Thank you
Thank You
September 16 th , 2022
“Come on, Lynn. You can do 3 mph, right?” Becks mocked her patient walking on the treadmill.
“I’ll try, ” the doctor sighed, already sweating and panting like she was running a marathon.
They had increased the intensity of her PT a lot over the last two weeks, preparing her for finally getting back to work. Toby had pulled out her stitches a week ago, making her able to work on mobility for her upper body. That was what they did in the afternoons: mobility, stretching, flexibility, and balance. Everything to get her body back to 100%. Every morning she and Becks worked on her endurance and strength.
Warming up was walking on the treadmill or riding the indoor bike and then they strengthened her muscles. Focus was on her legs as they had been the sorest from her time in the med-bay.
From time to time Nate joined their morning sessions, doing his own workout to slowly but steadily get back into field-shape as well. He was able to do way more exercises early in his recovery but the upper body stuff had to wait until he was freed from the stitches. His entire right side had been covered in bruises for a while, making him not even thinking about training his core, but the bruises were fading and under the supervision of Becks he was able to get back into his normal workout routine.
Today was one of the mornings he joined them training, curious as to how much Lynn had already improved. In her everyday life you could barely see the injury anymore. She moved around effortlessly, only wincing once in a while when she turned her upper body too fast or stabbed her elbow right in the fresh scar of the surgery wound. She wasn’t up to full strength yet but nobody expected that anyways.
Except for Lynn.
The doctor was more and more impatient, itching to get back into the med-bay. As a doctor, not a patient. She was thankful that Toby had been there to treat the Agents in the time she wasn’t allowed to but she missed her job. Nate tried to fill her days with spending time together, doing the PT exercises, cooking together, they even started to do a puzzle together. Just to stop it ten minutes later when they were about to scream at each other because they were both way too impatient for a puzzle.
“Do you want to get back to work, or not?” Becks asked with a mischievous grin on her face.
After a few weeks of working with Lynn the PT knew exactly how to motivate her.
“Of course,” Lynn answered, turning the speed of the treadmill on 3 mph to prove to Becks that she was more than capable of going back to work.
Nate had started with some foam rolling as he had trained his legs the previous day and his muscles were really sore. He stepped on the treadmill right next to Lynn and started to walk. He didn’t feel like jogging today but keeping Lynn company during her warm-up was always something he liked.
Lynn looked over to his treadmill and saw that his speed was 3.5 mph. She rolled her eyes and shot Nate a challenging glance before increasing her own speed to 3.5mph as well.
Becks tilted her head a little, alternating her eyes between the two lovebirds and smiled again. Every time Nate joined them in PT Lynn was extra motivated, trying to show him how much she had improved and that she wasn’t broken. Becks liked that, it made her job easier, because she didn’t need to motivate Lynn to test her limits.
“This isn’t a battle, darling,” Nate’s voice trembled with a warning when he increased the speed of his treadmill to start jogging.
He knew Lynn wasn’t able to do that yet and he didn’t want her to over-exert herself just because she saw a battle in absolutely anything.
Instead of accepting it Lynn shot him a fiery look, increasing the speed of her treadmill as well until she wasn’t able to do normal steps and needed to run instead.
“Lynn,” Becks warned.
“It’s okay. I can do it,” the doctor panted between shallow breaths.
“Lynn,” Nate said as well, his voice was less warning, more demanding now. Demanding her to stop the bullshit she was doing right now .
“You don’t need to prove anything to us,” he added and Becks supported his statement with a nod.
Lynn didn’t listen, just kept on focusing on placing one foot in front of the other as well as her breathing. It worked much better than she expected and that made her happy and motivated her even more. She felt the burning glares of Nate and Becks on her skin but she kept on jogging. After almost five minutes she reduced the speed back to 2.5mph and returned to walking. Sweat was trickling down from her forehead onto her nose before it dropped down on her crimson-colored shirt. A smile formed on her lips when she looked at Becks. Then she turned her head towards Nate.
“Told you,” she said before sticking her tongue out.
Nate couldn’t help himself and started to laugh. A loud and rumbling laugh echoed through the room while he tried to maintain his balance on the treadmill.
“I love you, my little stubborn sunshine.”
“Stop it before I need to vomit. Lynn, wipe off that sweat and follow me to the dumbbells. We’re doing upper body today, Nate, if you want to join us, feel free.” Becks’ voice brought them back to reality.
Lynn giggled and stepped off the treadmill to follow the PT to the dumbbells. She pursed her lips to blow Nate a kiss who grinned at her in response.
An hour later they were done with their workout session, both sweaty as Becks had challenged them a lot. Upper body was still uncomfortable, stretching the sore muscles after their surgeries and strengthening them at the same time. Nate was still struggling with pullovers and chest flies so of course Becks let him focus on those. Thankfully he’d gotten rid of the wrist brace a few days ago and was now able to do those exercises again, even if it was with baby weights.
