Chapter 18
"How's the arm feeling today? Any cramping?"
The physiotherapist slowly eased a warm sweater over his patient's head. Portland was normally quite a cold place, but in winter the chill could get pretty fierce. Eliot was often covered up in layers even during spring and summer, so it was no surprise to see how warmly he dressed in the middle of December. A woollen hat kept his head and ears nice and toasty, and a thick winter coat had been slipped on over his sweater. Fluffy socks and a stylish grey scarf were added to finish the overall look, whilst also rendering him pretty much immobile from the sheer amount of fabric he'd been encased in. Benny couldn't help but chuckle a little, seeing his patient wrapped up like a small child.
"It's not funny," Eliot whined. "Nate and Sophie keep putting all this on me so I don't get a cold. A damn cold! I've survived malaria and they're worried about the flu. And yeah, a little cramping but the massage helped."
"Good, and as for your previous comment. They're just worried about you, they don't want you getting any kind of bugs because of what the doc told them."
It was one of the first concrete pieces of information they got at the hospital. A ruptured spleen caused internal bleeding, resulting in emergency surgery where the organ was removed. And though life without a spleen can be lived to the fullest and without too much complication, Eliot may still struggle to fight off infections and may need to be admitted for further treatment.
"Pretty sure the doc wasn't talking about a common cold when he gave those warnings."
Benny laughed, "no, but I'm sure your brother and his wife don't want to risk it."
The therapist started to push his patient over to the waiting area where the aforementioned brother would most likely be waiting ready for pickup.
"By the way," they stopped moving for a second so the hitter could face who he was speaking to "I wanted to thank you for helping me with the Christmas present. I know my brother and our friends are gonna love it."
Benny rubbed a gentle hand on his patient's arm. "You don't need to thank me, I'm just happy I could help."
Still, a bottle of wine and imported French chocolates would be delivered to the hospital for him and everyone else that had helped Eliot get to this point. It was what they deserved for putting up with his complaining arse for these past several months.
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Eliot had been acting... secretive for the past few weeks. He spent a lot of time in his room with the blinds down and the door closed, but he wasn't miserable like before. He still had his bad days of course; therapy was a slow process and the hitter still had a lot trapped inside. But on the good days, he enjoyed eating dinner with his friends, (even if he missed cooking and the taste of his own food) and he joined them for movie nights whenever they happened. It was just during the day, he would hide away by himself, sometimes making odd noises, or coming out sweaty and red-faced.
"Why's he hiding from us?" The grifter asked, her teammates were becoming increasingly hard to read as she taught them all her tricks. "If he's just doing his physio, why does he need to keep that from us? We've watched him do it before."
The mastermind shrugged; he too had thought the exact same for the past few days. Although he was grateful to see his friend gaining some independence, he was still concerned about leaving the hitter on his own so often. Nate often remembered finding Eliot cold and shivering on the bathroom floor, in his nightmares sometimes he arrives too late. He'd asked the physiotherapist whether it was safe to leave Eliot to his own devices, but Benny assured him that his 'brother' knew what he was doing.
"Maybe he just likes having his independence back a bit," the mastermind suggested. "He still needs us to do a lot for him." (e.g. cooking, driving, shaving, and so on) "So if this is something he can actually do by himself, we should just let him. It's a good thing, Soph, I'm sure of it."
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The team was gathered around a tall spruce tree decorated in shiny silver and gold baubles, and as is their tradition, a number of jewels and artefacts stolen by Parker in her previous career. Under the tree, was a large collection of brightly wrapped presents just waiting to be opened by the excitable thief.
It was the perfect Christmas morning. Snow had been falling for the past couple of days, the apartment smelt like cinnamon and chocolate thanks to Sophie and Eliot, and the team was together and happy for a change.
All they needed now, was for the hitter to hurry up and join them.
"Eliot, are you sure you don't need some help? It's ok if you're having a bad day, no one will judge you for it." Nate called into the downstairs bedroom/gym/therapy suite. They'd been waiting for about forty-five minutes for the hitter to come out, which for him wasn't all that long, but Parker was starting to twitch.
"No-no, I'm almost done. Just wait with the others will ya." Eliot shouted in response. He didn't sound like he was in a bad mood, a bit breathless maybe, but chipper all the same. So, Nate did as instructed and moved back into the main living space.
Another ten minutes later, the bedroom door finally clicked open.
