Page 76 of Allison

Perhaps, Emma and Wallace haven’t told her they’ve invited everyone to come over for dinner. Wallace had invited the team during PT this morning. He had told Worm, he and Emma hoped it would help break the ice between Worm and Allison. Perhaps get her to open up and talk to him or at least to Emma about whatever is going on with her. It seems Emma and Wallace are worried about Allison, too, which concerns Worm even more.Why isn’t she telling Emma what’s wrong with her?

Allison turns away from him to follow the others through the house. Worm watches her as they move through the house. Her hips swaying as she walks. He knows she isn’t conscious of just how sexy she is. She isn’t trying to entice or tease him. It’s just her natural gait. Allison stops in the kitchen hitching her hip up onto a barstool at the island.

Worm hangs back at the door to the kitchen, not wanting to leave, but not sure how she is going to react to him being in the same room with her. He has been so concerned about her since learning she’d gone to see Charlotte. He’d just missed seeing her at the clinic that day. Worm had hightailed it over to Charlotte’s office when he’d found out Emma had taken her there, but Allison and Emma had left about five minutes before he’d arrived.

Charlotte had been tight lipped about the whole thing when he’d gotten there. She’d denied knowing anything about Allison being seen. When he’d pushed and told Charlotte he knew Allison had been there, Charlotte had replied, “You know I can’t say anything about my patients.” She’d then sent him away saying she had other patients to see and didn’t have time to argue with him about something she wasn’t going to change her mind about.

Worm had left, but he hadn’t been happy about it. He’d tried to see her, but Wallace had refused to allow him to come over. That had been several days ago and he has been worried sick about her ever since, driving Wallace crazy, texting and calling him often to ask how Allison is doing. Wallace had told him, Charlotte had given Allison a diagnosis and some medication, but even Emma doesn’t know anything. Allison has refused to talk about it, at least for now, saying she needed time to process, whatever in the hell that means.

According to Wallace, Allison has promised to talk to Emma about it when she’s ready, which hasn’t helped to ease Worm’s fears. Wallace has told him that Allison has been sleeping a lot and still vomiting frequently, but she seems to be doing better despite all of that.

What could be wrong with her that she needs time to process the diagnosis?It can’t just be a common viral sickness.Does she have a terminal illness? Cancer?The possibilities seem endless, but Worm refuses to believe she could have a life-threatening condition. He won’t allow himself to consider she could have something like that. He can’t imagine nor does he want to think about a world where Allison isn’t in it.

Worm watches her for a couple minutes before getting his nerve up to speak to her. “Would you like some help?” he finally asks, stepping closer to her, noting she jumps at the sound of his voice.

“Shit!” she exclaims, spinning around on her stool, her hand flying up to her chest. “You scared me. I didn’t know you were there.” Their eyes meet and once again the connection he feels every time, flares hot and bright. He takes a step forward, reaching for her. He is drawn to her like metal to a magnet. Her hand leaves her chest to come up between them. “Please…d-don’t,” her voice cracking. Worm can see the pain swirling in her eyes. She turns back to the vegetables she’s been chopping up. He has to try to do something to reach her.

“Sugar, please give me a chance to explain,” he pleads, not caring that he sounds whiny and that he is begging. He isn’t too proud to beg. Hell, he’d get down on his knees in a praying position if it’d help.

“Russell—” she cuts off when the doorbell rings again. She starts to get up.

“Sit. Don’t get up,” Worm says, defeat in his tone, knowing he’s lost his chance; not that he really had one. “I’ll get the door.” Without looking at him Allison nods, but then, he can feel her eyes on his back as he walks away from her.

Hack, Lisa, Charlotte, and Hawk are at the door. Hawk is carrying his daughter, Lilly, who is beginning to be too big to be carried by her father. While Charlotte is attempting to keep their twin boys from running back toward the driveway, where Straw and Abigail have just parked. The twins and Ellie, Abigail’s daughter, are the best of friends.

