Chapter two y'all! Get excited!

Clara put the last of Danny's things into his bag.

"Are you excited to get going?" she asked.

Danny nodded. "Absolutely. I'm sick of this place."

At that moment, the nurse walked in.

"Sorry," Danny said sheepishly. "The nurses and doctors are lovely, I just want to be home."

"Don't worry about it, we hear that a lot," the nurse said. She handed Danny his discharge paperwork. "Fill this out and you'll be all set."

Danny started to fill out the small mountain of paperwork.

Clara set the bag on the bed next to him. "Bag's all packed. Is there anything else I can do?"

"No," Danny said, looking up from the papers for a second. "This won't take long, just hang out for a second."

"Okay," Clara said.

"Are you sure you're okay with me coming home?"

"Danny, of course," Clara said. "You said so yourself, you're my husband. You belong at home with me."

"So you're not angry?" Danny asked, slightly amused.

"No, I'm still very cross with you," Clara said, also in a slightly joking tone. She meant it, though, and he knew that. "I can multitask, though. We can work on getting you better and we can work on getting us better."

"Let's do that," Danny said.

-DW-

"You alright?" Clara asked as she watched Danny move toward the house. He was on crutches but he could move pretty independently.

Except when stairs were involved, that is.

"Yep," Danny said, reaching the three steps in front of the house.

Clara hurried to catch up to him. She went to the top of the stairs and extended and hand down to him.

"Here," she said.

"Thanks," he replied, taking her hand and using it help himself up the stairs.

They made it inside. Clara put Danny's bags down and then turned to him.

"Do you want to be set up in here or in the bedroom?"

"Here's fine," Danny said. "If you'll come join me."

Clara gave him a look, like Nice try.

"I'm going to throw your clothes in the laundry," Clara said. "And get started on lunch. Take a nap or watch telly or something. I think your club is playing today."

"Come on, all that can wait," Danny said.

Clara was already walking into the kitchen. "Does soup sound good for lunch?"

Danny laughed a bit. "Yeah, that's fine."

Clara paused for a second. It had been months since she heard him laugh. She smiled a little bit, despite herself.

Danny, out of her sight in the lounge, smiled to himself too. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed with Clara. Having Tom around for the last few days was really good for him. He knew that Clara needed time away from him and if he was being honest, he knew he needed time away from her, too. Tom was a good friend who really helped him. It had been a little over a week since he came back and he felt good.

-DW-

Clara sat at the end of the couch, with Danny sitting up and leaning against her. He had his feet spread across the couch.

"It's good to eat food that isn't from a mess hall or a hospital," Danny said.

"I imagine so," Clara replied.

"Thank you for letting me come home," Danny said.

"Don't thank me," Clara said. "I'm not doing you some huge favor, you belong here."

"Still, I hurt you pretty badly when I left," Danny said.

Clara froze. Danny could see her tighten her jaw, a sign that she was getting emotional.

"Yeah, you did," Clara agreed.

"And to leave so soon after what happened…"

"I don't want to talk about that," Clara said.

"How have you been?" Danny asked.

"In the past week or in the past four months?"

"Either," Danny said. "Both."

"The last week has been hard but I reckon you've had a worse go of it," Clara said, earning a small chuckle from Danny. "And the last four months were really hard. I tried to understand why you'd gone and I even started to understand. But I never understood why you went how you did. I never understood why you couldn't talk to me about it and why you ran off. You didn't even tell me in person, Danny. You left me a voicemail."

Danny stared stoically into the distance. It'd been months and he still felt guilt.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep in the beginning," Clara said. "You know how I am, when I'm upset or hurt I stay up and do things I shouldn't. I must've listened to that voicemail a hundred times."

"Why?" Danny asked.

"The worst part of it was that you weren't mean at all," Clara said. "You made it very clear how much you loved me. But it was also clear that I wasn't what you needed and that hurt."

"I do need you, Clara," Danny said. "If I learned anything in these past few months, it was that I need you."

"You chose to go to a warzone rather than stay with me, Danny."

"You didn't answer my calls when I was gone," Danny said. "Were you punishing me?"

Clara took a moment to think, but her answer was her admission. "A bit."

Danny nodded. "I deserve that."

"No, you don't," Clara said. Danny looked up at her. "Or you do, I don't know. I didn't know what you were going to say. I didn't know what I would say. That scared me."

"But you emailed," Danny said.

"I could spend hours planning what to say," Clara said. "Phone calls put you on the spot. I didn't want to say anything I'd regret."

