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Still own a whole lotta nothin.

SPOV

Eric managed to do well enough in physical therapy to be released at the beginning of the following week. One by one his family and friends started coming by and things were getting back to normal. Once Eric was home, everyone sort of relaxed a bit. There was a little bit of tension when Eric insisted that I be the one to drive him home. He knew that getting into a car and getting from the car to the house was going to be challenging and emotional. He believed that although his family had been doing better about the looks of pity and treating him like a child, he knew watching him struggle would be difficult for them and he didn't want that for them and he didn't want to deal with it either. So, I picked him up and just for my own amusement, forced him to listen to country music on the way home. Heh. It's the little things.

Eric was overcome with emotion when he saw the work that had been done to make the property accessible for him. By overcome with emotion I mean he slapped me on the back and said "Thanks, Sook. You rock!" Ummm, yeah. I should check into the medication they gave him.

Eric and I had to go through a few awkward moments his first week home. The first being the bath. When Eric found out that I was having the work done on the houses the only thing he requested was that we not put in a roll in shower in his en suite bathroom. So, one of the other bathrooms on the ground floor was redone to be accessible for him with roll in shower and all. For the one in his bedroom, I just had hand rails added. He preferred to keep the bath tub for now and just have a hand held shower head added. So when he wanted to take that first bath, we had to get through the whole awkward me getting him naked (awkward for me) and helping him into the tub (awkward for him). Once he was settled into the tub, though, the old male whore Eric made an appearance as waggled his eyebrows while suggesting that I bathe him. I just rolled my eyes and walked out to finish up dinner.

Meanwhile, I decided to enroll in online courses. While I pursued my education degree a few years ago, I had taken several business courses because I truly enjoyed them. As it turns out, I only needed another 4 classes to receive an accounting degree and if I added one more class, I'd have a minor in marketing. So, I decided to take 4 classes in the spring and 1 in the summer. I enjoyed teaching, but I just wasn't ever really sure that I wanted to stick with it for 40 years or however long until I retired. So, this seemed to be the right thing for me for now.

We fell into a routine after a few weeks. I took care of breakfast for Eric and myself and then brought him to physical therapy. I'd study or read while waiting for him to finish, then I'd drive us home and he and Pam would be off to take care of Odin's Bayou business or he'd work on some other projects, while I did school work and cleaned both houses, ran errands, and got dinner ready for all of us. After dinner Pam would head into the north shore Odin's and work until the wee hours of the morning.

Eric and I formed a comfortable sort of friendship. We still regularly butt heads, but the tenor of those arguments was certainly more respectful and was sometimes even playful. Pam would roll her eyes at us and tell us to "just fuck and get it over with" which usually got her the death glare from one or both of us.

By the end of February, Eric was feeling up for a little fun so Tray and the guys picked him up one Friday night and took him out. I decided I needed a bit of fun, too so I called Amelia and we decided to go to Odin's that night. I didn't feel like getting all dressed up so I opted for form fitting, but comfortable jeans and a tank top and just put my red sweater over the top. Amelia picked me up and we stopped for dinner before continuing on to Odin's.

Once at Odin's we grabbed our favorite table in the corner by the dance floor. We had a perfect view of the entire club from this spot. We drank our first couple of drinks pretty quickly without really even thinking about it. Amelia was talking excitedly about all the hot guys that were at the club tonight. Finally, after drink number 4, Amelia jumped up and sauntered over to one of the guys she'd been eye fucking for the past hour and dragged him to the dance floor. The guy was a bit taken aback at first, but once Amelia grabbed his ass and started grinding up on him, he seemed to get into it. All I could do was laugh at Amelia's antics.

A while later I was dancing with a cute guy named Ian that Amelia practically threw at me when I noticed Tray on the dance floor. I guess that means Eric is around here somewhere. I waved to Tray and kept dancing for another song. I decided to take a break so I went back to our table and ordered another drink. As I was sitting there looking around the club, I spotted Eric at one of the tables not too far from where I was sitting. He was laughing with his friends and looked to be having a good time. The waitress brought my drink and I continued to watch Eric while I drank it slowly. I noticed that his friends never left him alone at the table. There was always at least one of them with him. I kept an eye on him while doing my best not to do the creepy staring thing.

