Outbreak: Better Days

by Van Dusen, Robert

  Amy sat up with a scream, pushing and kicking at the green woolen blanket she had over her. Frays shouted still kicking and screaming and choking. Somebody grabbed hold of her and Frays screamed louder, slapping punching kicking spitting… She tumbled off of her cot and fell against the wall of the cubicle and somebody cussed and shouted next door.

  “…ays! Chill out!” Frannie said in as calm a voice as she could manage. Amy had smacked her around a good one while in the throes of her nightmare. Rodriguez held her friend tight until she calmed down. All of a sudden she understood why Carl would come visit her when his big sister was like this. “It’s okay…shh….it’s okay…” Finally Amy started to calm down a little bit. “Look…just wait here, okay? I’m going to go get Lacey.”

  Frannie hustled as fast as her gimpy leg would let her out into the area of the Resettlement Center set aside for families. Lacey and his kids had to be around here somewhere… After the first couple of tries she almost gave up and went back to Frays’ room. She tiptoed into the little room and smiled down at the sleeping children. “Sorry guys.” Rodriguez whispered as she slipped past them and went to their father’s side. “Need to borrow your daddy for a minute, alright?”

  Frannie patted Lacey’s shoulder and winced when he woke up. “Hey, Lacey…sorry about this. Sorry.” she said quietly as the man sat up and blinked wearily. “Frays needs you, man. She’s having a major freak out.”

  The scrawny Marine wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay.” He frowned sleepily and collected his M16 and plate carrier from under his cot. “Where’s she staying at again?”

  “In the barracks.” Frannie said quietly and nodded towards the kids. “Third door from the latrines on the right. Don’t worry I’ll stay with them.” Almost as an afterthought she asked “When do the kids go to the daycare?”

  “0700.” Lacey grumbled as he shrugged into his plate carrier and slung his rifle across his chest. He looked sheepishly at the floor and grumbled under his breath. “Make sure they get something to eat before they go if I’m not back.”

  Lacey followed Rodriguez’s directions and found Frays curled up on her cot with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She looked up at him when he came in. “Hey Frays.” he said quietly as he ducked inside. It was a minor shock when the woman stood up and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

  It took a couple moments to get Frays back over to what he assumed was her cot. It occurred to him that this was the first time he had actually been in her quarters. Adam rubbed her back and held her, waiting for her to calm down. He unbuckled her LCS and helped her shrug out of the vest…

  He took off his own armor and nudged it under her cot to rest with Amy’s gear. A little thrill went through him as Amy snuggled against his chest. “It’s alright, Frays.” Lacey whispered in her ear as he squeezed her tight. “I gotcha. It’s alright…shh…” After a few moments Adam gently leaned against her getting Amy to lie down next to him on the cot.

  Amy rolled onto her other side, putting her face to face with Lacey. She smiled shyly. “I’m sorry Frannie woke you.” Frays whispered. Conflicting emotions ran through her as she lay there in this man’s arms. Anger at Frannie. Shame. Rage…and…she had to admit it she was getting a little hot in here…

  “It’s okay, Am…Frays…” he shifted a little, slipping an arm very carefully under the woman’s neck. “Rodriguez is going to watch the kids for me.” Adam brushed a couple locks of hair away from the woman’s face and maneuvered just ever so slightly closer to her. He noticed the flush in her cheeks, the heat of her breath on his face…

  He kissed her and tensed up, remembering the last time he had slipped up like this but not being able to help himself. The woman went stiff in his arms then relaxed, kissed him back with a fierceness that surprised him. He pulled her shirt off and stared up at her as she pushed him onto his back. Amy kissed him again, his hands moving down her sides caressing the lump where her child grew in her womb…

  He lay awake after they had finished feeling strange and listening to Frays snore like a Harley Davidson with its muffler missing. The loss of his wife still gnawed at him like biting insects in his mind and somehow he could not help thinking that he had betrayed Laura. The hurt in her eyes when Mister Frays had accused him of doing what he had just done… He realized that Laura was dead and she would want him to find someone else…but…still… Adam propped himself up slightly on an elbow and looked down at Amy’s face as she slept.

