sammy_808@live.com
http://sammytriesagain.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-exhibition-illness.html
--
Sammy woke up the next morning with a shiver. The side of her sleep sack was soaked, and it felt clammy on her skin. "Annie?" she asked quietly. She heard a moan in reply, and felt a hand slap on her shoulder. "Ouch! What was that for?" The hand groped across her head, and then reached behind her neck. A few moments later, she felt the zipper open underneath her. Sammy shrugged a few times as the sack loosened, and soon had her head and arms out.
"What's wrong, Annie?" Sammy said as her eyes adjusted to the morning light. She glanced over, and saw Annie looking blankly at her, with her face bright red. "What's wrong?" Sammy said as she scooted closer, feeling Annie's face boiling.
"Call doctor," Annie croaked out.
"Yes! Doctor! I'll call a doctor!" Sammy said as she jumped out of bed, letting the sack drop to the floor. She walked around the bed to Annie's side, and picked up her phone. She walked into the living room as she scrolled through the phone book, stopping when she found "Doctor Rachel Torres" listed. She tapped on it, and put the phone to her ear to hear it ringing.
"What?" asked the annoyed sounding voice on the other end.
"Um, my friend Annie is sick, and you were listed in her phone, so I was hoping you could help."
"Who are you?"
"Sammy? I'm Annie's friend, are you Doctor Torres?"
"I see, she found a new 'friend.' Wonderful." Sammy heard a loud sigh. "How long have you been together? A week?"
"Um, we just had our one year anniversary yesterday. Can you help her?"
"One...year?" The voice sounded shocked.
"Yeah. Um. Can I talk to the doctor? Annie's really sick, and she's super hot, and she keeps moaning, and I'm worried about her."
"Did you take her temperature?"
"No? I should do that. Let me go do that." Sammy dashed to the bathroom, and opened the medicine cabinet to find a thermometer. "I don't think I can?" Sammy said into the phone.
"It's the pointy plastic thing," was the response. "You take it using her ear."
"Oh, this thingy?" Sammy said as she held up the thermometer, and pushed the button on it.
"Given that I can't see what you're holding, let's hope yes."
Sammy walked back into the bedroom, and put the thermometer into Annie's ear and pushed the button again. When it beeped, Annie flailed her hand to her ear, trying to cover it. "Sorry!" Sammy said to her, followed by "103. That can't be good."
"No, it's not. Ok. I'll prescribe her some stuff that should help. What pharmacy do you go to?"
"I don't know. So you are the doctor?"
"Where do you live?" Doctor Torres asked impatiently.
"I don't know?" Sammy replied, realizing it sounded stupid.
"How do you not know where you live? Is this a prank or something? Is Annie sitting there laughing through all this? You can tell her to..."
"NO!" Sammy shouted into the phone. "I'm sorry, but she's really super sick! I don't know where we live because I haven't been outside except for a few times in the last year. And when I do, Annie takes care of everything, so I haven't needed to know, so I didn't bother with it. And now she's sick, and I don't know what to do!" Sammy started to cry, and sank down to the floor.
"Fine. What you have to do is find a damn pharmacy, and have them call me. I can tell them what to give you. You're going to need an id, though."
"But..." Sammy started.
"Look. Get Annie's hoodie. You'll be perfectly fine in it."
"Ok. Thanks."
"Tell Annie that I hope she feels better. I guess she's lucky to have a friend like you to help her." Sammy heard the phone click and go silent.
She walked back to the bedroom, and pulled open a drawer. She grabbed some tights and a tank, and put them on. She padded over to the bed, and gently shook Annie's shoulder. "Annie? I need to borrow your hoodie. Where is it?"
Annie moaned and pulled the covers tighter, and Sammy could see her hand flapping under the sheets. "Bottom drawer."
"Thanks. Um...also, I need my ID, I think. Where's that too?"
"Shakespeare," Annie mumbled as she pulled the covers over her head.
"Sorry to bother you, Annie. Go back to sleep and rest, ok?"