Amelia came back to the table for a few minutes to cool off and disappeared into the crowd again. I looked back to where Eric was sitting to see him having what looked like an intimate discussion with Yvetta. They were looking cozy and I was starting to feel strange things about seeing him with her. What the hell? I told myself to shake it off and was about to get up and dance again when I saw Eric push back from the table and Yvetta jumped up looking horrified. She was shaking her head and backing away from Eric. Eric tried to catch her before she turned and ran out of the club, but she was just out of his reach and he couldn't maneuver the wheelchair fast enough through the crowd. Eric sat there staring at where Yvetta had been only a moment before he lowered his head. I wanted to go to him, but that's exactly what he wouldn't want. So, I just sat there at my table and kept an eye on him.

A couple of minutes later the rest of the guys drifted back over to the table and Tray showed up with shots for the table. Eric seemed to perk up a bit and went back to talking. I got up and danced a couple of songs with Amelia, all the while making careful glances over to Eric's table. Finally, I decided to walk over there and say hi. I left the dance floor right as a slow song began before anyone could ask me to dance. I walked over to Eric's table and sat down.

"Hey guys! How's it goin tonight?" I asked the table while not taking my eyes off of Eric.

"Good"

"Awesome!"

"Not too bad."

The guys were all answering at once.

"Great darling! How've you been?" Tray asked as he leaned over and gave me a hug. "Where's that hot little friend of yours?" Tray had a thing for Amelia. I think they had hooked up a time or two.

I laughed. "I'm doin good, Tray. The last time I saw Amelia, she was on the dance floor." I told him.

"Well, I think I'm gonna go find her and see if we could make some beautiful music together tonight."

"Seriously, dude. Cheesy. How the fuck do you ever get laid saying things like that?" Eric said as he threw a crumpled up napkin at him.

I was laughing as Tray got up and said "What? Women love that stuff. Tell him Sook," and was off to find Amelia.

"So, are you having fun tonight Sookie?" Eric asked me

"Yeah. It's been nice to be out." I replied. "How about you? You guys having fun tonight?"

"Yeah. It's been nice to be out," he mirrored my response with a sigh.

We sat quietly for a few minutes before he said "Hey, you want to get out of here? We could grab a coffee or something."

I smiled. "Oh thank God! I've been ready to go for about an hour, but Amelia is showing no signs of slowing down. I can't do coffee this late at night or I won't sleep, but I could seriously use some ice cream about now. How the hell are we going to do this? I didn't drive," I told him.

"We can use Pam's car. I'll go tell her we're taking her car and she can get a ride home with Amelia."

"Cool. I'll go find Amelia and tell her I'm leaving."

10 minutes later Eric and I are in Pam's car heading to the nearest convenience store to pick up some ice cream. We grab it and go back to Eric's house and find some crappy movie on TV and each dig into our own pint. Eric's grooving on his mint chocolate chip while I'm getting down and dirty with my chocolate chip cookie dough. We laugh at how awful the movie is and end up talking a while once it's over.

"So, Sookie, have you heard from Jason lately? When does he get to come home?

"I got an email from him yesterday. He's still got nearly a year left over there. It sucks, but he's thrilled to be serving his country. I have to say, though Gran and I were worried about him joining the Army, they have certainly helped him grow up and become more responsible."

"Yeah, sometimes it takes something drastic to get you to rearrange your priorities," Eric said looking down for a moment.

"I still really worry about Jason, though. As much of a hound dog as he is, Jason and I are really close. After mom and dad died, he became the overprotective brother. Gran always tried to get him to tone it down when I was around, but I'm pretty sure she'd tell him to keep up the good work as soon as I was out of the room. He was always sweet to me, though, even after he started all his skirt chasin. With Gran gone, Jason's all I've got left. I really miss him," I whisper the last bit and look down as I'm trying not to cry.

Eric takes my hand and uses his other hand to lift my chin gently so that I'm looking at him. "Sookie, you do have us. I mean, I understand what you mean when you say that he's all you have left, but you do realize that you are part of our family, right?"

"Of course I do, Eric."

"And Jason is fine, so don't let yourself obsess over the 'what ifs' because it will drive you insane."

Eric's hand moves from my chin to my cheek. His palm caresses my cheek and I close my eyes and lean into it. I miss this closeness with someone. I haven't been with anyone in over a year…since Bill. I miss being touched. I sigh and open my eyes and look right into his. We look into each others eyes for a long moment. Eric wipes a way a stray tear from my cheek with his thumb. I pull back and look away wiping my eyes before anymore tears leak out.

