not_his_pa | Taking care of Michael

After talking with Ellen, William asked Bar for some help putting together some things to bring Michael.

There was a good bit of discussion before he headed upstairs with a tray holding soup, warm bread, water, a thermos of tea, some cookies and a few books.

It took a little while to find Michael's door but then knocked on the door and said, "Michael, I brought you some stuff you might need."

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From:

luvs_yogurt

Michael groans low and loud from where he'd fallen asleep - in the bathroom on the toilet. His head is throbbing and his digestive system feels just a hair worse than in the heat of a bug he'd picked up eating a bad meal in Kandahar years before. It's not exactly an experience he ever wanted to relive.

"On minute, I'm in the bathroom," he calls back loud enough to be heard through the door. After several long minutes, he manages up on his feet and answers the door looking pretty decrepit in nothing but his shorts. He'd come straight upstairs after getting back through the door; stripped off the armor and weapons into a pile on the floor and managed his way through a shower before ending up where he'd fallen asleep.

"William," he smiles weakly, running a hand awkwardly through his sweaty hair before closing the door behind them and turning on the light. In the light he looks pale, exhausted - when he turns the previous gouge on the left side of his back is no more than a scratch roughly four inches long. "You talked to Ellen."

From:

not_his_pa

At the groan, William frowns and waits until Michael opens the door. When he sees Michael, he sets the food down,

"Yeah, I did. You should be in bed. I should have got you some compresses."

From:

luvs_yogurt

I'm all right," he forces a smile and follows him to the table, finding a bottle of aspirin and a pink bottle of Pepto Bismol already waiting for him - it's gonna be a long couple days while he gets the radiation out of his system.

"I was asleep," he laughs dryly before swallowing three aspirin with a heavy swig of the thick, pink liquid. "I just didn't quite make it to bed."

From:

not_his_pa

"Then you should make it now. Come on. I'll get you some water and brought up some books,"

Once Michael's had the medicine, William starts slowly herding him towards bed. If need be, he'll shift him but he hopes to not have to do that.

From:

luvs_yogurt

His mother raised him not to shrug off someone kind enough to help, especially when you're sick - but still he's not exactly one to lay around in bed all day.

"I told you, I'm all right..." he sighs and sits heavily on the side of his bed no less, shifting back against the pillows before William can prod him again.

"It's the drugs she had to give me to get rid of the... uh... radiation." He doesn't really know how much she told William or how much of it he understands, so it's easier to just keep it vague for the moment. "It gets the stuff out the hard way."

From:

not_his_pa

"You don't look like you are and restin' won't hurt anythin'. Yeah, she told me and I know how bad her world can get,"

Once Michael's actually in the bed, William rubs at his shoulder, the gun that melted his skin still wakes him up sometimes. Then he goes to get some water and the pile of books; non-fiction, a few dime novels and at least one awful thriller.

From:

luvs_yogurt

He nods slowly; leaning forward with a pillow tucked against his stomach as he watches William.

"I remember, you were there... did it get pretty bad for you there?"

He'd hate to think that Williams seen some of the things he saw only a few hours before; the big green guys with weapons - super mutants he remembers - and the glowing ghoul that dosed him with radiation. He's seen some real, genuine human horror - and it's about the only thing that ranks higher than those monstrosities on his list of things he'd rather forget about.

From:

not_his_pa

"Yeah, pretty bad. I was helpin' her move some cattle and came across some raiders. One of their guns was wrong and the Brahmin stampeded. Ellen was able to heal my arm up then but ain't right for somethin' to hurt and then melt,"

He tries not to think about it but it does come up in his nightmares sometimes. Still not as much as Charlie Prince or watching his father die but its there.

From:

luvs_yogurt

He nods again and turns his back to show the small scratch; "Big green guy shot a missile at us and it hit the ground but broke up and sent a piece of metal into my back." He's been hit by worse, much worse, but it feels pretty good to share with someone who gets it.

"And then I got hit by a wave of radiation from a glowing zombie that probably would have killed me if Ellen wasn't there."

