Out of Darkness

Tightening the Noose

"Eleven! Twelve! Thirteen! Fourteen! Fifteen! SWITCH!"

Oh. My. God. Kota is a freaking slave driver! That is the third change-over for this set of push-ups to jumping jacks. It's crazy. They move in military precision. Even Gabriel and Victor are right there with Silas and Nathan. I'm looking at them and narrow my eyes. Not a drop of sweat on any of them, and I feel like I'm about to collapse where I stand.

"Now sit-ups. Sang. We'll do twenty five straight and then twenty five scissoring. There will be three repetitions on this one as well. AND GO!"

They all begin counting out in unison, but I stop after the first one when I feel a sharp pain in my side.

"Dr. Sean, I think I need to not do these." He furrows his brow and kneels next to me.

"Pookie, does this hurt?" He gently prods my stitches and I hiss out a sharp breath. "How about you hop up and take a walk around the yard with me instead. They'll be off the ground in a moment anyway.

Kota notices me getting up. He winks at me and shouts out, "Double time!" They increase their pace and I'm momentarily frozen in place watching them. Dr. Sean grabs my hand and pulls me along.

"So, Pumpkin, what do you think?"

I eyeball him and let my suspicions out. "You all are taking it easy on me, aren't you?" He tweaks my nose and laughs.

"Not just for you, but yes. Today we're going light. Kota and Silas are also healing from injuries, and North is feeling a bit battered from yesterday's lessons. Today is more about working together as a unit and remembering to look to one another for assistance rather than trying to go it alone. We all need the reminder right now." He slings an arm over my shoulders and leans into me as we walk. He whispers conspiratorially to me, "We're in a bit of a rough patch right now, Pookie, and this will help us grow from it."

"So, you guys do this a lot, then?" I wave my arm at the workout happening behind us.

"I haven't been participating as often, lately," he sighs. "I'm at the hospital working on my residency right now, so my hours rarely coincide with the rest of them."

He looks sad. I reach up and push away at the wrinkles between his eyebrows. "But you miss them, don't you?" I ask him. "Sean, you've got to make sure that in all of your doctoring, you take care of yourself too. That includes your heart." I exhale and let him pull me in closer. "If I had a family like yours to rely on, I would make sure to find time to be together. You're all so amazing, and you shouldn't forget that about one another. You all should make it a point to do things together, not just punishments, but fun things too."

"She's fucking right, you know." I jump at Gabriel's voice. I hadn't realized that we'd made our way back already. They are all sitting in a circle on the grass with a space left open between Mr. Blackbourne and Kota. Dr. Sean leads me over to it and we lower ourselves to sit cross legged with them.

"Miss Sorensen and Mr. Coleman are right. We've all been focused on missions lately and have grown apart." A couple of them shift uncomfortably and I think that they must be feeling a little bit guilty. Mr. Blackbourne leans back on his hands and crosses his ankles in front of him, relaxing into the pose. "We are a family first and foremost. We've been neglectful of one another, and I open the floor to suggestions for team-building ideas."

Everyone is silent for a minute, and they're all avoiding eye contact with each other. It breaks my heart to see them so separate from one another. I feel like it may be partially my fault. I remember what Mr. Blackbourne asked of me the other day and I choose to be brave. "Maybe you all could have a family game night or something?" I push my finger to my lip as I ask. "I read about it once in a book and it sounded nice. They all got together and had fun and laughed a lot. I just thought you might like it..." I let my voice trail off. It's probably a stupid idea anyway.