They expected to hear the sound of wheels rolling across the hardwood floor, maybe a squeak or two letting them know that the gears needed oiling. But instead, they heard a slow and steady beat of rubber hitting the floor heavily. Looking up, they all froze in astonishment as they saw their friend slowly making his way toward them, back on two feet for the first time in ages.
"Eliot, I..." The words died on Nate's tongue. What could he say that could encapsulate all that he was feeling right then?
"Now, I still can't go very far..." He laughed at the clear obviousness of that statement, as he struggled to make the short distance from his bedroom to the couch. "And I still need the chair most of the time. But it's a start."
"Too right it is," Hardison gasped, tears building in his eyes. "Since when?"
Eliot was still making his way over to them, the crutches shaking slightly due to the small tremors in his arm. He would definitely have a cramp after this, but it was worth it to see the looks on his friends' faces. "Been working on it for the past couple of months. I asked the docs at the clinic not to say anything because I wanted it to be a surprise." He finally made it to the couch, dropping heavily into the cushions with a sigh of exhaustion.
"Does this mean your healing, Sparky?"
The bright eyes beaming from Parker had the hitter smiling despite the pain. Luckily, Nate had realised what his teammate would need, and had already run off to fetch his breakfast and meds.
"Yeah. I won't ever be fully recovered, I'll either need these crutches or a cane to get about, and I have to keep the chair for bad days... But, like my therapist is always tellin' me, it's better than nothing."
Theif smiled warmly, stating it to be the "best Christmas present ever!" She then planted a huge kiss on the hitter's cheek before bouncing back toward the tree.
"Here, here," Sophie added.
"Can we open the rest of the presents now, Nate?" Parker shouted out excitedly. The mastermind was just strolling back in with a number of plates balanced on his arms.
"After breakfast."
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Eliot was feeling a lot better after his morning dose. He tended to avoid Hardison and Parker until he managed to have at least his migraine medication, but Christmas was a time for being with loved ones so small sacrifices had to be made.
"Oh, I want to hand mine out first," the thief yelped, not waiting for a response before she hurled gifts into everybody's laps.
Hardison unwrapped his first, revealing a novelty taser shaped like a blue police box. As presents go, it was actually pretty thoughtful, combining practicality with something her friend and partner loved. The rest of the gifts followed suit. Nate got some new ties for his Jimmy Papadokalis alias, and Sophie some directing equipment for her theatre group. The last person to open his present was the hitter who was still massaging the cramp from his hand.
"Do you need help with that?" Nate asked but was quickly waved off.
The gift was placed in a medium-sized box and wrapped in bright green wrapping paper that had little reindeer flying across. It rattled a bit when he moved it, but not in a way that was distinctive enough to know what it was. He managed to peel the paper off using his left hand, as his right lay on top, holding it in place. The box underneath didn't give any clues as it was just an old shoe box, obviously being reused as a container for the time being. Lifting the lid, Eliot lightly chuckle at what he saw.
"This is very thoughtful Parker. Thank you."
He grasped the object in his right hand seeing how it fit.
"It's a special lockpicking set," the thief clarified for the others in the room. "It's like his toothbrush, it has thicker grips so he can use them with his bad hand. See, you can still be on the team, even if you don't fully heal."
The rest of the gift exchanges were equally heart-warming.
Parker loved her new things, especially the enhanced rigging she got from Hardison and the dual-purpose con outfit from Sophie.
Nate was happy to receive some old Irish Whisky, and the chess set his wife gave him was very appreciated.
Sophie had been spoilt that year, and the fact that the necklace was stolen was the icing on top.
Hardison stated that he would be unbeatable for at least the next six months with all the advanced tech he now had at his disposal, a fact that both pleased and slightly scared the mastermind of their group.
Eliot probably got the most out of everybody. They decided he needed some extra attention after the year he'd had, plus the things they got him would help rebuild his life. Sophie had gone all the way to Japan to get the top-quality knives he loved custom-made with the grips he needed to be able to use them. She also found a company that made kitchen appliances designed for people with different disabilities and pretty much cleared them out. He'd soon be back in the kitchen; she just knew it. Hardison got him a top-of-the-range voice-activated phone and laptop, no more tiny keyboards or touchscreens he couldn't feel to use. He even programmed them so that they would only answer to the hitter's voice, negating any fears of security breaches. They weren't sure if Nate was psychic or not, because he got Eliot a cane. And not just an ordinary one, no, this had been enhanced with a metal core and concealed a blade in case he needed to fight off an attacker. Eliot may not be the team's hitter anymore, but that didn't mean the rest of the criminal world would just forget about him.
