35 – Interruptions on the Shore

Laura smiled sweetly at Bill and blew him a kiss as he ran up the steps to the bedroom. Smiling to herself, she returned through the house to the kitchen, picking up their discarded coffee cups on the way to the sink. Washing them, she absently glanced outside through the window, gazing at the light drizzle coming down. After placing the cups on a rack to dry, she glanced outside one last time before crossing the room, suddenly freezing as what she’d seen registered. “Oh Gods…” Running back to the window, she stared through the rain for a moment before racing through the house. “Bill! Bill!”

“What?” Appearing at the top of the stairs, he stared down at her as she grabbed a jacket from the closet next to the door and tossed another one on the steps for him.

“You need to go get Sherman…now…” Laura pulled her coat on and glanced up at him. “Now Bill.”

“What’s wrong?” He ran down the stairs, pausing only to grab the coat she’d dropped for him.

“The girls…Natalie and Boomer,” she pointed toward the back of the house, “they’re coming across the lawn, Natalie’s bleeding…Go!”

“Yes Ma’am.” Opening the door, he pulled on his jacket as he ran out into the rain, Laura turning to run back through the house.

“Natalie, Boomer…in here.” Yanking the back door open, she ran through the garden area to meet them. “What happened?”

“Wild animal…” Boomer panted out as Laura slid under Natalie’s arm on the other side. “Found her in the path when she didn’t come back from a walk.”

“Natalie?” Shaking her wet bangs back, Laura peered up at the taller woman, who appeared to be in some sort of shock. “Gods, you’re both soaked and freezing…”

“So…rr…y.” Natalie managed to get out as they stumbled up the steps into the kitchen. “Don’t….want…both…er.”

“No, it’s all right.” Kicking the door shut behind them, Laura and Boomer eased Natalie down into a chair, Laura kneeling to look at the bloody gashes on Natalie’s legs, her pants shredded and muddy. “Boomer, get a cloth from the sink. Two. Wet one, bring them both.” Taking the remnants of one pant leg in her hands, she tugged, ripping the fabric to expose the leg. “Good.”

“What are we going to do?” Boomer gazed at them, eyes wide as she knelt next to Laura, holding the dry cloth.

“Doctor Cottle was just here for lunch, Bill ran after him when I saw you.” Wincing, Laura dabbed at the deep gashes. “Gods, Natalie…” She looked up at her. “Boomer, run into the room you used before and get a blanket. She’s freezing.”

“Fine.” Natalie managed to get out between chatters of her teeth. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right.” Laura returned her attention to Natalie’s legs as Boomer ran back in with a blanket. “Over her shoulders. Then go boil some water. We need to get you both warmed up.”

“Will she be all right?” Boomer carefully tucked the blanket around Natalie.

“She’ll be fine.” Laura winced and tore the other pant leg. There was a lot of blood mixed in with dirt and grime, an occasional leaf stuck to her leg. Taking the wet cloth, she started dabbing at it as the front door slammed. “Back here!”

“What the frak have you two…” Cottle blustered through the door and spared only a blink at the sight of Laura kneeling on the ground, the bloody material from Natalie’s pants on the floor next to her. “Move over.”

“Some animal.” Laura shifted her weight so he could settle next to her. “It looks like something with, I don’t know…there’s no bite marks…”

“It was something like a wild boar.” Natalie managed to get out. “Tusks…came out of the woods.”

“A wild boar?” Bill frowned. “This close to town?” Considering Laura’s penchant for wandering through the woods on her walks, and their mutual enjoyment of riding through them, that wasn’t good.

“Looked sick.” Natalie let out a hiss as Cottle probed at one of the deeper cuts. “Came running at me, couldn’t get out of the way.”

“Here.” Boomer held out a cup of tea.

“Hold on to that.” Cottle glanced at Bill. “You help me carry her to the bedroom down here, you got a shower there, right?”

