CH12 (93)
It was now one month later:
They were now roughly 2 months into Kate's injury and a minimum of 2 months while more likely 4 months till the next supply ship of unknown size.
Rick and Alexis wanted to spend as much time with Kate as they could but the colony needed them.
Alexis was selecting areas to create a garden both North and South of the colony.
Members of the colony had put the furniture package together for the Castle clan the same day Kate had been injured.
Madison was now 11 weeks pregnant and wasn't showing as yet. Madison however was convinced she could see a bump. Thankfully she hadn't had morning sickness yet and was hoping she never did, but wasn't holding her breath.
And with Rick and Alexis's help they had found a place for Shawn's submarine dome. It was far enough away that Shawn was going to need to use one of the shuttles to reach it. However it was near where they planned to build the dry docks.
So when the train took you there it would also take you to his submarine.
Madison and a nurse came into Kate's room. "Ok girls, ready?" Madison asks them, and they climb out of Kate's bed and assume their positions convinced they could catch their mom if they needed to.
"I think you know the drill by now Becks." Madison tells her, and they soon have Kate sitting in bed with her legs over the side.
In no time they have Kate standing on her good leg with almost no pain. "It hurts a little but not much." Kate is happy to tell them.
"Ok, nice and slow now." Madison tells the nurse and Kate.
Soon Kate is standing on her own two feet. "How's the pain?" Madison asks.
"It hurts but it's manageable." Kate tells them and the beep, beep of the monitor seems to agree with her.
"Can you feel the floor with both feet?" Madison asks her.
"Yea, it's a little cool actually." Kate was grinning.
"Great, now wiggle your toes for me." Madison asks. This wasn't just to check her muscles. Madison didn't want her losing feeling in her feet. It's hard to walk if you can't feel what you are doing.
Kate scrunches her face and wills her toes to curl. "Very nice." Madison tells her.
It had been almost 2 minutes now and Kate was still standing on her own. "How's the pain?" Madison hasn't heard the monitor increase.
"Pretty much unchanged." Kate was still grinning. This was the furthest she had ever gotten.
It was now 5 minutes in and Kate was still standing. "Nice Becks, very nice." Madison was now grinning.
Madison motioned for the nurse to come in close. "Not yet." Kate asks. The pain was fine and she didn't want to stop yet.
"We're not, I want you to see if you can shift your weight from one leg to the other. Without trying to move your feet." Madison wanted to see if she could handle more weight yet.
Kate shifted her hip so a lot of her weight was on her good leg, then started shifting her weight to the other leg.
The pain increased and the beep, beep went up. Kate quickly shifted back to her good leg and the pain decreased slowly. Then shifted back to the other leg again and the pain went back up.
Kate did this for the next few minutes, but Madison saw her knees starting to bend. Kate was getting tired. Madison motioned for the nurse to move in and take her weight away from her. Kate was soon sitting on the bed again.
"Very nice Becks. Very nice. I'd say a month from now we can see if you can take a step on your own. When you can do that, we'll move you to the bars. You can use your arms to hold up your weight while you move your legs and walk to the other end.
Eventually you can do it without having to hold onto the bars.
We're getting there Becks, don't give up on me now." Madison was seeing results praying Kate could accept the slow pace they were using.
They had Kate back in bed while the nurse went after the pain medication. "Ok girls." And Madison pats the bed and Emily and Kali climb up into bed with their mom.
Kate was happy. She had managed to stand on her own, she hadn't gotten anywhere but it was something. Plus she had her girls with her hugging both of them tight to her.
Rick showed up in medical to get his daughters down into the kitchen so they could eat and bring back their mothers hers.
After he had them down off the bed and gone. "How did it go today?" Rick was out hunting again. He tried to spend time here with his wife, but he had three girls to worry about and feed everyone. Plus help go over what needed to be worked on still.
"I got to stand on my own two feet today. Mags tried to get me to shift my weight from leg to leg and that's where things went south." Kate frowns. She wanted to be up and about, not stuck in bed.
Rick however was grinning listening to his wife moan about her injury.
Kate had finally stopped moaning and looked at Rick who was still grinning. "Is my misery keeping you entertained?" Kate still had her weapon, maybe she could shoot him on stun and see if he liked that too.