  God, she’s beautiful… he thought and gently caressed her cheek. The woman stirred and pressed her back up against him, a slight smile flitting across her drowsing face. Guilt boiled to the surface. As much as he did not want to think of it that way he could not help but think he had taken advantage of her. Then again, Frays had proven in the past she was more than capable of letting him know if she was not interested in him…

  It was late. Adam looked around in the gloom, trying to figure out a way to extract himself from the situation. He would almost certainly wake Frays trying to get up and he did not want to do that. She seemed so peaceful despite the noise rumbling out of her chest that it seemed a shame to wake her. Still, he had to get back to his kids and if anybody caught him coming out of her room in the morning it would raise all kinds of questions…

  He bit the bullet and as gently as possible tugged his arm out from under Frays’ head. She stirred and rolled onto her back as he sat up. “Sorry.” he said quietly and smiled down at her in the reddish haze of the emergency lights. “I gotta get back. The kids will be worried if I’m not there in the morning.”

  Amy yawned and stretched, vaguely reminding him of a cat. “Alright, Adam.” she mumbled her voice still thick with sleep. To his surprise the woman rose up on her elbows her face mere centimeters from his. She gave him a quick peck on the lips and smiled. He kissed her back then almost started in again before stopping himself.

  Adam threw on his gear and slipped out into the hall in a haze. It was almost like a dream or something. He never actually suspected that Frays even seriously thought of him that way. It still struck him as kinda weird though. Sure…he knew that she had obviously slept with at least one guy before… He just never suspected that she could be so frenetic in the sack especially seeing as how she was pregnant and all.

  Lacey snuck back into his room and nudged Frannie. “Hey.” he said quietly. Adam smiled awkwardly in the gloomy dark and helped Rodriguez collect her gear. “Thanks for watching the kids.”

  There was a big shit eating grin plastered all over Rodriguez’s face when he turned around and handed the woman her plate carrier. “You totally fuckin’ did it, didn’t you?” she asked and gave the man a good natured jab in the ribs with her elbow. When Adam just stood there gawping at her like a landed fish Frannie just shrugged and started off towards the door. “I guess I’ll have to ask Frays in the morning.”

  Amy woke up and stretched. The lights had not come back on yet so she figured that there must be a little more time before it was actually time to wake up and get to work. She squirmed on her cot trying to get comfortable again. Frays noticed that Frannie had settled in to Carl’s cot a few feet away and pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders.

  This is gonna screw things up so bad… Amy thought ruefully as she tried to get back to sleep for however little time she still had. There was a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Frannie…Frannie wake up.” Frays called softly as she sat up and started getting herself together for the day. The other woman yawned and stretched, sitting up and digging something out of the corner of her eye. “Did you talk to Lacey at all?”

  “Not too long.” Rodriguez mumbled drowsily. She started trying to work some of the stiffness out of her thigh and shrugged. “I watched the kids for a minute while he was over here with you.” A mischievous glint shone in Frannie’s eyes as she tied her boots and tucked the laces inside. “Did the two of you have a good time?”

  Amy felt a lit
tle sick and it had little to nothing to do with the child growing in her womb. “Yeah, I guess.” she admitted, hoping against hope that her friend would not press the issue further. Frays quickly twisted her hair into a haphazard knot at the back of her head and held it in place with a rubber band she had found on the floor in the office.

  Rodriguez giggled. “C’mon you can’t just lead me on like that.” she grumbled as she produced a little treasure from a pouch on her plate carrier: a little plastic thing of some off brand baby wipes. Rodriguez took a couple then tossed the container across the room to Frays.

  Amy took one and scrubbed her face, turning the white sheet of damp heavy duty paper into a brownish mess in her hands. “We…you know…” Frays mumbled. She looked around the room guilty and gave Frannie back her baby wipes. “I…I dunno… I guess we just got kinda carried away or something.”

