First of all, I'm truly sorry I took so long to update. I have been thinking that I should have put this story as ON HIATUS, but never did. I know it as been a month, but my creative mind is like Blah right now. I have not had any inspiration lately, plus with school, I just had 5 state exams today; it got to be hard to study and write.
Well, here is Chapter 3. I hope you all enjoy!
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Exam Rooms
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"Hey sorry to interrupt, but it is 11:30. We have to go get your bandages changed Sam." He says. Darn, that is the most annoying thing, that I have to go in and have the doctor's change my bandages every day.
"Kay, thanks" I say, he goes back down stairs.
"We can finish later" Carly says.
"Yup, let's go." I say. I try to stand, but I end up falling back down. Carly walks over and gently pulls me up from the chair and over to the elevator.
"Freddie, you can come too." Carly says. Yea right, I doubt Freddork would want to take a boring trip to the doctor's office for no reason, besides with his mom on lock down he won't even be able to go.
"I'd love too." Freddie says and follows us into the elevator. He looks at me and I know my face reads of confusion. "I mean that is only if it is okay with Sam." He says. Carly raises her eyebrow probably wondering why Freddie would even ask my permission. I hesitate before answering, it actually might not be so bad if Freddie was there.
"Yea. It's cool with me." I say. The elevator closes, this is a strange day already.
"Urgghhhhh…… I'm so bored." I say. We have been waiting for the doctor to come in and change my bandages for 25 minutes now. The nurse was already in here, asking a bunch of questions, telling me to rate the pain I'm in. She said that she will see if she can get me some pain relievers. Carly, Freddie, and I are in the exam room, waiting. Spencer left after about one minute because he heard the hospital added four new sculptures to their courtyard, so he said he had to go check them out.
"Be patient. They look really busy today." Carly says.
"But it is taking for-EVER….." I whine, dragging out the words like a little kid. I see Freddie smile out of the corner of my eye. I'm lying on one of those patient bed-chair things with my legs hanging off the end. I begin to swing my legs around. I sometimes end up kicking the side of the chair, making a little thud noise. I can tell it is beginning to get on Carly and Freddie nerves, so I just continue.
"What are you doing?" Carly asks.
"Swinging my legs." I say simply.
"I can see that. Why?" She asks.
"Because this doctor is taking forever, I'm hungry, and you two are boring me." I say, looking at the ceiling.
"Well the doctor should be here soon, I'm going to find Spencer, and I saw a vending machine down the hall, so I will get you some FatCakes on my way back." Carly says, grabbing her purse. Crap! She is going to leave me with Freddie. This is going to be awkward, I mean the dork has hardly said anything since we got here. Then again this will give me time to ask why he left out our hug and the other stuff, when he told Carly about what happened.
"Cool. Thanks." I say. Carly smiles and walks out the door. I just stare up at the ceiling. Wow, this couldn't be any weirder. Why isn't he saying anything?! I sigh loudly to break the silence. I begin to fidget on the chair, one because I'm getting anxious and two because my back is starting to itch.
"Stop fidgeting. You need to relax." Freddie says. Finally, he speaks!
"Well relaxing is difficult when your back itches and it is painful to move." I say back. He gets up, walks over to me, and holds out his hand.
"Then sit up." He says. I wait a moment then grab his hand, he pulls me up, he places his other hand on my back. I'm sitting up now, Freddie and I are still "holding hands" I guess you could say. His hand is still on my back and he is just looking at me. Not in the checking you out kind of way, just in a caring way. I think he might be blushing. Nah, forget it. Come on Sam, its Freddie! What is wrong with you?!
"Hmmmmmm….. Thanks Freddie, I'm good."
"Oh yea." He lets go and I might be imagining this, but I swear I can see him blushing.
"Dude, are you blushing?!" I ask.
"Psssshhhh…….. No." He says, turning his face away from me. I smile brightly and start to feel giddy from excitement. This could get interesting.
"You've always been a terrible liar, Benson." I say.
"Not lying." He says.
"Okayyyyy…." I say. He turns back to me, "I was not blushing." He tries to say it convincingly, but I can see right through it.
"Awwwwwwwwww is little Freddie Benson embarrassed because he was caught blushing?" I tease. I don't even know why he was blushing in the first place. I mean you blush if you are feeling hot or shy or if you like someone------- No way, there is no way. This is Freddie, if anything he should be blushing around Carly, NOT me! Right?!
