Day 4 Late Afternoon

When Amelia woke this time, she felt marginally better. Marginally was definitely the word that she would use in this instance because everything still hurt like crazy. She didn't even know what day it was or how much time had passed since she'd first shown up at this place. She had no idea what happened recently, outside of her pain, followed by more pain. Not to mention the nightmares here and there.

The fact that her dogs were being cared for meant that she could sink into her own healing. She desperately needed to regain her strength, so that her body could handle whatever was still to come. It was hard to relax, and the drugs were the only reason that she was as limp and as calm as she was. She understood perfectly well what would happen if any of the stitches broke loose and if the bleeding started up again. The doc was good, but she didn't have the resources up here to work miracles.

Amelia believed, for now, that, if anybody here would help her, it would be Sydney. Amelia had no reason to believe the doctor wouldn't. Meanwhile everybody kept reminding Amelia how she had been shot, and two different times, not that she wasn't already acutely aware of that. So somebody was out to ensure that she didn't survive. In her own head, she had narrowed it down and had concluded that the only place the shooter could have come from was here, on this military base. The shooter had to be from this base because the Inuit people had no motive to shoot at one of their own.

Now her problem was sorting out who had the opportunity to shoot her on both counts, assuming only one shooter, not two.

When the door to the clinic opened, and Mountain stepped in again, Amelia looked up in surprise.

He walked closer. "Hey," he said gently. "Glad to see you're awake."

She went to shrug and then held back. He had seen her reluctant movements, and she was amazed because nothing went unnoticed with this guy.

He nodded. "Just words, just use words."

"I'm awake and had not too bad of a night, but I think the pain woke me up."

"It'll be pain that wakes you up for quite a while," he shared, with a nod. "Even when you are healed on the surface, it takes time for flesh wounds to settle in. On the other hand, every time you wake up," he added, with a cheeky grin, "it's a win on a lot of levels."

His words were correct, but his tone was even more spot-on. It felt warm and compassionate; there was empathy, as if he understood exactly what she was going through.

"Let me help you get more comfortable," he offered, and, with her help, he carefully shifted her to a sitting up position and then walked back to Sydney's desk to retrieve a cup of coffee. "I brought it back for myself," he shared, "but I will cheerfully hand it off to you, if you think you can handle a little bit of it."

She looked at it with a longing. "I want it, but…"

"Painkillers first?"

She winced. "It will be impossible to keep it down, without something to help."

He nodded. "Let me call Sydney." Then, instead of stepping out and away, he made a quick phone call, and Sydney arrived within seconds.

Amelia looked over at Sydney. "I hate to disturb you but…"

"I was already on my way over. Besides, that's what I'm here for." The doctor quickly did a full assessment and checked Amelia's vitals and then nodded, as if she were satisfied with her patient's progress. "Glad to see you're awake."

"I'm not sure if I am," she admitted, with a smirk. "I think the pain woke me."

"And it will for a while," she agreed, keeping a hand on her shoulder. "No other way it can't. That's the body's way of making sure that you get some help," she shared. "So, let's give you something to make it more comfortable."

"Appreciate it."

"Do you want a sip of coffee?"

"I would love it but…"

"Right. Let's give you the pain meds, and then we'll see where you're at afterward." And that's what they did. By the time the pain meds had done enough that she could breathe a little bit better, Mountain returned again, this time with a cup of coffee for her.

She looked at it and smiled brightly, under the mellowing effects of the meds. "I didn't think I would ever say no to coffee. However, I'm just not sure I can get it down."

Sydney immediately walked over and asked, "How's your throat?"

"Dry. It needs something. I just don't know what. I don't feel right."

"You won't feel right for a while," Sydney noted calmly. "Your body's been through a hell of an ordeal, and not for a little while, but for a long time. I would really love to know why the hell you didn't come in and get help the first time around."

She hesitated and then replied, "You may not know why I didn't come in. However, the question you really want to ask is, who am I afraid of?"

"Are you afraid of someone?"

"I can't answer that. I don't know," she admitted, "but I do believe that the shots came from somebody here. At least the camos were from here."

At that, Mountain stiffened. "So, you saw who shot you?" His words were slow, careful, as if confirming there was no misunderstanding.