  Rodriguez smiled awkwardly at her friend. This is something she should be talking about with her mom… Frannie thought regrettably. Somehow she thought that this almost would have made Mrs. Frays’ day to have this kind of talk with her daughter. Frannie kind of half shrugged. “I know you two care about each other.” she said quietly as she finished getting her stuff together and stood up. “And the two of you got your problems. Just…I dunno…give him a chance, Frays. He’s a great daddy.”

  The haunted, tired look in Amy’s eyes struck a chord deep in Frannie’s guts. She had seen that look in the mirror too many times to count. “I…I don’t know if I can be what he needs, Frannie.” Frays mumbled, her hands spread wide before letting them fall into her lap. “I-I can’t be around his kids without thinking of that…that little boy…”

  Frannie sighed heavily. She knew her friend was still wrestling with whatever demons were running around inside her head, the things she had seen and done since the world went to shit on them. She hugged Amy and held her at arm’s length for a minute. “Don’t be late for your checkup.” Frannie said quietly and made an attempt at a smile. “You know how Doc gets when you’re late.”

  Amy slouched towards the Security Forces offices after saying goodbye to Frannie. She could not help but feel the sting of her father’s palm making contact with her cheek hard enough to make her see a flash of white. An alarming thought put an extra spring in her step as she trudged along.

  “Good morning, Sergeant.” Amy said as she walked into the office and looked around. There were about ten or twelve other people in there, mostly either filling out paperwork or getting ready to go out on patrol. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “Hey, Frays.” the skinny man grinned then stopped. Sergeant Hanes pulled a small notepad out of his pocket and leafed through it. “Oh, right. You’ve got your appointment this morning. Hurry up and get breakfast get over there and get back. I got a new job for you.”

  This news immediately snapped Amy out of her funk. “What do you mean new job?” she asked and looked around. What could be going on? She found that lately anything new made her suspicious and more than a little anxious. Frays glanced around the room again and slowly stuck her hands into her armpits. “Doing what?”

  Sergeant Hanes gave her a cryptic little smile. “You’ll find out when you get back.” the man said, clearly enjoying making his subordinate uncomfortable. He could almost see the questions whizzing around inside that pretty little head of hers. “Don’t worry I didn’t volunteer you to dig latrines or anything. Go on now.”

  Lieutenant Haskins met her in the foyer. “Good morning, Airman.” the doctor said, barely breaking stride. Frays fell in behind her and they headed into the back towards the examination rooms. “How’s the kid? I’d like to take another ultrasound today just to make sure that he’s doing alright.”

  Amy nodded, scratching at an itch on her arm. “Okay.” she said her voice barely above a whisper as the two of them went into the first exam room they came to. “Um…ma’am…I need to know something.”

  Lieutenant Haskins closed the door and leaned against it. She waited for the young airman to come out with whatever she needed to ask with growing concern. Frays looked at the floor then hopped up on the exam table and sat there staring at her hands folded in her lap. “Um…can…can sex hurt the baby?” Amy asked quietly and looked at the woman across the room as if she expected to be yelled at.

  Beth smiled as the tension drained out of her. “No, you’re fine Airman.” she said grinning from ear to ear as she crossed the room then pulled on a pair of latex gloves from the box on the counter. “Sex won’t hurt the baby at all.”

  Relief crashed on Frays like a ton of bricks. “Phew.” she whispered and lay back on the exam table. Amy undid her LCS then rolled up her shirt as Lieutenant Haskins readied the ultrasound machine and pushed it over to the exam table. She gasped involuntarily when the doctor applied the gel to her stomach.

  “If you don’t mind my asking who’s the lucky guy?” Beth asked as she maneuvered the probe around on her patient’s stomach. Eventually the little peanut shaped fetus showed itself on the screen.

