"Ugh, did you have to call everyone?" Maggie demanded, staring as Tabitha wheeled her out of the hospital. She was checked out and ready to go home, and a huge group of friends were standing in the parking lot. "Tabitha, tell me this was not your idea."
"Actually, I didn't tell anyone but Adam," Tabitha said. "I suspect they've been calling the hospital about it, though."
Maggie could see Aisha and Billy, Tommy, Kat, Adam, Rocky and Reva, and Jason, all of whom seemed to be waiting for her. "They know I just want to go home and go to bed, right?"
"Yes, we know that," Kat said as they all came to surround her. "But we wanted to see you come out of the hospital; most of us saw you go in." She glanced around, then whispered "Adam, thankfully, missed it."
"I'm glad of that," Maggie said, then the subject of the exchange put a hand on her shoulder.
"You look like you're going to fall asleep any minute now," he said softly. "Let's get you home, okay?"
"Please?" she asked, looking up at him.
"You know, I get the impression that has become a very private conversation," Tabitha said to Kat in a stage whisper, and Maggie flushed.
"Well, he's had the best idea all day; he offered to take me home," she said in defense.
"Your home or his?" Rocky asked, that familiar knowing grin lighting his face. The others around him laughed.
"As if I could get up the stairs at his place," Maggie mumbled, glaring at him, causing more laughter. "Now, I am going to take him up on his offer. You coming?" she asked Tabitha, who smiled.
"Oh, I wouldn't miss this," she grinned, and she and Adam helped Maggie into the car.
When they got home, Adam very carefully carried her into the house and set her on the bed. "You'll be okay here?"
She relaxed, closing her eyes. "Ah, my own bed. I'll be great." She ignored the pain in her ribs as well as she could.
He sat down next to her. "So... Did they say when you'd be mobile again?"
"I'm pretty mobile," she said. "Just slow."
"Good. Can I take you to dinner tomorrow night?"
Maggie's eyes widened. A date? He was finally asking her... "Yes, please. That would be fun."
"Great. I'll go and let you get some rest, and I'll be here tomorrow around five to pick you up. Okay?"
"Okay," she said a little plaintively. He patted her shoulder with a sympathetic smile.
"Get some rest." He stood and walked out the door, and she heard him say goodbye to Tabitha before the door closed.
"So?" Tabitha asked. Maggie laughed, wincing as her ribs jabbed her. She had to remember not to do that!
"So, what?"
"What did he say?"
"To get some rest. And that we were going out to dinner tomorrow night."
"He doesn't work fast, does he?" Tabitha asked.
"No." Maggie grinned. "It's the whole group, I think. I haven't found out what took Tommy and Kat so long, but Rocky took almost a year, I don't know the story behind Aisha and Billy," I have to remedy that, she thought, "and even Kim is taking forever. I just don't get it." She shook her head. "Even Tanya doesn't seem to be moving very fast."
"Tanya." Tabitha looked at her, her face squinted up in concentration. "Oh. The letter that came just before we left Chicago."
"Right."
"So, what's the story between them?" Tabitha shook her head. "Never mind. You sleep."
"I think I will," Maggie said, extremely glad that she didn't have to answer that question. She wasn't actually sure she could. She closed her eyes, and felt the cat snuggle up to her unbroken ribs. She fell asleep to the gentle purring.
Tabby was gone when Maggie woke up again, sore and in pain. Struggling a little, she got out of bed and into the wheelchair, and motored into the kitchen. "It just occurred to me," she announced to her friend, "that going out to dinner is a dumb idea, unless he wants to feed me." She looked in frustration at the brace on her right arm. "But I'm not going to tell him that," she added quickly.
Tabitha laughed. "How long have you been waiting for this date?"
"Oh..." Maggie leaned back and thought a minute. "Somewhere around eleven years, I think. Rocky seemed to think that Adam knew not to get that close because of... well, the last ten years." She scowled. "I still would have liked a date."
"But?"
"But he had a girlfriend."
"So?"
"She didn't even like it when he was tutoring me in geometry. She didn't like when he tutored Tommy, so I was much more of a... an insult, I guess. Tommy definitely wasn't a threat."
Tabitha laughed. "Oh, I hope not." Then she sobered. "Let me guess. The infamous Tanya."
Maggie nodded. "And I'm thankful there is only one."
