Using Challenge # 1 Lines
Your story's so touching, but it sounds just like a lie
Now listen, Jack -
Straighten up, and fly right
Cool down, papa
Bonus Line: Release your hold, and I will set you free
A/N: A post finale-In DC tale, figuring Cresswell worked it out and they stayed …
Floodgates and Ice Cream
By Mari
Harm's POV
CRASH. What was that? Oh God, Mattie! I bolt to her room only to find it empty. Banging on her bathroom door, I hear her inside.
“Oh, no, no, no!”
“Mattie! Are you okay?”
I get a garbled, “Yeah.”
“What was that crash? Do you need help? Can I come in?”
“ NO!” Vehemently. Okay… she wants no help. “Where’s Mac?”
“She stopped at the store on the way home. What’s the matter? Mattie, you’re scaring me.”
I have visions of broken limbs. She’s come a long way, but she’s still using crutches, and sometimes her balance isn’t great when she’s tired.
“I need Mac. I’ll just sit in here and wait, okay?”
“Wait? Mats, I don’t know how long she’ll be. You’re going to wait in the bathroom ‘til she gets home?”
“Yes!” Her voice is broken. “Harm, just leave me here, please. Send her in when she gets home, okay? It’s fine. I just wasn’t feeling so great, and I want to talk to Mac.”
I think to myself, ‘Sure, you’re fine. Your story's so touching, but it sounds just like a lie. You are not fine.’
“Okay. Okay, but I’m staying outside this door then.”
“Whatever.” Shuffling, and another crash, smaller this time. “Damn!”
“Matilda, if you’re okay, what is that language?” Not that I haven’t heard a lot worse from Mac, but this is not a 40 year old Marine.
“Nothing! Sorry, okay. I’m sorry, sorry, sorry.” That was no apology. That was caustic.
Not wanting to make whatever it is worse, I walk to the far side of the room and call Mac on the cell.
“MacKenzie.”
“Mac, where are you?”
“On the way home from the store. We had no food, remember?” She realizes I’m whispering and hears the strain in my voice. “What’s wrong?”
“Not sure. How far away are you? Mattie’s locked in the bathroom.”
“What do you mean, ‘locked in the bathroom’?”
“I mean just that. She may have fallen. She’s going between crying and cursing, and she wants you and won’t let me in.” I sound like an idiot, but I don’t care.
“I’m ten minutes away. I’ll be right there.”
Mac's POV
I get home as fast as I can. Of course, I hit every light. Then some twelve year old policeman stops everyone for a registration check. I was two seconds short of telling him, ‘Now listen, Jack, I need to get through,’ when he spotted my military ID and waved me on.
I see Harm in the doorway looking like he’s going to have a stroke, and I run up the front stairs three at a time.
“Did she come out?”
“No! Mac, she’s scaring the hell out of me. She’s still crying, so at least I know she’s conscious.”
“Okay, let me go check.”
“I’m coming,” he says.
“No.” I put my hand on his chest. “No. You’re not. Harm, please. Whatever it is, let me see, and I’ll come tell you, please?” He doesn’t look convinced, but he nods and sits on the sofa rubbing his hand over his face.
I go and tap on the door. “Mattie?” No answer. “Hon? I’m home, can I come in?”
Loud sniffle, then, “Harm CALLED you?”
“Only because you scared him. Please, unlock the door.”
“He shouldn’t have called you. I’d have waited.” I hear a shuffle and the lock turn.
I open it carefully. In case she’s fallen, I don’t want to hit her with the door. “Mattie?”
She’s covered by a towel, her crutches are next to the tub, and the shower chair is upside down. She’s also puffy from crying.
“Mattie?”
As soon as she sees me, the floodgates open. “Mac, I can’t believe this. I got my stupid period. I haven’t had it since the accident. The doctor said that it might take awhile to come back. I don’t have any sanitary supplies, so I was gonna try to get to your bathroom, and I … my freaking crutch slipped, and I fell on my butt!”
“Okay, it’s okay. Let me help you up, alright?” She’s clutching the towel like it’s a life preserver, and she’s all tangled up in it. “Mattie, release your hold, and I will set you free.” I help her get up to sit on the closed toilet lid and hand her the crutches.
“Sorry. I know I sound like a jerk, but how could I let Harm help me?”
“I understand. It’s fine, I’m here. Now, let me go get you some supplies and tell Harm you’re okay before he drops dead out there.”
“Oh, jeez, how embarrassing.”
“You’re sure you’re okay, though? Nothing hurts?
“Only my pride. And I’m angry at myself.”
“I know, Hon. But you’re okay. Look how well you’ve done with everything else so far. We’re proud of you.”
She gives me a watery smile. “At least it didn’t happen in the dorm, and Harm didn’t give me a ‘straighten up and fly right’ pep talk.”
“You’re two for two then.” That gets me a thumbs up. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
I go to find Harm.
LIVINGROOM:
He leaps up when he sees me. “What? Is she okay?”
“Cool down, Papa. She’s fine. Little crisis, that’s all. She slipped and lost her balance.”
“And she couldn’t tell me that? Mac, she sat in the bathroom for 35 minutes crying! I could have helped her up, for Christ’s sake!”
“Uhhh, no you couldn’t. Look, Harm, she’s embarrassed. She’s got her period, she fell, she’s in a towel. It’s another thing she’s got to deal with that she hasn’t had to since before the accident. They went over this in O.T., but it’s not like she’s had a lot of practice with it since she’s home.” He’s giving me what I call the ‘Harm is mortified’ stare.
“Coulda told me.” He’s muttering. He’s so adorable when he’s befuddled.
“Told you what? ‘Harm, I’m having my period, and I’m sitting on the bathroom floor naked and can’t reach my robe?’ C’mon she’s seventeen. Now, let me go get her some supplies. Try not to embarrass her, okay?”
“Okay. You knock yourself out there, Marine. Go help her. Thank God you were only a few minutes away.”
I kiss him as I pass by. He’d have dropped dead if he had to go buy her tampons or pads. I’d have to be hemorrhaging to death before I’d ask him to stop at the store for me, never mind if he had to go for a teenager. You say ‘cramps’ in front of Harm and he gets a ‘look’ and leaves the room. Harriet and I did discuss stuff in the break room, so I’ve seen the panicked male faces scatter on occasion. It’s actually quite funny.
I grab some supplies from my bathroom and get back to Mattie. She’s calmer and her eyes are less puffy now.
“Here you go.” I hesitate a minute. “Do you need help?”
“No. No, Mac. I’m okay. But could you stay out there ‘til I’m ready? Just in case?”
That’s a lot for her to ask, and it comes out in a rush. She’s such an independent kid, she has a hard time asking for help.
“Sure. I’ll be right here.”
**10 minutes later**
Mattie comes out, and I walk downstairs ahead of her. Harm’s cooking dinner.
“Mattie?” He raises his eyebrows at her
“I’m okay. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
“It’s alright. You hungry?”
“Yeah. Got ice cream?”
“For dinner?”
“For after. I’m gonna go call Jen, okay?”
“Sure, Mats. Tell her hi.”
She goes into the living room, and he looks at me. “Crisis over?”
“Yes, crisis over.” He comes over and hugs me. “Now, did I hear something about ice cream?”
The End
