Days turned into weeks, and little by little, Nurse Bull rehabilitated Dr. Drake back to reasonable health, as the summer heat and sun shone down over the mountains.
Drake was finally able to move and walk around the cabin on his own, allowing much-needed relief to Bull. Bull used the time to get caught up on bounties and odd jobs around town, as well as any needed work on the cabin.
Drake now spent more and more time out on the front porch, in a wooden rocking chair, breathing in the crisp and clean mountain air. He was starting to get used to life in the mountains, off the grid, and away from all semblance of 24th-century tech, with the only technology being the boiler and septic tank system.
"Mornin'!" Bull chimed as he headed around the cabin, his hands holding a fishing pole and tackle box. "I'm gonna do some fishin' over at the lake. Wanna come? My kayak can fit two."
"Like?..." Drake was confused by the offer. "Use ancient fishing rod and line techniques to capture aquatic life for our daily consumption?"
Equally confused, Bull huffed, "Yeah."
Taking in a deep breath of fresh mountain air, Drake nodded. "Sure. I've never done it, and I've never seen it in person."
Bull chuffed and shook his head as Drake walked over to his side. "Seriously?... Never saw anyone fish?... ever?"
—
Drake found himself and Bull in a small two-person kayak, over a pristine mountain lake, formed in a dormant volcano filled with rainwater or an active spring. The lake was the final stop for many spawning fish, and the lake was always full of biters. The high elevation still allowed for the mountains around them to be covered in snow, and the water was bitterly cold.
"So you take your bait…" Bull instructed, showing the intricacies of baiting the line and fishing to a man who had zero desire to ever engage in the activity.
Drake looked up and around the picturesque mountain landscape, the lake, trees, and clouds in the sky.
"And cast!" Bull stated as he cast his fishing line far into the lake waters. "And now we sit, and wait, and drink!" He said, opening his cooler and pulling out a bottle of beer. "Want one?" He offered Drake a bottle.
Drake smiled, content with sitting in the kayak, looking at the landscape. "Sure. Never had one before."
With wide eyes, Bull asked, "Never?"
Drake shook his head as he tried to figure out how to open the contraption of a glass beer bottle.
"Never gone fishing. Never had a beer," Bull said, taking Drake's bottle and twisting it open with practiced ease. "And never opened a bottle neither. And somehow none of this surprises me." He sighed, leaning back in the kayak.
Then, out of the blue, Drake asked a question that had been bothering him since town, remnants of the mental tempest he had the night before. "Bull, do you have a family or kids?"
Slightly stunned and surprised by the question, Bull sulked. "Had." He took a swig of his beer. "Had a wife and kid. Both killed by a rogue Bull-maton. Kinda why I got into the ani-maton bounty business." Then he looked up at the young man across from him. "You?"
"Yes." Drake peered over the waters. "A wife named Claira, and a six-month-old son named Lior." Drake took a swig of his beer, his face grimacing at the taste of the unfamiliar beverage. "But… do I still have a family? I don't know. Time travel and temporal mechanics are weird." He paused, still gazing over the waters. "The longer I'm away, the less I'm tethered to that timeline."
Bull's eyebrows furrowed, trying to follow.
As Drake continued, "Do they go on like I never existed? Did I alter the timeline in the slightest, so we never became a family in the first place? Or is it like every other day, where if I ever make it back, it will be like I just left. Them not aging a day, and here I would have aged, months… years even."
Bull's face grew concerned.
"And if I never make it back…" Drake paused. "How long would it take before anyone even notices…" He took another swig of beer. "So, to answer your question, Bull, I don't know if I have a family."
Bull's face saddened with empathy and concern, and putting a gentle hand on Drake's knee, he said, "But at least you're not alone here."
A little uncomfortable and unsure of his emotions and feelings quite yet, Drake quickly stood up. Visibly uncomfortable, he held his beer bottle tightly in his hands, already feeling how much of a lightweight he was when it came to alcohol.
"Bull!" Drake stood at the far end of the kayak, visibly wrought. "I need to ask you, and you need to be honest."
Bull sat there, sorry he had caused so much visible discomfort.
"Are you gay?" Drake blurted out, a little inebriated. "Do you like men?"
Bull softly smirked. "Yeah, son. Sure am and sure do."
"Is that why everyone in town asked if I was your 'new boy'?" Drake blurted out.
Bull softly nodded again. "Probably. My last boyfriend got shot in a duel. All his fault too. Told him not to, that he was out of his league."
Drake, still visibly uncomfortable, looked around. "Do… do you like me, Bull?"
Bull softly dropped his head.
"Answer me, Bull." Drake demanded impatiently. "I see the way you look at me when you think I'm not looking. The way you lean over me to grab something on the shelf. Brush up against me as you walk by." Drake blurted out, half-angry, half-inquisitive, fully inebriated. "It doesn't take a doctorate degree to see when someone is sexually into someone else."
Bull looked back up and smiled.
Before Bull could answer, the glittering reflection of Drake's beer bottle caught the attention of a rogue Aqua-maton. The seven-foot mechanical salmon charged the boat, ramming the bow and knocking Drake into the icy mountain water, which was barely above freezing.
Drake flopped and flailed his arms with abandon, starting to sink down. The mechanical fish, sensing it was not a bird or fly, immediately retreated into the depths of the lake, leaving the frantic human in the waters. Suddenly, large burly hands grabbed his collar as Bull yanked and hoisted him aboard.
"Lemme guess… never learned to swim either?" Bull grimaced at Drake. But the scowl quickly turned to worry and dread, as the icy cold waters had enough time to completely drench, chill, and freeze Drake to his core.
His lips were purple, his teeth chattering, and he was unable to answer.
"Oh, hang on, son." Bull pulled the oars out and frantically started paddling back to shore. "Hang on, Drake. I'm getting you back to the cabin lickety-split!"
—
Bull kicked the cabin door open, holding a sopping wet and dangerously cold Drake in his arms. The mountain air and freezing water had dropped his body temperature to dangerously low levels. Drake was pale blue, his lips were purple, and his hands and feet were numb, convulsing from the cold.
All the signs of severe hypothermia.