Chapter Text
2021
"I don't want to talk, I hate you!" Ellie screams, slamming the door in Frank's face. He hear's her throw herself onto her bed sobbing.
Stepping back from the door he draws his hand down his face and sighs, "Shit, that could've gone better."
Listening to Ellie cry for a moment or two more he wishes he could go in and comfort her but he knows she wouldn't welcome it right now. Taking a step back he stumbles his legs suddenly weak, gasping he feels his body fall to the side.
He watches in slow motion as his wrist comes down hard on the hall table knocking it over and throwing the vase of flowers on top into the air. His momentum carries him down to the floor, his arms don't make it up in time to stop his face from hitting the ground.
Sharp pain breaks across his nose and his eyes start to well with bright tears. His wrist feels like it's on fire where it hit the table and he moans as he tries and fails to push himself up.
Small hands are suddenly on his shoulders and he hears Ellie say in a shaking voice “Dad are you all right?”
Frank manages to use his one good arm to roll himself over but he is having trouble seeing past the tears in his eyes. “I’m ok Ellie. I… I just stumbled over my own feet. I think I might have broken my nose and maybe sprained my wrist. Do you think you can go get your Papa?” Ellie nods her head her face scrunched in concern. Her eyes are red and he can see the tracks that her tears have made down her cheeks.
“Do you want me to help you sit up first? Your nose is bleeding a lot.” Frank realizes she is right as he feels the blood start to trickle down his throat. He nods yes and Ellie grabs his good arm and helps him sit up and then puts him up against the wall. Ellie runs to the hall bathroom and comes back with a towel to put up against his nose. Frank thanks her and holds it up to his nose. Ellie starts to run down the stairs for Bill but then stops and turns back. “I don’t really hate you. I’m sorry Daddy,” she said quickly and then continues down the stairs and out the front door.
Frank hears her yelling for Bill as soon as she is off the porch. He sighs and rests his head against the wall holding his throbbing wrist tight against his chest. Bill is out checking the fencing on the other side of town so he knows it is going to take him and Ellie a little bit to get back. He tries not to think about the fact that his legs still feel tingly and a little numb. He also tries not to think about the fact that this was not the first time that this had happened only the worst.
For the last couple of years, he has noticed some minor numbness in his feet but he has chalked it up to the fact that he is in his 60s. But in the last couple of months the numbness has started to turn into weakness in his legs, at first it was just a missed step here and there. Then a few weeks back he started to stumble over his feet more and more. Now this.
Frank doesn't want to admit what he already knows. He has seen this happen before with his mother a few years before she passed away from ALS. Just thinking about it causes Frank to tremble and break out in a cold sweat. He knows it can be hereditary but he had hoped that it would pass him by. With a dark sense of humor, he lets out a small laugh through his teeth. “Why should I be so lucky?”
It feels like forever as his wrist and nose throb but it has to be only minutes before he hears Ellie’s voice yelling “We're coming, Dad!” Then the screen door bangs against the wall as Bill comes barreling up the stairs with Ellie right behind him.
“Frank, are you ok?” Bill’s face is tight with worry as he squats down in front of him, his knees give an audible pop as he does.
“Yeah, I think so. I just lost my balance and stumbled over my own stupid feet. I banged my wrist pretty hard on the table, I think maybe I sprained it. I also hit my nose on the floor when I couldn't get my arms up quickly enough to catch myself.” Frank’s eyes are still watering as he watchs Bill check him over visually.
“Ok let me take a look at this nose first and then we can look at your wrist,” Bill says calmly as his survival training kicks in. “Ellie honey can you go grab the big first aid kit from the front hall and then go get the pain pills from the kitchen medicine shelf?" Ellie nods her head and rushes down the stairs.
“So…… do you want to try getting up?” Bill says as he looks at Frank speculatively. Frank feels out his body and he can tell his legs are still weak, he doesn't think he could hold any weight on them if he tried. But he doesn't want to tell Bill that, it would mean admitting to something he is not ready to say yet.
“Not yet I’m still feeling a little dizzy from the nose can we wait a little longer?” He feels bad for not being completely truthful but right now he just does not have it in him to deal with this. Bill sighs and leans forward to take the towel from Frank's hand. Gently he dabs the now mostly dry blood from Frank’s face then places it down on the floor. With soft hands, he touches the area around Frank’s nose and then along the bridge, Frank hisses through his teeth.
“Welp it's broken, I’ll have to set it.” Bill huffs and looks at Frank. “The sooner we do it the better.” Frank gives a resigned shrug and Bill takes the bridge of his nose firmly between his fingers and pushes a bit to the left. A sharp pain spikes through his face and blood starts to run down his face again. Bill quickly steams the flow with the discarded towel and places a loving hand on Frank’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry love.” His face is strained as he looks at the pain in Frank's eyes. Ellie is stomping up the stairs now with the first aid kit and pill bottle in hand. Her eyes are worried and her breathing is coming fast. “Ok, Ellie can you get the gauze and scissors out of there and cut me a fair portion? We are going to pack your dad's nose and then I’m going to need you to go get a glass of water while I check out his wrist.” Bill’s voice is calm and smooth which helps Ellie slow her breathing. She knows her Pop has this, he can handle anything. He is going to make sure everything is ok.
Bill and Ellie work together to take care of Frank’s nose and then Ellie goes to grab the water as Bill rotates and presses on Frank’s wrist. There is some pain but Bill does not feel any bones out of place. He may have a small fracture but there’s no way to know without an x-ray machine. Ellie’s back with the water and she hands it to Bill. He shakes out some of the pills into his hand and puts them in Frank’s good hand. “Swallow these and then I’m going to wrap your wrist up. I don’t think it's broken. Most likely just a sprain.”