"No,… I didn't see who shot me. I saw somebody soon afterward," she shared, "and he was moving at a good pace, but I don't know that he was the shooter. It's just,… I can't imagine so many people were outside at the time so that it wouldn't be him."

"Did he come upon you in a strange way? Did you get shot from a distance? Did it range from near or far? Do you know or have any idea of what happened?"

"This was the first shot. It was through and through," she clarified. "I was working, sitting with my dogs, up on the hillside, having a break. As I recall,… we were taking data readings." She thought back a bit, focused on some issue, and her eyes were scrunched up. "When the shot rang out, it hit me without any warning. I keeled over with the pain, and I was afraid. I thought maybe it had been an accident, only somebody came up on me almost immediately."

"Did he say anything to you?"

She looked over at him with tears in her eyes and whispered, "Good riddance. I remember nothing else, and then he took off."

"So, he left you out there to die?" he asked in surprise.

She nodded. "As far as I can figure, yes, me and my dogs."

Mountain added, "I would think anybody who loves and appreciates these dogs wouldn't have done that."

"I agree," she replied, "but it goes to show you just how wrong we can be. I guess that is the world we have come to create."

Mountain sat back, obviously pissed off, if the motion of his jaw was anything to go by, but she kept swallowing her water. When she had enough, she looked at Mountain's coffee and whispered, "May I have a sip?"

He immediately got up, walked over, and held it for her, so she could have a sip. "It's not too hot at the moment, so you should be good."

As it was, she had several sips, loving the feeling of the warmth, as it slipped down her throat.

When she returned the cup to him, she had managed to swallow about one-third of the coffee.

He smiled at her in a casual way. "Anytime you want more, you tell me."

"Thank you," she whispered.

"What else can you tell me about the guy who shot you? Did you see him? Anything you remember or any marker you may have seen?"

"He was in white winters," she replied, stressing her words, "the kind when you don't want to be seen. He blended in well."

"If dressed in white winters, that wasn't an accident at all," Sydney noted.

"No, not that I could tell. After he told me, Good riddance, I expected him to shoot the dogs. They were cut loose, but they stayed close."

"Sure they did. What happened then?"

"He left. I think he thought that I was a goner and that the dogs would take off, but my dogs,… they stayed close and kept me warm," she murmured. "After a bit I managed to get up and headed to the hideaway I had set up," she noted, and her voice trailed a bit, as if coming from afar.

Sydney got close to take her hand.

"I spent a few days inside, close with the dogs. I was trying to get them calmed down because they were pretty upset over the whole thing," she murmured. "Anyway, when I realized that I would live and that the bullet had missed anything vital, I started to get really angry, but I was also really wary. I didn't know the shooter or why he would want to kill me. So I stayed out of sight."

"How long ago was this?"

"I'm afraid I've lost track of time, being out there and now here. I feel as if it were quite a while ago," she replied.

Sydney nodded in agreement. "It's healed quite well, considering," Sydney admitted.

"It's healed, but I don't know about quite well," Amelia argued in a curt tone. "I stitched it but not easily, so it was what it was."

"Did you go to the village and ask them for help?"

"I got some herbs from one of the women," Amelia replied, with a careful tone. "They had a few remedies but not for bullet holes. They did have some medicines to help cut back the fevers, so all and all, I came out of that one pretty decently."

"So, when did you find Teegan?" Mountain asked.

*

Amelia looked upat Mountain intently. "Teegan?" For the first time, she had fear in her eyes, as if hoping that he would not go any further down that line of questioning. Yet, of course, he would. Everybody here would, and he was one of them.

"Teegan is my brother," Mountain shared. "I came up north when he went missing."

Her gaze widened. "Good God," she muttered.

"So, did you find him? And keep him safe, until you couldn't do it anymore? Did you drop him off here? I've been searching for him every day."

At that, she stared at him. "Now I know who you are. I've… I have seen you."

"You've seen me all right, and gone to great lengths to avoid me," he stated, his gaze narrowing.

She gave him a flat stare. "That's nice. I guess that means you're on my do-not-trust list."

