Amanda leaned back against the outside brick wall of the school, shivering at the draft that the driving rain sent. Even under the over hang from the building, Amanda found no shelter from the rain and the misery that came with it. The school had a policy about no students being allowed in the building after five O’clock, but surprisingly there was no policy about leaving poor stranded students out to in the cold to suffer rape, mugging, or ritualistic disembowelment. It was only five after five, but Amanda knew she’d be stuck here for a while. Being doctors, Amanda’s parents had crammed schedules, and usually Amanda didn’t mind being alone for a couple of hours, but this time she was the one who was sick.

Amanda shivered again. Fat lot of good a three-hundred-dollar jacket was doing her! The letterman was a symbol of pride and accomplishment and she had never been so wretched. The chill in her bones and the constant ache of her body made it difficult for her to stay in a cheery mood, which had earned her a reprimanding from Coach and an extra amount of running.

I just should’ve stayed home…She thought, darkly. But that volleyball game on Thursday was very important to her. Most sports events were. Amanda was lucky to have the privilege of owning the jacket-warmth or no, and so far she was one of three sophomores who had the honor to do so. In Duriarb, you had to earn the jacket by qualifying for State or Regional competitions- a feat not easily reached in most sports. Amanda didn’t feel like she deserved to get hers in her freshman year; she’d only gotten lucky in one lousy track event, it wasn’t like she was a jock.

None of her friends really understood why she drove herself so hard to do well in sports. No one really knew what competition meant to someone like Amanda who had to fight for most of what she owned in life. Well, maybe Sam did understand a little, but she really didn’t think that he counted as a friend. And now it was a priority to avoid him. Just as well…he didn’t seem very interested in her, anyway.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Sam came up beside her.

“Are you okay?” he asked with true concern in his voice.

Had she been healthy, Amanda would’ve been thrilled that he was concerned and slightly giddy that he was standing so close, but at that point in time she was too sick to give a flying fuck.

“No,” she answered, bluntly, accenting her words with a cough, “And I don’t plan on being okay for a very long time to come.” God damn this super hero thing. Goddamn Sam for not coming to the movies that night. Damn him for being so sweet, now. And God damn Coach for making her run an extra five laps.

Sam was saying something else, but she found she had to struggle very hard to concentrate on his words.

“Huh?” she asked.

“I asked if you wanted a ride home,” Sam said. He lowered his voice slightly, as though afraid she would say no.

Amanda blinked at him, slowly. Kaine’s words came back to her; anyone you’re with may be in danger…it is a risk that you choose to take… Normally, Amanda would’ve said no; she wasn’t supposed to get random rides from people, and she was not going to put herself in a potentially awkward position by riding home with a crush.

Oh, but she was so tired and sleepy. Weak, too, and in pain. She coughed, sending a sharp stab through her lungs. She needed some Nyquil and a nap. She needed to go home. Never mind that she had a crush on him, never mind that her dad should be coming to get her in another hour; she wanted to go home now.

But… “You live in the opposite direction from me,” Amanda pointed out.

“I don’t mind,” Sam said.

“I need to stop at the drugstore,” Amanda added, trying to discourage him.

“I don’t care,” Sam said. Then, as if it were an after thought to him, he added, “I got the BMW today.”

“Okay,” Amanda said; hey, a German sports car was a German sports car no matter how sick you were and she could call her dad on her cell-phone and tell him to stay at the Hospital.

Amanda would’ve been delighted to see the smile on Sam’s face as she followed him to his car. But she was really too sick to care.

“What happened? You never get sick,” Sam was saying in the car ride home from the drugstore.

“I did this time,” Amanda said, blowing her nose. Fortunately, all of the running had forced her airways clean. “I think it had to do with me getting soaking wet at the movie theater.”

“I still don’t see how there could have been a bomb threat and a fire and it didn’t make the news. Samantha said that she didn’t hear any kind of announcement or even see a fire truck,” Sam said.

Well, you’re sister is an airhead, Amanda thought, darkly. Uh-oh. Better get home fast because she was getting cranky. Amanda read the warning label on the back of the Nyquil, even though she never listened to the damn things…. Take with food, don’t drive-huh, like that’ll be a problem, she thought- do not exceed recommended dosage…yada, yada, yada, she knew the rest. Half the time, she didn’t even bother to take medication. And the best response she got from her parents when she said she didn’t feel well was a sarcastic “Oh, poor baby, do you want me to call an ambulance?” or the ever popular “Suck a lozenge.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Sam helped Amanda carry her gym bag and backpack to the door. Amanda would’ve insisted that he go home after that, but as she leaned on the door to catch her breath, he laid a hand on her shoulder. Amanda closed her eyes. His touch felt so good, like a soft hug. She wanted him to pick her up and carry her to bed.

Eww…what a mushy thought. Amanda tried to straighten and shake off that un-Amanda like fantasy, but she lost her balance suddenly found herself slumped in Sam’s arms and looking up at his concerned face.

“Amanda!” he said shaking her slightly.