She walked back to the dresser, and pulled open the bottom drawer. She pulled out a few pairs of jeans, and found the hoodie crammed in the back. It was huge, and was clearly bigger than either Annie or Sammy would normally wear. Sammy pulled it over her head, feeling it come down almost to her knees. She slid her hands down the sleeves, and felt holes in the cuffs for her to put her thumbs in. The cuffs were a bit stiff on her palms, and felt like something had been sewn into them.
As she shuffled around in the hoodie, Sammy walked back to the living room, and pulled the giant Shakespeare book off the shelf. She sat down on the floor and opened it flat. She could feel the pages automatically separate at a number of places, and as she opened to those pages, she found all of the stuff that had been in her wallet. She took her driver's license. The envelope that Annie had given her before was stuck between a different set of pages, and Sammy opened it up and took the credit card inside.
Sammy hefted the book back into its place on the shelf, and grabbed Annie's keys from the kitchen table. "I'll be back later, Annie!" she quietly shouted toward the bedroom. "Ok. I can do this."
--
Two minutes later, as she was standing in the hallway trying to find which key locked the door, Sammy wasn't totally sure that she could. "Why does she have so many keys that look the same?"
"Do you need help, dear?" asked a woman behind her. Sammy spun around, and saw an old lady standing in the open doorway across the hall.
"Um...I'm not breaking in!" Sammy blurted out the first thing she could think of.
"Of course not, dear. You haven't locked the door yet, so you could just open it."
"I can't find the right key!" Sammy said, hearing her own voice rise in pitch and volume as she slowly panicked."
"That's ok, dear, let's see if I can help you find it." She walked over with her cane, and took the keys from Sammy's limp hands. "Let's try this one, that Annie put the red dot on." The key slid in the hole, and a quick turn and the resulting thud indicated it was the right one.
"Whoa. How did you know that was the right one? Wait, do you know Annie?"
"I've known her since back when her parents owned this apartment. I've lived in this building since they put it up. I'm Emma Lynch."
"Sammy. Samantha."
"Oh, you're Annie's friend!" Emma said as a smile grew on her face. "I was wondering when I'd get to meet you!" she beamed as she handed the keys back to Sammy.
"Um, hi? Sorry, but I have to go to the pharmacy. Annie's not feeling well, and I have to go get her medicine." Sammy dropped the keys back into the pocket of the hoodie, and after checking the door once, started easing towards the elevator.
"That's unfortunate. When you get downstairs, tell Bruce at the door that I told him to get you a cab. I hope Annie feels better soon." Emma waved after Sammy as she went inside her apartment.
The elevator dinged and opened in the lobby, and Sammy cautiously stepped out. She had only gone down to the garage with Annie before, and even then she was usually distracted and unable to see where she was going. As she approached the exit, she attracted the attention of the doorman. He glanced up from his newspaper, and watched Sammy as she nervously looked around. "Can I help you?" he said as he folded the paper closed and stood up.
"Um," Sammy started to say before stopping and trying to figure out what to say. "I need a pharmacy?" she finally decided.
"Do you live here?" the doorman asked suspiciously. "I don't recognize you."
"Yes?" Sammy replied, starting to panic as he walked over to her. "Are you Bruce?"
The doorman stopped, confused as to how he knew his name. "Yes I am, who are you?"
"Sammy. I'm Sammy. Mrs. Lynch said you could get me a cab?" Sammy crammed her hands deep into the hoodie, and looked at the floor.
"Oh, are you Emma's guest?" Bruce's face softened a bit.
"Um, no. I live with Annie, but she's sick, so I need to go get her some medicine, but I don't know where the nearest pharmacy is," Sammy explained in a sudden fast burst of words.
"Miss Annie's sick?" Bruce's face immediately changed as he gestured to the door. He held it open for Sammy to walk through, and pulled his phone from his pocket. He dialed a number, followed by a gruff, "I need you right now. Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get over here!" Sammy looked around on the sidewalk, and when she stepped a bit too far away, Bruce followed after and held up his hand to get her to stop. He hung up the phone and stood next to Sammy on the sidewalk. "Ok, I called my friend, he'll give you a ride to the drug store."