Danny finished his soup and put the empty bowl on the coffee table. He nestled his head closer to Clara.

"What would you have said if I had answered your calls?" Clara asked.

"I don't know," Danny admitted. "I just needed to hear your voice. The way I left things and the way things were over there….you just need to hear from the people you love, you know? And I understand why you didn't answer, I do."

Clara sighed as she put her bowl down as well. She started running a hand through Danny's short hair. "I don't want to punish you. That's not us, that's never been us."

"I feel like I deserve it, though," Danny said. "I don't understand why I did what I did but I don't regret it. Even though I know how badly it hurt you."

Clara was quiet for a while. She tried to wipe away a tear without Danny noticing, but he saw anyway.

"I know that I'll never understand what it is like for you to have been over there," she started. "You can tell me everything that's happened and I still won't truly understand what you and your mates went through over there. So I suppose I'll never understand the things you need to do to get through it."

"I should've told you," Danny said. "I should've told you when I re-enlisted, I should've told you that I was shipping out."

"Yeah, you should've," Clara said. "We could've dealt with it then, rather than waiting four months."

"I was scared to admit that I was doing this," Danny said. "I knew that I couldn't explain myself and so I didn't want to. I avoided it. I hid from it."

"We can't change it," Clara said. "We just have to go forward."

-DW-

Clara wrapped a towel around herself and opened the bathroom door. After living alone for four months, she wasn't used to having Danny back.

"Oh!" she yelled as she walked into the hallway and saw Danny there.

"Sorry!" Danny said. "Did I surprise you?"

Clara nodded. "What are you doing up?" she asked. "How did you get up?"

"I got myself up," he said. "And the doctor said to walk around a few times a day, get blood flowing. I'm going to start my home physical therapy exercises in a bit, too."

"Okay," Clara said. "Let me get dressed then I'll get you set up."

Danny took in Clara for the first time in that conversation. She didn't have any makeup on, her hair was wet and a mess, and she was wrapped in just a towel. She was already short but without any shoes on, she looked even shorter. He always loved how Clara looked, no matter what, but once they got married he discovered that his favorite looks for her where how she looked around the house. Without makeup on, without any clothes, not in a sexual way, just in the way that this was her in her simplest form. This was Clara with her guard down. She wasn't trying to look taller or bigger or older, she was herself. Danny missed that.

Clara noticed that Danny was basically just staring at her and she fidgeted with her towel, trying to cover herself more. She'd always been comfortable and confident in her body, makeup or not, but it still had been months since she'd been around Danny.

"Go get dressed," Danny said. "I think I'm going to do another lap up and down the hallway, then do my exercises."

"I'll be right back," Clara said.

Danny started heading back down the hall. He came to a closed door.

"Is this room clear?" he asked, pushing the door open slightly.

"No!" Clara practically yelled as she practically ran in front of him and shut the door. "Don't go in there!"

Danny's face fell. "Clara…"

"Just…don't go in there," she said.

"We need to talk about that," Danny said.

"That is the last thing we need to talk about," Clara said, pointing at the door.

"Clara this isn't healthy."

"Let me handle it," she said.

"Let you handle it?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, I'll leave you a voicemail letting you know I'm dealing with it."

Danny made a shocked face.

"You're right, we have other things to talk about," he said.

Clara's face fell. "Danny, wait."

"Get dressed," he called behind himself as he turned from her and the door and went down the hall. "We're not going to get through this in a day. It's going to take time and there is a lot going on. Get dressed and do whatever you do, and I'll do what I'm supposed to do."

-DW-

Clara stood in the kitchen, finishing up some laundry. Through the door she could see Danny doing his physical therapy. She could hear him, too. He was breathing hard and clearly was in pain.

She felt bad about how she snapped at him before. They had so much to work through and her snapping at him wasn't helping anything. She didn't know what to say to him to make it better. She hadn't know what to say to him for months.

She looked around her kitchen. Her eyes fell upon the phone. It felt weird to have a landline phone still, but it came in handy.

"See you next week, Doctor," Clara said.

"Are you sure you want to come every week?" he asked. "We went away for a while this time. Maybe take a break."

Clara stopped and turned to look at him. "Are you sending me away?"

"No," the Doctor said. "I'm just saying that running away isn't good for you."

Clara waved her finger at him, pointing him out. "This whole supportive, advice-giving, all-knowing best friend thing is weird."

The Doctor smirked. "As an all-knowing being, let me tell you that doing this won't make it better. It won't make it easier. Trust me."

