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[ It was supposed to be a family vacation -- Chuck managed to get a week or two off, and they were on the road in the beginning of winter. Grand Canyon; that would be a great place to visit, and Raleigh's pretty much nudged Chuck onto that well-deserved break.
It had been an evening like any other, when Raleigh leans over to help Percy settle in for his nap before they reach the hotel; the eighteen-wheeler had come out of nowhere onto Raleigh's side of the vehicle, and it was a mess of breaking glass and screaming metal and an impossible, impossible choice. Raleigh was caught in the wreckage and their son was crying, hurt and bleeding, and the last thing Raleigh remembered was her husband's face and her terror for their son -- "Chuck, Percy's bleeding -- our son -- " and she had pushed him away; he had to extricate their two-year old first, he had to save them at all costs.
And then everything went dark.
She hears snippets of conversation after, words spoken in the quiet when she rests and struggles to open her eyes but she can't, she really can't; and she loses all track of time, the sound of steady beeps a lullaby when the voices are gone, slow soothing words a distant memory. She remembered physiotherapists, quiet words, and she remembers Chuck.
Raleigh wakes at 1:33am on a Wednesday morning two months and three weeks later, disoriented and bleary and so very heavy. She can't move, not really, and it's the weakness that scares her, that it takes so much effort to open her eyes. She tries, monumental effort spent on taking in her surroundings, sterile but warm (a rehab ward, perhaps?) and she manages to press the call bell laid beside her before she very nearly blacks out at the effort.
Tired, she's so tired. Where's Chuck? It feels like she heard him not so long ago, the warmth of his hands; and a part of her aches for him -- how long had she been gone? Did he still remember her?
The nurses come in quickly, before they notify the doctor-on-call, and they spend a little while assessing her, and the flashlight in her eyes makes her wince. The doctor, a pretty young fellow with an earnest look about him apologises and mentions Chuck's name, which snags her drifting attention. It takes effort to focus, and more effort to actually mouth the words. ] Jello.
[ If her husband's coming, he damn well better come armed with that shit. ]
[ Since Chuck has pretty much been on the top of every American politician’s shit list since two days into the press tour – already spouting obnoxious opinions about the Wall and integrity and other stuff Raleigh’s always secretly agreed with Chuck on – it isn’t surprising the level of animosity they’re met with when Chuck goes to apply for a green card. Several frustrating weeks of fruitless effort had made Chuck and Raleigh alike pretty irritable, because it’d been obvious given how some of the PPDC personnel had obtained their passes without so much effort that the office had it out for Chuck specifically, but Raleigh wasn’t too worried at the time. There were plenty of other countries to go to, and the government had to have run out of decent reasons to withhold Chuck’s green card, right?
Except they’ve been living in Canada for a couple of months now, and Chuck still hasn’t seen progress. Raleigh and Chuck have been planning on moving to the States for a while, setting up permanent residency in (a new) home in Alaska, but nothing’s certain so long as Chuck’s not able to legally change addresses. It’d been funny at first, and Raleigh’d definitely given Chuck more than his fair share of shit for it in the beginning, but Chuck’s frustration is palpable now, having grown like a thundercloud over time.
The look on Chuck’s face when he stomps into the kitchen after another hour on the phone, thunderous like he’s probably already destroyed the living room in his frustration, should clue Raleigh in on Chuck’s mood, but it’s what Chuck says next that really has him reeling.
Raleigh stares, feeling more than hearing the egg he’s balanced on the spatula splat back onto the pan in a hiss of noise. ]
You’re joking.
Except they’ve been living in Canada for a couple of months now, and Chuck still hasn’t seen progress. Raleigh and Chuck have been planning on moving to the States for a while, setting up permanent residency in (a new) home in Alaska, but nothing’s certain so long as Chuck’s not able to legally change addresses. It’d been funny at first, and Raleigh’d definitely given Chuck more than his fair share of shit for it in the beginning, but Chuck’s frustration is palpable now, having grown like a thundercloud over time.
The look on Chuck’s face when he stomps into the kitchen after another hour on the phone, thunderous like he’s probably already destroyed the living room in his frustration, should clue Raleigh in on Chuck’s mood, but it’s what Chuck says next that really has him reeling.
Raleigh stares, feeling more than hearing the egg he’s balanced on the spatula splat back onto the pan in a hiss of noise. ]
You’re joking.
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