"I wasn't" Freddie says, interrupting my thoughts.
"Yes, you were." I say. I probably shouldn't keep taunting him with this, especially because I'm somewhat afraid of the reason why he was.
"Was not!" He yells playfully. I can tell he is no longer upset and now he is just goofing around.
"Was too!" I yell back. Man, we are bantering like little kids again. It is actually amusing.
"I was not blushing!" Freddie yells again, walking closer to me.
"You were too! And if you weren't, then why are you being all defensive about it!" I say with a smile.
"I'm not being defens----…….. Shut up." He says. Yes! I win again. He is never going to learn. I think I want to drag this out even more.
"Make me." I say jokingly. He looks at me, like he is thinking whether or not to accept this challenge.
"Oh you don't think I can." He says.
"Oh, I know you can't." I say back, taunting him. He grins, "I bet I can."
"Oh really?" I say, " Because I bet there is nothing you can say that would ever make me-----"
"I love you." Freddie says, cutting me off. At first I don't even think I hear him right. I'm shock, did he really just say that? I sit there speechless. I mean Freddie can NOT love me! Cause he is Freddie and I'm Sam, it can't happen. Right? It feels like forever before he grins and says, "I told you so." Wait, what?! He only said that to get me to shut up? Oh, he is so dead. Then again that's a good thing right? That he didn't mean it…….
"Freddie Benson has won! Did you hear that people?! I won!" Freddie shouts around the empty room. He starts jumping around, just rubbing it in my face. Poor Freddie, he has much to learn. He continues to "celebrate" his "victory", when I stick my foot out and he falls flat to the floor.
"Rule number 1 dork: never gloat about winning because then your opponent has the perfect opportunity." I say with much pride.
"Urrgggghhh" Freddie groans. He pushes himself back up and faces me.
"That is another point for the awesome Sam with a total of 672!" I say with a deep announcer voice. I just made up the number, but I bet I've won more.
"Fine, but now you have to admit that Freddie Benson has 1 point." He says.
"Yea, don't think so." I say.
"Why?" Freddie says, somewhat upset and childish.
"Because that was an invalid bet!" I say.
"Invalid?! What are you talking about, I clearly got you there."
"No, it was not a real bet, we never shook on it." I say.
"Aww, come on that is not a rule!" He whines. Ha, he really wants to win this, doesn't he? That's not going to happen.
"Yes it is, it is my rule." I say.
"Why do you get to make up the rules?" He asks.
"Because. I. Rule." I say smiling, "and now you just wasted the one thing that made me shut up and I will never fall for it again." His face drops, like he is hurt or disappointed. Why? Maybe because he will never win one of your bets again? I don't know, it seems like something else. He sits back down and picks up one of those ripped, out-dated magazines that no one ever really reads. Great, back to silence again. I guess now would be the perfect time to ask.
"Why did you leave some stuff out?" I ask. Knowing he won't understand. It was a really vague question.
"Huh?" He asks. I take a deep breath, "When we were telling Carly about what happened when we first found out about her being kidnapped and then the part at school, you left out the hug. I thought you would tell Carly everything……. Why didn't you?" Silence.
"I don't know, I just thought that it was between us, you know? And Carly wouldn't have understood. Plus you opened up to me then and I just thought it was something you wouldn't want me to tell." He says.
"Yea, ummmm….. Thanks." I say. He is about to say something else when the doctor walks in. Oh sure now she shows up!
"Hello Sam, sorry for the wait. How are you feeling?" Doctor Mariano asks.
"Fine, I guess."
"Well it has only been a few days. I'm glad to see that you can even walk, most people wouldn't been able to stand yet." She says.
"Yea well, Sam is not most people." Freddie says. I can't help, but smile. Why does he say things like that? It just gets me all flattered, I mean not many guys have ever said anything like that about me. Doctor Mariano smiles. She walks over and grabs a bottle of something and a roll of bandage. I get off the chair and turn around, my back facing Freddie.
"Okay, Sam if you can please lift your shirt." She says. Oh no, Freddie is in here! Should I ask him to leave? I don't know that would seem rude, he did want to come here. I think Freddie can see how uncomfortable I look.
"You know, I can just wait outside….." He says.
"No." I say quickly without even thinking about it, "I mean you don't have too…… it is okay."
