By: Denise James
I've had this story written for quite a while. I just got around to typing it in. I'm lazy that way. Maybe there's hope, for all of the other bits and pieces of stories in my folder, yet. Ha ha.
All standard disclaimers apply. I'm tired of typing them all of the time.
Thanks to those who believe in Birkies. The love and friendship we are given, keeps us going. Thanks to Monica, who sits and listens to me, over the phone, while I read, cough, and make corrections. I couldn't ask for a better sister or friend.
Blair woke up. "Oh man I feel like crap. I shouldn't have stayed out so late....I shouldn't have had that last beer."
He forced himself to turn his head enough to look at the clock. "8:45!" He exclaimed as he sat straight up in bed causing his head to pound and it felt as though someone was shoving ice picks into his eyes. He laid his head in his hands and moaned. "Ohhh, why can't I just die and get it over with."
He slowly stood up only to loose his balance and fall back onto the bed. This was the worst hangover he had, had in a while. He tried again, this time he was successful. Making it from the edge of the bed to the shower would be a different story. Remembering he had a class at 9:30 made him move a little faster to avoid being late.
He grabbed a pair of boxers on the way out of his room. He crossed the hall to the bathroom and within minutes he was in the shower. When the water came rushing though the shower head, it hit him with an icy force. "Oh man!" Blair exclaimed as he jumped back. The water didn't warm up. "Jim must have used all of the hot water." He quickly lathered himself and rinsed in the cold spray, making sure to rinse all of the soap from his hair. Chill bumps sprang up everywhere. By the time he stepped out of the shower, his teeth were chattering.
He pulled a disposable razor from a new pack, lathered his face and began to shave. "Damn!" He yelled as he nicked himself. Not just once but twice. Taking some tissue, he tore off little pieces and stuck them to the bleeding areas on his face.
He looked in the mirror. "Dork." He said wiping the remaining cream from his face. He went back to his room stubbing his toe on the door facing. He held his foot and bounced around cursing under his breath. "Slow down Sandburg." He said. "You are going to kill yourself at this rate." Blair pulled on a pair of jeans and a burgundy sweater that was big enough to be Jim's. He looked at his toes wondering if he was going to be able to wear a shoe. His toes were beginning to change color. He finally coaxed a sock over the throbbing foot and winced as he slowly worked a tennis shoe on. He stood up trying it out and pain caused him to shut his eyes. "Ouch. I hope I didn't break something." He could feel the area beginning to swell. He looked at the clock. "9:05, I can do this." He said, trying to reassure himself.
After shutting the door to his room, to hide the mess within from Jim, Blair grabbed his pack and headed for the elevator. To his dismay he found a note written on scrap paper taped to the door.
Out of service.. Repairman called.
"Great, just great." He ran for the stairs, stopping half way down. "Oh no, my keys." He hobbled back up the stairs. The door was locked and his keys were on the other side. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a worn five dollar bill. Not enough for a cab, but he could catch the bus. He ran back down the stairs, out of the building and toward the bus stop. Cursing with each step, his foot was throbbing almost unbearably.
The bus was running late. Blair looked up noticing that things appeared to be getting darker. A cluster of angry looking clouds were looming above him. He sighed. "Oh no..Please." But before his sentence could be finished, a down pour hit. He was without an umbrella or a jacket.
Finally the bus arrived. The driver gave him a hard time because he didn't have exact change. The bus driver looked at Blair with a cold glare. "Correct change only."
Blair looked so helpless and he had a strange feeling that this had happened before. Blair shook his head in despair. "Look, this is all that I have...you can keep the rest for being so darn charming." Blair said sarcastically, throwing the five at the driver and taking the first seat he came to.
The driver stared at Blair, through the mirror, before pulling back out into traffic.
Blair pulled the watch from his pocket. 9:15. If the driver would step on it he would make it on time. Blair tapped his foot impatiently as he looked out of the window. He watched the people rushing to get to work on time. He smiled, happy to see he wasn't the only one racing against the clock.
The bus stopped again, picking up another passenger. A woman stepped onto the bus.
Blair's mouth fell open. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Blair scooted over closer to the window, making room for her to sit. He gestured to the spot and smiled broadly.
She merely snorted and walked past him.
Blair's smile faded, as he looked out of the window, he saw his sad blue eyes reflecting back at him in the glass. This was going to be a long day.
Five minutes later they were pulling to a stop in front of the university. The rain was still coming down in sheets.
Blair was about to get off of the bus when the driver smiled. "Have a nice day."