And as one final surprise, Eliot brought out an extra gift for each of his friends. As if learning to walk again for them wasn't enough. For Parker, he got her a travel bunny that matched the original to every last detail. For Hardison, a recipe book of new geek-inspired dishes that Eliot personally designed. Sophie got a scrapbook that he'd already started filling with positive reviews of her latest few plays. And Nate got a framed photo of his new very distinctive family to place next to the old ones that Eliot had recovered last year.
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"Wait, who's cooking Christmas dinner?" Hardison asked as the clock ticked closer to three pm. It was usually a given that Eliot would cook, but this year...
"I don't know. I was going to do it, but Eliot told me not to worry, that he had it handled," Nate replied.
The hacker was about to question him further, but a ring on their doorbell cut him off. Who would visit them on Christman Day? It couldn't be Nana or anyone else from his family, because they were still in Chicago, where he would be travelling too for New Year. Archie had his own family to spend the holidays with, and Nate, Sophie and Eliot didn't have any family they still spoke to.
Whoever it was, Eliot seemed eager to let them in, even if it did take him a while to hobble over there on his crutches. He probably should have switched to his chair, but this was as much of a gift to his visitor as it was to his friends.
Opening the door, the sight of his old friend made Eliot's heart jump with joy. Toby had been a big part of his recovery in the past, so having him here now was very important to the hitter. It also meant they could have a properly cooked Christman meal, not whatever Nate was threatening to prepare.
"Oh my God... you're walking. That's amazing," the older man spoke with glee as he embraced his friend. He'd brought meals round whenever he could over the past few months, but it was mainly an excuse to spend time with one of his top students. But in all those visits, Eliot had still been in his wheelchair with no news on a recovery date.
"Yeah, still can't go very far, but it's a start." He invited the man in and out of the cold. "PARKER, HARDISON, CAN YOU GET THE FOOD FROM TOBY'S CAR!"
It turned out that Eliot had invited the man for Christmas dinner seeing as how he was alone for the holidays. The chef's only son was fighting overseas and hadn't managed to get leave this year, which left him with a lot of time on his hands. And seeing as how his friend wouldn't be able to cook anything, he volunteered his skills for the afternoon.
"Everything is pre-made; it just needs warming in the oven for about fifteen minutes."
Soon they were sat around the dining table. Eliot had switched to his chair with some extra cushions supporting his hip. He shouldn't have done so much, he probably wouldn't be able to walk at all tomorrow, but who cares? By the looks of it, he would be in a food coma for the next couple of days anyway.
"You didn't have to do all this Toby," Nate told him, but they were all pretty much thinking the same thing.
The chef waved him off. "It was no trouble, a lot of this was made by my students. They took whatever they wanted and left me with a lot to spare."
And he meant a lot. There were three different joints of meat, plus the traditional turkey, roast and mashed potato, about every veg you could think of, and a lot of speciality dishes from around the world. Dessert was just as bad, with three different pies, two cakes, mince pies, jam tarts, and little sweets and chocolates that the thief had been eyeing all afternoon. And this was after he donated half to a local veterans' shelter.
"So, Toby, how's the school now? Keeping out of trouble I hope." Nate had grown quite fond of Eliot's mentor when the team had helped him out. He could see how much cooking had soothed his friend's soul.
"Oh, yes. After you got rid of those two idiots, business has never been better. We even got a new sponsor from this fancy restaurant chain, that offers some of my students jobs at the end of their studies. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" He gave them a knowing smile, laughing when the hacker choked on his drink.
"Nah, man. No idea."
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The rest of the meal was filled with light-hearted chatter as they shared stories and played games. By the time Toby had bid his farewells, the team was stuffed to bursting, lazing happily in the living room.
It was Eliot's turn to pick a movie, as a congratulation for his big achievement. He was feeling sentimental so he picked something he and his family used to watch when he was little.
"It's a wonderful life, never seen it," Parker announced, with more sweets poured into a bowl despite the fact she ought to be full already.
"It's a great movie, Parker. Good choice El." Sophie commented before snuggling down into her husband's lap.
They stayed like that for the next five hours, with Eliot, Parker and Hardison cosied under a blanket on the main sofa. It was the first time in a long time that Eliot felt truly at home. Happy with his new family.