CHAPTER 7
She held onto his forearms, her thin fingers gripping his warm fleshy skin."I-i" her eyes pressed to his. His eyes were like the evening sun. "I love you. The way your chest is like a canvas I can trace. The way your heart beat is like a symphony. The way we are one, spiritually, emotionally, physically." Adelaide gripped his arm tighter and pressed her hot body into his. She felt like star, burning, bright, ready to explode at any moment.
"HEY!"
Amy jumped, knocking her book from her lap.
"Hey! You left me! Wait up." She craned her neck toward the commotion and saw Sheldon mousing around the parking lot, chasing a raggedy pick up truck which was speeding through the gates. The bed of the truck bounced up and down threatening to fly off. All the while, his brother and sister were both dangling from the window spilling with laughter at their brother galloping across the pavement. When he reached the end of the block he fell to his knees in a 'why God!' kneel.
"Sheldon!" Amy ran to him in concern. "Are you alright?"
"I can't- I want-I need, I-I" He collapsed to the ground like a fatigued marathoner.
"You only ran 200 feet."
"Yea, but I was running with the car the whole time." He pulled out his inhaler taking an exaggerated drag.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale
…
…
Exhale.
She giggled.
"I'm so glad you're laughing. Need I remind you, I now have to take the 3 miles walk home, in the blazing afternoon sun. Alone! When I'm snatched by a perverted kidnapper I'd like to thank my friends and family for doing absolutely nothing."
"I'm sorry Sheldon, I don't mean to laugh." She said laughing. "I have to walk home too, how about I join you? So at least if the perverted kidnapper tries to snatch you, I'll be there to tell the story of your untimely death."
"Very funny" He held the street pole to pull himself up and brushed the dirt from his pants. "Shall we?"
This was the first time all week that Sheldon and Amy were together and were silent. Of course they had the clause in the agreement for required silence but they rarely adhered to it. Their conversations were like a curious child, full of questions, observations. They gave Ancient Greek Philosophers a run for their money when it came to conversation. So this silence was… awkward. Very awkward.
"So… I, uhh noticed you brought your book to school." Sheldon shakily started.
"Uhh, yea." Amy fumbled with the frayed edges.
"I thought the book was your nighttime secret. What changed?"
"I don't know…confidence perhaps. I guess I realized there is no point hiding what I like." Where was she going with this? He was asking her about a pleasure book and she was bringing up feelings and changes. She had to admit, the two weeks of being Sheldon's contractual friend sparked more change than in her whole life. Instead of walking down the hallway with her head tucked into her sweater she smiled and waved and people. Instead of holding her tongue and suffocating from the weight of her mother's awful punishments she pressed as to why she shouldn't have to take this. Amy was turning into a rebel."l like to read French romance novels, and I'm proud!" She held the velvet book in the air like a trophy.
"Wow! What self help book have you been reading?"
"No self help. Just confidence."
"Confidence?…It looks good on you." Was he flirting? Was he noticing her appearance? Who was this man? Amy ran her eyes up the length of his body, taking in his gangly frame.
"Sheldon you're bleeding!" Amy yelped seeing blood staining his khakis.
"What?" His eyes jumped in panic." Uh, uh, uh. What do we do? What do we do?" He whipped in circles like a ball on a string. "No, not on my Friday pants. Mayday! 911"
"Relax! Um, my house is a few blocks away. We can mend your knee there." He nodded in agreement and dropped all of his weight into her shoulder. Sheldon yowled in pain each step. A yuppie white guy drove beside them asking if they needed helped or a ride. His hatchback was a collage of different "Save the planet" "I love corgis" and "Coexist" stickers and reeked of car fresheners. Of course Sheldon's natural response to his generosity was to say that white guys with dreads can't be trusted and he'd rather have his knee shattered like Nancy Kerrigan than to ride in the back of a hatchback. The guy drove off singing an aria of curse words while Sheldon and Amy held each other in their arms and hobbled along the sidewalk.