“Come on in,” Worm invites them on Wallace’s behalf. “Everyone is in the backyard.” The couples at the door herd the kids inside and follow Worm through to the kitchen, where most everyone is now chatting. It seems they’ve all come back inside. Wallace is picking up large platters of meat and handing them to whoever is closest to him. He is going to need to cook a lot of steaks to feed this gang.

“Worm, would you grab the hotdogs out of the fridge and bring them out,” Wallace calls over his shoulder, before heading out to the back yard. Worm grabs a couple packages of the best tasting, worst thing to put in your body, meat. He glances at Allison as he passes the island. Charlotte is leaned in close and the two women are speaking much too low for him to overhear what they are saying. Allison glances up at him, briefly, but quickly looks away.

Outside, Wallace, Hack, and Mercury are at the grill arguing over the best seasonings for steaks, how long to cook them, and how high or low the flame should be under the meat. Worm places the hotdogs on the table next to the platters of steaks. He decides he’s going to ignore the brewing disagreement. After all, too many cooks spoil the stew and all that. The backdoor bangs drawing all of their attention.

“Boys, I’ll handle the grilling,” Hawk commands, crossing the small space between the house and the grill. None of the three men look very happy to have to give up their control over the grill, but they aren’t going to argue with their boss. Even if they are all off duty.

“Never let the amateurs cook the meal.” Hawk gives them a smirk before turning his attention to the selection of seasonings the guys have been arguing about. He picks up a couple containers and begins to sprinkle them over the meat.

“You all right, Worm?” Mercury asks, right next to him. Worm jerks his head to look at his friend. All of them are well trained and stealthy, but Mercury has a way of sneaking up on you. He’s always been quiet and unassuming. He blends in wherever they are which makes him very good at his job.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Worm answers, hoping the others didn’t hear and decide he needs group therapy, again. Mercury looks like he doesn’t believe him for a second.

“What’s eating you, Worm?” Hawk barks out the question, throwing a large slab of meat onto the grill. “You've been moping around for weeks. Ever since we got back from Wallace’s wedding.”

Worm wishes he’d just stayed home. It’s been bad enough with Wallace and Mercury being on his case every second, but now to have Hawk, their C.O. join the ranks? He just isn’t ready for that. He respects the hell out of Hawk, an enlisted man, who’d done the work, taking classes and extra training courses, after demonstrating he had great leadership skills to become an officer and the C.O. of their team.

Worm notes, Hawk is a bit greyer now than he used to be, but despite being in his mid-fifties, he’s a hell of a contender when he gets in the ring to spar with the guys.

“A bird?” Bull asks, coming out the backdoor, seeming to have heard Hawk’s question. All of the men groan at Bull’s pathetic attempt at a joke. “Aww, come on! You have to admit that was pretty good! A bird eating a worm?”

“You mean pretty terrible!” Hack shoots back. “You really shouldn’t quit your day job, Bull. You’ll never make it as a comedian.” Bull screws up his face in an annoyed frown. The rest of the men chuckle, but Hawk doesn’t let Worm get distracted from answering his question.

“Come on, spill it.” Hawk’s tone brooks no argument. He punctuates his insistence on an answer by aiming the spatula at Worm pointedly. “I've been getting bits and pieces here and there. It’s time to get the story from the horse’s mouth, as they say.”

“I’m fine,” Worm insists. Keeping his gaze trained to the left of Hawk’s eyes. He’d learned early on; Hawk could read him like a book. He’d never be able to get any kind of deceit past Hawk. The man frowns, cocking his head to one side.

Fuck!It’s a look Worm knows well. Hawk is on to him and his bullshit. He should have known; he’d never be able to hide anything from Hawk. The man could detect a lie or half-truth from a mile away. “I might not be fine, but I’m dealing with it,” he amends.

Wallace snorts, drawing all of their attention. “You’re not dealing and neither is Allison. The two of you need to sit down and work this out. It’s killing Emma and I’m not going to stand for it much longer.”

“What the fuck do you want me to do?” Worm seethes, trying not to raise his voice where the women inside will hear. “She won’t give me the damn time of day! I can’t fix it if she won’t hear me out.”

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