“Yeah.” Bill helped Laura stand before moving to one side of Natalie.

“Boomer, run in there, get it warm and running. Laura…” His voice trailed off as he and Bill lifted Natalie to her feet.

“Ahead of you.” She followed Boomer to the bathroom connected to the downstairs bedroom, already unbuttoning her blouse. By the time Bill and Cottle arrived, half carrying Natalie between them, she was tugging her pants off. “Bill, get them both something from upstairs that’s at least dry and warm.”

“Yeah.” He grinned at the sight of her red lingerie before leaving them pulling what was left of Natalie’s pants off and tossing them to the side.

“Get her in there, get her warmed up, and all the blood washed off.” Cottle helped Laura ease the taller woman into the shower, propped up on Laura’s shoulders. “And you,” he lifted an eyebrow at Boomer, “as soon as the Admiral gets back with something warm and dry you get changed as well.”

“Yes sir.” She managed a weak smile and nodded.

“Laura, you got any…” He stepped back toward the door.

“First aid kit is in the pantry, Bill knows where it is.” Laura called back.

“Towels…” Boomer opened a door and pulled out several just as Bill returned with two sweatsuits.

“Those to Boomer, you’re with me.” Cottle jerked his head at Bill. “Need to know where the first aid kit is.”

As their voices faded away, Laura smiled up at Natalie, “you warmer now?”

“Yes.” She managed weakly. “Thank you. Sorry to be such a bother…”

“It’s all right.” Reaching up, she grabbed the removable shower head and used the gentle setting to carefully wash the rest of the blood and dirt off. “Brace yourself on me.”

“I didn’t even hear it coming.” Natalie whispered. “I like to walk in the rain…it just came out of nowhere.”

“Shh…” Laura glanced up at her. “Calm down, we’re going to get you warm and dry, then Doctor Cottle will take a look at your legs, and you’ll stay here overnight.”

“But, you just…” Natalie took a deep breath. “We can’t…”

“You can, and you will.” Laura winced. So much for the making love in front of the fireplace tonight that she’d planned. At least there was the upstairs fireplace.

“But…” Natalie shook her head. “I’m sorry…”

“It’s all right.” Laura managed a smile. “Warmed up now?”

“Yes.” Natalie whispered as Laura reached past her to turn off the water.

“Boomer, towels.” At her request, Laura was handed two thick towels which she wrapped around Natalie. “Okay, we’re going to step out now, all right?” At Natalie’s nod, she carefully stepped backwards out of the shower, Boomer’s hand on her back guiding her as she led Natalie out. “Now, sit.” When Natalie leaned against the counter, Laura carefully dabbed at the gashes as Boomer helped her pull a sweatshirt over her head.

“The Admiral brought this down for you.” Shyly, Boomer draped a robe over Laura’s shoulders.

“Thanks.” Shrugging into it, she stood and eyed the shorts that were on the counter. Picking them up, she recognized them as a pair of her older sweatpants that Bill must have cut the legs off of. “One leg at a time.” When Natalie was dressed, she and Boomer supported her as they moved out into the bedroom just as Bill and Cottle returned.

“Good.” Cottle nodded at the bed. “Go ahead and lie down, I want to take a look at her legs. Laura, go get dried off before I end up with you as a patient again as well.”

“And here.” Bill handed her a mug of steaming tea as she scooped up her clothes. Leaning forward, he murmured in her ear, “so that’s where the red was…”

“Yeah.” Brushing a kiss across his cheek, she smiled. “Never a dull moment?”

“Not at all.” As she left the room, he moved next to Boomer, who’d just tucked another dry towel under Natalie’s legs, protecting the bedspread. “What happened?”

More coherent now that she was warm and relatively dry, Natalie looked up at him. “I went for a walk in the rain, it wasn’t that cold yet, and I wanted to feel it.” At his encouraging nod she continued, “this…thing, like I said, I think it was a boar or something, ran out of the woods straight at me, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground and it was…” she considered her words then hissed softly as Cottle dabbed something on her leg.