Lynn opened the door to her own room, Nate following right behind her. He closed the door behind him, placed his palms on each side of Lynn’s waist, and left wet kisses along her exposed neck.
“Hey, I’m all sweaty,” she whined.
“I don’t care,” Nate mouthed between kisses.
“We really need a shower,” Lynn whispered, with no intention of moving as she really enjoyed his lips on her hot skin.
“I know.”
With a swift movement Nate spun Lynn around and grabbed her butt to lift her up in the air. She gasped in surprise but wrapped her legs around his middle and her arms around his neck to steady herself. She could hear him stifle a groan when a sharp pain radiated in his side. His lips crashed into hers when he started moving them into the attached bathroom. He placed Lynn on the wash basin in front of him and continued to fiercely kiss her. His hands roamed over her body, starting to get rid of the clothes that were sticking to her sweaty body.
“Nate. Nate. Naaaaatteee,” Lynn whined in between the kisses.
She managed to successfully hide a moan from him when he pressed his hips into hers and she could feel his manhood right next to her core. He stopped his kisses, framed her face with his large hands, and looked her deep in the eyes .
“Yes, darling?”
“I… I think I’m too exhausted for that right now. Every muscle in my upper body hurts and my right side even more. I’m sorry,” she turned her head to the side, avoiding his gaze while the guilt was mirrored in her eyes.
“Hey. Look at me,” Nate demanded in a loving voice.
She followed his command.
“Totally fine, darling. It’s me that should be sorry. My lust got the better of me. You’re right. It was a hard workout. My side hurts as well. Let’s have a relaxing shower and then get some food.”
“You’re really the best boyfriend ever.” Lynn smiled before giving him a last kiss.
Nate stepped away from her, quickly stripped out of his clothes, and started the shower. Lynn’s eyes were fixed on his beautiful butt and she sighed a silent “what a shame”.
In the shower Nate took his time to give Lynn a proper head massage with her favorite peachy shampoo. She leaned into him, her eyes closed, and she was humming ‘Mockingbird’ by Eminem. Multiple praises left her mouth while she enjoyed Nate taking care of her. She didn’t need to do a single thing on her own as Nate also soaped her entire body with the shower gel. The smile on her lips never faded until Nate turned off the shower. She opened her eyes and looked at him with a pout on her lips.
“Don’t be disappointed. I’ll take care of you tonight as well.” He winked and threw the fluffy towel towards her.
She wasn’t fast enough to react so it crashed into her and covered her entire head. Nate’s laughter could be heard around the whole headquarters and when Lynn grabbed the towel from her head she saw him kneeling on the floor in laughter, steading his shaking body.
She stepped next to him and placed a loving kiss on the top of his head, not caring that it was all still wet.
“Love you, idiot,” she said while drying her body.
Nate couldn’t answer as he was still laughing.
“I’m so sorry, but that looked so hilarious and adorable at the same time,” he managed to say after a few deep breaths. He was standing now, wrapped his arms around Lynn from behind, and rested his chin on her shoulder.
“I love you more,” he added.
“Speaking of tonight…” Lynn started and saw Nate raise an eyebrow on her in the mirror in front of them. She wiggled out of his wrap and turned around to him.
“I have a surprise for you tonight.”
“A surprise? Should I be scared?” He mocked.
“No, idiot. I’ll pick you up at 7. Don’t eat too much today!” Lynn responded while slapping her palm on his upper arm.
“Wait. You’re picking me up? That means we’re not spending the day together?” Now it was Nate’s time to throw a pout at her.
“No, honey. Not today. I’m busy with the surprise. You can ask Oliver if he wants to do a puzzle with you.”
Nate rolled his eyes and shook his head in response.
“Sorry for trying something neeeewwwww, but it’s noted. Never try something new with Lynn Summers or she’ll remind you all over again that it was a big fail.”
“Awwwwww, don’t feel offended. You tried and we both agreed it was a failure,” Lynn answered with another wink. Nothing could ruin her good mood today. Not even the memories of the puzzle disaster.
“Okay. 7pm sharp. I’ll be waiting for you!” he retorted with a smirk.
“You’d better.”
It was 7:05 pm and Nate was pacing up and down his room while mumbling stuff to himself. Did she forget him? Did something happen to her? Did she still love him?
Then he shook his head intensely to get the intrusive thoughts out of his head. She was only five minutes late. Five minutes. That didn’t mean anything. At exactly that moment he heard a loud knock from his door. He sprinted towards it and opened it with a quick pull.
Standing in front of him in an emerald-green loose fit skirt and a white t-shirt, was the love of his life. His eyes widened when he checked her out before his features softened and he shot her a loving look.
“You look amazing, darling.”
