OOM: Room #100 - drinking aftermath (part 2)

[ikissdhimbck]

[following this:]


It's a long and restless night, both for the outlaw, and for the Russian astronaut.

Once or twice, Kate jarred Esfir from slumber by waking with a start and lunging for that trash can. Who knew a body that tiny could survive being sick so many times in one night?

Esfir finally decided to forsake her spot in the armchair after the last time Kate was sick, settling next to her in bed.

"Momma?" Kate had murmured, half asleep and disoriented.







"Go back to sleep, Katyushka."

It wasn't long after that when dawn broke.

.

Comments

[ikissdhimbck]

"On th'vanity in th'bathroom," she mutters, collapsing on the bed once again.

[scurlock]

Doc rises from the bed, heading into the bathroom to fetch a comb, as well as refill her water glass.

He doesn't take very long.

"You want some asprin? I bought a few packets up from the infirmary."

He returns to the bed, setting the water on the small table first.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Mmmmmmmphyes," she mumbles into her pillow.

[scurlock]

He tears the packet open and palms two pills, then offers them over to her.

"Two to start."

[ikissdhimbck]

Reluctantly, she sits upright and accepts the two pills.

She lets Doc hand her the water glass, downing half of its contents in a few big gulps, and doesn't say a word when he settles behind her with that comb.

She allows a few silent strokes of the comb through her wet hair, before handing the glass back to him.


"What happened last night?"

[scurlock]

"You were pretty upset 'bout things, down in the bar drinkin' by yourself."

Doc takes care to section her hair to avoid pulling too much at once (plus this way, it'll take longer) as he begins to sort out the strands.

"I came back in earlier and saw you when you came down. We had a few drinks, and you had some with a few other folks. Once you'd had enough...Esfir and I got you upstairs and settled."

He pauses the story to run the comb through a tangled area, resuming when he's got it straight.

"She stayed the night. I went back t'my room, came back this mornin'."

[ikissdhimbck]

She wasn't very worried about whether or not she had done anything stupid with Doc the night before, but hearing him confirm it does relieve her.

She remembers being upset. She was upset about Boo, she was downright pissed at Ramon, and Bill...

Her stomach churns with guilt.




"An' what happened to you?"

[scurlock]

He pauses his hands, but only for a moment.

"You mean last night, or while I was out in my world?"

[ikissdhimbck]

"All of it."

[scurlock]

"Well I...obviously I been gone longer out my door than it's been in here," he says. "It's been just 'bout ten years - little longer, really."

[ikissdhimbck]

Ten years.

She remembers.

She stays quiet, eyes on her feet as he speaks and works that comb through her hair.

Maybe he was able to move on, like she hoped. She never wanted him to get caught up in the whirlwind again -- especially not with her. She is cursed, after all. Maybe he got his ranch in Colorado, or New Mexico. Maybe he even settled down with a new bride, had more sons...

...Somehow, though she doesn't remember the details of what they spoke about last night, she doubts it.

And that makes the loss of time all the more hard to bear.

[scurlock]

"I spent a lot of time travelin'. Lookin' for doors where I could, but just never had any luck. I finally found one...I got a little place up in the woods, and I guess s'what I needed."

He looks over the gold strands between his fingers.

"I ain't been to prison, only been arrested a couple'a times...make my money playin' cards."

Cheating at cards.

(Same thing.)

"S'been a long ten years but I'm glad t'have got back."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Cards?"

She turns her head slightly, surprised by the admission.

[scurlock]

"I tried my hand at robbin' banks," he admits. "But I never...I was never comfortable with it. Too many ways a job can go wrong without someone keepin' an eye on your back. I didn't want t'end up dead 'fore I got back here."




To you.

"I always been good at Faro," he admits. "I just...got real good, with the practice."

[ikissdhimbck]

She's silent, mouth slightly ajar. She turns her head until she's facing forward again, eyes fixed at her feet.

He didn't make it out.

She's not sure if this knowledge makes her more angry, or disheartened, or remorseful, or something else altogether. She had wanted so badly for him to...


No, but the thought of him in some gambling house is much too comfortable. The image of him with a gun on his hips; the idea of him robbing folk of their assets; taking asylum in whorehouses, and dirty hotels.

He's an outlaw.

She cusses under her breath.

[scurlock]

He's momentarily thrown.

"I know what you're thinkin' and I ain't--"

And then she swears.



"I didn't catch y'did I?"

[ikissdhimbck]

"No."

[scurlock]

"Kate, I ain't..."

He has no idea what she's angry about, so he tries to guess.

"There ain't nobody out there I'm with."

[ikissdhimbck]

She presses her fingers against her eyes as her head rages on behind them, the throb intensified by her escalating heart rate.

"You're so stupid!"

That's not anger in her voice; that's the beginning of tears.

(But she isn't going to cry. No, not yet.)

[scurlock]

Doc sets the brush aside, and then lightly places a hand on her shoulder.

"Why m'I stupid, darlin'."

It's not really a question - more the offer to listen to what she has to say, and her opinion on the subject.

[ikissdhimbck]

"The hell've you been doin' with yourself?" she cries, sucking in a sharp breath when her head rings with pain.

Quieter:

"Y'had ten years of second chances, an' you ain't changed a bit? Was it all fer nothin'? Everythin' I did? Y'just... what's th'matter with you?"

She covers her flushed face with her hands, frustrated to the point of exhaustion. She curses again.

"This wasn't what I wanted t'happen!"

[scurlock]

"I...I was never lookin' for a second chance, Kate. 'Cept for with you."

And since she wasn't around, he waited for her. He never considered any other idea or option.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Ah, damnit."

He just doesn't get it. She's not going to get any second chances; any future with her in it is bleak at best.

She curls her hands into fists.

[scurlock]

He sighs silently, then moves his other hand to her other shoulder - avoiding her neck.

"Kate, I...I done a lot of thinkin' the last long while. I've realized a lot of things 'bout where I think we went wrong, mistakes we made. It ain't...I don't want you blamin' yourself for feelin' bad."

[ikissdhimbck]

She still goes tense, pulling away from his touch.

"Don't--"

The word comes out sharply, so she pauses to let her voice soften.

"--touch me."