"Thanks," Sammy said quietly. They stood in silence as the cars rushed past. Sammy nervously fidgeted with the keys in her pocket while Bruce kept an eye on both Sammy and the building door.
A few minutes later, a cab pulled up to the curb, and Bruce opened the door while leaning into the passenger window. "She needs to get to the drug store. If she's happy, I'm happy, understand?"
"I get it, yeah," sighed the driver.
"I hear bad things, you know..." Bruce trailed off.
Sammy sat in the cab as it rolled off. "I don't know why he has to be such a jerk," the cabby began. "I know what he means. I'm not going to screw you over."
"Thanks," Sammy whispered.
"No, honestly, this is like six blocks. I'll get you there, no problem."
The lights changed a few times, and eventually the cabby pulled over to the side. "Um, do you do credit cards?" Sammy asked.
"I didn't bring the machine today," the cabby replied. "But for you? Being Brucey's friend? No worry. Have a good day!"
"Thanks," Sammy stammered out as she stepped out of the cab. The sun shined down on her in the valley of the buildings, as she looked around. She saw the drug store on the corner and walked in.
"I think need a prescription," Sammy said to the pharmacist when it was her turn. She put her ID on the counter.
"Do you have it with you?"
"She said to have you call them? She would tell you what it was."
Sammy could tell as the polite visage slipped off the pharmacist's face. "Ok, what's the number?" After a minute of saying numbers and showing the back of the receipt she wrote Rachael's number on, Sammy stepped back. "What? Ok? Really? That's not the name on her ID, you know. You don't care? I know it's not controlled. 40258. I've done this for almost a decade now, and you're the worst person I've had to deal with. Four-zero-two-five-eight. Fine! You win, you horrible person."
"Hey, you!" the pharmacist shouted at Sammy. "Fifteen minutes. Got it?"
"Thank you!" Sammy replied.
"Whatever," she was met with.
Sammy wandered around the aisles, and after a few minutes of looking at chips and candy, she felt her tummy grumble. "I should get food," Sammy said to herself out loud. She walked outside, and looked at the signs around her. A restaurant next door caught her eye.
"Can I help you?" the girl at the counter asked.
"Um..." Sammy stalled as she looked over the menu. "Can I get a pho and a banh mi to go?"
"Sure!"
"With no cilantro, though. Please. If I can."
"No problem. We'll have it ready in a few minutes." Sammy handed over the credit card, and scribbled on the receipt when it was handed to her.
"Ok, I'll be back when I get my drugs sorted." Sammy ignored the puzzled look on the girl's face as she went back to the pharmacy.
Back at the pharmacy, Sammy stood in line, and when it was her turn, she saw the pharmacist roll her eyes. She reached behind her to get a tray, which she slammed down on the counter. She pulled two pill bottles out. "This is an antibiotic. One a day until they're done," she said holding up one. "This is for the fever. Check every eight hours, and only give one if it's above 100," she said for the other.
"Ok," Sammy said as she slid her credit card across and signed the papers where the pharmacist pointed.
"And tell your doctor friend she's a fucking bitch," the pharmacist spat out as she handed Sammy her receipt. "Next!" Sammy collected the bottles and instructions, and tucked them into her pocket.
Sammy wandered back to the restaurant, and with a quick wave, collected her bag of food. Stepping back outside onto the sidewalk, Sammy looked around with a smile as the sun shone down on her. She looked one way and then the other, and after taking a few steps, the smile tumbled from her face. She spun around as her vision narrowed to a blindingly bright spot. "I don't know where I am and don't know how to get home!" Sammy's brain shouted at her. She curled up and knelt down, oblivious to everything around her except the pounding in her ears.
As tears streamed down her cheeks, Sammy felt a buzz on her back. She spun around, wondering who had touched her. Although her eyes were blurry, she didn't see anyone standing there. A few seconds later, the buzz repeated, this time on her stomach. She reached down, and realized that the buzzing was caused by something in the hoodie. Again, a few seconds passed, followed by another buzz on her stomach.