The next day she found it harder to move. Determined, in spite of the stiffness in her side that made even breathing painful, she got ready for her date and was waiting in the living room when there was a knock on the door. Tabitha came running into the room and opened the door, and Maggie stared in disbelief at Billy, who waved at her. "Ready?" he asked Tabitha.
"Yeah, give me a minute. Maggie, I'll see you later tonight, okay?"
Maggie blinked at her. "Okay. But where are you going?"
"Billy and Aisha invited me to dinner. Have a good time." She waved, closing the door behind her, and Maggie just stared at the door in disbelief, feeling completely confused. The next knock on the door she moved over to answer, only to have it open just before she reached it. Adam looked in and grinned at her.
"Hi. Can I come in?"
She blinked and straightened her thoughts. "Yes, please. I'd like that."
He stepped in, hands behind his back, and closed the door. "How are you feeling?"
She tried a deep breath, and winced in pain. "Mostly, I hurt," she said.
Adam nodded. "I thought about that." One hand came out from behind his back and handed her a white rose. Maggie stared at it, and she reached for it with the arm in the brace. She stopped abruptly at the pain in her side, and he stepped closer to press the rose into her hand. "Sorry. I've forgotten what it's like to have injured ribs." It was the first clue that they ever got injured... although it wasn't necessarily a Ranger related injury, she corrected herself. "I thought, after I left, that you might not really want to go out for dinner, so I brought it in. It's a little cliche', but it was the best I could think of." His other hand appeared, a bag from a take out Chinese place in it. "I know, it'll be hard, but I'll help," he added as she opened her mouth to protest. She scowled at him. How does he do that?
"Well, shall we eat in the kitchen, then?" she asked, trading the scowl for a smile.
"Best place I can think of," he said, set the bag in her lap, and pushed her into the kitchen.
Maggie stared. Tabitha had set it up very nicely, with a table cloth, her best dishes, and even a bottle of sparkling cider in an ice bucket. She caught Adam out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at him. He smiled at her. "You should see your face."
"Oh, I don't doubt it," she said, grinning. "I don't doubt it."
They ate, at first rather awkwardly, then better as she worked some of the stiffness out of her muscles. But the pain in her side remained, lurking for the perfect moment to strike, usually when she was drinking something. It got really frustrating. Finally, she gave up and sat back.
"Enough? Or too much pain," he asked gently. "I'm afraid I didn't plan this well at all, the best thing would have been soup or something."
"No." It was too fast, too vehement, and fire shot through her side. "It's okay, really." She wanted to take his hand but knew she couldn't reach that far. "How long have Billy and Aisha been back?"
A wary look crossed his face and he leaned back in his chair. "Why?"
"Because you didn't say anything in your letters. Or was it my fault, for not writing you back?"
Emotions flashed across his face, and Maggie had to smile. It was a most enlightening experience, and she wondered if her emotions had done the same when she'd had to tell him she was leaving. "Billy came back before then, but only for a while. He went to Africa to get her. I guess they had been writing - how, I have no idea, he was off planet - and he finally decided he'd had enough. He came back with her just after I sent the last letter."
Maggie blinked. "Wow. I think that's the fastest I've heard of the Ranger's moving, as far as romance goes."
"What does that mean?" he asked, curious.
"It means, Adam, that you have waited ten years, and I told you not to. That Kim has taken this long to get married. Jason still isn't, and as far as I can tell, he isn't even dating anyone. Rocky and Reva took six years, Tanya is still single, and I can't even tell you about your heirs." She stopped suddenly, gasping for breath and trying to ease the pain in her side. "I really hate this," she growled.
He was laughing at her, and when she glared at him he only laughed harder. "What is so funny?" she asked.
He leaned over and gently hugged her. "You, Maggie, are really funny. I didn't realize you were keeping track of us."
"It's all I did during High School, until you went and used that... crystal thing. Suddenly I didn't know what you guys were doing, and you avoided me like the plague." Then she shook her head. "No, I'm not going to go there, and neither are you." She grinned suddenly. "I think we have something in the fridge for dessert, too."
His eyes brightened. "Like what?" She was glad she'd dropped the subject then; he hadn't wanted to talk about it then, either. But they were going to have to. Some time.
"I don't know. Take a look and see what's in there."
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