“Sorry.” He muttered, continuing his work.

“This thing just kept pawing and sort of gnashing at me,” Natalie winced again as he probed one of the deeper cuts. “I grabbed a branch and started hitting at it. It ran away.”

“I thought she’d been gone too long, and went to look for her.” Boomer shuddered. “Then I heard this animal squealing, and Natalie yelling…I didn’t know where else to take her for help…”

“You did the right thing.” Cottle glanced up at Natalie. “This is gonna hurt, not going to kid you. You won’t need stitches though. I’m just going to clean it up and bandage your legs. You need to keep them dry though. No moving around unless you have to.”

“You can stay here at least for the night.” Bill offered, his face not revealing his inner wince at the statement. “It looks like the rains not going to let up.”

“We can’t do that.” Natalie smiled then cringed as the antibiotic solution hit her open wounds. “I mean…you just got married, and even though…I mean, we know…”

“You need to stay where you can be dry.” Dressed in dry clothes, Laura entered the room, a towel around her hair. “We’ll get you home tomorrow.”

“I’ll check on the horses for you though.” Boomer offered softly. “Please, it’s the least I can do. And, I have to go get more clothes for us, and make sure the house is all right.”

“Take one of the horses.” Bill stated. “It will be safer until we can get some people out here to track down the animal and take care of it.”

“Yes sir.” She responded before catching herself and grinning. “I mean, thanks.”

“Really…” Natalie began to protest again and winced.

“Here.” Handing a teacup to her, Laura waited until she took a sip before handing her two tablets. “They’ll help. Just some painkillers.”

“Thank you.” Swallowing them, Natalie took another few swallows of the tea before resting her head back against the pillow, tensing as Cottle dressed one of the deeper gashes.

“Boomer, you should probably go, just in case it gets darker or heavier rain later.” Laura glanced out the window at the branches of a tree blowing in the wind.

“I’ll be back in a bit.” With a final hesitant smile, she turned and ran out of the room, the outside door opening and closing a moment later.

“We’ll be in the kitchen.” Bill touched Laura’s arm and led her out of the room.

“Oh well.” She giggled softly as his hand slid down to catch hers, fingers lacing together. “It was good while it lasted…”

“They feel bad about it.” He sighed. “But there’s no way she should be back out in that rain right now with those wounds. Cottle’s a bit worried about a few of them, being very deep. Not moving her will help them heal a bit before she goes home.”

“I thought as much.” Sinking into a chair, Laura tilted her head back as he gently removed the towel from her hair and started rubbing it dry. “Oh, here.” Pulling a brush out of her pocket, she handed it back to him.

“Too predictable?” Chuckling, he took the brush and started pulling it through the wet strands.

“You don’t miss a chance to play with my hair. Whether or not you realize it.” She sighed softly as she relaxed into his gentle movements. “What will we do about the boar or whatever it is out there?”

“We’ll get a group together and track it, hunt it.” Bill sighed. “Out of necessity.”

“It’s too close to the house, and with the horses…and we both like to take walks out there.” Laura gestured absently.

“Yeah.” He bent and kissed the top of her head. “Do me a favor, no wandering through the woods, even to the stable, alone until we catch that thing?”

“Likewise.” She looked up at him, eyes wide.

“Agreed.” Bill smiled slightly and bent further to catch her mouth, moving to lean against the table as he pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her waist as she relaxed against him. When they finally broke apart, he moved his mouth to her ear, nuzzling her cheek before murmuring into her ear, “at least we already covered this room last night. Could be a bit inhibiting as long as they’re in the downstairs bedroom.”

Laura giggled and bit his earlobe, her hands resting on his chest. “This coming from the Admiral who figured out a way for us to frak…” she broke off with a squeal as he tightened his arms around her. “All right, sorry…”

“That.” He kissed her cheek, “was between us, and never should have happened.”

