by Rachel Burns
“I want to become a nurse, so mom thought that this would be good practice, and she is my best friend. Just because she was dumb enough to agree to date you, doesn’t mean that I don’t ever get to see her again.” Cathy placed her hands on her hips and stared him down.
“Everything is back to normal.” Brianna was always surprised that the others had needed to have it spelled out to them that Scott and Cathy were brother and sister. It was just so obvious. Who else would have dared to glare at him that way and get away with it?
“Brianna, honey, how are you feeling.” Karen saw what Eva had meant by the shaking. Brianna had suffered from that before, but this time it was especially bad. It should have been gone by this time.
“A lot better. Thank you, Karen.”
“Well,” she looked at her son, “I think you should go home and freshen up yourself. Get some rest too.”
“I want to be here when the doctor comes.”
Brianna shook her head. She was totally appalled that he could see her during an examination.
“I would wait out in the hall and talk to him when he comes out. I’ll go home and shower, but I’ll be right back.” He spoke with such determination that no one thought to argue with him. He kissed Brianna on the cheek and left then.
The women went to work on getting Brianna on her feet and walking her to her bathroom. Her mother removed her pajamas.
Cathy had to swallow hard to be able to pretend that her friend didn’t look just terrible. She looked like a piece of abused meat. “Why did they cut you open down there?” Cathy pointed to Brianna down low.
“That was how they kept her blood flowing while her heart was stopped.” Karen explained. She quickly went about putting huge plastic bandages over her wounds so they wouldn’t get wet while washing. Brianna shook uncontrollably while they washed her. They dried her quickly and carefully.
Eva rubbed her with a crème her aunt had sent her from Germany. It was with devil’s claw. A plant from South Africa. It warmed all the way through to her muscles. They dressed her as warmly as they could. Which was ridiculous in this heat, but she needed it. They walked her back to her bedroom.
Brianna was deeply embarrassed, but she was too tired to even fight the three of them. They had Cathy walk up and down with her slowly.
“She needs to move, or she will end up with a lung infection. Keep her moving Cathy,” Karen scolded her daughter.
She and Eva made quick work of changing the bedding. They laid her electric blanket under her sheets and gave her a down comforter.
Brianna wanted to go back to bed when they were finished, but Scott’s mom was being a strict nurse. She made her move around some more.
“But mom she is dead on her feet. Let her lie down,” Cathy pleaded.
“No, she will fall asleep as soon as we let her. She has to move around before she sleeps for hours on end. Plus we will have to make her do it before Scott gets back. He would be too soft with her. Speak of the devil.” They heard his feet on the stairs and the knock on the door.
“Come in,” Brianna called out.
Scott came in and went right to Brianna. He took her from Cathy and wanted to lead her to bed. He had showered and shaved in record time.
“That was fast. I hope you didn’t get a ticket.” Karen was shaking her head at him.
“Scott, I need to stay on my feet for a bit.” Brianna looked up in his eyes. “I could get another lung infection if I don’t. Walk with me?”
“Of course.” Scott walked with her to her window, and they looked out over the garden. “I should have stopped off to buy you some flowers. Would you like that?”
“My dad is doing that right now. I always get flowers when I’m sick and stuff.” She was leaning onto his chest. She was dizzy.
“Scott, keep her moving,” Karen was being strict. She was really nice, but she took her job seriously.
Eva had tears in her eyes as she watched her slowly moving around.
The doorbell rang again. “She can lie down now.” Karen felt that Brianna’s coloring had gotten better.
Scott scooped her up in his arms and carried her to bed and tucked her in warmly.
“Scott, in her condition every step counts,” Karen shook her head at him.
“Sorry.” He looked down at Brianna. He meant it too.
Brianna had to laugh at that. He was being so sweet. Him being here was proving that he really did love her, and that she was right to love him back.
The doctor came in and talked to everyone and asked questions. When it came time to treat the wounds and change the bandages, Scott stepped out. Her father was just coming in with an amazing bouquet. He saw Scott pacing in the hall. “Is the doctor here?”
Scott nodded and Charles ran up and went in. Scott felt all alone again. Once he was her husband, he would get to stay. He wondered when the best time to propose would be. He would ask his parents and hers. Maybe they had an idea, but he sure would like her to have a ring on her finger before she started school. The guys there should know right away that she was taken.
The doctor came out and hurried down the stairs.
“Excuse me, but how is she doing?”
“She is healing but very slowly. Once the shivering stops, we’ll see a real improvement. You can go in.” The doctor patted him on the shoulder as he left.
Scott hurried up to Brianna before she fell asleep again. Her eyes were already falling shut. He got his chair and sat down next to her. “What did the doctor say?”
“She is right on track. We’ll take good care of her, and by the time school starts she will be ready.” Charles sounded so cheerful and sure.
Scott had lowered his expectations. She probably would miss the first semester of school. He reached for her hand and held it again. His mother stood behind him and laid her hands on his shoulders. She was so proud of him, but at the same time, she felt so sorry for him.