Nate was wearing his favorite black jeans combined with a white shirt as well. It was casual but he was comfortable in it. Lynn stepped aside so that he could join her in the hallway.
“. You don’t look too bad yourself. I like the way your butt looks in those jeans. They’re my favorite,” she said and quickly pinched into one of his butt cheeks, making Nate jump in the air .
They both chuckled while Lynn slipped her hand into his and intertwined her fingers.
“So where are we going?” Nate asked.
“Actually it’s not a long walk, but I wanted to pick you up anyways.”
After a few steps they stood in front of the doorframe to the communal kitchen and Lynn stepped inside, practically pulling Nate after her. The Agent froze in his movement when his eyes were illuminated by hundreds of candles all around the big room. The dinner table was already set with two plates, glasses, a bottle of wine, and candles in different sizes and colors. It looked like Lynn had gathered all the candles in the building and lit them tonight.
“Wow, darling. This is beautiful,” he mumbled with his mouth still open in awe.
“I know it’s not a lot but because of my house arrest I’m not able to take you out to a fancy restaurant,” she whispered and he could hear a slight sadness shining through the words.
“I love this even more than a fancy restaurant,” he answered before placing a kiss on her cheek.
He felt make-up on his lips and was surprised. Lynn normally never cared for make-up. But today she had.
Their hands were still connected and she gently pulled him into the room and towards the dinner table. On one of the plates Nate could see a letter with his name in calligraphy on it:
Nate Sheppar d
“Oh wow, did you write that?” he asked in awe.
“Yeah. Don’t ask how many attempts it took until it looked like I wanted it to look,” she sighed.
“How many?”
“Let’s say… if you look into the bin in my room there might be around 30-40 screwed up envelopes.” She let out a stifled laugh.
“Oh wow. You really wanted it to be perfect then.” He smiled at her.
“Yes. Because it’s for you.”
“You’re super adorable, you know that?” Nate turned around to give her a kiss on the nose.
Lynn closed her eyes and smiled into the kiss. She loved it when he did that. She couldn’t remember when he started it but it was their signature. Something she had never done before with a boyfriend. It was adorable and unique.
“Open it while I finish the appetizers,” Lynn softly commanded before letting go of his hand and rushing into the kitchen.
She fumbled with the oven and after a few seconds Nate lowered his gaze and looked at the envelope on the plate. He carefully grabbed it, opened it, and pulled the letter out. He immediately recognized Lynn’s normal handwriting although it looked like she tried to write as neatly as possible. Especially because she hated the cliché that doctors always had bad handwriting.
Nate ?
I know one dinner is not enough to express how grateful I am for your support during this hard time. You’ve been by my side in
all the moments I needed you the most. After the stabbing, while I was in the coma, and you even donated a part of your liver so that I could survive. A simple dinner really isn’t enough to thank you.
I will show you every moment for the rest of my life how much your support means to me.
But that’s not all I want to thank you for (although it’s a huge thing). for giving me another chance after I fucked up. for being patient and for suggesting therapy sessions. for all the wonderful dates.Every minute I share with you is wonderful. Sorry for the puzzle disaster but patience is really something we’re notgood at.
for trying all over again.
But mostly:
for ignoring the demons in your mind.
I know they were pretty loud in the beginning, making you doubt everything between us. I’m so fucking proud of you that you got out of that rabbit hole alone. You’ve improved so much since I first met you. You are so strong, Nate. And I’m so fucking proud of you. It still feels like a dream to call you my boyfriend and I just hope I never wake up again.
I love you forever, Nate Sheppard.
for staying with me. for fighting for us over the past few months. for being the light in my life.
Lynn ?
Tears were falling down his cheeks when Nate looked up from the letter in his shaking hands. He turned his head to look for Lynn whose chestnut eyes were already waiting for him. She had been anxious about how he would react to the letter. Tears had gathered in her own eyes and the moment she saw him crying because of her letter, they slid down her face as well.
“Darling,” he mouthed so low that she hadn’t heard him but she didn’t need to. She knew exactly what he wanted to say.
Lynn gave another look into the oven, threw the gloves on the counter next to it, and slowly stepped in Nate’s direction. He saw her coming, placed the letter on the plate again, and took one step to meet her. He didn’t need to say anything, Lynn automatically crashed into his embrace, wrapped her arms around his middle, and snuggled her nose into his chest. Nate held her close, placing kiss over kiss on top of her head while the tears were still falling.
“I love you so much,” he whispered in her hair.
“I love you more.”
She wanted to step out of his embrace but Nate still had his arms around her shoulders, pressing her even closer towards him. Lynn giggled a little, lovingly caressing the fingertips of one of her hands over his spine.
“I’ve never got such a beautiful letter. This means a lot to me. . ”
“No, thank you. For everything. It was the least I could do,” she mumbled in his chest, her voice muffled through the fabric of his white shirt.