"So, tell me what your plans are now that you aren't working for your father's firm anymore. I know you and Pam have Odin's and are opening a second one, but do you have other plans? Other dreams for your life that you plan on pursuing now?" I ask Eric.

Eric chuckled. "Are you asking me what I want to be when I grow up?"

I giggled at that. "I suppose I am."

"Well, Odin's is really just kind of a place to play for me. It makes money, sure, but it's mostly Pam's baby. It's just an investment for me. Pam does keep me very informed and as involved as I choose to be with it. As for what I want to be when I grow up…I don't really have an answer. I grew up convinced that I wanted to be a lawyer just like my dad. All those years everyone was so impressed that I was so focused at such a young age. It wasn't until I was out of law school and practicing for a couple of years that I realized that I didn't enjoy it and didn't want to do that for the rest of my life. But, I was making a lot of money and I was really good at it so I told myself to stick with it until I figured out what I wanted to do. I socked away money. I started investing in several companies almost as soon as I started getting a paycheck. I'm rather liking the freedom that investing is giving me. I need to do something to occupy my mind and time, though. I've been thinking of a few things. Last year I bought a foreclosure and flipped it. I made quite a bit of money on it and in only about 60 days. I discovered that I actually enjoyed doing that so I bought another one about a week before the accident. I hadn't had the time to get to the house. I may end up dumping it since it would be too difficult for me to maneuver through it to see what needs to be done." Eric sighed at that and I could see he was disappointed.

"Well, is there anything I could do to help? Why don't you just have a temporary ramp built at the house? It can't cost that much. Heck, I can ask Alcide to do it if you want," I suggested. "It's clearly something you enjoy doing."

"Who's Alcide?" Eric asked with a hint of irritation.

"He's a friend of mine that owns a construction company. He's actually the one that did work to make our houses accessible for you."

"Oh. Well, sure let's talk to him and see what he suggests."

"Perhaps we can get you back to working in the next couple of weeks so you don't have to hold on to that house too much longer," I say.

"What about you, Sookie? What do YOU want to be when you grow up?" he asked me with a smile. "Why did you go into teaching? What are your plans now? I know you're taking accounting classes, but is that really what you want to do?"

I thought for a moment before answering.

"Honestly, I never really had a clue what I wanted to do. I have always loved kids so when it came time to head off to college and pick a major, I thought that teaching would be perfect. Also, summers off and all that…what's not to like, right? Yeah, well…the reality is quite a bit different. After about 2 months of actual teaching, I was over it. Don't get me wrong, I still love kids and the teaching itself was fine. I just don't think that I can do it all day every day until I retire. As far as accounting, well, I don't know if it's something I want to do or if it was just convenient to take the classes since I was so close to having that degree. I guess I just have no idea what I want to do with my life. I just feel like I'm drifting right now with no clear path in mind. It's a bit disconcerting," I tell him honestly. "I do enjoy school, though. Maybe I'll just be a career student." I give a humorless laugh.

I got up to put our empty ice cream pints in the trash and wash the spoons.

"How are things going with Odin's south shore location? When will you guys be up and running?" I asked him.

"Actually, Pam and I are hoping to open the first weekend in April. The renovations are almost finished and the place looks great. You should come see it."

"You know I will."

I sat back down next to him. There were a few moments of silence.

"Well, this was fun," I told him. "It's really late, though, and I should probably go."

"This was fun," Eric says quietly as he leans closer to me. "You don't have to leave. You could stay here." His face is close to mine and I can't make myself move away.

His lips lightly brush against mine and I sort of melt against him for a moment. He's so sexy and he's warm and I just want to get lost in him…until my brain snaps back and I put my hand on Eric's chest and push him lightly.

"Eric, we can't do this. I have to go." I got up, grabbed my purse, and went for the door.

"Sookie, wait! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"

"Eric, it's okay. We've gotten really close in a really short time because of some really emotionally charged situations so it's only natural that something like this would happen. But I really don't want either of us to do something that would mess up things between us now that we're finally getting along."

"I get it Sook. I understand and I feel the same. I do."

"So…I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. Actually, if you could forget about what just happened, I would love if you would come over tomorrow night. We can get some dinner and watch crappy movies. I really did enjoy spending time with you tonight. I promise to behave like a gentleman…scout's honor," Eric tells me trying not to crack a smile.

I laugh and say "I don't believe for a moment that you were ever a boy scout." Then I thought for a moment. "I'd like to hang out…as long as you let me bring the ice cream."