“Brianna, wake up. I have big plans for us today. I want to take you on a date.” Scott gave her a light shake.
“What are you up to?” Brianna yawned and stretched.
His eyes watched her moving body as it elongated. “Careful, sweetheart, or I won’t be able to stop myself.”
“Stretching turns you on?” They were getting more comfortable talking about things like that. They could talk to each other about anything.
“When it’s your body doing the stretching, then yes. Let me help you to your feet.” He reached under and gently pulled her into position. “Tell me when you are ready.”
Brianna took a couple of deep breaths. Her hand reached out to him again, and he wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her to her feet. He walked her into her bathroom.
He let go of her and gave her a quick smile before he left, closing the door behind him.
Scott was so pleased with how quickly she was healing. He could finally believe that she would be going to school with them.
Brianna hurried in the bathroom. Still, it took her a long time. She knew that he was waiting. He had taken her downstairs yesterday to eat in the kitchen. He had quit his job so he could be with her. She felt so guilty about that. He had been working so long and saving his money and because of her nothing more was coming in at the moment.
“Scott, I’m finished.” She looked in the mirror at her pale reflection. Maybe she should have them lay her outside in the sun so she could get some fresh air and some color.
The door opened, and Scott’s strong arms were wrapped around her again. “Be nice I have been getting things ready for you while you slept. If you don’t like it, please, lie to me.”
“I promise to lie if I don’t like it. But how will you know the difference if I do.” Brianna flashed him a brilliant smile.
“I’ll know.”
He slowly walked her out of her room and to the head of the staircase. Half way down she needed a break.
“Tell me what the surprise is.”
“Brianna, you are worse than a kid at Chr
istmastime,” he teased her.
“I’m just showing interest,” she answered, innocently.
Her father laughed at her as he passed by them on the stairs. “How are you feeling today, sweetheart?”
“Much better, thank you Daddy.”
He moved on again. It had been clear that Scott had wanted to spend the day with her alone. Charles wondered if he would pop the question today. He knew that Scott was eager to do that.
“I’m ready to continue now.”
Scott helped her to her feet again, and they slowly moved on. He walked her to the garden door. He had decided that he could carry her from here on, even though he had taken his mother’s advice to heart about getting her up and moving. Nevertheless, Brianna hadn’t gone this far yet.
He opened the door and helped her step out. It was hot out, but there was a breeze going. He kept his eye on her.
“What are you up to?”
“I’m just a little hungry. How about you?”
“Yes, but we just passed the kitchen.”
“Don’t look so confused. I just thought that you have been cooped up too long.” He led her to a picnic blanket that was set for two. A little bed of pillows was also made up for her.
“Oh Scott, how nice.” She gave him a hug.
“See, I can tell the difference.” He helped her sit down and get comfortable. “I’m really proud of you. You walked the whole way out here. That was a lot.” He made up a plate for her.
“Scott, you make it sound like I just took my first steps.”
“Brianna,” his tone warned her to behave herself, “You are doing very well, and I don’t want to hear you putting yourself down. Take your plate and eat as much as you can before the wind takes you.”
“Yes, Scott.” She took her plate and balanced it on her knees.
“You sure can sound meek if you want to,” he commented.
“I can do defiant, sulky and mad too.” She nodded over at him. “All with the same words.” She acted the words out with different feelings. Scott was smiling at her again before she finished.
“I was thinking that I would try out for the plays that they perform at my school. I’m sure they will find something I can do. Would you come and watch? Even if I just painted the background scenery?” Brianna asked him.
“Of course I would. I figure you will get the star role in some musical. I want to sit in the front role and watch, but I don’t want you to overdo it. I will do what I can to keep you healthy.”
“Don’t say it like that. You make it sound like I will get in trouble if I get sick. I want to be able to tell you the truth when I’m not feeling well. We talked about that before, and you said I could tell you anything.”
He looked at her worried face, which was slowly starting to look like herself again. “I meant every word. I want you to tell me more than you tell Cathy. It would break my heart if I ever found out that you weren’t telling me the truth about how you feel because you were afraid of me. I want you to tell me even if you did something you know you shouldn’t, and you got sick because of it. Let’s make a deal. I will never punish you for being sick even if you brought it on yourself. Being sick is punishment enough, and I will just concentrate on making you healthy again.”
“Thank you. That eases my mind a lot. Talking like this is important. It makes me feel more – safe with you.”
“You will always be safe with me.” He had wanted to propose to her today, but he realized that it was too soon. They needed more time to get to know each other. They needed more dates like today.
He cuddled close to her and let her lay her head on his chest. They ate and talked, and he read to her out of a book. They laughed and got along so well.
Scott was sure that she was the one for him. The only one he would ever want.
Chapter 15 – Living Together
“Brianna, Scott is here,” Eva called up to her daughter.
“I’m here too,” Cathy whined.
Eva laughed. “Cathy is here too,” she called up.