Blair cut the man a quick glance and mocked him. "Have a nice day." He sneered as he stepped off of the bus and into the cold Cascade rain. The rain soaking through his sweater caused Blair to shiver. He raced across campus finally making it to the anthropology building. It was all he could do to keep himself from shaking like a dog. He glanced at a clock mounted on the wall, he had seven minutes before class started. Blair limped into the men's room. He passed in front of the mirror, stopped and back tracked his steps until he was standing in front of the mirror again. The image before him almost made him laugh. He looked like a drowned puppy. His hair hung in soggy ringlets, water dripping from the ends. He pushed some of the wet strands out of his face, tucking some behind his ears. His sweater hung down to his knees, the weight of the water stretching it all out of shape. Blair grabbed a few hand towels, from one of the dispensers, and dried his face and as much of the water out of his hair as possible. There wasn't much he could do about the sweater, he was just going to have to live with it. He quickly discarded the towels in the garbage can.
Scooping up his pack he headed to class. "I'll have to stop by the office to get the spare key to my office." He reminded himself.
Around noon his stomach started growling. He didn't have time for breakfast and now he didn't have money for lunch. Blair sat in his office rummaging through his desk . He found some stale crackers, catsup and mustard packets. A few diet pills, which he kept in the event of an emergency such as this. He took one of the pills and munched on the stale crackers. He knew that the pill would control his hunger until he got home. He had learned that little trick before he had met Jim. Living on his own, trying to stretch his paycheck as far as it would go, he often had to skip meals. The diet pills came in handy keeping is appetite in check.
He thought about how lucky he had been lately, while he drank a full glass of water to fill his stomach. He was feeling miserable. He was still cold and his throat felt scratchy. A two hour lecture that morning hadn't helped matters.
Picking up the phone, he left a message on Jim's voice mail at the station, asking for a ride home. He looked at the clock on the wall. He had ten minutes before his next lecture. He was subbing for another professor who was out on maternity leave. Blair picked up his notes and tugged on his still wet sweater before leaving his office.
The stares he was getting were making him feel very uncomfortable. The lecture went well, that is until the slide presentation. He went through three projectors before he finally found one that worked. He had only made it though half of the slides before it was time to end the class. Blair watched as the students left, full of excited chatter. A few girls were giggling and looking back at Blair as they left the room. He would have normally been flattered by their attentions. But today he felt somewhat embarrassed.
It was almost 4:30. Blair went to see if he had any messages from Jim. There were none. He hoped that Jim had gotten his message.
Blair made his way back to his office slowly. He stretched suddenly feeling exhausted. Mentally and physically. He sat down and started to grade a few papers. The next time he looked at the clock it was 5.30. He took his glasses off and rubbed his tired eyes. He had hoped that Jim would have been there by now. He tried him at the station again, his voice mail picked up. Then he decided to try the cell phone. He hated to bother Jim when he was out in the field.
After 2 rings a message played. "The customer you have dialed is either out of range or has their phone turned off. Please try your call again later."
"Great!" Blair moaned. "I guess I will walk home. He picked up his pack and limped out of his office. He shut the door making sure it was locked. His nose began to tickle him. "Oh no." He sighed as he tried to fight off the sneeze that threatened.
He stepped out of the building, the rain had turned into a light sprinkle. He really didn't care now. He just wanted to go home, crawl into bed and get this day over with. If it hadn't been Monday, he would have sworn that it was Friday the 13th. "It can't get any worse." He thought to himself, as he walked in the direction of the loft.
The rain became a little heavier about a block from home. Again he was soaked through and through. A sneeze caught him unexpectedly. Blair was sniffling as he walked through the front doors of the building. He kicked at the caution wet floor sign and snorted. He soon regretted the action when his feet flew out from under him and he landed squarely on his butt, leaving him sprawled out in the floor. His landing was with such force that it shook the fillings in his teeth. He stood up silently cursing and looking around nervously, hoping that no one had seen him fall.
Blair walked stiffly up the stairs, again cursing because the sign on the elevator still read out of order. He made it to the front door of the loft. Slightly winded, sniffling, sore, throbbing and tired. The door was locked. He knocked, knowing that Jim was home, he had seen the truck parked near the building. Jim was taking forever to answer the door, and it was quiet on the other side. Blair wondered if he was even in the loft. He was about to slide down the wall to sit on the floor when the door finally opened.
Jim stood back and looked incredulously at Blair.
Blair held up his hand, stopping Jim from making any comments. Blair dropped his pack on the floor by the door, while kicking one shoe off and carefully easeing the other off. His foot was indeed swollen.
Jim watched as Blair silently limped to his room then walked into the kitchen trying to decide what to make for dinner. Hearing Blair as he went into a sneezing fit, Jim reached into the cabinet and pulled down a few cans of chicken noodle soup. He heated it quickly in the microwave. While the soup heated he shook two aspirin into his hand and filled a glass with water.
