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By the time York had finally been transferred back to the Mother of Invention, he was mostly stable. Unfortunately, the doctors couldn't say if his eye would eventually regain normal function or if it would decline further. It was left to the medics to monitor his recovery and luck.
"If the doctors don't manage to fix my eye, at least we won't have to worry about those fraternization policies for much longer," said York, only half joking.
If Carolina thought there was a silver lining to York being in the hospital, Carolina would have expected it would be that they would have time to talk, without the distractions of missions or interruptions of the others in their program. Of course, Carolina wasn't the only agent capable of barging past protesting medics.
"Knock knock," said Wyoming from the open door.
"Not in the mood," said Carolina, annoyed to be interrupted before she could answer York.
Wyoming ignored the brush off and lack of invitation and walked into the room as if he were part of the conversation: "I never did understand your insistence on discretion. Our dear Allison certainly isn't bothering. I do believe she's taken up with a young man back at the base camp. She really ought to find someone with career potential beyond being cannon bait."
York held up a hand to pause his monologue. "First of all, quit talking like a pansy-faced creep. Second, at least pretend you aren't eavesdropping. Third, who the fuck is Allison?"
York and Wyoming had been at odds ever since they were vying for second place, and Carolina supposed that the latest incident hadn't helped matters much. Before they could start sniping at each other, Carolina decided to intervene. "Thanks, Reggie." said Carolina, emphasizing his name, "But I'm perfectly able to deal with Agent Texas myself. On the field."
"Well, glad to see that you're looking better, York. However, I've got to be off. Cheerio!" said Wyoming. He headed back out the door, his mission of reparation apparently over.
York looked at Carolina speculatively. "I take it my apology was payable to you?" he asked.
"You owed me one anyway," she replied.
--
"You are not going to get kicked out of the program. The Director didn't transfer Maine after his throat was injured," said Carolina after hearing one too many morbid half-jokes from York to be coincidental.
"Vision is significantly more necessary for combat than talking," argued York, uncharacteristically snappy with her.
"Do you really believe that after what happened during the training session? Poor communication kills," said Carolina, and they both thought about Utah.
In the silence afterward, Agent Texas barged into the hospital room. While she was not audibly loud, Carolina still felt that Texas broadcasted that same entitled air she had everywhere. Texas ignored Carolina and instead leaned a palm on the bedside table and looked over York critically.
"How's the eye?" she asked abruptly, apparently unaware of common courtesy.
York shrugged and replied, "Who knows? Right now I can't use it. Docs say that if I'm lucky, it’ll just be blurry. If I'm not, I lose the eye. You know how it is."
"Ah. I'll see you when you get out." replied Texas. She stood silently for a few moments more, and then walked out, ignoring Carolina the whole time.
"I really don't like her," said Carolina, unconcerned if her voice echoed down the hallway. "And you thought Wyoming sucked at apologies. There's something really off about her."
"People say the same thing about you. It kind of makes me glad I'm not vying for the top spot," answered York, his normal conciliatory nature unfortunately favoring Texas over Wyoming. He grabbed the datachip left behind from where Texas's palm had rested, squinted at it, and passed it to Carolina.
She sighed and plugged it into her armor slot. "Audiobooks. Considerate," she said grugingly.
"Two down, one to go," said York optimistically.
--
"Is this a bad time?" asked Wash from the doorway. Maine stood behind him.
York looked at Carolina, who shrugged. Medics orders aside, peace and privacy seemed far too tall an order. Come in," he answered.
"You're looking better than you were when they rolled you out. Did the doc say when you're getting out?" asked Wash.
"Couple more days," replied York.
Washington turned to Maine, who growled at him and then approached the bed.
"Next time we'll work together," rasped Maine.
"Both in the beginning and in the end?" asked York, turning a half accusation, half apology into a somewhat better foundation. "Your throat sounds better."
Maine nodded, and Washington answered, "We're working on figuring out a better communication system than the radio for when we're on missions. It's better than whispering while sneaking past guards, anyway."
Washington, York, and Carolina talked for a bit, but soon Washington and Maine left. As Washington exited, he said, "For what it's worth, I think you were right. Even if the Director disagrees."
"Coming from you, that means a lot," said York.
--
"Hey-ya, York, Carolina," said North as he entered the room not long after Washington and Maine left. South followed behind him.
She sat down on the edge of the bed and said, "Last mission was awesome. No offense, but I'm kind of glad you missed it."
North explained, "Since we couldn't crack the lock, we ended up blasting a hole in the roof and fighting our way down. Of course, that wasn't the original plan." He was sounded somewhat fond and somewhat exasperated, and Carolina envied the ease with which they picked up the threads of each other's conversation.
"Psh, plans suck. It would have taken forever for the lockpicker to get there, and we'd have lost the element of surprise. I knew North would have my back anyway," said South.
"Congrats you two. I saw you two moved ahead of Wyoming," said Carolina.
"We still need to beat Wash and Maine, though, but thanks," replied North.
"Next time there's an assignment, could one of you give me a heads up?" asked York.
"Are you suggesting we break those fussy need-to-know regs? Why York, I'm shocked," mocked South.
"Hey, never abandon your team, right?" said York somewhat cryptically.
After the twins left, York apologized to Carolina. "I'm tired of being out of the loop, and this way you don't have to be stuck between conflicting interests," he explained.
"North and South are lucky. They're never alone, and their first loyalties are to each other," said Carolina.
"I'm lucky, too," said York, "Life's no fun without challenges anyway." Carolina agreed, if this first day back from the hospital showed anything, it was that as competitive as the freelancer program was, for now at least, they were all in it together.