"Deal. How about 7:00? I think there is a crappy 80's movie marathon starting then."

"Perfect. Goodnight, Eric."

"Night, Sook."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

EPOV

I was actually having fun hanging out with the guys. We went to some small bar that Tray wanted to check out. It was so crowded with college kids that we ended up leaving there after only half an hour and went to Odin's. We were able to get a table since everyone seemed to be on the dance floor tonight. We had a few drinks and were just shooting the shit. It was nice to be out of the house. I was listening to some bullshit story that Aaron was telling when someone's arms snaked around my chest and there was that whisper "Hey sexy! I haven't seen you in a while." Yvetta

I turned and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Hey! How are you? What have you been up to?

"I'm good baby. I've missed you. I heard you were in an accident. I'm so glad you're okay," she tells me.

"Heh. Yeah, I'm just fucking perfect," I say a bit bitterly.

"How's about we go back to the office and I can show you how happy I am that you're okay?"

Alrighty, then….never one to deny a woman and thankfully I'm still able to get it up despite being in this fucking chair. "Sounds great."

I roll my wheelchair back from the table and Yvetta jumps up from her seat and looks at me in horror. She clearly didn't know that I couldn't walk. I try to reach for her. "Yvetta!" She's too quick and she's out the door before I can roll 2 feet. Fuck. I knew that some people wouldn't be able to handle this, but damn. It makes it real for me all over again just when I felt like I had wrapped my head around it. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. I push myself back under the table just as the guys all come back and Tray has shots for all of us. I throw myself back into the bullshit conversations with my buddies.

A little while later Sookie sits down next to me and tells everyone hello, but she's looking at me the whole time. What is that about? We talk for a few minutes and I decide I've had all I can take of being here. I just want to get the fuck out of here. I'm so thankful when she agrees to leave with me. We grab ice cream and have a quiet couple of hours at my house watching a really awful movie. It's so awful that neither of us can stop laughing.

We talk a bit, delving into more serious topics than we had when we've talked before. Somehow this all just feels more…intimate than most of the conversations we have had. The more I knew about Sookie, the more I wanted to know. I found myself wanting to hold her when she shared her concerns about her brother's safety. I realized that as she talked I was focusing more and more on her lips. They looked soft and kissable. Where the hell did that come from? When Sookie tells me that she's going home, I have no idea what came over me. I moved in close and my lips lightly brushed hers. I would have kissed her if she hadn't stopped me. I was afraid that I'd ruined whatever the hell this was we had going on between us…a kind of friendship, I suppose. But, I was relieved when she agreed to hang out with me the next night. I was concerned that there would be some awkwardness left over from the night before, but like we've been able to do with all of those awkward moments, we moved beyond it. We ate pizza and ice cream and had fun watching movies and chatting until late that night.

The next month seemed to go by pretty quickly. Pam, Sookie, and I all seemed to stay incredibly busy. Pam and I were constantly meeting with contractors, interior decorators, vendors, and so on for Odin's new location. Sookie and I got together once a week at my house for movies, dinner, and dessert. I looked forward to that night every week. I could relax and be myself. I discovered that Sookie actually had a pretty twisted sense of humor. We spent those evenings laughing our asses off and sometimes getting drunk. I found myself wanting more with her, not necessarily sex, although that would be incredible, but just closeness…more intimacy. What the fuck? Okay, I should check to make sure my balls were intact. But, there wasn't a repeat of that first night. Regardless of the fact that I wanted more out of this, I knew that if we went down that road and it went badly, we'd lose what we had built and I didn't want that.

Alcide did build the ramp for me. When Sookie introduced us I immediately recognized him as the scruffy guy she was pressed up against on the dance floor the night of my accident. I was less than happy about this revelation. Was she dating this douche nozzle? I noticed that they were pretty cozy with each other…always hugging each other when we'd meet up with him and standing much closer than I'd like. When would she have time to date him? I don't recall her saying anything about seeing someone. It was making me crazy. I didn't like him and I could tell that the feeling was mutual. Well, fuck you Alcide Herveaux. I live next door to her and we own the property together and well, I'm just better than you.

I asked Sookie if she would like to come with me to see the property that I was flipping and was thrilled when she said yes. We got to the house and it looked okay from the outside, not great, but okay. We went into the house and started going through it. I was making notes on what I wanted done in each room and Sookie was wandering around looking at everything. She walked back into the kitchen where I was trying to decide if I wanted to reconfigure the whole thing or just leave the layout alone and just update it.

