A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger last chapter. But I had to. For... reasons.

46. Ailment

Beth POV

The time it took to get home was ridiculous. But, considering the events that took place—and how worn out I am—I'm surprised I'm not home later than this.

I leave the boathouse, and before going anywhere else, I look around the island. Everything seems to be normal, in place. A pleasant surprise and nice change in comparison to yesterday's incident. Good to see at least one thing's not in chaos.

Seeing Danse's house, I decide to stop there before proceeding home. I want his opinion on what to do before seeing the boys. I hope they're not with him right now.

I walk up to his door and knock. Within a few seconds, he opens it with Victoria in his arms. Straight away, I ask, "Are the boys here?"

"Uh… No. You sound awful."

"I feel awful," I concede.

"Please. Come in." He moves back from the door and lets me walk past him into his house as I take Tori from him.

"I'm not going to stay long, so I'll just stand for now." I look down to my daughter. She looks as tired as I feel. "We did find Curie," I tell him. "But then things got out of hand once we left the vault." He looks confused. I quickly explain that she'd moved from Sanctuary to Vault 81, and that she still doesn't really plan on staying there either. While I'm telling him all this, he doesn't lose his deeply concerned expression. "Anyway. Robert and I ran into—" I have a hard time not using terms I shouldn't around Victoria. "We, uh, we ran into—let's just say a nuisance we'd dealt with a couple times in Diamond City." I notice Tori had fallen asleep.

"You look like hell, all covered in blood like that," Danse tells me as he indicates the blood I'm covered in, both from Robert and Dick, that I've yet to scrub off. "But especially you, Robert. You look like crap warmed over."

"I don't feel much better than that honestly," Robert says from behind me. "I tell you what: those Stimpaks are worth every bottlecap."

"You can say that again," I tell him as he reaches out for our daughter.

I continue to tell Danse about the ambush Dick had orchestrated. How he'd not only threatened Robert, but how he'd also stabbed him. I tell him how I went off on Dick, and how I barely had time to get to Robert before the wound could have turned fatal.

"Wow," is all Danse can manage to get out. "I don't know how you lived," he says as he looks at the now permanent scar on Robert's back. "He got really close to your kidney. If the blade would've been another inch to the left, you'd be dead. And surely not able to come home to your children."

Robert—who is now sitting on Danse's couch—looks down to his precious Vitya, and smiles. "I know." He doesn't have to say anything else. He knows how lucky—or blessed, or whatever—he is to have lived through it.

I cut into both of their trains of thought. "Babe, let's get you home so you can rest, okay?" He nods and gets a little help from Danse in standing so we can leave.

Once we're home—and I take Tori from him—he lays down on the couch, too worn out to climb the stairs. And who says I blame him?

"You know," he says, "I think this is going to take a little time to stop hurting," he chuckles, only to stop as it apparently caused too much pain.

"I'm afraid so," I agree. "I'll take good care of you, I promise." I kiss his forehead. "Need anything right now?" He shakes his head. "Okay. I'm going to go look for Shaun and Duncan. Who knows where they ran off to."

Warily, I leave the house and start to walk toward the boys' treehouse. The location they most often occupy when not in the house.

"Boys!" I call as I near the structure. "Boys?"

I hear, "Mom's home," as I see them both jump from the treehouse. They come up to me and give me a big hug. I realize it was Shaun who announced my arrival when he asks, "Where's Dad?"

"In the house," I tell them. "But," I add as they're about to run and greet him, too. "He got hurt on the way home. Now, I don't want you to worry about him, okay?" I can see they're already starting to. "He should be fine. He's just resting now. It's going to take a little while for him to get back to normal, so if you two would: be gentle with him, and try not to make too much noise for now. Alright?" They both nod. "I appreciate it. Now. You can go see him, but if he's sleeping, don't disturb him, okay?" They nod again and start running toward the house. "Slow down!" I have to remind them.

Again, with a little help from Danse—since I'm not strong enough by myself—we manage to get Robert upstairs and in bed. He passes out within a couple minutes. Danse had said he'd continue to watch Tori for us—to give Robert the time he needs to make a full recovery, and me the ability to watch him without distractions. I'm grateful for him as I lay in bed next to my sleeping husband, watching his chest heave with every breath he takes.

"I almost lost you," I quietly tell him in his unconscious state. "What would I have done if I did?" I put my hand gently on his cheek, and even as he sleeps, he leans into it, smiling slightly in content. I can't help my own grin. "I surely couldn't have come home," I continue, whispering as to not wake him. "It wouldn't be the same. Life wouldn't have been the same. I mean, I know I have the kids, but… I probably wouldn't have been too far behind you if you died." I can feel my eyes wanting to produce tears at just the thought. "But, thank God we don't have to deal with that now." I take my hand off his cheek only to replace it with a small kiss. His smile widens. "Goodnight."

MacCready POV

This Is Gospel (Piano Version) by Panic! At The Disco

She thought I was asleep last night. But I wasn't—for most of it anyway. I heard her say that life would never be the same, and she hinted at taking her own life if I'd died. I can't imagine her committing suicide of I were to cease living—she has so many good things in her life: Shaun, Duncan, Victoria, Danse; a nice, big house; a good career with the Brotherhood. So many good things, and she would have been willing to just throw it all away because of me? I wouldn't let her. Even if I were already dead, I'd still find a way somehow to stop her—as a ghost, or calling in favours with the spirits floating in the wind. Something. Anything.

As I start to wake up—on my back, I notice—I don't feel Beth in bed. But I do feel someone else.