With a little more strength this time she was able to get herself free of his arms. She stood on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his lips, before rushing back to the oven.
“Sit down, food is ready.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Nate responded with a laugh.
Lynn slipped her hands into the gloves and grabbed the casserole out of the oven. It had a weird shape and Nate was sure that he hadn’t seen this one before. He saw Lynn getting different muffin shaped things out of the casserole and was curious. He had smelled this dish before but it had been a long time ago and he wasn’t really sure what exactly it was. Lynn placed two muffins on each of the small plates and carried them towards the table.
“We have Cornbread as a starter, one flavored with different herbs, the other with cheese,” she explained and placed the smaller plates onto the big plates that were already standing on the table. Nate saw that they had each of the flavored cornbread muffins on their plates.
“Oh wow. I love that. Haven’t eaten those since I was a teenager,” Nate exclaimed with sparks in his eyes.
He took his time to observe both of the muffins before raising his head to look at his girlfriend that had taken her place in front of him.
“I know. Your mom told me it was your favorite while you were still living at home.” She smiled.
Nate’s eyes widened and his lips parted.
“What did you just say? ”
“I said your mom…”
“Did you… did you talk to my mom?” Nate was completely and utterly shocked.
“Yes. It took me a lot of research and Oliver’s help to find the rehab home she is in.”
“But she is not responsive. She doesn’t even recognize me anymore. That’s why I haven’t visited in a while. The nurses always told me it freaks her out when I call and she’s forced to talk to a stranger.” Nate’s face contorted while thinking about all the painful memories he had when he tried to call his mom. On her birthday or Christmas. It was always the same panicked answer, so eventually he stopped doing it.
“I know. It took me around six calls to get her at least to talk to me. The nurses and I figured out that in good moments she still has memories of you as a child. So I told her I was your primary school teacher and we wanted to prepare a surprise lunch for your birthday. And I asked her what you liked to eat.”
“Lynn you…” Nate started but wasn’t able to finish his sentence. He swallowed the lump in his throat.
“I know. I wanted to. You’ve been through so much since you joined the SEALs. I thought re-creating a happy memory from your childhood would be nice.”
The woman smiled at him, her own tears falling down as she wasn’t able to hold her emotions at bay. His reaction was priceless, better than she had expected. All she wanted was to make him happy.
“,” he mouthed, extending his hand over the table to give hers a squeeze .
They both tried the different flavored corn cheese muffins and agreed that the cheese one was a 10/10 and the herbs one an 8/10.
“When your mom told me your favorite main dish, I started to laugh. I didn’t know what to expect, but Mac and Cheese? That is the most American thing ever, Nate.” She laughed while bringing the smaller plates back to the kitchen.
She placed them in the sink before carefully portioning the main dish into plates that were more like a bowl than a plate.
She carried them to the table and placed them on the large plates in front of them.
“I love Mac and Cheese. It just tastes like home for me. Mom struggled a lot to pay all the bills after dad’s death, so this was easy to make and cheap. I mostly did it myself when mom was at her day-job,” Nate explained with a slight frown on his face.
“Day-job?” Lynn asked before she stood from her chair again and ran back to the kitchen to grab a small bowl she already prepared.
“Yeah. I told you she had two jobs. She worked as a cashier in her day-job and cleaned office buildings in a night-job. It was the only way we could afford to live. That’s why I cooked on my own a lot. Well, mostly I got myself take-away or stayed at my friends’ houses for lunch. They all knew about mom’s struggles and helped as best as they could.”
“Wow, that’s very supportive.” Lynn sat down in front of him again, placing the bowl between them .
“Yeah. Wait. What is this?” Nate asked confused, eying the bowl with suspicion.
“Caramelized onions. That’s a Summers’ family tradition. We always eat them on Mac and Cheese,” Lynn explained.
“Oh wow. Never heard about that. Where did you get that from?”
“My great-grandmother is German. Over there you eat something similar to Mac and Cheese and they always have caramelized onions on top of it.”
“I didn’t know you were German. Can you speak the language?” Nate asked before taking the first mouthful of food.
“Nope. She fled right before WWII and was scared that people would recognize her as German. So she never taught my grandfather to speak it and he never passed it to my mom. Give it a try. I promise it tastes amazing.”
Nate looked at her with a small grimace on his face, unsure if he should follow her suggestion to not upset her or politely decline. He sighed, placed a single slice of caramelized onion on his loaded fork, and maneuvered it into his mouth. Lynn watched him curiously and when his eyes lit up she started to laugh.
“That’s better than I expected!” Nate exclaimed, placing some more of the onions on his plate.
“Told you.” Lynn winked at him.
“So this is now a Sheppard-Summers dinner tradition. Mac and Cheese with caramelized onions. I like that.” The brunet man smiled widely at her before eating more of his dinner.
“It’s the first of many traditions to come,” Lynn added.