She walked from the station, with her own thoughts confusing her with every word, when his truck pulled up along side her.
"Hey… What happened?"
"I got suspended. You?"
"I got yelled at…and then I got suspended"
"…Sam…" she searched for words but didn't know where to start. There was so much she wanted to say to him at that moment.
"Want to try being normal together?" He asked with a small smile.
"How are we going to do that?"
"I don't know – I have no idea".
She smiled at him, and said, "I guess we are just going to have to figure it out together".
"Well jump in then, I can't wait to see where this is going"
She smiled and got into his truck. Just a few blocks from Sam's apartment, Andy directed him to pull over at a local market. He really just wanted to get home, but complied since he knew there was nothing in his apartment since he had been gone for a month. Andy assured him she would be quick, and made her way into the store. More quickly than he expected, she returned to the truck carrying three big grocery bags.
When they arrived at Sam's place, he had insisted on helping her with the groceries, despite his injuries and her protests. He set them on the kitchen counter, and she asked where the bathroom was. He directed her to it and she said she would be right back, after she grabbed something from one of the grocery bags.
Sam began to unpack the items she bought. One bag was full of practically every medical supply he could think of - aspirin, pain medication, ligament cream, peroxide, bandages, gauze, ice packs, heating pads, etc.
The other two bags were filled with grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, orange juice, beer, some frozen pizzas, cold cuts, bread, eggs, coffee, milk, bacon, and a few other household essentials. He laughed as he unpacked the last two things in the bag – two pints of ice cream – pistachio and chocolate.
He then heard Andy call out from the bedroom –
"Sam where are the linens? Never mind, I found them"
He wondered what she was up to and headed into the bedroom to find her changing the sheets on his bed.
"What are you doing?" He asked her.
"What? I figured you'd want to sleep on fresh sheets. Any way, I am almost done. You get undressed and get in there" she said pointing at the bathroom. He looked in the bathroom to find that she had drawn him a hot bath.
"McNally, real men don't take bubble baths", he joked.
"Oh, shut up and get in. Besides, it's not a bubble bath, I put in Epson salt. It will help with the aches."
He started to protest again but quickly stopped when she slid up next to him. She looked into his eyes and said softly, "Just get in. It is my turn to take care of you for a change".
He kissed the top of her head and held up his hands in defeat. She helped him out of his clothes and into the bath.
"What your not going to join me?" he joked
She smiled, "Not this time" and she gingerly washed his back and arms and torso with a washcloth. Once the water started to cool, she told him to finish up as she laid out a towel for him and made her way into the kitchen.
Ten minutes or so had passed before he made his way out of the bathroom and into the bedroom to find the lights dimmed. She had also lit a candle next to the bed, and one nightstand contained all of the medical supplies he had unpacked earlier; the other nightstand held two beers, and a sandwich that had been cut in half.
Andy was waiting on the edge of the bed, now wearing one of his tee shirts, and was pulling her hair up into a loose bun. She directed him to lie down. As he made his way onto the bed, he paused briefly to pull her into a deep, tender, loving kiss. When they pulled apart, she handed him half of the sandwich and a beer, and reached over to get him some pain medication. He watched her with a sense of awe; he swore she had never looked so beautiful.
Sam ate the sandwich quickly, sharing bites with her as she surveyed his bruised, scraped body. She ran her fingers along each cut and bruise placing a small, gentle kiss on each, as her fingers passed over them. She gently tended to his wounds, cleaning each and bandaging them. She then reached for the pain rub and took her time to tenderly massaging each muscle of his body until she could feel him starting to relax.
"You know", Sam said groggily, "a guy could get used to this".
Andy just laughed, bent down to give him another soft, lingering kiss and told him to get some sleep. She curled into him and they were both asleep shortly, wrapped in each others arms. There may have not been any sex that night, but it was surely one of the most intimate they had spent together.