He snorted at that. "If I'm on your do-not-trust list, you're making a hell of a mistake, especially considering these last four days that you've been here, you were under my watch."

"Four days?" She blinked at him.

"Yeah, four days, mostly unconscious," he reiterated, "but, now that you're awake and seem to be doing fine, we do need answers." She let her eyes drift closed. "And, no," he stated, seeing her tactic to avoid him, "that won't get you out of it."

"Are you sure?" she asked, struggling to hold open her eyes. "If these were such major questions that you needed to ask," she argued, as her eyelids flickered shut again, "you should have done it before the painkillers took effect." And, with that, she closed her eyes and let herself drift back under.

Mountain sat here, waiting for her to wake up again. He wrote down notes, reasserting everything he knew so far about the whole mess.

Teegan had come to the clinic, as soon as he realized Amelia was awake, but, of course, she was back under again now. He stepped up beside his brother. "I know I feel like shit," he began, "but she looks like shit."

Mountain snorted. "She's still pretty feisty though."

He grinned. "It's what kept her going. You know that." Teegan patted his older brother on the shoulder. "Don't begrudge her the will to live, and even now… the will to keep herself safe."

"I won't," Mountain replied. He checked out his brother, and, as if he'd registered something, his gaze hardened. "Why aren't you in bed?" He glared at him.

"I'm healing and all that, and I'm doing a hell of a lot better. If I am not out as much as I can…" Mountain stared at him, warning Teegan with his gaze. Teegan shrugged. "Fine, fine. I was hoping to talk to Amelia and to at least thank her for saving my life," he admitted.

"And you'll get a chance, but not anytime soon. We can't have anything bothering her, upsetting her, or in any way making her move and disturbing her stitches," Mountain explained sternly. "She has to heal a little bit better first."

Teegan nodded. "She kept me alive." He stared down at Amelia, a smile on his face. "And it takes somebody special to make the decision that she did to take me on out there in the wilderness and to heal me and to follow through on it." Teegan looked back at Mountain. "So she'll get my respect every time."

"She gets mine too," Mountain agreed, "and don't worry. I'm not begrudging her anything, but, if she knows something, no matter how small it is, we need that information."

Teegan nodded. "Did she say anything?"

"Yeah, she told me, when she was shot the first time, that the shooter came up to check on her after he shot her, saying, Good riddance, and cut the dogs loose, thinking they would take off on their own, I presume. Then he left her to die."

"Good God," Teegan murmured, staring at him in shock. "She thinks it's someone here?… It's one of us?"

"She told me that he was dressed in the all-white winter camo, which we all use whenever outside, so she's presuming it's us. I'm afraid that she's right too."

"Any idea who might have a beef with her?"

"She knows nobody in this base, as far as we know, although she took her dogs to Joe. She shouldn't have anybody who hates her here. I'll have to ask her, but I'm not willing to rule that out just yet."

"No, of course not," Teegan noted, "but still it sucks. She's done so much for me that it's hard to believe anybody could really want to hurt her."

"And yet somebody did want to hurt her," Mountain declared, "and in a big way. I have yet to ask her about the second attack because she went back under, due to the painkillers."

"So presumably, if that is all about the first attack, it's possible that the initial shooter found out she was still alive and went after her again—probably worried she could identify him, if only by his voice maybe."

"That's one of the assumptions we have to consider," Mountain said, with a nod. "But what happens now, when that person finds out she's still alive, which is my main concern."

Teegan looked at him intently. "Put me on the roster to guard her."

"No," Mountain declared, and he was not willing to give even one millimeter. "I'm not having you look after her, not when you're barely capable of looking after yourself."

"Hey, bro," Teegan barked, feeling hurt. "I know that, in your mind, you don't see me as being better or capable, but you're wrong. Plus, in this instance, you need additional help to protect her. I would do anything I can to keep her safe, so don't be foolish."

Mountain snorted, and that revealed all about where his mind was on the thought of Teegan helping.

Teegan continued with his argument. "I can help, even if it's sitting with her in the daytime, as backup for anyone, whatever," he offered in a frustrated tone. "She saved my life, so don't take away this opportunity for me to now help her." And, with that, he stepped to the door. "Let me know if she wakes up again. I'll go get some rest in the meantime." And, with that, he slowly headed out the door.

