Solace & Taproots

3.7

After things had... calmed down a bit, Rebecca asked how Sam's back was doing.

"Hmm? Oh... achy, but not so bad..."

Rebecca's reply was almost clinical. "Is the sharp twinging burning pain still there? Or just the stiffness and dull ache?"

"Just stiff and sore, doc."

"Har har. Scoot in a little, and then I'll help you roll." Rebecca made a waving 'shoo' gesture with her fingers, and Sam dutifully shifted carefully towards the far edge of the cot.

Rebecca rose to a high kneel, tucked Sam's right arm up like a pillow next to her head, fished her own left hand back behind Sam's left shoulder, and gathered a fistful of Sam's waistband in her right hand. "Three, two, one... roll."

Sam didn't even have to put any effort in as Rebecca dropped her weight back down, flipping Sam up onto her side in a nearly perfect spine-stabilized first aid roll. From there, it was a simple matter for Sam to lift the arm under her head farther 'up' and finish the roll onto her front. She closed her eyes and smiled when Rebecca ran her hand through her hair once. "Be right back, Rosie."

Sam made a little contented sound but didn't open her eyes until the curtains opened again and she heard a couple of clanks. They were from one of the insulated hot water bottles and the 'clean' bucket. Rebecca also carried one of the washcloths, but it didn't hadn't added to the acoustic signature at all. Because, well. Towel.

Sam watched through one eye as Rebecca folded the rag into a thick strip and soaked it with water from the metal flask. When she tested it against the inside of her own forearm, Rebecca winced, dunked it in the bucket of room temperature water, and tried dribbling hot water onto it again with more acceptable results.

The results were VERY acceptable to Sam — when Rebecca bunched up her shirt to below her shoulder blades and laid the almost-but-not-too-hot fabric on the visibly seized stretch of muscle in Sam's mid-lower back, the sensation was downright divine and quickly floated Sam back into a blissful daze.

After the first reheat of the rag, Rebecca slipped one thumb underneath it to gently work on the knot, gradually increasing pressure as it loosened. She was definitely putting those anatomy classes from her interrupted kinesiology major to use — Sam thought she might melt into a puddle and soak through the cot onto the floor, and let out what felt like several happy minutes of nearly incoherent purring mumbling until there was a frantic scratching at the door and polite knock.

"USMC Devil Dog Walking Service!"

Rebecca chuckled and waited for Sam to finish her giggle before inviting Ronnie and Rufus in. Apparently, Ronnie was looking to have some fun at their expense — they heard the click of his leash coming off and then her urging him in. "Go on boy! Go find Mama and Auntie Sam! Go on, get 'em!"

The excited scuffling and toenails snicker-snacking approached them rapidly and Rebecca barely managed an alarmed "Oh, shit..." before he barreled through the curtain and rammed her headfirst, knocking her from her knees to sitting on the floor. When his tail smacked Sam in the face and she yelped, it drew his attention and he put one of his feet in the bucket of water as he turned to greet her sloppily. Rebecca barely managed to grab the sides of the bucket and contain the damage to a little sloshing, rather than her sleeping bag getting drenched. "Goddammit Ronnie, I'm pretty sure that qualifies as a negligent discharge!"

Ronnie's broad grin indicated she found Rebecca's indignation positively delectable as she sauntered through the curtain and plopped down in the armchair (Sam had re-homed the books to the dresser and elsewhere in the shop), giving Rufus an affectionate couple of thumps. "Oh, I'd say that round went exactly where I wanted it to."

During the gloating, Sam tried to distract Rufus with pets, or even just get him to lick her hand instead of her face. His gleeful tongue-lolling panting promoted a desultory "Laugh it up, Fuzzball."

They partially forgave Ronnie when she produced a lidded plastic bowl and two spoons, along with a water bottle. "I figured you two could share. Even if you don't realize you're hungry right now, trust me, after last night, once your stomachs wake up, you'll have an appetite bigger than Rufus."

Sam paused after rolling over and propping herself up on her elbows. "As in... we will want food more than he does, or we will want a meal larger than he is?" Rebecca grinned as she sat on the edge of the cot, and Ronnie simply winked at Sam.

Rebecca started to work the lid off of the container. "What time is it anyway, Ronnie?"

"About eleven-thirty. Be glad you're my friends, not my command. You'd be having a very unpleasant day instead of breakfast leftovers mixed with the first servings of lunch in bed."

Rebecca fumbled her spoon at that, but recovered it from the bowl. She hadn't expected what was effectively scrambled eggs, hash browns, and lentils that were probably originally destined to go over rice to work together so well, but they oddly did. Also, whichever of Chris' buddies who saw fit to loot an entire steakhouse of its assorted tableside hot sauce offerings deserved a medal. Or a steak. They'd probably want the steak more.

Both of them looked pretty sheepish about how late they'd dawdled, but Ronnie seemed unperturbed. She made small talk about what else Sam had learned of the mech's capabilities and checked over the application technique and condition of Rebecca's larger bandages while they ate. Rebecca stole a glance at the one on Ronnie's arm too, and as far as she could tell, it seemed "squared away", as Ronnie would say.

At one point between mouthfuls, Rebecca admitted their gratitude for the food. "Thank you, Ronnie. You're good to us and we love you, even when you're mean."