Friday Snippet (#4)

TT was fun, but I'm tired and I want to go to bed. So in the interest of me not having to run around like a headless chicken tomorrow morning (despite the fact that its Friday and I get to wear jeans to work-Yeah) I am posting my snippet now. I'll take care of the linky thingy tomorrow. This is a continuation of the previouse Friday Snippets, which can be found here: #1, #2, and #3.
I need to get some work done over the weekend, so I probably won't post anything until Monday, so have a good weekend.

“Gracie?”

Laura’s voice woke me quickly, not usually the way I wake up in the mornings, but then again how often do your professors, or even former professors, come into your room to wake you up?

“Can you wake up for a minute?”

Opening one eye, I could almost see her face as she bent over me; just enough to see that she didn’t look worried.

“John is making breakfast for you both. He’s going to be bringing it up in a few minutes; I’ve grabbed a couple t-shirts for you both. Do you think you could get Caitlin awake and dressed? He wants to make sure she’s okay.”

“Yeah.” I yawned and stretched, rubbing my eyes before putting on the glasses she handed me. “Give me a couple minutes and we’ll be up and dressed when he gets up here.”

“Thanks.” Laura smiled at me before heading back downstairs to the kitchen.

“Caitlin, sweetie,” I whispered. “How do you feel?”

“Mmmm,” the sleepy girl beside me muttered, borrowing deeper into the blankets, and coincidentally into me. “I think my eyelashes hurt. Is that even possible?”
“I’m not surprised that everything hurts.” It felt very natural to put my arm around her shoulder as we lay there. “Can you sit up? Are you hungry? Dr. John is bringing us breakfast in bed, and I do believe that Laura would prefer that we were dressed when he brings it up.”

The eye that peeked out from the blankets was gleaming mischievously. “No. You think?” She did one of those full body stretches that cats seem to love doing, and sat up rubbing her eyes. “I have to pee. The bathroom would be?...”
"Almost to the stairs and through that door to the left.”

Climbing off the bed, she padded her way out to the bathroom, totally oblivious to the fact that she hadn’t a stitch on. Or maybe she just didn’t care.
I don’t know.

Coming back from the bathroom, Caitlin jumped on the bed and stretched, bending her back as far as she could without running out of mattress space. Far enough for me to see that the bruises on her ribs were fading, that her ribs were a little too prominent, and that her breasts were small and perfect.

Looking up into her eyes, I blushed when I realized that she was watching me watching her. Reaching for my own shirt, I pulled it on and arranged the pillows so that I could sit up leaning against the bed’s headboard. Looking back at Caitlin, I blushed again when I saw that she’d been watching me.

Seeing my discomfort, she laughed, a rich throaty chuckle, and then pulled on her own shirt before sitting up with her back against the headboard, leaning more against me than the headboard. “Breakfast in bed,” she said with a grin, sighing with pleasure, and laughing when her sigh was interrupted by a yawn. “How cool is that. I wonder what he’ll make us. I’m so hungry; I think I could actually eat cat food, which I must say leaves a lot to be desired.”

“I think you’re safe. I’ve eaten plenty of meals that Dr. John’s made and they’ve all been wonderful.” I brushed the hair off her face as she leaned against my side, her head resting against my shoulder and her eyes closed. “But I do think you’ll have to actually be awake to eat it.”

Her comment was interrupted by the sound of feet on the stairs, and not long after Dr. John and Laura both appeared, each carrying a covered tray.

“I know it looks like a lot of food,” Dr. John began, placing the tray he was carrying on my desk and walking over to wrap Caitlin in his arms. “But I want you both to eat everything on your plates. You both have been burning a great deal of energy, and I don’t want either of you to get sick.” Looking down at Caitlin resting comfortably in his arms, he began stroking her hair. “How’re you feeling, sweet girl. Do you want something for the pain?”

“Just a couple ibu, Uncle John,” the reply was muffled. Caitlin had buried her face in his sweater, leaning into his hug. “Can we go see mum today?”

“Of course we can. Laura and I have to run some errands this morning, but we’ll be back in time for a late lunch and then we’ll head out to the farm. Why don’t you two relax this morning, take a nice long bath, and maybe a nap or two?”

“Did you find anything last night?” I whispered to Laura while Caitlin was busy talking to Dr. John, and Laura was helping me get comfortable before she placed the tray on the bed straddling my legs. The tray was quite sturdy and well designed, with collapsible sides and a lip on the tray high enough to keep things from falling off.

“Not now,” Laura whispered. “We’re going back to the park this morning; to see if there is anything we missed in the dark. I’ll tell you what we find when we get back.”

And taking the cover off of the tray across my lap, she revealed a breakfast that was indeed looked delicious, even if there was more food there than I usually ate in a day: scrambled eggs and bacon, pan-fried potatoes, a small bowl of cantaloupe pieces, a small plate full of steaming hot biscuits dripping with melted butter and honey, a glass of orange juice, and a mug of hot coffee already laced with cream and sugar. Standing next to the mug was a small carafe of more coffee and a small cream and sugar set.

“Thank you Dr. John, this looks divine.” I had to laugh as I looked at Caitlin’s tray. Her tray had everything mine did, plus a thick rare steak and a glass bottle of milk, whole milk if my guess was right.

“Thank you,” Dr. John said, his voice rough as he smoothed Caitlin’s hair in obvious affection. “Thank you for saving our girl.” With one last look at both of us, the Drs. Watson made their way downstairs.

“She’s not really my aunt, you know,” Caitlin began, interrupting her foray through the scrambled eggs, which had been mixed with cream cheese and spiced up with a handful of chopped chives.

“I didn’t think so,” I replied noncommittally, unsure of where the conversation was going, and not sure I wanted to start talking about what had happened quite yet. I wanted to enjoy being with Caitlin as long as I could. Any talks we had about what we’d been through were bound to be painful and full of dark things.

“Mum and Aunt Laura met in college, and when mum got pregnant, she asked them to be godparents. Later on, Mum was Aunt Laura’s Maid of Honor and Da was Uncle John’s Best Man.

“And I bet they’re your favorite aunt and uncle,” I said after working my way around a mouthful of scrambled egg and potato topped off with a bite of steak that Caitlin had fed me.

“They’re my only aunt and uncle. But even if they weren’t, they would still be my favorites. And not just because they bring us the best gifts.” Another pause while I fed her a bite of my biscuit, which was divine.

“Oh they do, do they? Like what?” I teased her; happy to have dodged needing to talk about what had happened. I mean, I wanted to know what was going on, but I had the feeling that conversation would change my life. And I wasn’t quite ready for that yet.

“You.” She answered simply.

Oh.