Chapter 9: Forgettable Nightmare
The next day Alvin wanted to go back over to Brittany's, but Dave had talked him into running some errands for him. Alvin figured he owed him, since he hadn't done any of his chores since Brittany had been in the hospital. He texted her that he would be over as soon as he was finished.
First he went to get Dave's car washed, where he ran into a friend of his who worked at the car wash. "Hey, Al."
"Hey, Ben, how's it going?" Alvin handed him the money for the wash.
Everything's great," Ben said, as he counted the money. "I heard Brittany's out of the hospital."
"Yeah," Alvin said said with a smile.
"How's she doing?" Ben asked.
"Much better," Alvin said. "She's still a little weak, but she's going to be fine, as long as she gets some rest."
"Thanks for the update," Ben said. "And if she's feeling better you two should come to my party next weekend."
"Sure," Alvin said, ready to pull into the car wash. "I'll run it by her. I'm pretty sure she'll want to go."
"Okay, Al, see you later," Ben said as Alvin rolled up his window and drove through the car wash.
"Next, he had to do the grocery shopping. He pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. When he got out he saw someone he didn't want to see.
"Hi, Alvin," came the voice of a leggy blond.
"Missy," Alvin said, trying to walk passed her.
"Alvin, don't be like that," she said, stepping in front of him. "I've decided to give you a second chance."
"No, thanks, Missy," Alvin said, trying to push past her. "I've told you before, I'm with Brittany... only Brittany."
Missy shot him a foul look. "Fine, be with her," Missy fired at him. "But you'll regret turning me down."
"The hell I will," he said and walked towards the store.
Now, he was in a bad mood. Of all people to run into, why her? He went inside and grabbed a cart and checked everything off the list and checked out within forty minutes. As he was in the checkout, he got a test message. He read it and saw it was from Brittany.
It read. I miss you.
It made him smile. His mood changed again. He wondered how she was able to do that. Soon, it was time to pay the bill. Dave had given him his credit card to pay for the groceries. He loaded up the car and left.
It was going on three in the afternoon, and he really wanted to see Brittany. He arrived home soon to see Dave outside ready to help him with the groceries. His brothers were already gone for the day.
"So, do you have plans for the rest of the day?" Dave asked him.
"I thought I'd go see Brittany," he said.
Dave gave him a smile and said, "Then go on. I'll manage here."
"Are you sure?" Alvin asked. Actually the last thing he wanted to do was hang out at home.
"Go be with your girlfriend," Dave insisted.
Alvin ran upstairs to change his clothes. He put on his red T-shirt and Jeans and his black gym shoes. He put on the cologne Brittany had bought for him and leaded out of the house. He walked over to the Millers house. As he rang the doorbell, he heard footsteps and the door swung open. Eleanor was the one who answered the door.
"Oh, Alvin, it's you," Eleanor said. She looked like she was having a crisis. "Now's not a good time."
"Hey, what's wrong?" Alvin asked. "It isn't Brittany?"
"Shhh," Eleanor said quietly. "She's sleeping on the couch. I just have a cooking class in fifteen minutes, and Miss Miller isn't back yet. There's no one to stay with Brittany, so I guess I have to miss it."
Alvin looked over at Brittany sleeping on the couch. She looked so much like an angel. He looked over at Eleanor. "Don't worry, Ellie. I'll stay with her."
"Are you sure?" she asked as she raced back into the kitchen. He followed close behind her.
"Yes, I'm sure," he said "So just go do what you have to do."
"Okay, Alvin. I made her some dinner. Just heat it up in the microwave when she wakes up and make sure she takes her medicine at six."
"Okay, Ellie," Alvin said. "Just go. Brittany will be fine."
Eleanor grabbed her purse and notebook and headed out the door. Alvin walked back into the living room and sat down in a chair. Brittany was still sleeping soundly on the couch. He just sat there and watched her. After a little while she started to stir.
As he was preparing to go over to her she started to whimper in her sleep. The whimpering became louder as she tossed and turned. Alvin tried to wake her up, but she began to hit him in her sleep and scream out.
"Don't touch me!" she shouted. She started to cry, as the nightmare became worse.
Alvin tried to shake her awake. "Brittany!" He shouted her name. She continued to hit him. "Wake up!" He almost shouted.
Her eyes shot open, but she was still trembling. She looked into Alvin's eyes. "Alvin?" she said weakly.
"Yeah, baby, it's me," he said, while stroking her hair softly.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, still confused. "Where's Miss Miller and my sisters?"
"They had to go out, so I told Eleanor I'd stay with you." She tried sitting up, but she was still shaking. "You okay?" he asked as he held her.
"Yeah, I think so," Brittany said. "It must have been a nightmare."
"You want to talk about it?" he asked. She shook her head in the negative. "Hey, it might help."