Rick however doesn't answer her question. "Madison?" Rick calls out.
And Madison shows up pushing something in front of her. "What is that thing?" Kate had never seen anything like it.
"Some of the colonists built it for me, you actually. I used Lucy to give them a picture and they made this for you. It's an Earth wheelchair.
You sit here and someone pushes you around in it." Rick was still grinning. "It'll get you out of this room for short periods. You can eat with the rest of us in the kitchen. We can take you to one of the three main domes. Outside even.
Eventually when you can stand easier you can sleep at home instead of here." Rick was still grinning.
Kate could get out of medical? Kate's tears started immediately. The beep, beep of the monitor started increasing. Only this time it was for a different reason, a good reason.
One of the nurses entered. "Ok Kate we are going to transfer you into your new chair. Provided you can sit in it without too much pain we're going to let you stay in it for about an hour." Madison tells her.
"And then I'm wheeling you down to the kitchen so you can eat with the rest of us. Then maybe a quick trip thru one of the main domes, and then back here." Rick was still grinning.
Madison and the nurse worked on getting Kate to stand just like she had already done earlier. "Now we need to twist you so you can sit." Kate was still hooked up to the monitor and Rick was holding onto the chair so it didn't move.
Kate's pain when she sat down did increase and the nurse gave Kate some pain medication. Then they disconnected her from the monitor.
Then Madison wrapped something around her upper arm. "This thing is a mini version of your monitor. It will keep track of your heart rate and blood pressure. …. This way Rick will know if you are lying about the amount of pain." Madison explains. And sees the look Kate gives her.
"I'm not letting your stubborn streak screw up weeks of hard work, so get over it." Madison gives Kate one of her own glares.
Madison knew her too well. "Fine." Kate relents. "Some friend you are." Kate had to at least get in one jab.
"Be nice, or I'll give you your pain medication as a shot instead of a pill." Madison had tools to threaten Kate with if she didn't behave.
Kate swallowed her pill that should kick in soon. "See you in an hour Madison." Rick tells her and starts pushing Kate to the kitchen.
Along the way they ran across some of the colonists who all greeted Kate and forced Rick to stop so they could talk for a moment.
By the time they made it to the kitchen Kate's eyes were watery from tears. All these people cared about her.
The second she cleared the kitchen she heard clapping as everyone either turned to look or stood from eating to all look her way.
Emily and Kali wasted no time in getting up and running to their mom. Kate got to hug each one and kiss them. Next up was Alexis who stopped right in front of Kate. "How you doing mom?"
Kate wiped away some of her tears. "I'm great pumpkin. This is amazing." Kate reaches out with both hands that Alexis takes in hers. Allowing Alexis to lean down and give Kate a kiss to her forehead.
"We all love you mom." Alexis looks directly into her eyes. Getting still more tears from Kate.
"Come on, we've got a table we think you can wheel in under and join us." Alexis walks out in front with Rick pushing and Emily on one side with Kali on the other.
Soon the whole family is eating at one table. As the colonists finish eating, each takes a moment to walk past Kate to greet her.
Then Shawn showed up. "KATE! Good to see you up and moving around." Shawn steps over and hugs Kate as best he can.
"Hi Shawn." Kate was glad to see him. "Ready to be a daddy?" Kate teases.
"24 hours a day? …. NO!" Shawn liked visiting Kate's children, just not raising them.
"You and Mags will do great Shawn, have a little faith. Just because I'm a mother now doesn't mean I wasn't scared. But you love them more than anything. At first you couldn't see your life with children, then you can't imagine your life without them.
"You'll do fine Shawn." Kate places a hand on his arm to enforce the point.
"I'll let you enjoy your time with your family. …. It is good to see you up Kate. You had us all scared." Shawn was done with his submarine so he went in search of Madison next.
They were done eating. "So what's next guys?" Kate asks her family.
"I believe I promised you a trip thru the main domes." Rick offers.
Kate was loving the trip. She got to see the plants her and Alexis had planted when they had completed the domes. "It doesn't look like they are producing yet." Kate knew enough to know they weren't ready yet.
"It's just like the summer house mom, we just need time." Alexis confirms. "But we have more than enough and the garden space is already twice the size of what we started with last time." Alexis was pleased. Soon everyone could eat vegetarian if they wanted to.