Opening my eyes, I see Duncan sitting in Beth's place, staring at me. "What're you doing?" I ask him.

"Mom told me to watch you. So, I'm watching you." He continues to bore holes into my face.

"How long have you been here, bud?" I adjust my shoulders, trying to get more comfortable without jostling my abdomen too much.

"I'm not sure," he replies. "A little while." He carefully scoots a little closer. "Are you hurting?"

"A little bit. Not too bad since I'm not moving. Why do you ask?"

"You were making faces in your sleep. Want me to go get some Med-X?"

"No, I'll be fine. You don't have to watch me anymore, Duncan." I open my left arm up to him, the arm on his side. "C'mere. I haven't hugged you in a while." Carefully—still watching his every movement—he lays down next to me and lets me wrap my arm around him. Kissing him on the top of the head, I tell him, "You know I love you. Right?"

"Yeah. I love you, too, Dad."

A little while later, I realize I'd fallen back to sleep—and feeling Duncan still next to me, I realize he'd fallen asleep right along with me. I hear Beth walking in. She stops on her side of the bed, then slowly—quietly—makes her way to my side. She touches Duncan's arm, and he—from the feel of it—looks up at her in a daze. "You're supposed to be watching him while I make breakfast," she whispers to him.

"He told me he doesn't need to be watched," he whispers right back at her.

"He does, too," Beth says stubbornly, putting her hand on my forehead. Probably checking for a temperature.

She takes her hand off as I turn my head in her direction and open my eyes, grinning at her. "Worried, are we?"

"Always," she admits. "You doing okay?"

I nod. "Fine. And I don't have a fever." I go to get up, but quickly abandon the notion. Beth looks at me with concern. "I'm fine," I reassure her. "Just think I'm gonna stay here for a while."

She shakes her head and walks into the bathroom. Coming back with a bottle, she opens it and pours out a couple pills. "Here. Take these."

Although I don't know what they're for, I trust her judgement and take them with the water she'd set out on my nightstand. She sits down on the bed next to me, and within a minute, I feel so tired that I could pass out. I blink my eyes several times, and ask, "What did you give me?"

"Something I got from Cade on the Prydwen. They're for pain. Are they working?"

I nod—hugely and sloppily out of exhaustion—but I do notice the pain in my back has receded greatly. I find I can't keep my eyes open anymore. "I'm tired?" It comes out more as a question than a statement, and slightly slurred.

"Oh," she chuckles. "They also help you sleep. Well, good to know they're effective." She stands and starts to leave. "Duncan—watch him this time. I'll be back with some food and—"

I know she must have finished that sentence, but my consciousness slipped and fell down a flight of stairs.

I wake with a start, jerking my back, and grimacing at the hurt it caused.

"You okay?" Beth asks. I look over to see her lying in bed, her pajamas on. Is it nighttime already? I nod, settling back onto the mattress. "What happened?"

"Had to relive the other day, is all," I respond. She rubs my arm sympathetically. "What time is it?"

She looks to her Pip-Boy on the nightstand. "Around midnight."

"It's that late?" I'm curious as to how the time had gone by so quickly.

She chuckles. "You were knocked out all day. That medicine Cade gave me sure does the trick, huh?" She must've got that when she was still pregnant, I think. I know her back bothered her for a while. "I'm glad I never had to take it," she continues. "It'd drive me nuts, being out for that long."

"What were those pills anyway? An over-the-counter coma inducer?" I try to get up again, and despite the negligible pain I feel, I make myself sit up anyway. While I'm sitting on the edge of the bed, Beth turns on the light from her Pip-Boy—that way it's not too bright for the boys across the hall—and lifts up my shirt to look at the wound site.

"Well, it looks better than it did earlier. So, that's a plus." Letting my shirt settle back down, she gets on top of the comforter and crawls toward me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and resting her head between my shoulder blades. "I love you," she tells me.

"I love you, too." I put my hand over both her arms in front of me. "You don't need to worry so much, Beth. I'll be fine. You don't have to tell Duncan to watch me sleep, or make me take strange pills just to feel better. Let me try and do stuff, okay? I'm tougher than I look, I swear."

She chuckles. "You look pretty tough to me already."

"Then let me try to get back to normal," I say. "I know you just want to help—and I appreciate it—but honestly, it makes me feel weird, you waiting on me hand and foot like that, babe."

She gives me a gently squeeze. "I know. It was weird having help with things around here when I was pregnant with Vitya. I'll try to back off a hair, okay?" She kisses the back of my neck and crawls back to her side of the bed. I'm grateful for her understanding, but I'm not able to move past hearing her say "Vitya" again.

"You aware of what you just said?" I ask her.

"Yeah," she sighs. "I swore I'd never call her that—cause it was so weird, but… Well, it was weird. Now, not so much." I can hear her grinning as she asks, "I'm never gonna hear the end of it, huh?"

I want to turn around, to see her expression, but I refrain in fear of striking that pain up again. Instead, I lay my hand on the mattress behind me, wanting her to grab it—and she does. "You can call her whatever you want," I tell her. "Victoria, Tori, Vitya. It doesn't matter to me. She's your daughter, too. So, no. You just heard the end of it. I won't mock you, Beth. Why would I?" She pulls my hand up to her mouth and kisses my palm.

"Now," I continue. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna stay up for a while. Considering I've been sleeping all day, I'm not tired anymore." She chuckles. I take up the book on my nightstand. "Goodnight," I tell her, my hand still in her grasp, even as she falls back to sleep.