Perseverance (The Resident FF) by Frances51163

CHAPTER NINETY-TWO: Baby Steps

For the remainder of his hospital stay Jude had been a daily visitor and over time Conrad had lost his wariness around the older man, letting him see more than he generally allowed people to see. Jude was no fool and had understood what he was been given as his new friend finally began to let his guard down, to some extent at least. Jude had informed Conrad about Phillips' visit but he had no intention of sharing the conversation the pair had while the young Medic was out of it. Phillips had offered up that the fair haired man seemed reluctant to make friends even though he wasn't shy. He stood up for others whenever they needed it but tended to do it out of the spotlight, not wanting any thanks for help given. By the time of Phillips' visit Jude had gotten to know the man well enough after they had avenged the cowardly attack on the already injured Medic to feel comfortable in asking him questions about his new friend which he knew would never have been answered by the reticent man in question. Showing the respect he had for Conrad Phillips had given answers to some but not all of the questions posed to him. He acknowledged that Jude was obviously after striking up a friendship with the younger man but made it clear his loyalty was to Conrad. Phillips had imparted, after some deliberation, that their friend seemed to be embarrassed when hurt or sick. Jude had already seen evidence if that when he had examined the Medic after the attack. Unbeknownst to Conrad he now had Jude in his corner. The older man felt he owed him for saving his life but even apart from that there was something about Conrad that told him he was a lost soul and he was determined to be there for him, although he knew the path would not be easy .....

Royal Hawaiian

"You remember Phillips? Wonder what he's doing with himself these days," Conrad glanced across at his companion, glad they sat under a sturdy pink umbrella providing some respite from the hot air encircling them.
"Well knowing him he got his helicopter touring business up and running," Jude smiled in remembrance of the tough but fair Soldier who had also become his friend through their shared concern for a young Medic.
"He always said he was meant to be flying," Conrad nodded, "don't know how he could enjoy it that much."
"Guess everyone has their own passion. Would like to go up in a hot air balloon sometime."
"Good idea for a date," Conrad noted with a rueful look.
"You took a date up in a hot air balloon?" Jude asked in surprise, his friend flew but he definitely wasn't a lover of heights.
"Seemed like a good idea at the time."
"She didn't like it?"
"Not one bit. Course it may have been because I surprised her."
"Tell me."
"Well she had told me she flew a lot for work and I just assumed she was okay with flying. I organized the trip for just the two of us and the Pilot agreed not to speak until we were up in the air."
"You mean you didn't let her see what she was doing?"
"Nope. 4 a.m. in the morning we're out in a field as the first rays of dawn begin to show and she's blindfolded the whole time. Anyway long story short we got up and amazingly she hadn't figured just what she was in, even though she must have heard the Pilot releasing gas to gain altitude. Thing is the ascent is very gradual so with her being blindfolded she assumed she was on terra firma even after I helped her climb into the basket."
"I'm guessing she wasn't happy."
"That's one way to describe it," Conrad chuckled, "I took off the blindfold and for a few seconds she froze but then she began screaming at the top of her lungs. Thought the Pilot was going to have a heart attack on the spot. It was obvious he had never had a customer react that badly. Unfortunately we couldn't just go straight back down as he had a landing spot in a different area."
"Would have liked to have been a fly on the wall, or should I say basket, for that conversation."
"Thought my damn ears would fall off. Turns out she had been exaggerating about her job. She didn't travel. By the time we landed she was able to see the funny side of it though. It's an incredible experience because you're up there floating along but the movement is so gradual you don't really notice it and like I said it's a good place for a date, once she knows where she's going."

"Think I won't hire you as my Wingman while we're here," Jude laughed before becoming serious, "you never really told me why you went back to your tent that night after the attack."
"Why are you bringing that up now?" Conrad had hoped he had successfully veered the conversation away from their time in service.
"Guess it's something I've always been curious about."
"I told you I can't remember going back,"
"You did," Jude agreed quietly before continuing softly, "but I don't believe you."
"Look I'm tired," Conrad went to stand up but was stopped by a strong grip on his arm.
"I'd like to know. Why don't you want to tell me?" the older man probed although he already had a fairly good idea of why his friend didn't seek help but he wanted him to admit it.
"It doesn't matter," the fair haired man sat back on his chair and eyed the glistening Pacific waters a stones' throw away.
"Well if it doesn't matter you can tell me."
"I just ....... didn't want a fuss."
"But you could have died if one of those ribs had punctured a lung."
"Knew I didn't have a punctured lung," Conrad explained practically.
"Because you suffered one before," the older man thought back to his companion recounting the day of the fire in Savannah.
"So there you have it.  Mystery solved," Conrad stated hoping that was an end to the matter.
"Wish I could get you to accept that when you're hurt it matters.  You're a good man Conrad and that's why people care about you and are concerned when you're unwell. You seem to take it differently though and I just was to clear up any misconceptions you may be carrying around in that head of yours. No one pities you when they're concerned about you.  They empathize, that's a totally different thing.  You never have a reason to be embarrassed if you're hurt or sick.  Most people are at some stage in their lives.  It's just life."
"So what are you doing for the afternoon?" Conrad didn't know how to address his friends'words so he simply ignored them.
"Well do you have anything you'd like to do?" Jude opted to leave the serious conversation for now knowing he needed to take baby steps so as not to overwhelm his friend.
"Well I'd like to see Pearl Harbour but figured we could do that on a morning," Conrad spoke thoughtfully, "when we move to the Big Island we should do a helicopter tour over the volcanoes."
"Sounds good," Jude grinned and gestured to their location, "so how about for today we just sit back and enjoy being in the Pink Palace of the Pacific?"
"The Pink Palace?"
"That's what the Royal Hawaiian is known as."
"Okay guess we can take it easy for a day," Conrad agreed, "in the Pink Palace!"

tbc