Disclaimer: Gambit and the X-Men are copyright and property of Marvel Comics. I am making no money from this. Besides getting money out of me would be like getting blood out of turnip, it isn't gonna happen so don't even try to sue me. Any other characters you don't recognize and the plot in this story are owned by Tammy Zuleger. Anyone wishing to use them must get permission from me first.


Recovery
Part Three
Tammy

“How’re ya feelin’?” Austin asked as Remy lay back in bed.

“Tired,” Remy replied with a yawn and closed his eyes. He was full of pudding and mashed potatoes and noodles and ready for some sleep.

Austin used his empathy with animals to call Ice back to watch over the Cajun again. The big dog appeared and resumed her position on the bed beside Gambit. The Texan picked up the tray and went back to his work.

*****

As the days went by Remy’s health improved even though he was still on a restricted diet. Finally after much complaining and whining, he was allowed to eat what Tammy and Austin ate. However, Cajun and any other spicey foods were still off his menu. But being able to eat meat and vegetables again helped him recover in leaps and bounds. After a week of regular food, no one was able to keep him in the house any longer.

*****

Remy walked out into the warm morning sunshine, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply of the fresh mountain air. He walked over to the garage where his motorcycle had been parked. After opening the door he wheeled it outside to check for any major damage. He put down the heavy stand and started the engine. Remy smiled to himself as the Harley Davidson roared to life, he’d always loved the particular purr of his. His hand pulled back on the throttle and the bike roared like a lion. He shut the bike off and walked around it looking for any physical damage. There wasn’t any, the motorcycle was in mint condition as always. He wanted to get on it and ride so badly he could taste it, but he didn’t trust his reflexes just yet for it.

“You up ta some exercise?” Austin asked behind him.

Remy just about jumped out of his skin, only one other man had been able to sneak up on him like that and he didn’t want to remember him. “Doan do dat,” Remy snapped.

“What?”

“Sneak up on a guy like dat.”

“Oh, I’ll try ta walk a liddle more loudly then,” Austin teased. “So ya up ta some exercise?”

“Mebbe.”

“Come with me,” Austin said and began walking to the other side of the house.

Remy followed and saw what the Texan had been working on the past few weeks. He was repairing or rather rebuilding the back porch of the house. When Remy had first come here, he thought that Tammy was going to tear down the porch because it was too dangerous to even walk through. He saw that Austin was in the midst of stapling new screens into their frames.

“I’ll stretch the screen and you staple it onto the frame,” Austin instructed and handed Remy the staple gun.

“Gotcha,” Remy nodded.

*****

That evening Remy excused himself early so he could take a bath and soothe muscles that were sore from not being used while he was recovering in bed. He went into the upstairs bathroom and ran a hot bath. Remy opened the linen closet hoping to find some bath salts and smiled when he saw the almost full bottle of peach scented bubble bath. Feeling a little silly for indulging in a bubble bath, he poured several capfuls of the stuff under the faucet.

When the tub was full, he stripped off his clothes and settled into the hot, sudsy water. Remy sighed in pleasure as the water closed around his body, he felt better already. He reached over and turned the volume down on the radio he’d brought with him and grabbed the book he’d just started after supper. He leaned back onto the towels he was using for a pillow and fell into Bazil Broketail.

Several hours later there was a knock at the door. “Hey Remy, you all right in there?” Tammy asked.

“Yeah, why Chere?” he replied puzzled.

“You’ve been in there almost three hours,” she informed him.

“Really?” he asked surprised.

“Yeah, what’re you doin’ in there?”

“Readin’.”

“Thanks, just what I wanted to know.”

“Not dat kinda readin’. I’m takin’ a bath.”

“Maybe you should get out of there before I have to iron all the wrinkles out of you.”

“You leave my wrinkles outta dis.”

“Austin and I are going to bed, see you in the morning,” she said and walked to her bedroom.

Remy set his book down and noticed that the water was actually quite cool. He stood up with a shiver and grabbed one of the extra large towels to wrap around himself. After drying off and picking up his mess, he headed off to his own room. No sooner had he curled up under the covers, he was joined by the wolf. Her presence was a nightly routine now and he made extra room on the bed for her. As soon as they were both settled, Remy closed his eyes in sleep.