  Amy squirmed uncomfortably. “Remember that guy, Lacey I came in with?” Frays asked with a small, exasperated sigh. “The Marine with the twins?” She jumped a little bit when her son apparently decided he had had enough of those people spying on him and kicked her as hard as his little limbs would let him.

  “I saw that, you.” Beth scolded the fetus making the woman on the exam table smile. “Really? Glad to see you two finally decided to become an item.” Amy caught the doctor making a strange face at the monitor for a second. It took her a moment to place him then she remembered the short skinny guy who brought the little boy who was missing fingers in for a checkup a few times. “He seems like a good guy. Good for you.”

  Amy sighed heavily. “That’s just it, ma’am.” Frays mumbled under her breath as she looked at her wriggly little boy, her little peanut on the screen a few feet away. “He’s a good guy but…um…he did…stuff…” She paused to try and collect her thoughts. “I kinda hate him for it sometimes. I didn’t even really mean to…to you know…”

  Beth set aside the probe and put a put a hand on Amy’s shoulder. “It’s alright.” she said quietly, wishing she could think of something better to say. I’m always terrible at this sort of thing Lieutenant Haskins grumbled internally Lousy shitty bedside manner! “Looks like you’re son’s doing great. He’s strong as an ox.”

  “Don’t I know it.” Frays said as she forced a smile. It was great that the little guy was doing well and she did not hurt the little guy last night. “He kicks the crap out of me all the time.” Amy swung her feet off of the table and hopped down. Amy frowned slightly as she shrugged into her LCS and secured her M4.

  “I want to see you again same time next week.” Lieutenant Haskins said as she finished putting up the equipment and unplugged it from the wall. When she had done that she took out a notepad and scribbled something down. “Take this to the Dispensary on your way out. I’m authorizing you a couple extra Tylenol along with your vitamins today. No more than two every eight hours with food. Have a good day, Airman.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.” Amy said with another forced smile as she accepted the note and started to leave. “You too.” Frays walked quickly down the hall towards the lobby nervously folding the note Doctor Haskins had given her. She was more than a little distracted by her own thoughts chief of which was how she was going to handle the situation with Lacey. Frays was so distracted in fact that she would have walked right by Tom if the nurse had not caught her by the sleeve.

  “Hey, Frays.” he said a warm smile spreading across his face as he moved just a touch closer to the woman’s side. The expression faded quickly when he managed to get Frays to make eye contact with him. A cold chill ran down his spine. “How did the checkup go? Is everything okay, Frays?”

  “What? Oh, yeah!” a nervous little titter escaped her mouth. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. “The kid’s doing great. Thanks for asking.” Frays swallowed hard and looked ar
ound, trying to avoid eye contact. “Just great.”

  There was something in the way Tom looked at her that said he did not quite believe her. “Are you sure everything’s okay?” he said quietly moving just that much closer to Amy’s side. The medic waved down the hall he had come from. “You wanna see your brother for a minute? He’s right down the hall there. Carl’s doing pretty good.”

  Frays glanced at her watch. It would not be too far out of her way and she could just stick her head in to make sure he was alright… “Cool, thanks.” She turned and started down the hall hoping that the man was not going to follow her. Frays rolled her eyes when she heard the man’s sneakers on the rubberized tiles behind her. “I can find it myself. The place isn’t that big.” Amy said a little harder than she really meant to.

  “Oh, yeah.” Tom said quietly with a small uneasy laugh. Amy could hear the disappointment in the man’s voice and she could have kicked herself. “I’ll see you later. Maybe I’ll catch you at lunch or whatever.”

  “Yeah, whatever.” Amy grumbled. She ducked into her brother’s room and was greeted with a miracle. Carl sat up reading a familiar looking copy of The Hobbit even though it looked like he had a big old eggplant stuck to the side of his face. She crossed the room in two quick strides and hugged him tight. “Hey, you idiot. How are you?”

  “Mmm. Kay.” Carl mumbled around the swelling in his face. He looked frustrated for a second then pointed at his sister and the lump in her belly. It took Amy a minute to figure out what he meant then she smiled and laughed.