"Wait out here and I'll go get the first aid kid." Amy said placing Sheldon on the porch. The walk had only been a mile but it felt like a marathon. Sheldon might have looked gangly but he was a growing 17 year old boy and Amy was exhausted carrying him.
"What, outside? I'm not some stray dog you're trying to secretly keep." Sheldon barked.
"I know. It's just- I'm not allowed to have guest in the house anymore since…well- never mind. Plus my mother isn't home and if she came back and saw you and me in the house alone I'd be locked in the closet for the rest of the century. Just... stay out here!"
After she retrieved two Bandaid's and an alcohol swab she returned to find Sheldon twisting and wincing on the porch.
"What took you so long, woman? I can feel myself getting faint from the blood loss."
"I haven't been gone for 2 minutes. And stop yelling, you're alarming the neighbors." Amy held the cotton swab between two shaky fingers and mistakenly shoved the alcohol swab onto his knee.
"Ow!" Sheldon hollered. "You're killing me!"
"I'm doing the best I can!" Amy yelled back. Her eyes were burning with concern while a curtain of hair was glued to her sweaty forehead. She only wanted to make him better but his impatience was causing her to panic and make mistakes. Amy actually pictured this to be like ER. Hot doctor, hot patient, intense eye coitus, gentle touching, ending in steamy break room sex. Ah, yes! That's exactly how this moment should have played out. Not her wheezing and threatening to cry. In the midst of his agonizing yells Sheldon was able to recognize he was upsetting her. That's the one thing he didn't want to happen, to have an inconsolable woman tending to his bloody gash. He only acted this way because it was how he learned to get attention. His house had never seen a dull moment so he had to make situations dire to have the attention to himself. He'd never known someone who would run to his aid no matter how big or minute the issue.
"You're right." He admitted in a calmer more rational tone. "I didn't meant to yell at you, it just hurts."
"It's alright," wiping the sweat from her brow. "Let me try it again." She placed another cotton swab between her fingers and held it close to his knee.
"Lets count to three, together." He said holding his breath.
"One…two..." It startled Amy to feel another hand atop hers but when she realized it was Sheldons she flipped her hand over and held his sweaty palm in hers, "three."
She dabbed the alcohol on his wound while he squeezed the color from her hand. She slid the bandaid over the cut and brushes her hands in completion.
"You did it!" Her dangerously red face was now returning to his regular pale.
"I did." He said breathy. "That's the first time I've let someone put alcohol on a cut of mine without severely injuring them!"
"Confidence, perhaps?" Amy suggested.
"Perhaps."
The pair sat on the porch a few moments listening to the clamor of the outside. Leaves hitting leaves, tree trunks creaking and cracking, and an altogether sound of Southern ease.
"I guess" Sheldon started barely over a whisper. "Since you saved my life I feel I should repay you somehow." She began to nervously collect the discarded wrappers.
"Don't be silly, I don't need anything. I was just doing the right thing, I have no doubt you would have done the same had it been me."
"Oh. Okay, well…umm. Thanks." He sounded rejected.
"What did you have in mind?" His low face brightened.
"That depends, what do you like?"
"You know what I like." Sheldon gave her a quizzical look at her suggestive response. She sounded like a truck stop hooker, the kind who smokes a pack a day, drinks Bud Light, and lay into the windows of dirty Ford's slurring 'you know what I like, big daddy.' "As in our introductory week taught us enough about each other to know what we like." She corrected.
"Indeed, here's a thought; how about we use our first after school outing this weekend? Come by my house around noon and we'll go from there."
"Where will we go?" Amy asked blushing that Sheldon was asking her on a date. Correction, not a date an after school outing.
"It's a surprise. I know you well enough, I believe I can plan one activity without that much hassle." He nodded his head in completion and slowly inched himself to his feet.
"Miss Fowler?"
"Yes, Mr. Cooper."
"Good day."
"Good day to you as well. And I hope your leg heals."
