As always, it was Utica who first realized someone she knew was coming down the path and she took advantage of not being on her leash. Taking off, disappeared around a bend in the path and Karen, having recognized her barks by now, followed without too much worry.
She blinked when she saw Sam surrounded by a tiny pack of dogs, and looked around for Mathias. Sam was a whirlwind on any given day, but she was alarmed to catch a glimpse of him ahead on the boardwalk. Scooping Sam up against her protests, Karen headed over.
He's sitting up by the time Karen reaches him and he swipes his hand across his eyes, wiping away any dampness that had been there. It's a little embarrassing, lying on the boardwalk, foiled by a little girl and four dogs and, he supposes, his own body, but he smiles still, grateful that Karen has Sam.
"Thank you," he says. "I couldn't keep up with her." And for the most part, Sam is good with him. She listens and follows rules, but she's still four and sometimes a little girl just needs to run.
"I can barely keep up with her at my best," Karen said, trying not to look like she was feeling sorry for Mathias. She was mostly annoyed, both at Sam for taking off and at the universe for giving him a broken leg just when he didn't need it.
Karen crouched down and put Sam on the ground, looking her in the eye. "Don't move," she told her, for once completely serious and not the cool aunt Sam was used to.
She stood up a bit and turned to Mathias, holding both hands out to help him up.
Getting one crutch under his arm, Mathias takes Karen's hands and, careful not to pull her over with him, slowly gets back to his feet. At least nothing else feels injured and he sighs when he's standing again, giving her a smile.
"Thank you," he says again. "I probably would have just been stuck there all afternoon." And Sam would have escaped with the dogs, leaving him to worry. He's genuinely grateful that there are so many people on the island willing to help out.
For a moment, it's difficult to know what part of this he needs to deal with first. After all, broken leg or not, the cast is kind of his fault. Still, first, he bends and scoops an unsuspecting Sam up into his skinny arms.
"C'mon," he says, soles of his sneakers slapping against the boardwalk. "As your doctor, I feel like I probably ought to tell you...not to throw yourself around like this, man."
"Hey," Sam protests, but she doesn't seem too upset, especially not as Paul walks her toward Mathias. The dogs follow behind, all four of them, and Mathias shakes his head as he sits up, wondering when this all happened to him. All his life, he's been a cat person and he's never imagined himself with children, but now he has four dogs and a four-year-old in his care.
"I have a little girl to keep up with," he says, sitting up, wincing as his blisters rub on the rough wood of the boardwalk. "But I promise I didn't do it on purpose."
"I'll help," Sam insists, wriggling her way out of Paul's grasp and then offering her little hand to Mathias as well. As terrible as he feels, he can't help but smile a little at that, glancing up at Paul.
"Thank you, Sam," he says, taking her hand gently, but putting more of his weight on Paul. "And thank you," he adds. "I might have ended lying there all afternoon."
"Sammy Sammy Sammy!" squealed Zoe from her stroller, and a moment later she and River found herself surrounded by a large part of the canine part of their family. Simon Chicago joined in the barking and running with glee, but River was just worried to find them apparently by themselves.
"Where's Mathias?" she asked. His misadventure on the second island still had her fretting over him. She peered down the boardwalk and caught a glimpse of him just in time to see him go down. "Stay with Zoe!" she ordered Samantha and the dogs in a tone that left no doubt she expected to be obeyed, and then she took off in a sprint toward her friend, sure that he'd hit his head or otherwise severely damaged himself.
She saw that at least he was conscious, and allowed a small moment of relief. "Did you break anything else?" she asked, not sure if he should be moved.
"Only my spirit, I suspect," he answers in a rare moment of melodrama, then shakes his head as he drags himself into a sitting position. It isn't so bad, Mathias knows, and he has no reason to be quite so dramatic. He isn't dead. He made it out of the mineshaft alive and that has to count for something.
"It's harder to keep up with her on crutches than I realized," he says. It's his own fault, plunging headlong into the ruins without so much as a glance around and he knows he's the only one to blame for his broken leg. Whoever is at fault, it's still difficult, but he can hardly blame Sam for wanting to run.
"She does seem to be getting faster, now that you're slower," River agreed, looking back to make sure Sam hadn't run off again. She stood next to Zoe's stroller, surrounded by milling dogs, and River knew the little girls would be okay for a few minutes while she helped Mathias.
She found herself near tears as she bent to help him up. She had lost too much, and the thought of losing another person to something so ridiculous as falling down was too much to contemplate.
"Please be more careful with yourself," she said quietly.
"I'll try," Mathias promises in response, just as quietly. For River, of course, and for Sam and Lucy. There are few people on the island who rely on him, but there are those he still can't imagine leaving. To leave, anyway, would be to return to his death and even as frustrated as he can be, he loves his life.
"Thank you," he says, getting his crutches under his arms again and managing to stay upright. "I have a whole month still with this cast. Hopefully I'll be better at managing to move before the time is up." He can't imagine spending the next four weeks like this, struggling to move, struggling to keep up with Sam or even walk without something aching.
It was like a disaster waiting to happen, the guy in the cast and the toddler running off. Jacob winced when he saw the guy fall and ran after the little girl, offering his hand if she'd let him take her back to her dad (or what he guessed was her dad).
"What can I do?" he asked once he got back to the guy, wondering if a clinic trip was up next.
Mathias groans, but he manages to sit up, feeling a little silly that a complete stranger has watched him fall over and has had to rescue Sam from running off forever. "Just give me a moment," he says, his mouth twitching up into a smile very briefly before it's gone again.