He manages a sip of water, grimacing when it hits his touchy stomach. "I'll take a couple days in the bathroom every thirty minutes over not making it back any day."

From:

not_his_pa

"Always and you can heal up here. I'll do what I can to help,"

Since Michael doesn't have to deal with this all on his own.

From:

luvs_yogurt

"I know you will," he smiles and shifts over, allowing enough room for the younger man to join him.

"Sit with me for a little bit, maybe?"

From:

not_his_pa

"I was plannin' on it. I don't know if you can get anythin' down but there's soup and tea and books. Didn't know what you'd like so asked Bar,"

He gets the pile and brings it over to the bed.

From:

luvs_yogurt

"I'll give it a try when the cramps pass," he bites back another slight wave of nausea, trying his best not to let it show.

"Thank you, again, William. You didn't have to go through the trouble."

From:

not_his_pa

"Alright, yeah and did, you're my friend. I couldn't leave you up here and hurtin'. Any of these books work for you?"

From:

luvs_yogurt

"I'm sure they'll be fine," he chuckles under his breath, barely glancing at the titles. "I once spent three weeks in a storage unit with a penlight and a copy of a celebrity magazine written in Arabic for entertainment. I'm pretty sure I can manage a couple days until this passes."

He shifts again, digging the pillow harder against his gut.

"How are you doing? We, uh... had a bit of an adventure there ourselves."

He's still processing it and knows once he does got to sleep properly it'll be clearly in his mind.

From:

not_his_pa

"What's a celebrity magazine? Yeah, we did and I'm doin' alright,"

He won't mention his worry about moving the stock, Michael doesn't need to know about that.

From:

luvs_yogurt

Though he knows it's coming soon, and has every intention of going.

Michael laughs slightly and takes another very small sip of water - eyeing the tea.

"It's sort of a weekly book with gossip and pictures about famous people like actors and sports players and musicians. Pretty useless, honestly, but even back then in a war zone people couldn't get enough of knowing what Tom Cruise is doing on the beach or how Madonna looks without her makeup on."

From:

not_his_pa

"I guess it ain't too different from some of the newspapers with their gossip and stuff."

From:

luvs_yogurt

"Not really," he shakes his head; "about the same, more pictures... glossy paper and more pages. But, pretty much filler and gossip."

He swallows back another sip and then asks quietly; "Can... can I ask you to get the tea, please?" He hates asking for anything and would much prefer to get it himself, but he knows as soon as he's vertical again he'll be heading for the closed bathroom door.

"Remind me the next time I want to take a job with Ellen to ask about the chances of getting horribly irradiated again."

From:

not_his_pa

"Course,"

William's glad to do it and the table's not far away. It's an herbal tea that should be easy on his stomach.

From:

luvs_yogurt

"Thanks," he replies sheepishly, holding the warm cup in hand with the bottom pressed against the pillow to hide the weak grasp.

"You been back home since Miami?" Time is relative, and for the most part a useless measurement of the way things fell at Milliways - the best he can do to compensate in his head is to base everything on events.

From:

not_his_pa

"Yeah, I have. Just gettin' a few things sorted out,"

Working through sums and trying to find ways to keep the family from having to owe anyone.

From:

luvs_yogurt

"Looking to move the herd soon, I think?" His knowledge of cattle is very nearly zero - he can identify them and has a vague understanding of the behavior and if need be could probably milk or butcher one. But how ranching actually works is mostly beyond him. But, he knows people - and he knows every time he's seen William lately it's a little bit closer to time.

The tea is very warm and slightly sweet, the sugars giving his body something to cling to and burn - hopefully without rejecting it outright.

From:

not_his_pa

"Yeah, soon, but don't concern yourself with it cause you need to heal,"

He won't put anything on Michael, their profit will just be thinner.

From:

luvs_yogurt

Michael gives him a stone faced look that he usually reserves making two-bit sleazebag criminals almost wet themselves. "Three days," he says sternly; "I'll be up and fine in three days."

He's going, still a bit under the weather or not.