Chapter Text
Getting back to Baran’s house was a bit of a mystery for Trinity. One second she was still in the hospital, the next, she woke up on Baran Al-Hashimi’s very comfortable couch. Her leg was propped up while her Spider-Man blanket was wrapped around her shoulders with Conor the Cow tucked under her arm. How she didn’t wake up panicking was beyond her thought process right now as she started to take in her surroundings and noticed a small little boy looking at her. He didn’t say anything, just looked at her with kind brown eyes and a soft expression on his face. Kind brown eyes and soft brown curls covering most of his forehead. It only took another few quiet seconds for her to place him. This is Baran’s son.
“I like your cow” He said quietly, like if he spoke too loudly, he would break moment.
“Cows are my favorite farm animal, my friend Dennis gave this to me for Christmas last year because he knew how much I like them. Do you have a favorite farm animal?” She asked, as she spoke she could feel the heaviness of her limbs from the fog of the pain killers still pumping through her veins.
“I like horses, I got to ride one when we went on a trip with camp last summer.” He said softly.
“Horses are cool, good choice little man.” Trinity said and held out her fist for a fist bump. He looked at it for a few long seconds and the thought that she was going to be left hanging drifted into her mind before his little fist bumped into hers. It made Trinity smile for a second before something white caught her attention.
Trinity knows she is high from whatever pill they gave her as she was leaving the hospital, but she is like 95% sure that there is a wolf staring at her right now. The majestic creature was just sitting on the floor in front of the couch watching the pair of them with serious eyes, tracking every movement.
“Little man” Trinity said quietly to get the boys attention again. Once she had it, she nodded at the wolf standing at attention in front of him on the floor. “You see the wolf too, right?” Wanting to check in to make sure she wasn’t just hallucinating this whole moment.
The little boy smiled before laughing so hard he had to put his hand over his stomach to keep himself upright on the couch, but Trinity didn’t understand why he found that funny. The wolf looked like they would eat the small child as a snack before going back to Trinity as the main course.
“Roya isn’t a wolf, she’s a dog, our dog.” He said and then gently pat his lap twice, only a second later, the wolf, correction, dog, jumped onto the couch and rested her head on his lap.
“Are you sure?” Trinity asked, still a little concerned.
“Absolutely, I promise she’s a good doggie. You can pet her if you want, just let her smell you first.” He said as he gave the creature slow pets along her spine.
Trinity was curious, she had never pet a wolf before. Slowly, she extended her hand out, palm up and open and rested it on the couch in front of the wolfs nose. Trinity could feel her take a few sniffs her hand before she was satisfied and just dropped her head down in Trinity’s open palm.
“See, she likes you.” The little boy said confidently and Trinity just stared into the wolves’ open eyes. The onyx eyes were staring back into her soul like she knew all of Trinity’s secrets, but for once in her life, Trinity wanted to be seen, to be worthy of this creature’s approval.
But then, the moment was broken when a hand cupped her shoulder, pulling her eyes away. Trinity tilted her head up and saw Baran standing above her from the other side of the couch and Trinity’s brain almost short circuited. She is wearing a cream linen tank top with layered gold necklaces glittering in the sun outlining her from behind. Her hear is down in waves and everything in Trinity’s being wants to run her hands through it, to see if it feels as soft as it looks. When Trinity finally connects her eyes with Barans, she saw a twinkle in them and she couldn’t help the blush spreading across her cheeks.
“How are you feeling” Baran asked, still standing above her. It took a second for Trinity to swallow and get some relief in her dry throat before she was able to answer.
“You know you have a wolf that’s masquerading as a dog, right?”
A smile spread across Barans lips before a laugh tumbled out of her mouth and it made butterflies take flight in Trinity’s stomach. What is happening?
“I promise Roya isn’t a wolf, she is just very wolf like in appearance.” Baran said and finally came around the front of the couch to sit down on the edge of chaise where her leg is propped up.
“I told you she’s a dog” The little boy next to her said again and Trinity finally pulled her eyes away from Baran to look over at him.
“Shush tiny human.” Trinity said but still couldn’t move her hand as Roya’s head was still placed in it.
“Did you introduce yourself baby?” Baran said and raised one of her perfect eyebrows at him and Trinity watched as he folded instantly.
“No, I’m Ehsan Al-Hashimi, what’s your name?” Ehsan asked.
“Trinity Santos, nice to meet you little man.” Trinity finally pulled her hand out from under Roya and held it out to Ehsan. He looked at it for a second before taking it in his own and gave it one good shake before letting go.
“How about you take Roya outside to play, Baba fixed your net.” Baran said. Ehsan wasted no time, he tapped Roya twice on her neck and she hopped off his lap and onto the floor. Trinity watched Baran as she tracked Ehsan through the house before she heard a door open and then shut. Once it was closed Baran turned her attention back to Trinity, her hand back on her shoulder that escaped the blanket wrapped around her.
