No More Games

Chapter Thirty Four

Lee and Amanda came back to her house after her therapy session and the house was quiet. Amanda called out,"M-Mother? A-Are y-you h-here? " There was silence.

Amanda said, "L-Let m-me g-go ch-check..." Lee nodded as Amanda headed upstairs. She came down a moment later saying quietly, "Sh-She h-has a he-headache. Ly-Lying d-down. S-Sorry. "

Lee said, "Well then, maybe we can go to lunch and let her get some rest, huh? What time do the boys get home?"

Amanda sighed, "A c-couple of hours. C-Can we b-be back b-before th-then? "

Lee smiled. "Sure. Marvin's or Milo's? "

Amanda sat on the couch. "I-I d-don't c-care. E-Either one is o-okay. "

Lee sat down next to her noticing her expression and said, "Hey, what is it? "

Amanda shrugged. "A-Aren't y-you t-tired of th-this? Of m-me b-being li-like th-this? "

Lee squeezed her hand. Sighing he said, "The only thing I'm tired of is seeing you give up on yourself. This is not the Amanda King I know and love. Please tell me what I can do to bring you back. "

Amanda sat dejectedly and began to cry! "I-I'm s-sorry, b-but I-I'm s-so an-angry! Th-the ac-accident t-took s-something a-away fr-from m-me an-and I-I d-don't kn-know wh-what to d-do! "

Lee held her and said softly, "You are walking better now, but the rest is going to take a little longer, okay? We'll just take it one step at a time but believe me, I'm not leaving you for anything. You can throw me out but I'll just keep coming back for more. "

Amanda got up to get a tissue and blew her nose and nodded saying, "L-Let me g-go ch-check on M-Mother an-and we'll g-go. Th-thank you."

Lee nodded and winked at her. Watching her go upstairs, he realized he'd been angry at the situation himself which had started because he hadn't been honest with Leslie or Amanda.

He'd give anything not to have had this happen in the first place! When Amanda came down, she said, "M-Mother's st-still as-asleep, but I l-left a n-note. Y-You r-ready? "

Lee nodded and they got to the car and Lee helped her in and Amanda seeing his face said, "Wh-What's wrong? "

Lee shook his head and closed her door and got in the other side and started the car. "It's nothing. I'm okay. Let's go. How about Milo's? I'm feeling like a chili dog. "

When they got there, he ordered the works for them and they sat with their drinks and waited and Amanda said, "Wh-What's wr-wrong? D-Don't t-tell m-me n-nothing. I-I kn-know y-you."

Lee patted her hand and said, "Not now. Please? "

Amanda slowly nodded. The chili dogs came and they ate in silence. When they finished, they cleaned up their plates and threw them away and went to the car. They still had some of their drinks left so they brought them home.

When they arrived, the boys were just coming home and were yelling excitingly about something and Lee said, "Hey guys! Hold it down please! Your grandma's lying down with a headache. "

Amanda hugged them saying, "G-Good day, f-fellas? "

Phillip nodded. "Yeah. We had to go to the auditorium for assembly, and the vice principal started to talk and she threw up! They dismissed us after that! "

Amanda shook her head. Boys, she thought. She said, "I h-hope sh-she's o-okay? "

Phillip said, "Yeah. They said it was the flu. That's why we're a little early getting home. We got anything to eat? We're starving. "

Jamie said, " Maybe Grandma got those gnarly new cookies that Roger had in his lunch! "

They ran to the cupboard and looked but all they saw were the granola bars. Jamie shook his head and closed the door. "What a gyp!"

Phillip said, "Yeah. When's Grandma coming down? "

Amanda sighed. "Wh-What am I ch-chopped li-liver? "

Jamie kissed her. "Sorry, Mom. We know we have you, but it's different now since you can't help as much yet. When are you gonna be able to cook?"

Amanda shrugged. "S-Soon as m-my body l-lets m-me. I-I'm s-sorry, boys. "

Phillip hugged her. "We are too, Mom. Can we go up and see her at least? "

Amanda nodded and said, "J-Just be q-quiet, o-okay? "

The boys nodded and went upstairs and Lee said, " I could always do burgers and you know, you could try making a salad?"

Amanda looked at him. "A-Are y-you s-sure? "

Lee said, "Trust me. I'll be right here, okay? "

The boys came down and Phillip said, "Grandma says she's not eating dinner. What do we do now? "

Lee said, "Well, I'll make the patties up and your mom's gonna get salad ready and we'll eat when we want later."

Jamie said, "Burgers? Awsome! Mom, can we go to the park? "

Amanda smiled. "S-Sure. Ju-just be h-home in t-time, all r-right? "

They kissed her and said running out of the house, "Bye! "

Amanda and Lee both cringed as the door was slammed! Amanda said, "Th-That didn't h-help M-Mother's h-headache a-at a-all I-I'm s-sure!"

Lee chuckled. "Let's start on dinner."

As he made up the ground beef into patties and put them on a tray, Amanda was ripping the lettuce up and putting it in the salad bowl. She got the tomatoes out but said, "Ma-Maybe I sh-shouldn't u-use th-the kn-knife y-yet. "

Lee shook his head. "Don't worry. I'm done the burgers. Let's work on the tomatoes. "

He got the cutting board out and got the small tomatoes. Amanda's hand shook, but Lee covered it with his own and said, "Relax. We'll do this as easy as we can. You hold the tomato with your left hand, and I'll help you slice with your right and we'll have this done in no time, all right? "

It was a process, but they got the job done and put the items back in the fridge and went to wash their hands at the sink.

When they finished, Amanda took Lee's hand and said leading him to the couch,"L-Let's t-talk..."

Lee said, "About what? "

Amanda sat them down and said," Y-You s-said y-you were f-fine e-earlier, b-but y-you're n-not. Wh-What is it?"

Lee groaned. "Amanda! I'm okay. Really. "

Amanda said tiredly, "Pl-Please d-don't li-lie t-to me. Y-You're up-upset. I w-wanna h-help. L-Let m-me in, al-all right? "

Lee got up and slowly paced saying, "All right. Here goes. You wouldn't be like this if it weren't for me and my stupidity."

Amanda was floored! "Y-You d-didn't d-do th-this- I d-did! "

Lee shook his head and said sadly, "If it wasn't for me mentioning the weekend with Leslie, you wouldn't have left early that day and had that accident. I can never make it right for her, but I'm sure as hell gonna try to make it right for you- if you'll let me. "

Amanda swallowed hard. It took a lot for Lee to open up this way to her and it touched her deeply! She said, "Y-You h-have n-nothing t-to ap-apologize f-for! I w-went b-by in-instinct th-that d-day! If I st-stayed in th-the c-car, I w-woulda been t-toast! I d-did th-the on-only th-thing I c-could an-and d-did m-my us-usual..."

Lee came over and sat down and kissing her gently said," You thought on your feet all right. Opening all your car windows was a great plan."

As Lee held her Amanda said, "I-I g-guess th-the im-impact of th-the car hit-hitting the w-water ma-made m-me hit m-my he-head. I'm s-sorry I sc-scared yo-you. "

Lee said, "What scared me more than anything was the thought of facing your family if you had-."

Amanda kissed him and shook her head. "D-Don't g-go th-there, pl-please? I'm al-all r-right and we're to-together. Th-That's al-all th-that ma-matters now. "

Lee nodded and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. "

Holding each other, they felt incredibly lucky to have weathered another storm together.

TBC