With the distraction, Sammy slowly calmed down. She turned around to pick up the bag of food, and the buzzing again switched to her back. "So it's only this one direction? Are you telling me where home is?" Sammy slowly spun around, stopping to feel where the buzzing was pointing. Other people on the sidewalk gave her weird looks as she jerkingly twirled. Sammy ignored them, and after checking that she had everything still, set off to follow the buzzing.
As she was walking down the street, the buzzing stopped, even though the last buzz was off to her left. When she stopped at the crosswalk at the end of the block, the buzz returned, pointing her slightly more to the left than before. Sammy took this as a suggestion to turn, and crossed the street to continue her journey. As she stopped at each corner, the buzzing slowly moved more and more to her right. It eventually moved all the way to her side, so Sammy turned again, and kept going until it shifted again to her left side. Sammy stopped when this buzz happened, as she was in the middle of the block. She looked to the left, and saw the entrance to the building awaiting her across the road. Sammy looked both ways, and then grabbed her bag of food with both hands, held it out ahead of her, and dashed across the street before the waves of traffic returned.
She was checking that the pho hadn't spilled in the bag when she looked up to see Bruce holding the door open. "Don't you ever do that again!" he bellowed at her. Sammy looked up, and felt her eyes cloud with tears again. "Oh, Christ, don't do that, please? I'm sorry. Look, I glance up to see you running in the street, and I nearly have a heart attack. All I'm thinking is how I explain this to Miss Annie. 'I sent your friend out, and she got run over.'"
Sammy looked up at him and saw how concerned he looked. "Dan was supposed to wait and bring you home, anyway. Did he just dump you?"
"Yeah?" Sammy replied.
"The fucker. Well, anyway, you're home and safe, and you got the medicine you wanted, right?"
"Yes," Sammy said, grasping in her pocket. "I should get back to Annie!" She walked over to the elevator, and pushed the button. Bruce stepped in next to her, slid one of his keys into a slot, and pushed the button again, this time lighting it up. "Thanks," Sammy said quietly as she stepped past the opening doors. She looked at the console, and reached out slowly.
"Twenty-seven, Miss Sammy," Bruce said with a smile.
"Thanks again," Sammy smiled at the giant as the doors slid shut. Back upstairs, she pulled the keys out, found the red mark, and opened the door to the apartment. She rushed in, closed the door, and locked it closed. Sammy let out a long sigh, and dumped everything on the dining room table. She kicked off her shoes, and pulled the hoodie off, feeling the cool air on her skin.
Annie seemed to wake up a bit more, as she licked her tongue before croaking out, "Water?" Sammy cradled her head and slowly dripped the water in as Annie swallowed it. After drinking about half the water, Sammy checked that she'd taken the pills. When she was sure they were gone, she lowered Annie's head down onto the pillow, and went back to fill a mug with the pho broth.
"Annie? Wake up and have some soup, ok?" Sammy asked as she held Annie's head up again. She repeated the process, and five minutes later, the mug was empty. "Do you want more soup?"
Annie wiggled around, and Sammy pulled back, letting her curl up on her side. "Sleeps..." she whispered. Sammy arranged the sheet and blanket around her, and left the bedroom.
She cleaned up the pho that spilled in the bag, and put the rest of it into the fridge. She unwrapped her sandwich, and picked off the cilantro. "I know I told her," she grumbled to herself. She ate half of it, and rewrapped the other half for later. Sammy wandered around the apartment for a few minutes, wondering what to do. Eventually, she grabbed her tablet and a pile of blankets, and went back into the bedroom. She unfolded the blankets and dropped them on the floor, mushing them around to make a nest for herself next to the bed.
She read things on her tablet for a few hours, and when she thought it was time, she checked Annie's temperature. Annie grunted when the thermometer beeped, but as it read 99.8, Sammy let her sleep instead of giving her more medicine. She went back to the kitchen, finished her sandwich, and as the sun set through the window, she went back to her nest to read more. Eventually she drifted off to sleep as the light outside dimmed.