“But it did.” Biting her lip, she smiled up at him. “And it was amazing.”

“You made it easy.” He moved his hands up underneath her sweater, rubbing absent designs on her skin, “strutting into CIC with that white blouse that just…and that skirt…”

“I wasn’t strutting, and I’d worn them together before.” Laura defended with another giggle.

“Fine, slinking, not strutting. And you hadn’t worn them together and moved like that a few hours after we’d been…bluntly interrupted just before…” Bill raised an eyebrow. “And don’t say it. Lee’s not my son anymore, he’s our son. And to point, he was your delegate.”

“Fine.” Laura leaned forward and kissed him then pushed him gently away as she sank back down into the chair with a giggle just as Cottle entered the kitchen.

“I don’t want to know.” He crossed to the sink and washed his hands. “I’ll stay in town one more night, be back in the morning to check the dressing. I want to keep an eye on some of the deeper ones, but she should be all right to head home in the morning. I was going to rent some sort of vehicle anyway, so I’ll run her home. You sure you two don’t mind?”

“No.” Bill shook his head. “It will be fine.”

“Really.” Laura smiled then winced. “Ow.”

“Sorry.” Bill worked the tangle out gently.

“Go to the apartment,” Laura instructed. “We’ll let Kara know we told you to use the spare room tonight. She’ll probably insist on taking you out with the others.”

“Wouldn’t mind catching up a bit more.” He winked at Laura. “Maybe we’ll go check out Caprica Nights, hear your old roommate is still in town.”

“She might be.” Laura giggled. “If not, ask for Anthony at the door, or Tanny if he’s not. Tell them I sent you, and to take good care of you.”

“Pays to have connections.” He glanced back toward the bedroom, his smile disappearing. “She starts running a fever or anything, get hold of Kara and tell her to get me out here. I’ll see what I can round up as far as medical supplies, just in case.” He paused, his gaze moving back to them, measuring. “Probably not a bad idea to have some extra stuff out here just in case. Bill, you remember enough of your emergency first aid?”

“The basics.” He nodded as Laura absently reached up to rest her hand on his where it had come to rest on her shoulder.

“While obviously nothing bad enough to kill us,” Cottle shook his head, “I suppose, will happen, people do get hurt.”

“Um, yeah.” Laura bit her lip, “we figured that out on our own?”

“Heard something about an ant expedition?” He sighed. “Starbuck said she’d fill me in later.”

“Probably for the best.” Bill agreed, “we don’t know the specifics on it.”

“Didn’t want to.” Laura nodded solemnly, her eyes mischievous. “Let’s just say that she, Billy, and Zak together are a bit much to handle when they get going.”

“Always knew Billy had it in him.” Cottle glanced out the window. “I’ll check on her once more then head on into town, you sure you don’t mind me crashing at your other place?”

“Not a problem. We’ll call Kara and let her know you’re on the way.” Laura smiled. “So, now that you’ve seen them again and met them?”

“Have to think about it.” He sighed. “You two. Can’t even have a peaceful afterlife. Or whatever it is we’re having.”

“It’s still calmer than before.” Laura smiled at him and stood. “You go check on Natalie, I’ll make some more tea. I’ve got a special blend that one of my students made for me, perfectly safe, don’t worry, I checked. Has calming tendencies too.”

“Still bossy.” He brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Young lady.”

“Go on.” With a giggle, she pushed him toward the door. “Bill, call Kara.”

“Still in charge.” Eluding her swat, he followed Cottle toward the door.

“Doesn’t even pretend to let you think you are?” Cottle grinned at him.

“She comes by it honestly, you meet her mother and sisters?” Bill retorted.

“I can hear you both!” Laura called after them.

“We know.” Bill called back with a grin, clapping Cottle on the arm as they strode down the hall.

“You know you’ll pay for that.” Cottle muttered as Bill paused next to the phone.

“Counting on it.” He winked and picked up the handset.