Frank pops the pills into his mouth and Bill hands him the glass. With a quick gulp, the pills are gone and he hands the glass back to Ellie. His hand shakes a little as he gives the glass back so he tucks it against his body and closes his eyes trying to hide the fear that is spiraling through him. Bill takes Frank’s wrist in his hand and Ellie hands him the ace bandage from the kit. With deft movements, Bill has Frank’s wrist wrapped in no time and places it gently down in Frank’s lap.
Frank opens his eyes again and see’s that Ellie is cleaning up the vase and flowers from the floor. Luckily the vase is a sturdy tin material so it doesn't look any the worse for wear. She uses a towel to mop up the water and then takes everything downstairs. Bill groans and settles back on his ass, shuffling back so he is next to Frank against the wall. He reaches over and takes Frank's good hand in his. Ellie comes back upstairs and folds down gracefully on Frank's other side. She cuddles up close to him and places her head on his shoulder. No one says anything for a few minutes. Then Frank takes a deep breath and tilts his head down to Ellie.
“Ellie honey, your Pop and I love you. We can tell this means a lot to you. Can you please explain why you want to do this?” Frank can feel Ellie shift against him but she doesn't move from his side. He knows that he is shifting away from the obvious situation at hand but he’s not ready to get into his issue and Ellie’s is still pressing.
“Ok, but can we take the gauze out of your nose first it's a little distracting and gross.” Her face scrunches up in a fake grimace before she giggles nervously. Bill shifts up to look at Frank's nose and carefully removes the packing. When no new blood comes out of his nose he nods his head and places the materials on the floor.
“We will have to clean this up at some point but let's let the pain meds kick in more.” Bill shifts a little so he can look at Ellie’s face. “Come on Ellie Bee. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“I’m lonely.” She says while avoiding eye contact. She can feel her Dad slump a little and hears her Pop start to rub his hands absently on his pants. “It's not that I don't love being with you guys. I love you both so much. It's just that well…..”
“We are two men in our 60s. Your a pre-teen looking for other people who are like you.” Frank says in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Yep,” Ellie says with a pop to the p.
Bill runs his hand across his face and looks down at his lap. He knew that this was going to happen at some point. He and Frank have talked about it at length but have yet to find a solution that seemed plausible and safe. Ellie needs to be around kids her own age, she needs to socialize and grow emotionally and she is not going to be able to get that all here. Frank, Tess, Bill, and Joel have all done their best to give her the education she needs for this world but this is just something that none of them can give.
But fuck why did it have to be Marlene who came to them with this hair-brained idea. He could have killed her for telling Ellie about it before talking to him and Frank first. But the damage is done now and there is no going back, the women left pretty quickly after talking to Ellie as if she knew the shit storm that she was stirring up.
“Marlene says that the Officer program at the FEDRA school is safe. Well safer than the normal populace one. She can get me papers that say I’m the daughter of some minor bigwigs daughter with FEDRA at another QZ and I’m in.” Ellie shrugs her shoulders as she looks back and forth between the both of them.
“This is so fucking dangerous.” Bill shakes his head. He is trying to set aside his hatred of all things FEDRA and look at what Ellie is trying to say, but it's damn hard.
“I would only be with the girls in the program and while I would have to stay there during the school year I would come home on the breaks.” She pulls away from Frank's side and starts to play with her fingers. “I won't lie and say I’m not scared but I also really really want to make some friends.”
“Joel and Tess can check on me from time to time since it's in the QZ and I can get letters to them that they can get to you guys. Also if theirs an emergency they can get me out or radio you guys.” Ellie’s eyes are pleading as she tries to lay out her case.
“That's putting a lot on Joel and Tess. If FEDRA caught wind they could get in a lot of trouble.” Frank doesn't want to scare Ellie but he wants to make sure she is seeing all the sides to this.
“I know and I of course would have to ask them. I would never want to see them hurt. I just .. shit I just want to try. Can’t I just try it for a year and if it's bad or anyone feels like something is off, I’m out of there?” Her voice is desperate and a little harried as she finishes in a rush.
Bill looks over at Frank and they have one of their silent conversations with their eyes that Ellie fucking hates. She has no idea how they are able to do that but she swears they must be able to read each other's minds because Bill finally grumbles and looks back to Ellie.
“Ok, we can try this.” Ellie's face starts to light up but Bill puts up a staying hand. “For one semester. We still need to talk to Joel, Tess, and Marlene to make sure that all of them are willing to help. If anything does not go to plan you will be out of there faster than a cat on a mouse.” Ellie squeals and wiggles as she stands up and leaps in place.
“Thank you, Thank you so much. I promise I will be careful. This is going to work.” Ellie leans down to hug Frank carefully and then she knocks Bill straight to the floor in a bear hug, Bill grunts and wraps his arms around Ellie tightly. Finally, Ellie gets up helping Bill to sit back next to Frank.
Frank can see the worry on Bill’s face. The fear crackles behind his eyes, but Bill pushes it down as he watches Ellie dance and jump around the upstairs hallway. They haven't seen her this happy since summer camp ended. She has been so lonely. She tries hard not to show it but the isolation of their little paradise weighs on her more and more every year.
“I think I’m ready to get up now. Can you both help me I’m feeling just a little unsteady on my feet.” The weakness in Frank's legs has receded but he’s not sure if it won't come back so he feels it's better to be safe than sorry. Ellie helps Bill up first with only a modicum of popping joints and old man grunts before she moves to Frank's left side. Both she and Bill take Frank by his elbows and get him up off the flood. They stand with him for a moment while he tests his legs, they seem steady enough so he nods his head and they all make their way to his and Bill's bedroom.