"I actually think it will be better if you have someone with you. It always helps when you are not alone especially since this happened only a few days ago." Doctor Mariano says.
"Yea." Freddie says. I slowly inch up my shirt to just below my bra, so that my whole stomach and back are exposed. The doctor slowly starts to unwrap my old bandage. This is the first time Freddie has come to the doctor with me. His mom didn't let him go the first four times, but Carly almost cried when she first saw it. The bandages are almost off and I know Freddie can see all the purple and green bruises that cover my back and stomach. I wonder what his face expression looks like or what he is thinking.
"Well, your bruises are healing quite nicely. Now I am going to put this new lotion cover on your bruises, so that they can't get further damaged or infected. I'm not going to lie, this is going to sting." Doctor Mariano says. She starts to rub it on. Man! She wasn't kidding when she said this stings! It feels like it is burning too. I grab the side of the chair and squeeze it, to try and lessen the feeling. Soon I have a hand grab mine and I end up squeezing the hand. It is Freddie. He is grabbing my hand, squeezing back with the same amount of force. I don't know who came up with the idea, that if you squeeze someone's hand while in pain it will help. It defiantly helps. I take a deep breath. I think I might be crushing Freddie's hand, but I have my eyes shut, trying not to focus on the burning feeling. She begins to wrap my back again, pressing the lotion in more.
"Hey? You remember last year? We could hardly stand each other back then, all the pranks, name-calling, and fights. I remember when you squirted cheese in my face at school. I was appalled at the time, but now it seems really funny." He says, randomly. He voice sounds so sweet and caring. Why is he telling me this?
"What are doing?" I ask.
"Taking the pain away." He says.
"Okay, all done." Doctor Mariano says. I let go of Freddie's hand and pull down my shirt. I look at him, he is shaking his hand out. I guess I squeezed it too hard.
"Ahhhh, you sure have a death grip, Sam." He says, smiling.
"Yea." I say quietly.
"Okay, you are free to go. I will see back here tomorrow and then after that you can start coming every other day, instead of everyday." Doctor Mariano says, grabbing her clipboard and walking out the door.
"Thanks for….. You know…." I say, not exactly sure what to call it.
"I know." He says. I reach for my jacket, my back is still in pain and with the killer lotion on me now, it hurts even more. I struggle to turn my arms to get the jacket on.
"Here let me help." Freddie says. He grabs my jacket and pulls the one sleeve over my first arm, and then he puts it on my other arm. He reaches down the jacket and pulls the hood out from under it. I start to get chills. What is going on with me? He gently pulls my hair out of the jacket and sets it around my shoulders. I turn my head over my shoulder to say something, when I realize how close our faces are. Almost touching. I see Freddie's cheeks turn to a light pink. I can tell he is holding his breath, I am too. I think I see him start to inch closer. Fear arises in me.
"Ummmmm…… We should go…… find Carly and Spencer." I say, quickly turning my head away from him. I didn't know what else to do. Was he really going to try and kiss me? It's just all that is going on right now kissing him would only make things stranger. Wait, does that mean I was really going to let him kiss me? I was thinking about kissing the dork?! My mind is so jumbled right now, I don't know what I want.
"Yea, good idea." Freddie says. I can hear the embarrassment and disappointment in his voice. We walk out of the room, practically running into Carly and Spencer.
"Whoa, hey guys." Carly says, cheerfully. She hands me a FatCake, like she said she would. I'm not feeling that hungry anymore, but I take the FatCake anyway.
"Thanks." I say with my best fake happy voice.
"Doctor say everything was good?" She asks.
"Yup, everything is healing nicely." I say and put on a smile.
"Sorry, I wasn't there. Did it hurt? Changing the bandages?" Carly asks. She is my best friend, always worrying.
"No, I had help taking the pain away." I say. I see Freddie glance at me and smile.
"Oke-Dokey let's get back. I just an insane idea for a new sculpture!" Spencer says, while half way running out the door. I laugh. Ahhhhh, Spencer. You just got to love him and his crazy sculptures. I feel better now. I can't wait to hear more about Carly's story, when we get home. Carly grabs my arm, with Freddie slightly behind, we walk out the door.
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Sorry if you are mad I did not make Sam and Freddie kiss. They will eventually, I just thought Sam wouldn't be ready yet. It seemed to fit.
Hope you enjoyed!
I'm getting back in the writing mood, so hopefully I won't wait another month to update!
~J