Never Again, Again
Chapter 6
Once Hannah was sent back to the James with the crew and Dr. Scott; Christine went to sleep. Kara had also gone back and Mike watched his daughter sleep. She was in rough shape. The worst he had seen. He wasn't completely sure she would recover to complete health. Rachel had told Mike she was confident that Katie would survive but would always be prone to illnesses.
He wasn't sure how he felt about the baby Christine was carrying. He had no doubt that the baby was his and he would raise it. He just knew he had years left in the Navy and would not be any sort of father due to that. Even Katie and Hannah were going to be without him a lot. It was just a discussion they would have to have soon.
About dawn, Katie began stirring. Mike woke Christine up and then helped Katie drink some water. He had to prop and hold her up. She was extremely weak and it was she could do to just swallow the water without choking. Christine bathed her while Mike prepared some broth that he had brought with him from Bacon and then she spoon fed the broth to Katie.
"So…so…tired." Katie said.
"Soon as you eat this you can sleep. You need this." Christine said.
"Katie, soon as you can, I will move you and your mom back to the ship." Mike said.
"Where's Hannah? Did she get it too?" Katie asked.
"No. She is fine. She went back to ship already. It was safer and warmer." Christine assured her. Katie was an amazing big sister.
"You shouldn't have stayed with me. You could have gotten sick too." Katie said, addressing Christine. Mike brushed Katie's hair out of her face and smiled.
"That was a sacrifice I was willing to make and then your dad's crew found us. Alright. Do you feel better since you ate a bit?" Christine asked.
"A little. Just so tired." Katie said. Christine wiped some broth off her chin and Mike gave Katie another drink.
"Just go to sleep, sweetheart. The ship is waiting on us." Mike said. He kissed her forehead and smiled at her.
"Your dad and I will be here when you wake up." Christine said.
"I love you guys." Katie answered. Her eyelids were starting to droop.
"We loved you too, baby. Just get some rest." Mike said. In hardly no time, Katie was sound asleep and Christine stood up.
"I'll fix some breakfast for us." Christine said.
"I brought a few supplies. Just enough to get us by for a day or so. Hopefully, we can get her back to the ship by then." Mike remarked.
"Mike; she is not going to be in any shape to travel any time soon." Christine said as she began preparing breakfast.
"I just have to get her to where she can handle getting to the ship. I can carry her to the Jeep and onto the ship." Mike answered.
"I just don't want to overtax her." Christine said.
"We won't." Mike replied. Christine started to turn away but Mike put his arms around her and pulled her close. The baby kicked in response and Mike smiled into her hair. He put his hand on her stomach and was rewarded with another kick.
"When things got really desperate with Katie and I didn't think she would make it, the baby would kick and remind me I still had to keep fighting for it and for Hannah. And Katie too." Christine said.
"Everything is going to be okay. Maybe not immediately and maybe not in the same way as before but it will be alright." Mike told her. She pulled away but gave him a kiss on the lips.
"I'd better finish breakfast. It'll be ready soon." Christine said.
"I'm gonna bring in some firewood. Holler if you need anything." Mike answered. He gave her another kiss before heading outside. Katie was resting comfortably and was healing at the same time.
