All this Time

Nathan part 1

13th February

It's not quite five in the morning when I hear the faintest sound of sniffles coming from Lydia's bedroom.

Gabrielle didn't sleep a whole lot last night. She was up and down checking on her until well after one. Now, she's fast asleep in the crook of my arm and I really don't want her to wake up.

Carefully shuffling to the edge of the bed, I slide my arm out and go still when she stirs. Her halo of waves circle her head as she rolls onto her back.

It hits me again, that she told me she loves me last night.

My heart goes into over drive as I stand up and turn the alarm clock off so it doesn't wake her.

She loves me.

I love her, that was never in question. I've been falling in love with her since I saw her dancing in that bar.

Slipping a t-shirt over my head, I watch her chest rise and fall on shallow breaths and I think about how much I need her waking up beside me for the rest of our lives.

If it weren't for the little girl down the hall, I'd slip back into bed and wrap around her.

Walking out of the bedroom, I close the door and head into Lydia's bedroom. There's enough light from the lamp and the string lights that I can see her sobbing in bed. Her hands are on top of the comforter, bandaged. My heart fucking aches at the tremor in her lip and the pinch in her forehead.

"You hurting, kid?"

She nods, her chin quivering before she sucks in a sharp breath. "It stings."

"Come on, we'll get some pain relief and re do the gel."

Flicking her bedding back, I get another pang of heartbreak at her feet bandaged as well. Poor thing. I scoop her up and carry her down to the living room where the fire is still burning low. The pillows are still propped up from where she'd rested last night, so I get her comfortable before I go and get the first aid.

Lydia watches television on a low volume while I carefully apply some new burn gel and clean bandages. The blistering isn't too bad, it's a good thing her skin is healing like it's supposed to, I just wish it didn't have to hurt her while it does.

Once I'm done, I make her a hot chocolate and then slip my phone out of my pocket and dial Gina, head of department, on her private line. Gabrielle has work at Linn's this morning. She'd made some comment about taking Lydia with her, but I can't stand the thought of dragging the poor kid around with her hands and feet in so much pain.

She's too new to the job to get paid for sick leave. Linn wasn't messing around when she wrote Gabrielle's contract. It's about as legit as the one I signed when I started teaching. It abides by all the standard work place policies. Seems a bit over the fucking top considering it's cleaning.

It's not hard to get the rest of the week off work. We've got relievers and I'll be back for football on Friday.

The team can survive without me for a few days.

                Gabrielle comes out of the hall in a rushed panic at about eight in the morning. Her rapid blinking starts to slow when she sees Lydia and I on the sofa with Encanto on the television. Lydia loves this movie. She sings along, she loves Dolores. Dolores reminds her of her mom apparently. I can see it.

"You're still here?"

I give her a quick nod and stand up. "Yeah, I took the rest of the week off. Figured it might help to have someone here so you can go to work."