Sydney walked over to Mountain. "You need to cut Teegan a little bit of slack." He snorted, and she nodded at him sternly. "I understand. You've spent your lifetime looking after him, protecting him, being there for him, and, now that you've found Amelia, it's brought up this whole Teegan went missing mess again. Nevertheless you need to ease up."

"She knows something," Mountain stated. "She knows a hell of a lot more than something, and, as soon as I mentioned Teegan, she deliberately floated back under again."

"You blame her?" Sydney asked, with a knowing smile. "She doesn't trust you, Mountain. She doesn't know you. She doesn't know anything about you. Yet here you are, demanding answers from her. Answers that she's probably not sure she should even give you," the doc suggested. "So cut her a bit of slack too." And, with that, Sydney walked back to her desk, sat down, and continued writing her notes.

He had no idea what she was doing but wouldn't argue with her. She was still the law when it came to the medical clinic, and this was her domain. As long as everybody here was functioning, doing well, and fit to do their duty on this base, he was prepared to leave the patients to her.

He looked down at Amelia and then back to Sydney. "Did you do a full body check on her?"

He had an odd tone to his voice, which Sydney picked up on immediately. "Yes, as did you."

He nodded. "I did, but I meant under her clothing and all. Does she have any tattoos? Anything identifiable I couldn't see? Does she have anything along that line?"

"No tattoos, at least nothing that came up on the initial check," Sydney clarified. "I didn't check her heels or soles. About her clothing"—she pointed off to the side—"you've already been through it once."

He nodded. "I'll go through it again." He hopped up and went over every piece very slowly. Amelia dressed in extremely high-quality clothing. However, at the end of the day, it was still just clothing. At least they were in good shape. They weren't brand-new by any means. Her boots were well broken in but had a good grip, good fit, and were rated for this type of cold. When he finally put down the last piece of her clothing, he sat once again and brooded.

Sydney walked over. "I know you want answers, but don't you go making yourself sick, so I have another patient." He looked over at her, struggling, and she nodded. "You can make yourself absolutely nuts over this," she pointed out, with a grin. "So why don't you give her some slack and let her recover a bit."

"We need answers before somebody takes her out again."

"I understand that. I get that, and we've got guards and all kinds of stuff happening," she noted. "I'm just telling you that you need to go a little bit easier on yourself." He glared at her, and she smiled. "Yeah, I also know that that glare is basically your go-to look when somebody says something you don't want to listen to."

"And you'll ignore it, I presume," he replied, with a note of humor.

"Absolutely." She laughed. "I've got a glare of my own for people who don't do what they're told," she declared, raising an eyebrow and glaring at him. "And, right now, you need to let Amelia rest a little bit longer. She's giving you more information every time she wakes up."

"She is," he agreed, with a nod. "Just not enough of it."

At that, she laughed. "Until you get to the bottom of all this, you won't be happy. Still, don't alienate everyone in the process."

"You do realize that only a few people have been out during these latest training sessions," he shared. "So I need to figure out who could possibly have shot her the second time."

"And I presume you've got someone doing a list, running down who it could be."

"Yeah," he muttered, with an odd exasperation. "The list is damn narrow, and Chef is on it." At that, she frowned and he nodded. "See? You don't like that answer any more than I do."

"No, I really don't, but, if that's where the answer is, then as long as you guys are certain…" She sent a look in his direction. "Then what am I supposed to do about it?"

"None of us can do anything about it, but, no, I'm not certain about Chef. Not yet anyway."

"Then maybe go talk to him, explain that Amelia has come in. I'll stay here with her anyway, so go do something useful for a change." When he stiffened and glared, she laughed. "I'm not scared of you, and I won't be intimidated by you." She added in a challenging tone, "So go on, go find something useful to do." And, with that, she pointed at the door.

He got up, with one last glance at the sleeping beauty on the bed. Then he faced Sydney. "You'll let me know if she wakes up, right?"

"I will," she stated. "So go, and, when you come back, maybe you'll have more answers and better questions."

And, with that, he turned and walked out.