Navy Wives
Chapter 22-Christine Slattery
Mike would never admit it but Christine could tell that he was in a lot of pain. The bullet had sliced into a bone but Mike was tough. After a thorough cleaning, a lecture from Dr. Scott about proper wound care and a pretty new sling; Mike was sent back to his quarters, with Christine in tow.
"I hope you've not overdone it?" Mike asked. It made Christine chuckle.
"Says the man who was just shot." Christine replied.
"I am looking forward to a night off." Mike admitted.
"And the girls and I are looking forward to having you with us." Christine said.
"Is Hannah okay? Darien said she kind of freaked out when she saw me." Mike asked as they continued walking down the passage-way.
"She'll be fine once she sees that you're okay." Christine said.
"I hate that she had to see me like that." Mike admitted. They reached his quarters and Christine let Mike in.
"Daddy!" Hannah exclaimed as she ran to Mike and hugged him as tightly as she could.
"Hey, hey; I'm okay." Mike said. Katie was now hugging him too.
"Christine, if you need anything?" Leah asked.
"Thanks, Leah. I appreciate it." Christine replied. She left and Christine concentrated back to Mike and the girls, who were now sitting on the couch.
"Does it hurt a lot?" Katie asked.
"Not too bad right now. But Dr. Scott made me take medicine." Mike replied.
"Girls, it might not be a bad idea for your dad to get some rest before the pain medication wears out." Christine said.
"I will be alright but I do think your mom is right." Mike said.
"Daddy, now that you sunk the sub; where are we going to go? President Michener said we'd try to find a safe place to land, but where?" Hannah asked. She was sleepy and just generally overdone.
"I don't know, sweetheart. There's a lot of decisions to be made." Mike answered. Hannah climbed onto Mike's lap and cuddled as close as she could.
"I hope you live with us again." Hannah remarked. Mike and Christine made eye contact and Christine sat down next to Mike.
"There's a lot to work out…" Christine started.
"I would like that too." Mike interrupted.
"Me too." Katie agreed from Mike's other side.
"Girls, I do want to be with you but the truth is–I will be deployed a lot in the next several months or years. It might not always be very easy and your mom and I do have a fair amount to work out. Stuff that is not easily done on the ship." Mike said.
"Once we get wherever we are going; we will have a window of time. Your dad and I will make the most of that time, I promise." Christine replied. Just then there was a knock on the door.
"Enter!" Mike yelled. Russ and Leah walked in with trays of food.
"We didn't figure you would want to go to the galley to get dinner and Bacon is taking advantage of some fresh ingredients. The gumbo is amazing." Leah explained.
"It smells wonderful." Christine said.
"We'll come back in an hour or so to get dishes. Enjoy!" Russ replied as he led Leah out. They ate, and Christine helped Hannah shower. Soon after Leah came back for the dishes, Mike and Christine got the girls settled and headed to bed themselves.
"We probably will end up living together. But we can ask for four bedrooms?" Mike suggested.
"Mike–I don't want a four-bedroom house. I'm fine with three. We are already living together. It'll just be more room." Christine said.
"You don't want more room?" Mike asked.
"It's a bedroom that won't be used so why have it?" Christine remarked.
"This isn't about a bedroom or living together…it's about Lucas, isn't it?" Mike asked.
"Yeah. His birthday is coming up. I really miss him." Christine remarked.
"I was thinking about that today." Mike admitted.
"Its tomorrow." Christine replied.
"I spoke to Tom and then Dr. Scott forced the issue. Barring any massive issue; I have tomorrow off. All twenty-four hours." Mike said.
"I feel really odd not making his chocolate cake. I always wondered if as he got older; if he would still want to sleep between us like he did every birthday…and then we split up and now he's gone." Christine said. She was misting up and could see tears in Mike's eyes.
"Is this ever going to hurt any less?" Mike asked.
"I don't know. Have you been able to talk to Russ?" Christine asked.
"I spoke to him once about it. He checked up on me after I called you." Mike said.
"Maybe you should talk to him. It's not that I don't want to talk about it to you, but I'm kind of at a loss too." Christine said. Mike nodded as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Do the girls not realize what tomorrow is?" Mike asked.
"I don't know and I know I should tell them. They have to be able to grieve too." Christine replied.
"I personally think they should know. They are going to wonder why you and I are both kind of gloomy." Mike said as he winced.
"True. Mike; you'd better get some rest. I know you're hurting and trying to white knuckle through the pain. Rios gave me some medication if you need it. Just wake me up." Christine said before giving Mike a long kiss.
"I love you." Mike said simply.
"I love you too." Christine replied. They'd switched sides so Christine didn't accidentally touch Mike's shoulder in her sleep. In no time; Mike was asleep and Christine quickly followed, although dreading the next day.