Brianna hurried down the stairs to them. She went to Scott and hugged him. He pulled her tight and smiled like he had won the lottery.
Her father walked behind her. “Here are the first of her bags. I’ll get the rest.”
“You look really nice, sweetheart,” Scott told her.
“You always say that. It makes it hard to believe you.” Brianna wrinkled her forehead and looked at him.
“Hey, I chose a pretty girl. Of course she is going to look nice all the time.”
“Hello, Brianna. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m standing here too,” Cathy pouted.
“Cathy, I’m really glad you are here too. I can hardly wait to start living with you. We will be a lot closer now. More like sisters.”
“We are going to be sisters too. Once he has dragged you down the aisle,” she added.
Scott poked his little sister. He was going to propose tomorrow evening, and he had the ring on him at all times. He had made reservations at a very expensive restaurant. Everything would be settled before school began. He was pretty sure she would say, yes. He felt like he had all of his ducks in a row.
Brianna was standing at the stove and stirring her spaghetti sauce. Scott was cutting bread, and Cathy was setting the table. This place already felt like home. Brianna was already unpacked, and she had found the right pots and pans that she needed to cook.
“Mmm, that smells really good. Our mom just opened a jar to make sauce.” Cathy loved Brianna’s cooking. She had eaten at their house often.
“My mom made everything from scratch. She was obsessed with it. Understandably,I got obsessed with trying macaroni and cheese out of the box. She did end up making it for me once, but she made such disgusted sounds that I couldn’t enjoy it.”
“Don’t worry, Brianna. We can have that a lot on my nights to cook,” Cathy laughed. She hated to cook, and Scott hardly knew how. Scott wanted to sit them down and talk about sharing the work load soon. He just couldn’t shake the whole floor monitor thing, Cathy thought. He would probably want to make charts to hang on the refrigerator.
Brianna drained the water and put the spaghetti in a bowl, and then she poured the sauce into another bowl. She and Cathy carried the bowls to the table. Scott brought the bread. They all sat down, and Scott had a feeling that he was sitting at a table decked out for the holidays. “Should we pray?” It seemed to be the right thing to do.
Brianna dutifully sunk her head and folded her hands. Cathy cocked an eyebrow and then did the same. She was trying hard not to laugh at him. He was so different around Brianna.
Scott prayed, and the girls said ‘Amen’ when he was finished. Brianna looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back. He decided that they would continue with meal prayers. It made him feel manly and like an adult.
They ate in harmony each telling a bit about what they expected and hoped for this school year. Brianna had what she felt were easy but interesting classes. The others had difficult classes. Scott had political science, economics, business organization and just one real law class. Cathy had anatomy and other difficult things like that. They would be changing the world, and she would just be playing the piano. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do after school.
She had confided that to Scott. He told her that he figured that she would be active in the church’s music program maybe even the one in charge of it. He seemed pleased that she didn’t want to do something that required her to be a mean power woman. She had looked into his suggestion and decided that would really be something that she would like to do. She would take classes in that direction too.
After they had cleaned up, they watched a movie on TV. Brianna had sat in the middle on the sofa. Scott wondered about laying an arm around Brianna more than he watched the movie. She whispered with Cathy about the movie, and they giggled like little girls now and then. He watched her and practiced his speech for tomorrow evening in his head. Scott hadn’t told Cathy so she could
n’t blurt it out.
When it was time for bed, he felt a need to bring Brianna, but Cathy was watching and shaking her head at him. He had no business in their rooms, and they had no business in his. Both sets of parents had been really clear about that. He gave Brianna a kiss good night before she went into her room.
Scott went into his and got ready for bed too. He could still hear the two of them chatting about the movie in their bathroom. He listened to them as he crawled into bed.
“Have you got your list?” Scott asked.
Brianna double checked and nodded at him. Cathy had hers in her hand, she was reading through it again and again.
Brianna had her book list, and the envelope that her father had given her to buy books with. This was costing her parents a lot of money. She hoped that she would do well.
Scott took them down to his car. He opened the door for Brianna in the front seat. Once she was in, he closed the door and opened the back seat door for Cathy, who got in and sat in the back. She felt like the third wheel on the wagon.
They drove to a college bookstore. Scott had to circle to find a parking spot. He went to Brianna’s side and got her out of the car. There were so many people here that he was worried that someone would push her and hurt her.
Cathy followed them in.
The place was packed. Scott brought Brianna to the music section before he went off to get his own books. There wasn’t that much going on in her section. It wasn’t as busy as the crowds that Scott and Cathy had to fight through. The people who came near to her only wanted one book from her section.
She saw Cathy talking to someone who would be in a class with her. Cathy was so good at making friends. That was something that would be very difficult for Brianna.
Brianna was worried. She didn’t want to lose Cathy to someone else. She decided to spend a lot of time with her best friend.
Brianna stayed put until Scott came for her. She worried that he would want to pay for her books, but he didn’t. It looked like it was hard on him though. She stepped to the side so he could buy his. He piled his books on top of hers.