Why are you shouting at me? Amanda thought, confusedly. It didn’t seem unnatural to her that she was slumped in his arms; that’s what happens when a sick person falls down. And you were supposed to put them to bed and be really nice to them and say nice things... Get Real. She didn’t give Sam any credit for reading minds so she pushed up and out of his grasp to stand on her own feet. Amanda shuffled through the door to her home and tried to remember what it was that she was supposed to tell Sam to do.

“Where are your parents?” Sam asked.

“At work until late,” Amanda said, heading for the kitchen, deciding that a little tea was in order.

Sam looked at her. “Maybe you shouldn’t be alone.”

“I’m a big girl; I can take care of myself,” Amanda said more harshly than she had intended; he wasn’t a pervert, he was only trying to help.

Amanda allowed him to help her put some water on the stove for tea and get her backpack and gym bag upstairs to her room. She was momentarily embarrassed when she realized that she hadn’t cleaned her room for the majority of her life. But she didn’t have to worry about him noticing the dirty clothes and discarded underwear on the floor; he seemed magnetically drawn to her computer, despite the crappy model she had. Amanda busied herself trying to down the Nyquil without gagging and kick any bras-novelty or other-out of view.

She watched him play with her computer in complete silence. He was so sweet. Amanda couldn’t understand why some people thought he was an egotistical maniac. Troy was and people loved him. Amanda also felt bad for shunning Sam. She didn’t want anything to happen to him.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted out.

“Huh?” he asked as though he had not been aware of her standing there.

“We haven’t been treating you very well…”Amanda said, referring to Troy, her, and Austin.

“I don’t care,” Sam said.

Normally, Amanda would’ve been annoyed with his answer, but the Nyquil was kicking in and she felt like she could see through him. And time. And the walls…

He cared. He cared a lot. “You care too much,” she said aloud.

Sam stared at her as though she hadn’t spoken. Amanda felt the emotion running high in the room, so she allowed herself to succumb to another coughing fit. She shouldn’t have done that; it made her rib cage flair with pain and forced her to double over. Suddenly, Sam was there, helping her sit on the edge of her bed until she stopped coughing.

“Thanks,” she rasped, her throat torn.

“No problem,” he said.

“You should go home,” Amanda went on to say, wiping the tears of pain from her cheeks.

“I should,” he agreed.

Neither moved.

Finally, Amanda sighed, “Sam, this is going to sound stupid, but I think you need to hear this,” On impulse, she took his hands in her own. Physical contact always made things easier for her; that and she really, really wanted to hold his hand. “Troy, Austin, and I are not mad at you; we just can’t be near you right now. There’s some stuff going on…Well, it would only hurt you.”

“I don’t care,” he said, softly.

“No, you would. I know you. You hate thinking there’s nothing you can do, and believe me, in this situation, there’s nothing you can do.”

Sam was quiet, momentarily defeated. Then he put his head very close to hers and whispered, “I would do something for you if I could.”

“Damn it…” Amanda murmured. He was being too nice! She could see the tenderness in his eyes and the sincerity, and good God, those eyes were so blue right now…. She sighed, took his head between her hands, again with an ulterior motive, and spoke with her lips against his forehead so she wouldn’t have to see his face react to her sappy reply. “That’s enough for me, any day. It’s all I can ask.”

He pulled back and studied her. “You’re strong…” he said, as though unsure of what he was feeling.

“You are, too,” Amanda said, getting a little embarrassed. The conversation was really stupid, but he was too shy, and she was too sick to pay attention to their lack of good conversational skills. “People are strong for those they love.” Ah! Too surreal, too surreal!

Sam looked down for a time and then looked back up. “I’d kiss you, but you’re sick,” he said, breaking all etiquette of pretense.

Danger, Will Robinson, danger!

Amanda took their social transgression a step further when she cupped his head between her hands again and kissed his forehead. She smiled at him and he smiled back, his cheeks as red from pleasure as hers were from fever.

She went downstairs with him to watch him go. As she closed the door, she felt a wave of dizziness come over her, which was unfortunately from the fever and not the giddiness that assailed her. The kettle on the stove began to scream, but the pounding in Amanda’s ears drowned the noise out. Her head throbbed in rhythm to her heartbeat and Amanda had to grab the banister to keep from falling. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to steady and straighten.

Ugh…it was time for some rest. She started the trek upstairs when a flash of lightning knocked out the power in her house. Great, she thought.

She stumbled into her room, but that tickling feeling in her throat was back; she was going to subside into another coughing fit. Amanda tried to brace herself on the doorframe, but the force of the air being pushed out of her lungs was too strong. She fell to the ground, coughing her life out. She felt like she might die from the lack of oxygen, but she couldn’t stop coughing. She wheezed and struggled, but little dark spots began to dance before her eyes.

There was a roaring in her ears, a pressure in her chest, and the screaming of the kettle on the stove downstairs. Light was fading as the dark spots grew larger and Amanda felt the floor rush up to meet her face. The last thing she could remember before that darkness smothered her senses was that her window had cracked and there was something outside trying to come in.