--
The morning sunlight glinted off the buildings, soon reflecting a beam in through the bedroom window. Annie saw it through her eyelids, and scrunched them shut to block out the unwanted intrusion on her dream. She pulled the covers up, and stretched her arms out in front of her. "Something should be there," her mind sleepily mused. She scissored her arms around, feeling the sheet puff and deflate as they passed. "SAMMY!" her brain shouted as she felt the pillow on the other side of the bed shift.
Annie's eyes flew open, and seeing no one else in the bed, kicked the covers off and jumped out of bed.
Immediately hearing a "Oof!" as her feet stumbled trying to get a footing on the strangely lumpy floor. Sammy sat up as the blankets dropped around her.
"Dummy! What are you doing on the floor?" Annie shouted at Sammy.
"Double dummy! Get back in bed!" Sammy shouted back as she stood up.
"What?" Annie was stunned as Sammy pushed her back down onto the bed, pulling the covers up to her neck. "What are you doing?"
"Making sure you get better," Sammy said calmly as she forced Annie's head to one side so she could take her temperature again. "99.3. Even better." Sammy went back to the kitchen and returned with another bottle of water and the next antibiotic. "Here. You have to get better, so you have to take this."
Annie took the pill as directed, and slapped Sammy's hands away as she tried to pull the covers back up to her neck. "I'm fine, pet. I just have a headache. How did you get out of the sleep sack?"
"You unzipped me yesterday. Don't you remember?"
"Yesterday?" Annie asked as the glimpses from her dreams started to make sense. "I've been asleep for a day?"
"Yeah. You were super sick and hot, so you had me call your doctor. She prescribed stuff, and I went to go get them. It's a good thing your hoodie knows how to get home, though, because otherwise I'd still be lost out there," Sammy smiled as she pointed to the hoodie sitting on the dresser.
"How...how did you know about the hoodie?" Annie asked with a puzzled look on her face.
"Your doctor told me."
"I don't have a doctor."
"Yeah you do, she's in your phone. Doctor Torres."
Annie could feel the blood drain from her face, causing Sammy to lean in and put her hand on her shoulder. "You called Rachel?" Annie sputtered out.
"Why? Did I do something wrong?"
"And she actually helped you? She's...an ex. We split up in a really messy way. I can't believe she helped."
"Oh. Well, she told me she hoped you felt better. She was a bit mean when I first called, but after that she seemed kind of nice. I guess she was a bit harsh with the pharmacist, too, so I just assumed she was busy or something."
"And you didn't hurt anyone with the hoodie, right?"
"No? How..." Sammy started as a panicked look faded on Annie's face.
"I made it during college, because I had a lot of late night classes. The location stuff I put in because I'd often be tired going home. After there were some attacks on campus, I wired up a tazer in the sleeves. If you clap your hands and then touch someone with both palms, they, you know..." Annie mimed out a shove and then wiggled her fingers. "Ba-zap!"
Sammy giggled. "She didn't tell me about that."
"I don't think she knows it does that." Annie settled back down on the bed. Sammy sat on the floor next to her, holding Annie's left hand with hers.
A few minutes passed when Sammy suddenly squeezed Annie's hand. "Wait, if you don't have a doctor, does that mean I don't have a doctor either? What if I get sick?"
Annie pulled her hand away to stroke Sammy's hair. She smiled and said, "We'll go get doctors this week. Then we'll be ok if you get sick, ok?"
"Ok, but you're not allowed to get sick anymore. That's the new rule," Sammy closed her eyes as Annie continued to pet her. A few minutes later, she pushed up to look at Annie from under her arm. "If it's been a whole year, that means we missed Christmas!"
Annie let her hand drop down to Sammy's shoulder, and then reached it around her neck and gave a gentle squeeze. "No, we didn't pet. You asked Santa to be hanged, and when Christmas came around, you were properly hanged. It was a Christmas miracle.
"My question for you, pet, is why I'm the one who get sick, when you're the filthy cunt eating shit all the time?" Sammy broke out into giggles, and climbed up to cuddle in bed as Annie guided her up.
--
The Exhibition: Illness
sammy_808@live.com
http://sammytriesagain.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-exhibition-illness.html
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3!!!
ReplyDelete<>--+-
thanks! :)
Delete