She sat up and looked at him. "No, it won't. I don't remember what it was about."
"Okay," he said, putting his arms around her. He rubbed her back as she sighed softly. "Does that feel good?"
"Yeah, I feel better now," she said. "And hungry."
"Well, I'll take care of that. Dinner is coming up."
"Okay," she said, sounding skeptical.
He rose to his feet and walked into the kitchen. She heard the beeps from the microwave. He came back in a few minutes with a tray a food and a large glass of orange juice.
"Well, this is service," she said teasingly.
"Nothing's to good for you," he said. She just looked strangely at him. "Go ahead. Eat."
"Alright," she said hesitantly.
She took a bite of the turkey slices in gravy and swallowed it slowly. She was surprised by the taste. "Did you make this?" she asked him.
"No, Eleanor did," he said. "Now, eat up."
"Okay," she said, laughing at him. She ate the rest of her meal and washed it down with the orange juice. "That was good." She put her plate down and looked over at Alvin. "I really did think you cooked dinner."
"I wouldn't do that to you." He put his hand on her cheek, and leaned in to kiss her, but she pulled away from him before he could. "Brittany, are you alright?"
"Yeah," she said, and looked away from him. "That... um... nightmare just shook me up a little. That's all."
"Then maybe it would help if you told me about," Alvin insisted. Her behavior was starting to frighten him.
"There's nothing to tell," she said and sat back on the couch. "I don't even remember what it was about. I doesn't matter anyway."
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said.
"Okay," he said, and picked up her plate and took it back into the kitchen. He washed it out and put it in the drainer to dry. When he came back in he noticed Brittany was in pain. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing," she said. He looked at the clock and saw that it was almost six.
"You need to take your medicine," Alvin said. Brittany groaned, but she was in pain. She didn't protest too much. "Here you go." She swallowed the pills with some water and sat back on the couch. "Are you feeling better?"
"I guess so," she said. He put his arms around her, but he was still a little apprehensive, because of her behavior earlier. She accepted him without hesitation and laid her head on his chest. "You're probably tired of taking care of me by now."
"What makes you say that?" he said her.
"Well, you could be out having fun, going to parties, and here you are stuck here."
"I would rather be here taking care of you than anywhere else."
"Do you really mean that?" she asked, looking up at him.
"Of course I do," he said, looking her in the eye. "And speaking of parties, Ben is having one next weekend. Do you want to go?"
"Yes, of course I want to go. I haven't to a good since... I don"t remember."
A smile came back to her face. She looked intensely into eyes. She so desperately wanted to kiss him. She leaned in and kissed him passionately, putting her nightmares behind her. After she broke off the kiss, she looked into his eyes and saw that he looked confused.
"What?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"
"No," he said, coming closer to her. "Nothing at all." He put his arms around her, and kissed with just as much passion as she showed him. She returned the affection, putting her hands around his neck.
She rested her head on his shoulder and started to drift off. "Hey, are you tired?"
She just sighed and closed her eyes. She still had her arms around him as she drifted off. He just smiled at how sweet she looked when she was sleeping. He picked her up and headed for the stairs and carried her to her room.
As he walked in he remembered how long it had been since she had been in her bedroom, not since they were kids. It was all pink and frilly, just Brittany's style, but she seemed to make it work. He laid her down on her bed and put a blanket over her. She still remained asleep. She said his name in her sleep, while giggling.
She was dreaming of him. He like that. He kissed her forehead and heard someone come up the stairs. Eleanor entered the room quietly.
"Alvin," she said in a whisper. "How's Brittany?"
"She's fine," Alvin whispered back. He walked over to the door. "She just went back to sleep."
"Good," Eleanor said. "Ever since she came home I've been worried about her. With the nightmares..."
"Nightmares? She tell you want they're about?"
"No," Eleanor said. "She just says she doesn't remember, but..."
"You don't believe her," Alvin said. He walked back over to Brittany's bed. I wonder what's going on up there. He saw some of her pink stationary and and tore off a page and wrote her a note. He folded it up and left it on her nightstand. He leaned down to look at her sleeping face. "Sweet dreams," he said and kissed her lightly on the lips.
He walked out of her room with Eleanor. "Ellie, what do you think happened to her?"
"I don't know," she said, "but I don't think..."
"What? She was in a car accident," Alvin said.
"I know, but something's strange about the whole thing. I'm just wondering if someone..."
"That might explain why she was acting so strange."
"Strange, how?" Eleanor asked as they walked down the stairs together.
"Nothing," Alvin said, as he walked to the front door. "Never mind, just take care of her, and I'll be back tomorrow."
"Okay, Alvin," Eleanor said and shut the door.
Okay, that the end of this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Next up. The Confession. Brittany is starting to remember what happened. Will she tell Alvin? Find out next time. See you next chapter.