Strike Up the Band (Sequel to Blind Faith)

Eleven

It took about six weeks after his surgery for Rob to really feel up to doing anything besides just lazing around the house, which he considered highly outta character for himself. Luckily, by the Time he felt up to doing shit like helping to weed Lyric's Flower beds since he was told no yard-mowing for at least three months, he was able to lose the damn cervical collar. He still needed special support for his head and neck, but at least he was able to sleep in his bed again, rather than the recliner they'd moved into the sitting area that was finally not a mini-nursery.

A couple Days after Beltane, he decided he was heading over to Eastern for the Day once school started, and for a couple different reasons. First and foremost, he wanted to check in on all his classes and find out how they'd been doing with his wife as their band director for the rest of the semester. He knew damn good and well she was more than capable of handling things, but he still wanted to check on his students.

His second reason was 'cuz he felt that in a way, that classroom housed a demon that was gonna torment him for the rest of his Life, if he didn't face it head-on. Maybe he hadn't been cleared to go back to work and prolly wouldn't be till the start of the next school Year, but that didn't mean he couldn't pay a visit or three in the meantime. Besides, it'd reassure the kids-especially those in his first-period class who'd witnessed him go down-that he really was on the mend.

"Well, good Morn, Rob!" Mrs. Gentry said, surprise coloring her features as she sprang up from her chair when he walked into the office, Bret and Rikki hot on his heels.

"Hey there, Regina," he chuckled, more than a lil glad he was easily a foot taller than her when she moved to give him a tight hug.

"I'm glad to see ya in better shape than I heardja were when ya left here last Time," the receptionist laughed.

"A lot better shape, actually," Rob reported with a grin. "Still working on Healing entirely and getting the range of motion I'm used to back, but hey, at least I've been cleared to lose the cervical collar and get my stitches taken out."

"Wow, already?" she asked as all four principals emerged from their officesta find out what was going on.

"Mmm, hmm." The older brunette managed to tilt his head back so the scar on his throat was visible. "It's fuckin' gnarly, but hey, I'd rather be alive and have the scar than dead."

"Certainly good to see that, compared to the last Time I saw ya," Dave chuckled. "I'd ask how you've been, but Lyric's been keeping us updated as much as she could."

"Yeah, it was pretty rough at first," he admitted. "If not for Richie and these two talking some sense into both of us a few Times, the few Times I snapped at her when I was in pain mighta been a marriage-killer."

"Ah, I doubt that, dude," Rikki chuckled. "Ya know that woman loves ya enough to walk right through the Fires of Hell for ya, even if they peel her stupid skin off when she does it."

"Yeah, andja didn't hear half the shit I said to her in the master bedroom when she'd mother Hen me too much, either," Rob dead-panned, a bemused look on his face. "Whyddaya think she kept hiding in Richie's room so much those first couple weeks?"

"You're talking about Woodlawn's band director, right?" Kristy Hunt asked, looking surprised.

He started to play it off as the younger brunette simply being their roommate, so his wife'd used his bedroom as a safe Haven of sortsta avoid any serious fighting. But the look on Dave Ebert's face made him finally heave a sigh as he crossed his arms, the blondes able to tell he was feeling caged. In fact, both of them grabbed and squeezed his shoulders in a show of support, Bret having finally come to terms with him willingly sharing his wife, 'cuz it made the entire trio happy.