A/N: I'm on a roll. Thanks for the reviews.
The last few nautical miles between the Northwestern and the fishing grounds were flat calm. Natalie sat at the table with the rest of the guys eating what would probably be their last hot meal until all the pots were in the water. Matt had been helping her make bait set ups, they'd made 60 before they'd run out of room. Natalie knew she would be responsible for not only baiting the pots but making the additional set ups. Matt had given her one piece of advice, don't fall behind. She wasn't sure how successful she'd be working on deck full time but all she could do is try and hope it was enough. Natalie stared glumly at the power shake sitting in front of her. Jake had made it for her and it tasted like chalk.
"You'll need it" he'd said when he set it in front of her.
"Finish your shake Natalie" said Matt.
"It's gross" complained Natalie.
"You'll hurt Jake's feelings if you don't" said Nick.
"Ugh" said Natalie as she pounded down the rest of the drink.
"Ah, good old fashion guilt" said Matt. "Works every time."
He and Nick high fived over her head and got up.
"Lets go bug" said Matt pulling her up. "First set of Opies."
"Yay" said Natalie weakly.
In the ready room they slowly helped get her dressed. Matt taped her gloves to her rain jacket. Nick made sure her pants were tucked into her socks and that the rain pants were over the boots. Her hair was piled into a knot at the top of her head, so when Norman tried to put on her hat it wouldn't fit.
"This isn't going to work" he said tugging at her hair.
"Ouch, don't pull" said Natalie.
Jake came over and pulled Natalie aside. He carefully pulled her hair out of it's knot and quickly separated it into a few sections before braiding it. He tucked the braid under her hat and pulled her hood up.
"Done" he said. "Lets get out there and dump these pots into the water."
The crew followed him out onto the deck, completely ignoring the fact he'd just braided someone's hair in less than a minute.
The crew was halfway through dropping their pots. The weather was cold and the sky was darkening at an alarming rate. Matt had assured her that it was perfectly normal for it to get dark quick during Alaskan winters. Natalie was not assured, in fact, as the wind picked up she was sure there was going to be a massive storm. She was working on more bait set ups while they traveled to the next spot to drop a string. Her hands hurt or rather they had hurt and now they were numb. Natalie wondered if she sliced off a finger if she'd even realize it. She was exhausted, the pace of the deck had slowed for her but not enough for her to really keep up. Slicing through another cod she forced the small hook through it's eye and hung it with the others. The grinder had stopped which meant she needed to put another block of frozen herring in but she couldn't seem to get her limbs to follow her directive. Matt came up behind her and spun her around so she could face him.
"Bug" he said, snapping her out of her stupor.
"Sorry, I need more herring" said Natalie.
"I noticed" said Matt. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine" said Natalie.
"Smile for me" said Matt.
"What?" asked Natalie.
"Smile for me" repeated Matt.
"I can't" said Natalie. "My face is frozen."
"Go to the shelter and get some coffee and warm up for sec" said Matt. "I'll finish up with the bait."
"Thanks" said Natalie.
She stumbled to the small sheltered room and poured herself a cup of coffee. She didn't bother adding anything to it, she just drank it down in small sips until she felt feeling return to her lips. Sitting down for a moment she tried very hard not to close her eyes. She was losing the battle when Sig's voice announced the boat was a few minutes from the next set. Dragging herself off the bench she walked back outside. Matt smiled at her when she returned to the bait station and she made herself smile back. The first pot was in the launcher, Natalie jumped in and handed the bait string to Norman who attached it to the outside of the pot. She slid out easily and went back to make another set up. The process continued until there were only twenty pots left on deck. The guys secured the remaining pots while Natalie made more bait set ups. Matt walked over to her, pulled the knife out of her hand and set it on the magnet before he led her inside.
In the ready room Natalie let the guys help her out of her gear before walking to the galley. Dinner was roast pork, potatoes and carrots. Natalie wasn't sure who'd cooked it but she ate it without tasting anything. Her skin hurt, like it was being pricked by a million needles. They guys were talking but Natalie couldn't hear what they were saying, she was too tired to concentrate. Her head slowly tilted until it was resting on Norman's shoulder. Norman looked over and he shook his head.
"I think sleeping beauty is ready for bed" said Matt.
"No kidding" said Nick. "We've been working for 40 hours. I'm ready for bed."