“How are you feeling, for real this time.” Baran asked quietly, just like her son had a few minutes ago.
“I’m okay, still a bit high, I don’t really remember how I got here” Trinity answered and for once, the lapse of memory didn’t scare her, because she was certain that she was safe because whatever happened, Baran was there.
“Emery and Samira helped me get you into the car and then when we got back here, my ex-husband and his partner helped me get you inside and settled on the couch. You’ve been sleeping since.” Baran said.
That was a lot of information for her still high self to retain so she just nodded and slowly started to sit up on the couch. But doing so pulled her leg off the pillow hill it was resting on. When her leg slid off and bounced onto the couch, Trinity could feel the dull throb of it cut through the pain killer fog.
“Fuck” It slipped out as Trinity gripped the couch when the wave of pain rolled through her.
“Easy” Baran said and turned and saw that Trinity’s leg wasn’t on the pillows any longer. She quickly moved the pillows and propped Trinity’s leg back up so it would be elevated. It took a few long seconds for the pain to dissipate and Trinity was able to take a breath again. “You okay?”
Baran was looking at her with care that Trinity hasn’t been on the receiving side of in years. It took her a second to swallow down that feeling before nodding.
“Yea, the drugs dulled the pain after a few seconds.”
“How would you feel about eating something?” Baran asked and Trinity could see her reigning in the care in her eyes, like she showed too much. But before Trinity could even answer, they both heard the rumble of her stomach. Baran’s lips twitched into a smile. “I’m going to take that as a yes”
Trinity could only nod and return the smile. Baran gave her shoulder a squeeze then slid off the couch and bent down to pick up the crutches Trinity is going to have to use for the next month. With them propped up against the couch, Baran turned her attention to Trinity again.
“Think you can stand from the couch on your own?” She asked as she pulled Trinity’s leg off the pillows and set is gently onto the couch.
“Probably, if you give me a little help.” Trinity was already spinning to sit on the side of the couch, her left foot firmly on the floor. When she looked up, Baran was standing in front of her with her arms out, waiting for Trinity to be ready. Once she was, Trinity grabbed hold of Barans forearms and slowly pulled herself up. Now standing, Trinity quickly found her balance and looked up to find that Baran had her whole focus on Trinity, her brown eyes looking back into her own and she was standing way too close. A light dust of pink appeared across Baran’s high cheek bones and one thought went through Trinity’s mind. I’m not imagining this. Baran turned slightly and grabbed the crutches and handed them to Trinity. After making sure she was settled on with them, she finally stepped away and walked towards the kitchen leaving Trinity to follow behind her.
Trinity was able to take in Barans home while they walked. The whole first floor had an open floor plan. The kitchen, dining area and living room were all one big communal space that fit perfectly. While the entry way was painted white, the outer wall of the living room was painted a light maroon color, on either side of the large flat screen mounted in the middle of the wall were framed photos. Some were framed art pieces, others were what looked like family photos, then there were some landscapes that definitely have some kind of meaning to Baran. They wouldn’t end up on her wall if they didn’t.
Slowly, she ended up in the kitchen, standing against the large island in the middle of it and watched as Baran went into the fridge and pulled out a few Tupperware.
“Princess and Perlah handed me a bag as we were leaving of food for you. Told me to warm it up when you were ready to eat. It looks like some kind of soup then there were also the Lumpia that Emery gave to me from earlier.” Baran said as she stacked the containers on the island.
Trinity walked over to her and looked over the dishes and it felt like her heart was pumping twice in her chest to keep up with her emotional swings.
“Uhm, lets go with the Lumpia for now. What time is it?” Trinity asked as she looked around the kitchen.
“A little before 5, you were out for a while.” Baran answered as she moved around the kitchen. Trinity let her do her thing while she walked over towards the back door.
Outside she watched as Ehsan ran from one side of the yard to the other kicking a soccer ball along as he went. Roya laying in the grass just watching him play.
“How old is he?” Trinity found herself asking as she watching him pull back and kick the ball hard into the soccer net to score. He ran around in circles with his arms raised like he just scored a game winning goal in the World Cup.
“He’s eight, just the perfect age where he’ll still come and give me hug when he gets home from school and hold my hand while crossing the street but loves to go hang out with his friends after soccer games and wants nothing to do with me.” Baran said and suddenly was standing next to Trinity watching Ehsan as well. He got the ball out from the net and put it in front of Roya who looked at it then back to him before getting up and kicking it in his direction. The pair worked the ball across the yard again and Ehsan kicked it into the net again.
“He seems pretty good” Trinity said and watched as Roya jumped up to celebrate with Ehsan this time.
