Home » The Archives » Chapter 9 » Regrouping and Recouperation
| Re: Regrouping and Recouperation [message #246 is a reply to message #245] |
Mon, 23 July 2012 15:36   |
artisticrainey
Messages: 1228
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Karma:
|
Field Commander
Switzerland |
|
|
Wednesday, August 15, 11:00 a.m., Tracy Island
Dianne sat back in the hospital bed. The sickroom was quiet; Maggie had just helped her to shower for the day and had gone off to see to her own needs -- and Drew's. Though Dianne had eaten breakfast with the family, she still felt isolated. The leg didn't hurt as much, unless she overused it; the infection was clearing up. She put down the data pad holding the book she'd been reading. Somehow a romance wasn't as much fun as usual. Normally, she could imagine herself and Jeff in the parts of hero and heroine, but at the moment, she couldn't.
There were plenty of other things to occupy her; the televid, a number of word puzzles that Tyler had brought for her, Cherie's handheld computer game, the newspaper which had been printed off fresh that morning in the lab. But none of them held her interest. What she wanted was conversation, and at the moment, there was no one around. She knew Penelope was due in that morning; Jeff had told her at breakfast before heading off to the study for a conference call. Her mother was busy helping Emily with party preparations, and the children were helping where possible.
"Wonder if I should wear that red dress tonight," she murmured aloud. "Probably not. It's not like I'm going to be dancing or anything." The thought made her even more depressed, and she sighed. Then she reached out for the data pad on the bedside table, and drew it to her. Saving her place on the story she'd been reading, she cleared the screen, and used her stylus to write.
I am bored.
Tremendously, utterly bored.
I've gone past the point where Jeff was when he got home. He had family in and out all the time, but with this party going on, everyone else's focus is elsewhere.
Not that I begrudge Virgil his fun. I don't, and I'm thankful he thought of the family - and of me - first. He deserves a special time, and the celebration will do us all a world of good. I'll be happy to be out there mingling as much as I can, though dancing is definitely out. Makes me a little sad, though. I love dancing, especially with Jeff. Rick and I never had the chance to do it much.
The family feels like it's in limbo, and not just because I'm here in the sickroom. We're missing two members of the extended family, and though you'd think it wouldn't matter, it does. On top of that, two others are sort of missing in action, so to speak. Drew is scheduled to see Dom and Nikki tomorrow and determine if they're fit to go back to duty. They probably need as much rest as I do, though how Dom's going to get it with Josh around is anyone's guess. Hopefully some of the gals -- and maybe even a couple of guys - have pulled together to give him some respite. We also have a few extra people floating around, and that always puts things off-kilter. Not always a bad thing, but still noticeable.
No one's talked to me much about the crash yet. I don't know if it's from fear of upsetting me or because they don't think I'm ready. Wise of them, really. I'm not ready. Jeff going down to see the wreck -- that scared me witless. I was so relieved when Drew followed him down. Ma told me they seemed to be okay when they came out. Jeff was a little red-eyed when they came back, she said, and he had a pile of my clothes with him. I still don't know if he found what he went down there for; Ma couldn't tell me either. I'd hate to lose the rings, but... they are replaceable. Not like my family.
My poor babies. I know they're hurting, especially Tyler. I wish I could kiss them and make things better, I really do. Just like sometimes I wish Ma -- or Jeff - could do for me. But there are no shortcuts. There's no magic that can make it go away. We can't go back, we can only go forward. God knows I learned that lesson the hard way and I'm still learning it. I can't ignore or pretend that the tornado didn't happen, any more than I can pretend the bombing didn't happen. None of us can. It happened. They happened. All I have to do is look at that bandage on my leg to know the one. All I have to do is look at my children, and my husband, to know the other.
I wish there was something I could do to reward Dom and Nikki. I owe them my life. Cutting me out, God, that must have been hard. I almost wish I couldn't remember everything so clearly; things didn't get hazy until I was on the way to the hospital. I owe Scott, too. He was the rock, for everyone. He kept it all together.
I'm not looking forward to facing Seven. I know I have to, just like Em had to see the house. God, the farmhouse. Jeff -- that was home to him, in some ways more than this place is. It's like Ma's place... which will be gone, too, soon. Someone else will be living in it. Someone else will call it home. And I'll mourn, too.
Seven. The lucky number. Not for us. Not that day. Maybe never again.
Sighing, she looked at what she'd written, contemplating dumping the text completely. No, I think I'd better save it. I need to remember. Touching a few buttons with her stylus, she saved the entry and put down her tools. Glancing at all the things she had to occupy her, she decided on the newspaper. It was a compilation of world news, selected especially by Tracy Industries as being of particular interest to the family. One of those particular interests was International Rescue, so any and all stories relating to them were added. Emily clipped and saved them in her scrapbooks.
Dianne folded the paper for easier scanning and her eyes skimmed over the front page headlines. Flipping the paper over, she scanned the stories there, but suddenly stopped at a particular headline.
"Orthopedist who worked on IR's doc accused of malpractice?" She read the article through once, then her hand scrabbled for the call buzzer, and she pressed it hard. "Maggie?" she said, her tone urgent. "I need to see Drew -- and Jeff -- as soon as possible!"
Post by Tikatu on 1/25/2007
  
|
|
|
|
Current Time: Fri May 17 07:48:32 EDT 2024
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.01285 seconds
|
International Rescue: The Next Phase
Search
Help
Members
Login
Home
