Rachel fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, snuggling down deep under the sheet. Morning came far too soon, and she wondered if the previous night had been some surreal, wonderful dream. She stretched lazily before crawling out of her bunk and stumbling into the shower, being as quiet as possible so as not to wake the two guys.
When she was done, she padded quietly up front to the little kitchen area and started the coffee pot. A moment later she heard footsteps behind her. "You're up early for someone that had such an exciting evening," she heard AJ comment behind her, feeling his eyes on her.
"Hey AJ. Want some coffee?" she said, attempting to avoid the topic of Howie.
"Sure Red. I could use a kickstart." He sat, looking sadly at Rachel. Well, hell, he wasn't one to dwell on what wasn't meant to be.
Howie came in wearing just a towel, his hair dripping.
"Jaysus, are you making a head and shoulders commercial or somethin'?" said AJ good-naturedly. "Have some respect for the lady, go put on some clothes."
+++
When Myumi woke the next morning she felt an ache deep in her hips. Shit. Was she going into a flare or did she just sleep wrong on it? Without even turning over she reached back for her hip pack of medicine. She popped a Prednisone, Plaquenil, Imuran, Fosamax, Zirtech, Zantac, Flonase, Astelin, and Oxycodeine. She closed her eyes again and whimpered a bit. She couldn't let the fear get to her: the fear was as much an enemy as the disease. Breathing deeply, she took herself to a quiet, safe place and let the medicine begin its vital work.
Half an hour later she felt well enough to get up. She looked down at her hand, shaking. It had given her a real fright. But she knew, damn well, that the fear alone could spark a flare. She had been in remission now for months. She sure couldn't afford a flare at this time. She showered and put on a purple leotard under her baggy overalls.
She wore the overalls for several reasons. First, she just liked them. With her skinny little body it just hung there. Second, it had lots of pockets to stash medicine. Her only fear was that she'd be searched by one of guards and exposed as a pill junkie! Stifling a laugh at this, she put on her gear, her belt with all the thimbles and needles for last minute emergency repairs, a C-wrench, which she was forever lending to techies, band-aids, scissors, tape, glue, and granola bars.
Grabbing an apple from a table of food she walked over to help load the garment boxes.
"Eyebrow!" someone shouted. She turned and saw a grinning Nick wheeling full speed at her in a pair of rollerblades.
"Um..." was all she had time to say before he rammed into her, sending Myumi, Nick and garment boxes everywhere.
"Woah! Eyebrow! Good morning! Oh, I'm sorry." Nick helped her up and stacked the garment boxes. Myumi was gritting her teeth so that the agonizing pain in her hips wouldn't show on her face. It had gone down to a dull ache, but being rammed by a tall blonde gorgeous kid on rollerblades didn't help matters any.
"Eyebrow? You ok?" asked Nick with concern as he saw the tears in her eyes, "Oh, God I hurt you!"
"No... no. I um, just slept bad on my back."
"Well, you have to rest." before she could protest Nick swept her petite body up in his arms and skated her over to a bench, where he lovingly set her. "I'll do the boxes."
Myumi was miffed. "I'm small, but I'm not a doll, Mr. Carter. I will get the boxes." With a sniff she stood and walked tenderly to the boxes. Nick skated around her.
"Aw, Eyebrow, don't be mad... I was just playin' ya."
Myumi sighed. "I know. But I have a job to do. And my name is Myumi."
"Right! See you later Eyebrow!" and off Nick skated. Myumi smiled despite herself. What a big goofy nice handsome kid.
+++
"Oh, sorry Rach, didn't know you were up."
"S'ok" said Rach unable to take her eyes from the shining trail of water snaking from his hair down his torso.
"I'll be right back." and he winked at Rach.
Rachel cleared her throat and reached for a mug.
"D is one of the finest men I know." said AJ.
"Me too." replied Rachel.
"Don't hurt him."
Rachel spun to look at AJ who looked back at her unblinkingly.
"I won't." she said after what seemed minutes of tension.
"I know you won't, red." said AJ, with a smile. "Just had to be said."
"I understand."
AJ finished his coffee in one gulp and walked outside for a cigarette. reaching for his lighter his hand fell on the packet of matches Myumi had given to him the following night. She had been so tiny, so perfect in the moonlight, he recalled. Closing his eyes for a moment he pictured her, wondering what her kisses tasted like.
Finishing his cigarette, he went back into the bus and saw Rachel and Howie sitting and talking. "OK you two, I'm going to go walk around, check out the arena and see who else is up. Need anything?"
Rachel looked up at AJ and smiled. She didn't want things to be odd between them. He was too sweet of a guy. "No, but thanks AJ," she said softly. "I'll only keep Howie a minute. Just need to discuss a couple quick book things with him, then he's all you guys' for the day," she assured him.
"Take your time Red," AJ laughed. "We don't need him that bad. Besides, the more time he spends with you, the better of a mood he'll be in later," he waved as he exited the bus.
Howie just shook his head. He was glad things hadn't gotten uncomfortable between them. He leaned over and finally kissed her. "Now that's how I wanted to say good morning," he told her softly.
"Mmmm," she responded. "Very nice. Though the towel earlier wasn't bad either," she admitted with a blush.
"You liked?" he chuckled.
"Yes. You have beautiful hair Howie. I've always wanted to see you with it down," she continued. "The towel was just an added bonus!" she giggled as she watched him, not believing she was admitting things to him.
Howie pulled her close and the two sat and ate and talked about the book. "So I want you to have time to look over what I've done so far. I think I have a good first chapter done, but I definitely want your input. And if you want to run it by John or anyone else, please do. Criticism is something a writer gets used to, and I want this to get put through the wringer so it really comes from your heart, not my pen or typing," she told him, brushing his hair from his face. "Think you might have some time later?"
"I'll make time." Howie cupped his hand around Rachel's neck. "You're really beautiful, you know that? Inside and outside. I am so grateful
that you came into my life."
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