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Today’s itinerary has them in Torino Italy, another stop on their European press/outreach tour and Christina knows she’s coming down with some kind of bug. Not enough to floor her but enough to be mildly irritating. Lack of sleep and recycled airplane cabin air as they jetted off from one city to another has taken it’s toll. So far it’s just presenting itself as fatigue and a scratchy throat, a bit of brain fog.
She sits on the edge of her hotel bed and concentrates on the electronic itinerary she had been sent the night prior, trying to coordinate where she and her suitcase need to be at any given time throughout the day. They won’t be coming back here tonight - check, Lobby call at 8:30 - check, appearance at the facility at 10:00 - check, interview with Italian media - check, just her and Reid - check, she lets her focus shift as she decides anything after noon she’s just going to let someone else tell her where she needs to be and what she needs to do. She looks out her window at the Turin skyline in the morning sunlight. It’d be nice to get to actually enjoy these cities, she thinks, stroll in the park, toss a coin in a fountain, eat a gelato. Maybe she’d come back with Bob one day.
She’s in her flight suit ready for the day, her suitcase already organized and packed, ready to head down for Lobby call in 15 minutes when there’s a knock at her hotel room door.
She walks over and opens it to find Reid there standing with his luggage and backpack.
“Good Morning, want a hand with your luggage down to the lobby?” He asks. He knows she capable of wheeling her own suitcase, it was simply an excuse to see her, alone.
She smiles.
“Morning Reid.” her voice is a bit raspy.
“Oh no, you ok?” he takes a step closer closing the distance between them concern in his eyes as a hand darts to her shoulder.
“I’m ok, little run down, but we’ll power through this right?” she smiles.
“Do you need a day, I can tell them you need a day,” he insists.
She shakes her head, “I’m not letting all these people down Reid, plus we have events just you and I today, I’m not making you do those alone.”
“I’d do them alone if it meant you taking care of yourself,” he says serious.
“Honestly Reid it’s just a little cold, I’ll get something over the counter, I’ll drink tea, I’ll sleep in the shuttles, we came all this way to do this,” she sighs. He frowns at her.
“I won’t fight you on this, but you are absolutely not pushing yourself today, You’re doing the bare minimum, and I know that’s hard for you. I’ll text Howard, he has nothing on this morning until our interview segment, I’ll get him to do a pharmacy run ok?”
Christina nods.
“Get your suitcase, I’ll wheel it down.”
“Reid it isn’t heavy…”
“I don’t care, you aren’t lifting a finger today.”
He’s protective of her at the best of times but he’s an absolute shield today. He sits next to her on the shuttle to the facility watching her watch Italy pass by out the window. He leans in close to her ear.
“Close your eyes, rest.” He sighs.
“Reid I don’t want to miss it,”
“You’re worse than me with Tiny Earth.”
She reluctantly caves, leans her head against his shoulder,
“Fine.” and she closes her eyes for a twenty minute in transit nap.
When they get to the facility they are met with applause from the many members and workers. They make a couple of quick speeches and answer a few questions.
Howard catches Reid before he and Christina start the interview media circuit. He hands him a paper shopping bag with essentials: cold meds, cough syrups, 3 different types of over the counter pain meds, lozenges, a couple of small orange juices. A box of powdered electrolyte sachets.
“Think I got everything you requested in your very lengthy text list,” Howard smiles.
“What do I owe you man?” Reid asks reaching for his wallet.
“I don’t even know the currency conversion here. I’m tapping my credit card with reckless abandon all over Europe this trip, we’ll sort it out when we get back to Houston. How’s she doing?”
“You know her, she’s perfect in front of an audience, no one here would be the wiser, she’s sharp, enthusiastic, warm. But I hear it in her voice. I’ll get this to her in between interviews. Thank you again.”
He quickly says before he catches up to Christina being mic’ed for an interview.
Half an hour later he’s able to sneak her into a hallway, “Orange juice,” he hands her the small bottle, she twists the lid off and drinks, as he opens the daytime cold remedy tablets, “Tylenol cold and flu, extra strength,” he drops two in her hand. She continues to sip the orange juice and takes the pills. He hands her a lozenge. “Cough drops.”
“Thank Howard for me.” She smiles weakly.
“Only 3 more interviews to do, you going to be ok?” He asks, running a hand over her hair quickly, she nods. He’s takes her water bottle out of her backpack pocket and is unscrewing the cap to empty an electrolyte sachet into it.
“You and Howard really went full out here,” she teases. He ignores her.
“If you’re up for it later we’ve got a window between 3:00 and 6:00 before we have to be on a shuttle to the airport, I’ll find and take you to a little Italian bistro and we'll order the spiciest arrabbiata pasta, help clear out those sinuses.”
“Reid can we really?” She asks hopeful at the prospect of at least one quintessential Italian experience during this trip.
“Yes, of course,” he laughs at how much that means to her.
The shuttle drops the team off in the city centre knowing they have to be back by 18:00 to be en route to the airport.
They’ve changed out of flight suits in the European heatwave. Reid is sporting a polo shirt with shorts combo with aviator shades and sandals and Christina has a simple black maxi dress on, with cognac coloured slides, effortlessly beautiful despite being a little the under the weather. Her hair is pulled back in a clip with a few errant curls framing her face, a pair of fun statement earrings finish the look.
Reid has made good on his promise and has found a nearby bistro. They sit under the shade of a large patio parasol, sipping cold sparkling water with lemon slices, Christina is people watching and Reid is watching Christina people watching. He runs his hand down her arm to get her attention,
“How are you feeling?” he asks.
“I love this Reid.” she admits, “just getting to see this, humans on earth, just going about their days, sitting here, with you, in the sunshine, having a space break.”
“How’s your cold?” He asks again focusing his question this time.
“Don’t even notice it, meds definitely helped, my endless gratitude to Howard.”
“Good.”
“I wish we had more time here to just do more of this.” She smiles sipping her effervescent water.
“You can come back on holiday with…” he starts and before he gets to add with Bob she interrupts.
“No I mean… just as it is now… here… with you.” She flashes her eyes up into his.
“How much cough syrup have you had?” Reid teases.
“Stop. I’m allowed to like this moment with you, where we are not at work worrying about a correction burn in a sim or fielding questions about Orion waste water dumps. I was trying to be honest.” She frowns a little.
Reid grabs her hand in his from where it was resting on the table, tangling fingers and searching for her eyes, “I like being here with you too.” He says sincerely, “I didn’t mean to tease you. I appreciate the narrow window of quiet, the calm time it’s giving us, together, in beautiful scenery, I just wish you were feeling 100%”
He drops her hand gently as a waiter brings their meals.
After dinner they still have an hour before they need to be back on the bus, she has spotted a gelato cart in the park and she is happily dragging him arm in arm toward it.
“My treat Wiseman, for taking such good care of me today. What flavour are you getting?”
A few minutes later they are strolling through the park with their respective chocolate hazelnut and blood orange gelato cones. She eventually spots a fountain up the pathway and she grins. When they get near it he stands there watching her look at it, before rummaging around in his pocket. He grabs her hand and presses a coin into her palm, before leaning in close and whispering,
“Go make a wish,”
He follows her to the fountain’s edge getting ready to toss his own coin in.
She counts down quietly.
“3,2,1!”
They smile widely at one another as their coins splash in the water.
The walk back to the bus is pleasant, he has his arm slung over her shoulder and she’s still taking in her last few minutes of this unscheduled free time.
“What did you wish for?” she asks looking up at him.
“An alternate timeline where I am allowed to be in love with you.”
“Reid.”
“You asked.”