They were just finishing the second dome when Kate's monitor alerted Rick it was time to return to medical. "Stupid device." Kate moaned on the way.
"It's for your own good mom. We all want you walking again. Sooner rather than later." Alexis tells her, knowing Kate can be stubborn.
Madison and the nurse had Kate back in bed in no time. Everyone was still in medical. "Ok girls." And Madison pats the bed.
Emily and Kali who had been quiet for the entire time immediately climbed up into Kate's bed so they could lay with her.
"How'd it go?" Madison asks Rick before he leaves to clean up the kitchen.
"She was doing great. Everyone was happy to see her. The pain is what brought us back." Rick was hanging his head.
Madison placed a hand on his arm. "It takes time Rick. Kate will get there if she follows what I tell her. …. It's working, trust me." Madison pleads looking at his face.
Rick straightens up. If Kate was going to make it, he needed to be strong. "I'll be back in a couple of hours." Rick heads for the kitchen. He also wanted to check on Alexis, knowing where she was likely to be already. Some things never changed.
Rick found Alexis in one of the exterior greenhouses. "Talk to me pumpkin."
"Everything is almost a couple of months out, but we'll have plenty when winter comes." Alexis informs him as she continues to work.
Rick stops her. "That's not what I mean and you know it. …. Talk to me." Alexis had never avoided talking to him in the past. She always shared what she was thinking.
The tears she had been holding back with difficulty now started falling. Rick could see her body shake. "I'm scared dad." Alexis manages to get out as she starts crying and steps into her dad so he could hold her.
"It's not fair. … I only just got a mom who loves me and now this." Showing Rick what the problem really was.
"Your mother is getting better pumpkin." Rick needed to be strong even if had doubts too.
"But mom can barely stand. She can't even sit for more than an hour at a time. And you heard Mags, her leg is always going to be weak. A shadow of what it was." Alexis had fears, big ones.
"Is that why you don't go see her?" Rick was pretty sure Alexis only went when he dragged her with him.
"I can't do it dad. I just want mom back." Alexis didn't know what to do.
Rick never thought of his daughter as being so shallow. If Kate wasn't perfect she didn't want her?
"Kate had fears too pumpkin. She fears she'll never walk again. She fears that I don't want her anymore. She fears she can't raise her children anymore. ….
Pumpkin do your remember the way Kate was when we first found her? Her arm is broken, ribs are damaged and her leg had a big gash in it. She couldn't walk than either. But you fell in love with her anyway didn't you?
So who was first to say I love you? You or her?" Rick reminds her she had been down this road already.
Alexis's tears slow but she still has a hold of her dad. "I did." Alexis answers smiling into his chest.
"And did you fall in love with her thinking she would never walk again?" Rick asks. Rick knew she still loved Kate, she was just scared. "Did you have fears that she would never get better?"
Alexis shakes her head into her dads chest.
"And she'll get better this time too. Her injury is just going to take a little longer to heal than the last time." Rick hopes he is reaching her. "Kate is still the kick-ass Kate Beckett we both know. She's just a mother now. Something she wasn't the last time she was injured.
And I'm betting she misses the Alexis she grew to love even before she let you call her mom." Rick isn't sure he had any more cards to play to help Alexis see.
Alexis hugs her dad tight. "Thanks dad." And Alexis lets go of him and is off at a run.
Rick chuckled. "Glad I could help." And headed for home.
Rick had made it home when he saw Emily and Kali walk in hand in hand. "Madison throw you two out?" Rick wasn't use to them not being with Kate as long as they could.
"Alexis told us to go home." Emily tells him. "Is she mad at us?" Emily asks shyly.
Rick opens his arms and soon has two girls fill them. "Your sister wants to spend time with her mom just as much as you two do. You think you can share her with your sister?"
Getting nods from both of them. They both loved their sister too, so they could share.
"You go find your tablet and we can read together. How does that sound?" Rick asks to take their minds off of having Alexis throw them out.
Rick is thinking his little talk may have worked if Alexis is there alone with Kate. They both needed to reconnect.
Rick had just made up his mind to go back out croc hunting when Emily showed up with her reader with Kali right behind her.
It was time to face his fears too.