"You guys have about 8 hours before we pull the first string" said Sig. "Get some rest."
The guys got up, each shuffling towards the racks. Norman scooted over, pulling Natalie with him.
"She can stay in my room" said Sig.
"Unless you are going to carry her up there, I'm taking her to mine" said Norman.
Sig seemed to have some sort of mental debate with himself. Sighing Norman picked Natalie up, settling her into his arms.
"Are you even going to be in there?" asked Norman.
"No" replied Sig.
"Then why the fuck does it matter where she sleeps?" said Norman, his voice tired.
"Fine, take her with you" said Sig before turning and heading back to the wheelhouse.
"Well Natalie, looks like you are coming home with me tonight" said Norman softly.
The next morning Norman carefully sat on the edge of Natalie's bunk. He pushed her hair out of her eyes and rubbed his hand along her cheek. Her cheeks were wet with tears and Norman did his best to rub them away. He'd woken when Jake had opened the door to tell them there was less than an hour to the first string. Natalie's eyes fluttered open and she smiled sadly before sitting up.
"Don't cry bug" said Norman, wiping a few more tears.
"I didn't even realize I was doing it" said Natalie.
"Come on, lets get you out of bed" said Norman.
Natalie tried to comply but found it impossible to actually sit up.
"I can't, I'm stuck on something" she said, her voice showing her panic.
"You probably aren't" said Norman. "Maybe just sore. Let me help you."
Norman gently pulled her into a sitting position. Natalie grimaced as her tight muscles slowly unfurled.
"It didn't hurt this much last season" said Natalie.
"You did a lot less work" said Norman. "You and Jake basically shared a job. Now you are doing it on your own."
"I hurt so bad" said Natalie.
"Lets get you some meds" said Norman.
He reached into the small drawer in the corner of the room and pulled out a bottle of advil. He poured a few into his hand and offered them to Natalie. She tossed them into her mouth and used Norman's proffered water bottle to wash them down.
"Sleep a little more" said Norman. "I'll get you up before breakfast."
Natalie laid back down in her bunk, her body awash with pain.
An hour later Norman shook Natalie from her slumber.
"Time to go out" he said.
"Ok" said Natalie.
She rolled out of the bunk and began to mechanically dress herself. Once dressed she bypassed her breakfast plate in order to make it outside with the rest of the guys. The first pot of the season was off the bow. Natalie watched as Jake threw the first hook of the year, snagging the pot easily with the first toss. The pot came over the rail with a quarter of the pot full. The guys cheered in response and then dumped the catch onto the sorting table. Natalie stumbled forward and into the pot. She pulled the crab that were stubbornly holding onto the pot's netting, tossing them haphazardly towards the sorting table. Once those crab were out she pulled out the old bait set ups. The pot sat in the launcher as the crew waited for Sig's decision. Would they set back or not. Sig put the boat into neutral and waited for the crab count. Once the total numbers were in, Sig decided that 500's were a number he could grind on and told the crew to set back. Natalie reached for the bait set up on the sorting table and hopped back in the pot.
"You need to throw the buoys" said Norman from the hydros.
"Ok, but I need a review" said Natalie.
Nick walked behind her and showed her how to shuffle her feet and toss the buoys one at a time over the side of the boat. The next 18 pots came over the side with much the same numbers. The numbers were good and Sig ordered the crew to drop the next 20 pots at the end of the string. Natalie hopped into each of those pots and baited them easily. She was exhausted but determined to prove her worth.
The jog to the next string gave the crew time to grab a quick bite to eat and not much more. The next string proved much less fruitful which meant the crew would be stacking on pots. Natalie worked on getting ahead on bait set ups but was starting to feel sick. After the third time she puked Nick walked her into the shelter and sat her down with a bottle of water.
"What's going on bug?" asked Nick. "You've never thrown up on this boat before."
"I don't know" said Natalie mournfully.
"Ok, let me get you a cold washcloth and see if you feel better" said Nick.
He returned a minute later and pressed a cloth onto the back of her neck and one to the front of her forehead. She immediately felt better. Jake appeared a moment later to find out why Nick was off deck. He saw that Natalie was in distress and picked up the phone to call the wheelhouse.
"Don't call him" said Natalie.
"He needs to know" said Jake.