"Thank you for grabbing her," he adds, looking at Sam, who's happily holding the other man's hand and looking at Mathias's cast. "Needs more fishes," she decides, pointing at the ones she's drawn.
"My friend has a cousin about her age," Jacob said, thinking about Claire back home and how she used to torture Quil. "She's a handful too so I figured it was better to go ahead and catch her for you since you uh...were otherwise occupied."
"Occupied with falling down," Mathias offers, another faint, tired grin stealing across his face. "One little girl and four dogs do end up being quite a handful. Especially with a broken leg." And he's the only one to blame for that, so he knows he shouldn't complain.
"I'm Mathias," he adds. "This is Sam and the dogs are Hak, King, Taser and Rembrandt."
It was easy enough for Xander to hear the shouted German ahead of him and to scoop up the little girl running by him. He knew Sam, had played with her when Helen babysat her. "And where do you think your going?" He held her on his hip as he retraced her steps back to Mathias. "Hey man, I caught this and I think it belongs to you..."
Xander caught on to Mathias' mood and frowned. "Hey...You okay Mathias?"
Mathias pulls himself into a sitting position and rubs his arm over his eyes, nodding at the same time. "Yes," he answers, looking up at Xander and Sam, offering them a smile. "Yes, just frustrated and a little tired." That is a bit of an understatement, but there's nothing he can change about that and complaining won't help anything.
"I was trying to catch up with her," he explains. "But the crutches can only go so fast, as I've discovered."
"You sure?" Xander asked, not quite believing his friend but he was willing to leave it at that if Mathias insisted. Disappearances were never easy to talk about until you were ready, as Xander knew all too well.
"You were running away from a man on crutches?" Xander said, turning his attention to the little girl in his arms. "You couldn't give him a head start?" He teased, hoping to lighten the mood a little.
"No," Sam says, but she's smiling, looking at Mathias and his cast. "Poor leg. He hurt it."
Mathias laughs a little, lifting his hand to his face and he scrubs it over his beard and then his eyes. It's easier to laugh when Sam isn't running away from him anymore. "Yes, I hurt it," he agrees. "And, yes, I'm sure. It is just one of those days."
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She blinked when she saw Sam surrounded by a tiny pack of dogs, and looked around for Mathias. Sam was a whirlwind on any given day, but she was alarmed to catch a glimpse of him ahead on the boardwalk. Scooping Sam up against her protests, Karen headed over.
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"Thank you," he says. "I couldn't keep up with her." And for the most part, Sam is good with him. She listens and follows rules, but she's still four and sometimes a little girl just needs to run.
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Karen crouched down and put Sam on the ground, looking her in the eye. "Don't move," she told her, for once completely serious and not the cool aunt Sam was used to.
She stood up a bit and turned to Mathias, holding both hands out to help him up.
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"Thank you," he says again. "I probably would have just been stuck there all afternoon." And Sam would have escaped with the dogs, leaving him to worry. He's genuinely grateful that there are so many people on the island willing to help out.
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"C'mon," he says, soles of his sneakers slapping against the boardwalk. "As your doctor, I feel like I probably ought to tell you...not to throw yourself around like this, man."
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"I have a little girl to keep up with," he says, sitting up, wincing as his blisters rub on the rough wood of the boardwalk. "But I promise I didn't do it on purpose."
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"C'mon. Let's get you up. I'm totally more solid than I look."
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"Thank you, Sam," he says, taking her hand gently, but putting more of his weight on Paul. "And thank you," he adds. "I might have ended lying there all afternoon."
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"Where's Mathias?" she asked. His misadventure on the second island still had her fretting over him. She peered down the boardwalk and caught a glimpse of him just in time to see him go down. "Stay with Zoe!" she ordered Samantha and the dogs in a tone that left no doubt she expected to be obeyed, and then she took off in a sprint toward her friend, sure that he'd hit his head or otherwise severely damaged himself.
She saw that at least he was conscious, and allowed a small moment of relief. "Did you break anything else?" she asked, not sure if he should be moved.
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"It's harder to keep up with her on crutches than I realized," he says. It's his own fault, plunging headlong into the ruins without so much as a glance around and he knows he's the only one to blame for his broken leg. Whoever is at fault, it's still difficult, but he can hardly blame Sam for wanting to run.
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She found herself near tears as she bent to help him up. She had lost too much, and the thought of losing another person to something so ridiculous as falling down was too much to contemplate.
"Please be more careful with yourself," she said quietly.
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"Thank you," he says, getting his crutches under his arms again and managing to stay upright. "I have a whole month still with this cast. Hopefully I'll be better at managing to move before the time is up." He can't imagine spending the next four weeks like this, struggling to move, struggling to keep up with Sam or even walk without something aching.
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"What can I do?" he asked once he got back to the guy, wondering if a clinic trip was up next.
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"Thank you for grabbing her," he adds, looking at Sam, who's happily holding the other man's hand and looking at Mathias's cast. "Needs more fishes," she decides, pointing at the ones she's drawn.
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"I'm Mathias," he adds. "This is Sam and the dogs are Hak, King, Taser and Rembrandt."
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Xander caught on to Mathias' mood and frowned. "Hey...You okay Mathias?"
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"I was trying to catch up with her," he explains. "But the crutches can only go so fast, as I've discovered."
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"You were running away from a man on crutches?" Xander said, turning his attention to the little girl in his arms. "You couldn't give him a head start?" He teased, hoping to lighten the mood a little.
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Mathias laughs a little, lifting his hand to his face and he scrubs it over his beard and then his eyes. It's easier to laugh when Sam isn't running away from him anymore. "Yes, I hurt it," he agrees. "And, yes, I'm sure. It is just one of those days."
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