"I do trust you," Clara said. "And I'm not running. With Danny gone, I have more time for this. I've missed this."

"You're welcome any time," the Doctor said.

Clara smiled. "Thank y-."

"Except when I don't want you around and when I'm busy," he said. "And when you're running from your problems."

Clara rolled her eyes. "There you are."

"Go on now, go home," the Doctor said. "I'll see you next week."

Clara left the TARDIS. "Bye!" she called over her shoulder.

She put her bag down and walked into the kitchen. It was weird, while she traveled with the Doctor, basic needs like sleep and food tended to fall to the wayside. As soon as she'd get home, though – especially after a long trip – she'd immediately feel the sleepiness and hunger that she'd been putting off.

So, she set herself about making some food. She noticed the phone and its blinking red light, signaling that she had messages.

She pressed the button and played them while she made her food.

"Hello, I'm calling for Clara Pink," came a voice from the machine. "I'm from London General Hospital. Give us a call back at your earliest convenience, this is a rather urgent matter."

"That was weird," Clara said to herself as she heard the machine start to play the next message.

"Hello, I'm calling again for Clara Pink," the same voice said. "I phoned yesterday about an urgent matter here at London General Hospital. I can't disclose the matter until you phone us back, so please ring us at this number. Thank you."

Clara felt herself start to become concerned. She'd been to that hospital before, but that was months prior to this. She didn't know why they'd be calling and she was starting to get scared.

There was another message with the same information in it from that day, so she called the number they gave.

"Hello, this is Clara Pink," she said nervously. "I've been getting phone calls from this number, saying there is an urgent matter regarding me at the hospital?"

"One moment please, let me transfer you to the proper department."

"Thanks," Clara said, starting to pace her kitchen floor as she listened to the hold music.

"Hello, Critical Care Department," came a voice after what was probably a minute or so but felt like a long while.

"Hi!" Clara said, starting to panic a bit. "This is Clara Pink, I had a message from this hospital on my phone."

"Yes, hello Mrs. Pink," the voice said. "I'm a nurse here, my name is Joan Murphy. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but we have your husband here with us."

Clara immediately felt like she'd been punched in the chest.

"What?" she asked. "No, he's overseas, he's in the army. He's not in London."

"I'm afraid there was an accident when he was with the army," the nurse said. "They transferred him here. He's been here for three days now and he was in hospital over there for a night. He was stable enough to come home so we performed surgery on him here."

"Oh my stars…" Clara said. She leaned against the counter, unable to hold herself up anymore. "What happened? Is he alright?"

"He was hit with shrapnel from an explosion," the nurse explained. "We performed surgery and were able to save his legs, though he had severe damage. The doctor will be able to explain more once you come round."

"Yes, of course, I'll come now," Clara said. "He's going to be alright, though, yeah?"

"You'll need to talk to the doctor when you arrive," the nurse said. "Mr. Pink is awake, though. He's been asking for you."

"Thank you," Clara said, then ended the phone call. She slid down against the counter, so that she was sitting on the floor. Before she could stop herself, she was sobbing.

She managed to control it after a few minutes, though. She stood up, wiped her eyes, grabbed her keys, and left.

The red light on the phone wasn't blinking anymore. Clara had listened to the messages and no one else really called the landline, except her father sometimes when he couldn't reach her on her mobile phone. All in all, though, she'd be very happy if she never had to listen to another voicemail or answering machine message again.

-DW-

Clara sat on the floor facing Danny, who sat up on the couch. He had his legs almost straight out, so that his feet were on the floor but his legs weren't touching the couch.

"Ready?" Clara asked him.

Danny nodded, and Clara began to as-gently-as-possible remove the dressing from his legs.

Despite her caution, Danny winced.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, wanting to do it as quickly as possible but not wanting to hurry and hurt him more.

"No, it's fine," Danny said, almost hissing.

"Yeah, you sound fine."

"It just stings."

"I'm almost done," Clara said. And soon, she was done. "There."

"Now the real fun begins," Danny said. He handed Clara a tube of ointment. "The doctor said don't use too much, just enough to cover the wounds."

"Yep, I remember," Clara said. "He also said it would sting, too, so let me know if I need to stop or slow down."

"It's fine, just get it over with."

Clara nodded and started. Danny let out a few pained breaths as Clara applied the medicine.

"What is this stuff, anyway?" Clara said. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's this new substance," Danny replied, wincing. "It's meant to prevent infection while also promoting muscle and tissue regeneration. Basically it'll make my legs heal faster."

