John then noticed the room was somewhat hot and decided that, given that Amanda liked going to sleep against a light breeze, opened her window. It was rather old fashioned—you had to physically push it up to open it, and it rarely opened easily. It wasn't so much a matter of strength as persistence and getting your hands on the right part. The handles were misleadingly easy but they nearly touched the top of the windowsill so holding onto them was next to impossible.
This time, the window didn't exactly stick but it wouldn't open very far either. After much effort, John managed to get it a little over half open and decided if that wasn't enough, he'd attack it later.
He adjusted the cat's fur one last time and headed downstairs.
Amanda had already finished slicing the apples and was almost done with the carrots. He put a hand on her shoulder as a means of greeting, and she nearly cut herself with the knife.
"God, John, don't scare me!" she yelped, putting the knife down on the plastic board. "I thought you were a murderer or something."
John leaned over and brushed away some stray hairs from her face. She smiled slightly at this. "I'm sorry, Amanda," he replied, and meant it. "I only wanted to say hello."
"Next time, say it instead of scaring the shit out of me," she grumbled as she turned back to her work. She picked up the knife and John could tell from the slicing sound that she was finishing the remaining pieces of carrot. When she finished, she placed the knife down and began to scoop up the pieces and place them in two pale green bowls.
"Duly noted." He squeezed her shoulder again and thought he saw her smile. "Anything you'd like to eat for dinner? I was thinking hamburgers and cooking some of those French fries we bought at Target."
Amanda chewed on her lip, considering. "The meat will take awhile to defrost, unless you want to heat it up in the microwave."
John shook his head. "No, that always ruins the taste." He glanced at the clock. "Let's have the carrots and apple slices now and eat in an hour or so. Or would you rather have something else?"
Amanda shrugged. "I'm not that hungry."
John walked to the freezer and retrieved the meat. "We'll cook the fries with the hamburger. Come with me. I have something to show you."
Amanda raised her eyebrows, but followed. "What is it?"
John gave her a thin lipped smile. "You'll see."
He led her upstairs to their bedroom. The bathtub was still seated in the middle. It had been too much trouble to move back and, besides, Amanda didn't mind the location.
Inside the tub, however, was something new. John had been working on it for the past week or so, while Amanda was sleeping, inspired after she had her first bath. It was a break from his usual traps in terms of difficulty, but it was still quite intricate.
It was also hard to understand, at first glance, exactly what it was. John had named it a head rest, but he knew that technically, that name had already been taken. It was a sort of circular wire with a large circular cushion in the middle, and on closer inspection walls would form around he cushion on contact. There were several settings the head rest could be set on, depending on where you moved the lever. Off the side, nearing the end of the wire, was a panel containing a dark blue button.
John thought it looked more confusing than menacing and was prepared to explain what it was for, when Amanda started to step away from him, a look of horror appearing on her otherwise beautiful face.
"Is this another game?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself as though trying to form a shield. "John, whatever I did, I'm really sorry. I appreciate life. You know I do. I don't want another test."
John started laughing, which of course scared Amanda even more. Fortunately, she was currently pressed against a wall and couldn't move any further away from him in that direction.
"It's not a game," John explained, holding a hand out to her. "It's not even remotely lethal. I promise, no one will be hurt by this."
Amanda tentatively took his hand and walked closer to the tub, inspecting it. "What is it?"
John kneeled down beside the tub and, reluctantly, Amanda did the same.
"It's for your head," he explained. "When you had your first bath, I saw that your head naturally went under the water when you stretched out. At first, I thought of putting a cushion or something there, but then I started thinking. What if Amanda accidentally fell asleep and drowned, or hit her head against the tub and cracked her skull open?" He squeezed her shoulders again. "That wouldn't work. So I made this." He crawled into the tub to demonstrate. "When your head touches the cushion, walls spring up preventing it from escaping." He lay his head against the cushion and, sure enough, two large walls popped up, immobilizing it. "This way, you can rest, and even fall asleep, without worrying."
Amanda peered at it. "How do you get your head up from it?"
John laughed, head still trapped. "I'm getting there, silly. Now, this button controls the walls." He pushed the blue button and the walls vanished. "When you press it, the walls disappear." He paused. "Well, technically they move under the head rest eight inches, which is how high it was, but for all purposes, it disappears. Your head's free. But," he added, "the button has to be pressed before the walls can go down, and it's far enough out of the way to prevent accidental movement. At the same time, it's not hard to reach." John grinned and stood up. "One of my more useful inventions."
Amanda looked awestruck. "Wow, that's pretty cool. Can I try?"
"Go ahead," John laughed.
Amanda crawled into the tub, gingerly placed her head against the cushion, and felt it stay there as the walls crept up. It didn't hurt at all, or even fell uncomfortable. She reached for the button, pressed it, and in less than a second, the walls were gone.
"Very neat," she complimented.
"Thank you." John beamed. "It's for you to use whenever you want, of course."
Amanda turned around in the tub to look at it again. "It will be great, especially at night."
"You're always half asleep by the time you're finished," John agreed. He lifted her up gently, carrying her in his arms, and gently set her on the ground. "No test," he reassured.
Amanda breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God…hey, what is that?"
Her eyes had turned to the kitten.
"It's something I bought for you at the pharmacy."
She walked over to her bed to inspect it. When Amanda picked up the stuffed animal, she held it by the front legs. Feeling its soft fur, Amanda grinned and began to pet it with the other hand.
"It's very cute," Amanda noted. "But what's it for?" Remembering herself, she added, "I'm almost twenty-three, John."
"You're never too old for stuffed animals," John insisted, looking serious. "Besides, I thought the cat could help you when you had bad dreams."
Amanda stared at him blankly. It occurred to John that perhaps Amanda had never this when she was growing up.
"To hold," he explained, awkwardly. "To hug."
"She's very cute," Amanda replied, looking at the cat again. John couldn't tell if she was upset or confused by the gift.
"I'll still be there, of course, when you have a bad dream," John added quickly, "but this is something additional, to help calm you down. But it's also something to…to cuddle with when you go to sleep."
Amanda nodded, holding the cat close to her. "It's great. I just never had anything like this. My dad…" She trailed off. "We couldn't afford toys."
John wrapped his arms around her, nearly suffocating the poor cat. "Now you do."
He felt her nod and return the hug. "Yeah. Thanks."
Amanda had always known that she didn't have the best family life and hadn't had the best childhood. She knew that John was trying to show her a life she had missed and a life that, without him, she would have never known at all.
It just hurt to get a glimpse into his world. To know just how much she had missed.
He clearly saw himself as a type of father figure for Amanda. But could she ever let herself become a daughter? She was too old for what he wanted to give her, and too cold.
John had helped her, but in the long run, was Amanda really fixable? Could she ever heal?
She had no idea.
A/N: Shortish chapter, I know. Hopefully the next one will be longer. Please, please, please submit a review! 5 reviews means the next chapter's posted the day after receiving the fifth.