"I don't know what you have in mind, but this kitchen is kind of unwelcoming," she tells me.

"What do you mean 'unwelcoming'?"

"Well, there are no windows here. When you are standing at the sink, you are staring at a wall. I would punch out a window right there over the sink so you could see into the backyard. Everything is so white…the cabinets, the floor, the walls…everything. It's just feels so institutional. Something has to change to break it up. Maybe a light yellow on the walls. I'm not a fan of yellow, but it seems to be the norm for most kitchens I've seen in people's homes. The door to the back yard is one of those cheap ones that was actually made to go on an interior door, like a bedroom, so it looks out of place and it doesn't really offer any protection from an intruder. I'd replace it with a sturdy door that had glass on part of it to have another window in here. The windows would give some natural light and brighten up the whole room. I'd replace the counter tops with something a bit more updated. Not necessarily granite, but something more upscale looking. The cabinets all look like they're in good condition so I'd keep them, but I'd remove the white paint and stain it to…maybe a dark honey or a light cherry color, nothing too dark. Update the light fixture and the hardware on the drawers and cabinets." Sookie continues on more animatedly than I've seen her before. She's walking back and forth in the kitchen clearly with some picture in her head of how she sees it after the renovation. Her eyes are bright with excitement. At some point she stops and looks at me. "What?" she asks me. "Oh Eric. I'm sorry. This is your thing and I'm running off at the mouth. I'll just shut up now."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Sookie, it's fine. I'm just noticing how much you're enjoying this. I haven't seen you look this excited in…well, ever. Frankly, I'm thankful for all of the suggestions. This is the hardest part for me. Deciding how what changes to make. I was going to replace the cabinets, but your suggestion will actually cost me less money and I think it will look fantastic the way you described. Let's go through and see what the rest of the house needs."

We went through room after room and Sookie was just as animated in each one. I could tell that she was enjoying this. I asked if she would like to work with me through this entire flip and she didn't even take time to think before saying yes. So, she was on board for the entire 5 weeks of this project. Sookie came with me to the house to meet the contractors and we both explained what we wanted for each room. She asked me if she could pick out the fixtures and hardware for the house and I told her I was fine with that. It's not something I enjoy doing, anyway. She managed to get some really nice looking stuff way under budget. When we got to the house one afternoon and the contractors obviously hadn't been there all day, she got on the phone and gave them such a dressing down that not only were the workers pulling in within 30 minutes, they also never arrived later than 8:30am after that for the remainder of the project. She made it her mission to keep this project on schedule and she did an amazing job. When the wrong window was delivered, she was on the phone with the vendor and managed to have them correct their mistake within an hour. Bottom line, no one fucked with Sookie. She earned respect from contractors and vendors and they all learned that she was not just some dumb blonde you could pull one over on. Hell, even I was in complete awe of her. I think she may have found her calling. The house was completed on time and put up for sale. The house sold in less than a week. Sookie was so completely jazzed, she was literally jumping up and down. She asked me when I was going to buy the next house. She was completely hooked.

I hung out with the guys at least once a week. I needed that, too, to help blow off steam. It was always a real kick in the nuts, though, when the women that used to paw all over me and tell me how much they just 'loved' spending time with me, wouldn't give me the time of day. I hadn't seen Yvetta since that night she ran away from me after finding out I was in a wheelchair. Any new women coming into Odin's would come flirt with me at the table, but as soon as they realized I was in a wheelchair they suddenly remembered their friends were waiting for them or some such crap.

The biggest deal for me in the past month, though, was the major progress I made in physical therapy. One session in mid March, I actually moved my right leg a bit. Sookie took me to lunch to celebrate. She also did this goofy dance where she pumped her arms up and down while bringing her knees up alternately and kicking her legs out to the side. It had me doubled over laughing with tears running down my face and completely unable to catch my breath. She ended up doing that dance for every bit of progress I made, no matter how small. The next few sessions, I managed to move both legs a bit. There were a couple of set backs, times when I felt like I should be able to do more, but it just wouldn't come. I'd get pissed and want to quit and like the devil woman she was, Sookie would swoop in and kick my ass. We'd yell and scream at each other until we were both hoarse. She'd tell me to 'stop being a little bitch' and 'man the fuck up.' I'd kick her out of my house only to call her a while later to make sure she was taking me to physical therapy the next day. Yeah…it was our thing.