“He better be with all travel soccer he does. Between Nasir, Kamal and I, driving him around to these tournaments it’s like another full-time job.” Baran answered before moving back to the kitchen.
“Nasir and Kamal?” Trinity asked still watching Ehsan through the back door.
“My ex-husband and his partner, want to see if this is warm enough on the inside?” Baran asked and that pulled Trinity from looking out the back door. She made her way over to the island and took a seat at one of the barstools that was tucked under the lip. A glass of water was slid over as Trinity took a bite. They were perfect.
Trinity made her way through the lumpia Baran warmed up for her while the other women made her way outside. Roya and her seemingly switched places as she came back inside while Baran went out and continued to play with Ehsan. After taking a long drink from her water bowl, Roya came and sat down next to Trinity. She looked down from her plate to find Roya looking up at her.
“Doesn’t matter what they say, I know you’re at least part wolf.” Trinity said and then watched as Roya muzzled her nose into Trinity’s leg and settled against it, almost like she was agreeing. As she finished her plate, Trinity could hear Baran and Ehsan laughing from the backyard and warmth settled into her chest. Is this what having a stable home life feels like?
After lunch/dinner, Trinity went outside and sat down on the deck and watched as Baran and Ehsan played soccer for a little while. Ehsan wanted to try and include Trinity but with her limited mobility, she really couldn’t do much except throwing the ball back in whenever he would kick it in her direction. The heat got to her pretty fast though and she returned to the couch and laid back down. That was when she found her phone on the coffee table. There were a bunch of text messages waiting for her when she flipped her phone over. She left most of them alone, only going into her text thread with Dennis to send him a text with a list of mostly clothes she wants from the apartment with Baran’s address. It didn’t take long after propping her leg up on the pillow again for her to fall asleep.
She didn’t know when it was, but sometime later a hand shook her shoulder gently and woke her up. Baran was sitting next to her on the couch, hair damp, dressed in an worn old Stanford tee shirt and a pair of sleep shorts.
“Time for bed” She said softly.
It took Trinity a few seconds to get up off the couch and follow Baran down the hall. She showed her the bathroom that is next to the guest room then to guest room itself. A lamp on the nightstand was the only light on in the room as she took it in. The room itself is bigger then her room at the apartment. A large queen-sized bed was in the middle of the room with a few tasteful art prints hung on the wall. In between them sat another flat screen that was playing an old episode of Diners Drive Ins and Dives on a low volume.
“Doctor Whitaker dropped off a duffle bag of clothes and stuff for you a little while ago. He didn’t want to wake you when he saw you sleeping, but he did leave you a surprise on your cast.” Baran said as Trinity took a seat on the bed.
Trinity looked at her funny before looking down at her leg. Sitting close to the top of the cast was a drawing of an ear of corn with a small DW off to one side of it. It almost made Trinity cry.
“Meds before bed, tomorrow when you’re more with it, you can really go over the paperwork from Emery about your own medication, but for now, here you go.” Baran said and held out a hand with two pills in it. One she is guessing is another pain killer and the other some more antibiotics. Trinity didn’t question it, just swallowed them back and chased them down with some water that was also handed to her from Baran.
“Ehsan and I are asleep upstairs, you have my phone number if you need anything during the night and it looks like Roya is going to keep you company if you’re okay with it.” Baran said and watched as the dog walked into the room and sat down next to Trintiy.
“Yea she can stay.” She said quietly as put a hand down on Roya’s head.
“Do you need anything before I go?” Baran asked, her hands twisting in front of her, looking like she didn’t know whether she should stay or go. When Trinity clocked them, Baran put her hands behind her back, blocking them from view.
“I think I’m okay, if not, the wolf will come and get you.” Trinity answered, small smile on her face.
“Still not a wolf.” Baran said with a laugh.
“And I still don’t believe you.” Trinity answered with a smile, Roya letting out a little huff, almost like she wouldn’t agree or disagree with either of them before resting against Trinity’s leg.
“Traitor, goodnight Trinity” Baran said softly enough that it made butterfly take flight in Trinity’s stomach.
“Goodnight Baran” Trinity answered and watched as Baran turned around and walked out the door, her hands still twisting around each other.
Trinity sat in the quiet of the guest room for another minute before going through the duffle bag that Dennis packed for her to find he had happened to pack almost every single one of her novelty thrifted graphic tees. She found her pink, ‘it’s a bad day to be a hot dog’ shirt and another pair of shorts along with her toilet tree bag before making her way to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Roya followed along beside her as she made her way through her nightly routine before getting back to the guest room and getting into bed.
Conor the Cow was tucked under her arm as she settled and Roya was laying in the space next to her as Guy Fieri spoke about a new cheesesteak spot that opened in Philly that lulled her to sleep.