CHAPTER 10!
Urgh ... It's been so long and I'm really sorry. My excuse will have to be work and the holidays. Truthfully this is a busy time, not only for me, but for everyone. Thanks for the support everyone has given me. I'm sorry for the big deal I made out of some reviews. I do have more positive than negative, so I'll focus on that. I hope this one will be a good one.
It had been a month or so that Andy had moved in with Sam and things were turning out a lot better than what they would have expected. It was coming to them as a natural thing. They knew what they were good at and what they lacked in housing skills. Like Andy couldn't fix one things in the house, maybe just change a light bulb or two and Sam couldn't hang one thing straight, and on those things they were capable of helping each other out.
Of course it wasn't always easy and they did have their moments when it was just too much. They had both lived alone in a long time and having to adjust was a learning process that both were willing to mold into.
The snow had started to fall and now Andy said good bye to her favorite season. She hated the cold indeed, but she could never deny her love for this city. Sam had always enjoyed winter more than the other season, so he was glad when the snow began to fall earlier this year.
"I hate this. Winter is cutting fall short." Andy said coming out of the bathroom wrapped in a thick blanket and holding a lot of tissues. "Plus, I'm always sick with the change of weather."
And Sam could tell she was getting a cold. Her voice sounded funny, her cough was becoming more persistent and her nose was a bright red. He would never admit it to her, but she sure looked cute. For a moment he could imagine a mini McNally walking towards him looking for comfort, because – just like mommy – she was coming down with the cold. Sam would be the one taking care of them seeing as he barely ever had a sick day.
"Come to bed. I'll make you some tea and I'll call Frank in the morning if you don't feel better by then." He said getting up and kissing Andy's forehead as he moved to the kitchen.
She was always so much more quiet when she was sick Sam missed her talking. It was just him holding her and trying to make her feel better and she said it helped even when he thought it was useless.
"It helps. Just lying here like this helps. Thanks." She'd told him two days ago when she first started getting sick. After that moment it was what he was doing all the time when he had a moment with her.
Coming back into the room he found her lying down almost asleep with only the lamp turned on so he could actually see something. She stood and took the hot tea and thanked him with a small smile. With small sips she soon finished the tea and Sam helped her lie better in bed.
"You'll be fine in no time. You'll see, sweetheart." He kissed her forehead one last time and took his place on the bed.
Sometimes in the middle of the night he woke up with her loud cough, and handed her some medicine. She had probably slept more than him since he kept waking up to check on her. He'd been able to take her temperature twice and her fever hadn't gone down with time.
By the time the alarm was supposed to go off he had already woken up and turned it off before it had the chance to wake up McNally. It was the first night she was able to sleep through. Noticing there was no way he was going to be able to let her work like this he called Frank.
"Good morning, Swarek. What do I owe the favor?" Frank's tired voice came through the other end.
"Just letting you know McNally came down with the flu during the weekend and she's got a fever. I don't think she'll be able to even come out of bed today." Sam said tiredly.
"I can imagine. Olivia and Noelle are sick too. Do me a favor and stay at home, you sound awful and I can't have this spreading to others, detective. All of your paper work is in order and the case load had gone down. If we need you we'll call you." Frank said and Sam was not about to disobey an order like that. He did feel horrible, but it wasn't from the flu only the horrible slept night.
Saying their good byes Sam decided to go back to bed seeing as though Andy didn't look like she was waking up anytime soon.
When he woke up Andy was sitting down in bed drying her wet hair with a towel and smiling at him. The smell in the room was great and looking to the right he saw toast, eggs and juice for him.
"Thought you deserved breakfast in bed, since you've been taking such good care of me." She said and even though her voice sounded a little better it was still funny.
"You shouldn't be walking around with wet hair." He said looking at her seriously. Like a T.O. talking to his rookie once again.
"I know, but I didn't want to wake you up with the hair dryer." Andy said trying to defend herself.
"I'm up now. Thanks for the breakfast, but you should really go dry your hair now. I can't be the only one working and paying the bills, you know?" he said taking a bite of his toast.
Andy sent him a death glare, but did as she was told. She knew that now they were heading to the end of the year and the numbers of officers normally dropped and she needed to work during the holidays this year.
After drying her hair she moved to the room where Sam was nowhere to be found, and neither was the tray of food. Moving away from it all she saw him standing behind the kitchen counter.
"What did you eat?" he asked not moving his eyes from what he was doing.
"I ate a banana, I can't eat practically anything." She said dropping down on the couch waiting for Sam to join her.
"Drink this." He said handing her tea with honey. "You'll feel better by tomorrow." Taking her in his arms he turned on the TV to any show they could find.
"How do you know so much?"
"What do you mean?"
"You make all kinds of different teas and you know when I should drink and when I'll be better. You know how to take care of sick people." She said quietly not to hurt her throat.
"I use to be the one to take care of mom and Sarah when they were sick. I learned first from my mom, because Sarah had a though year when she was always sick and I stayed home to take care of her when mom had to work and my dad wasn't around. Even if he were, he wouldn't have done anything." Sam answered like it didn't mean anything. Like it wasn't a big deal.
Andy didn't show many emotions, cause she knew he hated to feel pity and she knew that to him it was actually a good thing. It gave him knowledge so he was able to do something about a situation like this.
"You know you make a sexy nurse, ."
Glancing up she saw him smile and those dimples showed a whole lot. That was what she was hoping for. Lighten the mood she accidentally had settled between them.
"Yeah, I guess I do make a sexy nurse, but what a shame you're too sick to do anything about it."
"Just you wait. My nurse said I'll be better soon, then we'll talk." She said moving in closer to him and Sam held on tighter to her.
"He sure did." Sam said looking down at her and a smile appeared on his lips.
Sure he didn't like that she was sick, but these moments were also good moments. He loved being with her like this. Not expecting anything out of the situation, just enjoying each other's company and letting time go by. Now a days he'd say he lived for moments like this. With her.
I wrote this to make myself feel better, cause I'm just as sick as Andy, but I don't have a Sam Swarek to take care of me so I'm just hoping to get better soon. No one likes to spend Christmas sick. MERRY CHRISTMAS (or whichever holiday you celebrate) and HAPPY NEW YEAR!