"If it was one of you would you call him?" asked Natalie.
Jake and Nick shared a look that told Natalie the answer to her question.
"I'll be fine, just give me a few minutes" she pleaded.
"Bug, if you aren't out by the next pot I am going to call Sig" said Jake sternly.
"Roger" replied Natalie before forcefully vomiting into a plastic bucket.
Natalie spent the next ten minutes convincing herself that it was mind over matter and that she could get out there and work with the best of them. She heard Sig's voice over the hailer telling them the next pot was in sight. Pulling herself up by her inner strength she got herself out on deck. After a while she just pushed passed the nausea and pain and just worked. Her body had gone into pure survival mode and she worked like the rest of the robots on Sig's crew.
After another 20 hours the crew was back inside for a run between strings. Dinner was on the table but Natalie moved passed it. She was shirking off clothes as she walked and by the time she was at the bathroom she was just in underwear and a sports bra. All she wanted was a shower and nothing was going to keep her from it, not even Jake who was currently using the facilities. Natalie pushed passed him and into the shower stall. She turned on the water and let the still cold water chill her. She didn't care, she just wanted to be clean. Jake was talking, but he wasn't making sense to Natalie's ears. She washed her body and hair before stepping out of the shower. Grabbing a towel she half dried herself before dropping the towel in the hallway and walking into the stateroom.
"Hey, you need clothes" said a shocked Norman.
"No" mumbled Natalie before she vomited into the rooms trash can.
"Oh shit" said Norman as he tried to catch Natalie as she collapsed.
He managed to get her into bed and propped her head to the side with a pillow before covering her with a blanket. He had just covered her when Sig arrived.
"Where's Natalie?" he asked.
"Right here" said Norman. "Something's wrong."
"Jake said the same thing" said Sig walking towards the bed.
He pulled back the blankets and revealed Natalie's naked body.
"Where are her clothes?" he asked angrily.
"She didn't put any on" said Norman. "She came in, she threw up and then passed out."
"She threw up?" said Sig incredulously. "She never threw up on the last trip."
"Well she's done it twice on this one" said Norman.
He explained how Natalie had thrown up earlier on deck but had eventually felt good enough to come out and finish the string.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Sig.
"I don't know" said Norman.
"Can you take the first wheel watch?" asked Sig. "I want to stay with her."
"Sure" said Norman.
Norman turned to walk out of the room but before he was out he stopped suddenly.
"You don't think she could be pregnant do you?" asked Norman hesitantly.
"No" said Sig.
"Because you used protection" said Norman.
"She must have" said Sig.
"She must have?!" said Norman incredulously. "Did you learn nothing from Edgar and Antha?!"
"We never talked about it" said Sig. "We never used anything."
"We need to go back" said Norman. "You can't have her on the boat if she's pregnant. It's not safe."
"We are not turning back" said Sig. "We have deadlines."
"Deadlines?" said Norman angrily. "You'd risk the life of your unborn child for a deadline?!"
"We don't even know that she's pregnant" said Sig.
Norman brushed passed Sig and pulled Natalie into a sitting position while he shook her slightly.
"Wake up Natalie" he said firmly.
"What are you doing?" asked Sig.
"Finding out if we are going to turn back" said Norman.
He shook her again and Natalie's eyes flared open. Norman moved her around until he'd locked eyes with her.
"Natalie is there any way you are pregnant?" he asked.
"What?" said Natalie in confusion.
"Focus, this is important" said Norman.
He repeated the question slowly and Natalie's eyes widened as she began to understand what he was saying.
"No, I'm not pregnant" said Natalie.
"Are you sure?" asked Norman.
"Yes, I had a test done before I did my Coast Guard class" said Natalie. "And I have an IUD. Is Sig worried or something?"
"No, I'm not worried" said Sig.
Natalie's eyes shifted to his face.
"Then why the question" said Natalie.
"Because you threw up twice today and you are currently wet and naked" said Sig.
"I can't have ibuprofen without food, it makes me sick" explained Natalie. "I meant to eat earlier but I'm to tired to chew."
"You need to eat something" said Norman.
"Then bring me one of Jake's gross shakes and I will sip while I sleep" said Natalie.
The conversation came to an end as Natalie rolled over and snuggled into her bedding. Norman and Sig exchanged glances and then both left the room.