behind her before blurting out the question he desperately wanted the answer to.
"With all due respect, Sir, it was none of your business." Kate replied coldly.
"Of course it's my business. This is my ship! I have the right to know whether my XO and my buffer, two of the most respected sailors on board, are breaking fraternisation rule with each other." He then took a deep breath, dreading the answer to the question he was about to ask next. "Tell me X, was that the case?"
She looked at him defiantly, refusing to back down. "This is more than professional enquiry, isn't it? This is personal for you."
Hearing the accusation in her voice, he stepped forward and grabbed her waist towards him. His blue eyes stared hard at her green ones. "Damn right it is personal, Kate!"
She struggled to break free. Sensing this, he then pulled her even closer to him, until not a single inch separating their bodies. "Please tell me what's going on..." He desperately needed her to say that nothing was going on between her and Dutchy.
His close proximity disoriented her. She hated that he still had these effects on her. Her heart also constricted seeing the desperation in his eyes. She then said honestly, "I'm trying to move on, Mike."
Mike blanched. No...No...Please no! His firm grasp on her waist loosened slightly, allowing her to break free.
"With him?" He then said incredulously. "With a guy that most of the time had more than one girl in his arms? What were you thinking?"
Her face hardened. "You don't know him at all. You had no right to judge him!"
"And I suppose you know? Exactly how well do you know him, huh?" the implication of that question brought images of Kate and Dutchy to the forefront of his mind. He had to close his eyes briefly to get rid of that very painful glimpse of a possible future; a future that he might have to endure if he didn't do anything to prevent it.
The implication didn't escape Kate either. How dare he?
She hissed furiously. "I'm not sleeping with him! What kind of woman do you think I am?"
Her question hung in the air. Thick silence enveloped them.
He then sighed, breaking the silence. "I think that you are being a little selfish. You might not care about your reputation, but you really should think about his. Imagine the damage to his reputation if the brass found out. A war hero caught breaking fraternisation rule with his own XO..."
She looked at him in disbelief. "Is that a threat?"
"No..." He shook his head to emphasise his word. "It is only a glimpse of consequences that you both might have to face if you both decided to continue. Unless of course one of you decides to transfer off." He looked at her meaningfully. "Tell me Kate, are you willing to do that for him? Is he willing to do that for you?"
Her eyes flashed dangerously. She then took a step forward towards him, refusing to be intimidated by his hidden threat. "As a CO of the ship, I acknowledge that you have a responsibility to uphold the rules, including fraternisation rules, without any exception... It means that if you wanted to report Dutchy and I, then you would have to write down a report about us too..."
"We have never ever brought our relationship on board the ship! I was on shore posting before..."
"I'm not talking about that... I'm talking about 9 years ago..."
He was silenced by her seriousness.
"Commander Flynn, you have a lot more to lose than both Dutchy and I." She stepped even closer to him. "After all, you were the Lieutenant back then... The brass would say that you should have known better than to have a relationship with your student. So, I suggest you think carefully before saying anything to anybody."
She then emphasised her next words strongly. "Leave...Dutchy...Alone!"
Still furious of his threat, she turned around and made a beeline for the door. She had already opened the door when she heard his voice. "Kate?" She turned around and faced him one more time.
Seeing Kate turned her back on him made him realised that he just pushed her further away from him and to the arms of another man. He needed to fix this. But how?
"Am I too late?" He could only ask the question that he had been pondering since he woke up this morning.
Seeing the sadness in his eyes, she could feel her own tears developing at the back of her eyes.
She whispered sadly. "I don't know, Mike."
And with one last look at the man that still held part of her heart, she closed the door behind her.
Her lips then started to quiver, signalling to her that a sob was not too far away. She bit her bottom lip to prevent the sob from destroying the silence in the empty hallway. The truth was that she was afraid that once she started, she would never stop.
She started to walk in the direction of her cabin, but then she remembered her promise to Dylan.
I have to go back to him.
Few minutes later, for the second time that morning, she opened the door to the wardroom. She breathed a shaky sigh of relief that Dylan was back asleep. She sat on the chair once again and held his hand tightly.
Looking at Dylan's sleeping face; Mike's warning involuntarily came back to her mind. Tears started to well up in her eyes and a sob broke from her throat. Her hand then covered her mouth tightly, hoping that the sound would not wake him up.
I'm sorry Dylan... I'm sorry that I drag you to this mess...
To be continued...