"Sounds like science fiction," Clara replied. "Like a miracle goo that'll magically regrow tissue."

Danny laughed. "Yeah, a bit, actually. I kind of feel like a lab experiment, to be honest."

Clara smiled as she started to apply clean bandages.

"And I am starting to feel like a mummy," Danny added.

Clara laughed. "Well, if the bandages fit…"

Danny laughed as well but didn't say anything else.

"So how did your exercises go?"

"They went well," Danny said. "I did them in here and it was fine. I had plenty of room."

Clara felt a little pang of guilt. "Danny, about before…"

"You were right, we don't need to talk about it now."

"No, we don't," Clara agreed. "But that doesn't excuse my behavior. I've been thinking, and I think I just wasn't ready for you to be back yet."

Danny made a face like he was surprised by that and also a little hurt.

"You're back a lot sooner than I thought you'd be," Clara said. "And you came back hurt. There is a lot happening right now that I need to deal with."

"Clara, it's been months…"

"I know," Clara said.

"You should be better by now."

"Are you better?" Clara asked. "Are you completely over it, like it never happened?"

"Of course not," Danny said. "It takes time. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Clara paused to think. "I'm working on it," she said finally.

"You don't have to work on it alone," Danny said. "I'm here. When I'm better, I can help you clean out the room."

"That'd be good," Clara said. "We'll do it together."

Clara had finished applying the bandages, so Danny readjusted his sitting position so he was more comfortable. He left enough room on the couch for Clara to sit with him.

"Sit with me," he said.

Clara sat next to him. Danny put an arm around her and she didn't pull away. In fact, she leaned into his shoulder a bit.

"Does that hurt?"

Danny shook his head. "No, it's fine. It feels good."

"I want us to get through this," Clara said. "I don't know how we'll do it. There is so much for us to get through."

"We'll do it," Danny said. "I promise."

"I am sorry about before," Clara said.

"You don't need to apologize."

"Yes I do," Clara said. "We both got ourselves in this situation. There were parts of this that we couldn't control and parts that we did to ourselves. I did things wrong too. I have a lot of fault in this."

"What happened before I left wasn't your fault, Clara."

"Maybe it's not, but that's not what I'm talking about," Clara said. "How I handled what happened, how I pushed you away, that contribute to this. What happened happened to us, not just me. I'm sorry I was so selfish."

"You weren't selfish," Danny said. "I don't know how we were supposed to handle it. I don't know how we were supposed to handle any of it."

"I'm better," Clara said. "I really am."

"I'm glad."

"Are you better?" Clara asked. "You left because you needed to go find whatever it was you were missing. Did you find what you needed?"

"I think so."

"I'm glad," Clara said.

They were both quiet for a few moments. Then, they both spoke at once.

"There's something I need-." Clara started.

"I love you," Danny said.

Clara's expression softened. "I love you too."

"Sorry to cut you off, I just needed to say it. I know things aren't good right now but you're making them better. You're giving us a chance to make it better together. So, thank you. And I love you."

"I love you too."

Danny smiled. "So, what were you going to say?"

"Nothing," Clara said.

"You sounded like you needed to tell me something."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you, my dad is coming tomorrow."

"What?"

"He'd been planning to visit for a while and with everything that's been happening, it just slipped my mind. He called me earlier to remind me."

"Does he know about everything?"

Clara shook her head.

Danny sighed a bit. "Well, he's going to be in for a bit of a shock."

"We'd have to tell him eventually," Clara said. "He loves you, you know that."

"I bet he's not real fond of me right now."

"He'll get over it," Clara said.

"Did he visit a lot when I was gone?"

"More often than usual, but not a whole lot," Clara said. "We wouldn't really talk a lot. I didn't want to talk about anything so he'd do all the talking. He's been renovating the house. He's sent some pictures, it looks really good."

Danny still didn't look excited about his father-in-law coming.

"Let's just get it over with, okay?" Clara said. "It's not like I can tell him not to come, he'll know something is going on. I'll explain it to him when I pick him up."

Danny yawned, he couldn't help himself.

"You should get some sleep."

"No, I'm good," Danny said. "I don't want to sleep yet."

"Okay," Clara said. "How about a movie? It's a Friday night, there must be a movie on telly somewhere."

Danny nodded in agreement and handed Clara the remote control. He watched as she tried to find something good to watch. He smiled. The past week, the past few months, the past year had been unbelievably difficult for them. He knew that they had a lot of work to do, but for the first time he really, truly believed that they'd be alright.

So that's the end of this chapter. Please leave a review letting me know what you think!