xp_logs | Angelo, Nathan and Rachel, Thursday

Angelo stops in at the infirmary to visit Nathan, only to find someone got there first.

The small person curled up on the bed beside him - Nathan knew perfectly well she'd snuck in, but she was being quiet, and very careful not to lean on any of his bruised/broken parts - lifted her head, big gray eyes unfocusing for a moment. "Angelo!" Rachel whispered, and slid down off the bed. "Hiding now."

"Ray-" Nathan murmured, stepping hard on the urge to laugh - it would not do his ribs any good at all. But ignoring his protests, Rachel was on the floor and under the bed with what was really an alarming degree of speed.

The man in question stepped into the room a moment later, raising his eyebrows at the man in the bed. "Good t'see you're back with us. Feelin' coherent?"

"Mm. So-so." He was, really, even if he didn't seem to be able to stay awake for more than an hour at a time. "Got kind of a... woozy headache right now, but. Fractured skull, I hear." Rachel was being very, very quiet. Why was she hiding from Angelo?

#He'll tell her!#

Who? Nathan thought - definitely not projecting, just letting the thought sit at the top of his mind.

#'Melia!#

"Yeah, that'd do it." Angelo wandered over to a chair by the bed to sit down. "Still. Least we know you're gonna be okay now."

Nathan eyed him as he sat down. His vision might not be focusing quite as well as it should be right now, but still... "You look like I got all your sleep lately."

"You needed it more", was the shifty response. "An' I slept. When I wasn't workin', I slept."

"Mmm. Dom told on you. Just letting you know."

"Dom's gettin' dunked", he muttered before turning a suspiciously cheerful smile on the older man. "Won't be too long before things're back to normal."

"Probably a few more weeks," Nathan admitted quietly. "Hate to dump it all on the rest of you for that long. Promise me you'll delegate, though." He imagined a couple of the others would come over from Tel Aviv if more help was required.

"I've been delegatin'", Angelo protested. "I'm not even goin' to Guatemala. I got Julio to be translator instead, that's delegation."

"That trip's here already?" Nathan gave a faint sigh. "Keep forgetting it's August..." There was a noise from beneath the bed, that sounded rather like someone's head hitting metal lightly.

"Ow!"

"Well, you did miss half of..." He cut off sharply at the sound, then shook his head, half-laughing. "Ray, I heard that. Come on out."

Rachel slid out from under the bed, scowling at him. "No telling," she hissed under her breath and went around to the other side of the bed, climbing back on.

"Angelo's not going to tell on you," Nathan said. "But Mom's going to figure out where you are soon enough."

"Mom can. Not 'Melia. She makes faces!" Rachel's head popped back up and she grimaced horribly at Nathan and Angelo. "Like that!"

"If 'Melia shows up", Angelo promised, trying not to show his amusement, "I'll tell her I brought you in with me. You're not hurtin' your dad, so she doesn't get to make faces."

"You tell Angelo you've been sneaking in every chance you get. Like the horrible little Houdini you are." Rachel giggled softly, hiding her face against his shoulder for a moment. "But I'm not complaining."

"An' I'm not surprised", Angelo said dryly. "All we heard out of her was about wantin' to see you, an' now she won't get in trouble if they catch her in here."

"Wanted to see you," Rachel affirmed, and Nathan's smile was a bit pained.

"I brought her to the door a couple of times, just to show her you were here", he continued quietly. "An' the others did. But we didn't want to upset her more."

Nathan reached out and smoothed down Rachel's rumpled red hair. "You dream in comas," he said, "or at least I do. I dreamed she was calling me... she may actually have been." Oddly, he didn't go on to explain, and his eyes avoided Angelo's.

Angelo eyed him. "Yeah, she probably was, tryin' to get you to wake up... somethin' wrong about that?"

How did you explain, that you'd preferred the dream? Rachel had been there, too. And Moira. And Angelo and Dom. Everyone who was important to him, including everyone who wasn't here, now. How did you explain, and admit that maybe the coma shouldn't have been three weeks long.... or that it could have been much longer?

You didn't. Nathan made a noise that was the audible equivalent of a shrug, and stroked Rachel's hair again. "I always worry about her, and minds that aren't in a normal state... I suppose Charles was probably keeping an eye out, though."

"Yeah, he looked after her", Angelo said, obviously not satisfied but letting it go for now. "Had to tweak her circuit breaker, but only once."

"I heard about the bed. You're a very talented girl, Ray, but I'm surprised your Uncle Cain didn't drown you." Rachel just cackled and pulled the edge of Nathan's blankets over her head.

"It was close", was the solemn response. "You said sorry, though, didn't you, Ray?"

"Yessss."

Nathan couldn't help a smile at the colossal sigh that went along with her answer. "I have to figure out what I'm going to do to make up for having missed her birthday," he told Angelo. "Obviously not much right now, but... later." He rubbed at his eyes, wincing at the way his head throbbed even at a slight turn on the pillow.

"There's time for that. Plenty of time, when the doctors let you out of bed."

"Mm. Point." Nathan sighed a little and closed his eyes. "Don't feel like I'm in any rush to get there just yet, to be honest..."

"You take your time", Angelo said firmly. "If I see you in the office an' Juliette an' I don't think you're fit, I'm tellin' Joel."