Blair came back out of his room, holding a pair of sweat pants, Jim's Cascade pd sweat shirt and the thickest pair of socks he could find.
"Here you go chief." Jim said as he held out the aspirin and the water.
Blair spied the offering and took it gratefully. "Thanks Jim." He said. " I'm just going to grab a quick shower okay?" He asked, without his normal level of energy.
" Sure, no problem." Jim didn't have the heart to tease the kid, seeing how down the younger man looked.
Blair emerged from the bathroom, after having had a nice hot shower, a new person. He noticed that Jim had placed a towel under his wet shoes and the trail of water, which led from the front door to his bedroom, had been mopped up.
Jim smiled as Blair started wiggling his nose then rubbing it as another sneezing fit threatened. "You going to be okay chief?" Jim asked.
"Yeah. I think so."
The microwave chimed that the soup was ready. Blair plopped down on one of the bar stools and watch Jim pull the soup from the microwave. "How was your day Chief." Jim asked, suddenly regretting the question, but longing for conversation.
"Blair replied simply, "I survived Jim, I survived."
Blair watched Jim prepare the rest of dinner which consisted of grilled cheese sandwiches and sliced cantaloupe for dessert. Blair offered to help, but Jim insisted that he had it under control.
With his head in his hands Blair closed his eyes. For the first time that day he allowed himself to relax. "Did you get my message?" He asked sleepily.
Jim looked up from the grilled cheese he was making. "No, I came straight from the stake out. What was the message?"
"Oh, it's not important." Blair answered, almost dreamily. He was beginning to feel slightly disconnected as sleep tried to creep up on him.
Jim sat the bowl of soup in front of Blair along with a napkin and a spoon. He sat down beside him with his own meal. Blair hadn't moved. "Hey chief, its getting cold."
Blair opened his sleepy eyes. "Huh? Oh yeah." He picked up the spoon, picking out the chicken, he ate it first then proceeded with the noodles. When the noodles were gone he crushed a hand full of crackers into the hot broth and occasionally dipped his sandwich into it. There wasn't a drop left when Blair got up, and he was overjoyed at the fact he hadn't burned his tongue on the hot liquid. "Hey Jim would you mind doing the dishes tonight? I know it's my turn, but I really need to crash."
Jim was about to get onto Blair for neglecting his share of the household duties, but something told him to let it ride. "No problem Chief." Jim said, cleaning the counter top.
Something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He faced Blair to get a better look. Blair was barefooted and Jim caught a glimpse of his battered toes. Jim winced, imagining how painful it must be. It was beginning to change into a nice array of colors. Green, blue, black and purple. The bruise extended from the tip of his middle toe to the highest point on the top of his foot. "Geez, what did you do?"
Blair looked down finding the reason for Jim's concern. "Oh I stubbed my toe this morning."
Jim winced again. "You think anything's broken?" He asked, still eyeing the injury.
"Nah I can put my weight on it." Blair demonstrated. "It just hurts when I wear a shoe or if something is against it."
"You want some Ice?"
Blair couldn't believe how motherly Jim could get over a stubbled toe. It was funny yet nice at the same time. "Thanks, but I think the pressure would hurt more than the injury itself does."
Jim nodded "Go on to bed then. I'll take care of things in here. Oh, and you may want to prop that foot up too Chief, it looks like it's pretty swollen."
"Goodnight Jim."
"Night Chief."
Blair disappeared into his room.
To Jim's surprise the light hadn't been turned on and it wasn't even 7:00, yet Blair Sandburg was going to bed?
Blair turned in early hoping to get the day over with sooner. A full moon shone through his bedroom. Blair almost believed that it was taunting him. He closed his eyes promising himself that tomorrow would be better. Soon he fell asleep dreaming happy dreams.
Jim started wondering about the message that Blair had left him. He dialed the station, punched in his extension and security code. He quickly scanned his messages until he got to the familiar voice of his roommate.
"Hey Jim it's me. I....umm...hate to ask but could you give me a ride home today? I locked my keys in the loft and I gave the bus driver the last penny I had this morning. Call me and let me know, okay? Thanks man. Bye."
He heard the phone click and the prerecorded voice came on giving him options. He hung up the phone. A wave of guilt came over him. The poor kid must have walked all of the way from the university. No wonder he was soaked. Jim had thought that Blair had gotten caught in the down pour while running from the parking lot to the building. He hadn't even noticed Blair's keys in the basket or Blair's car parked out front. "Some detective you are." Jim scolded himself, as he thought about how Blair's voice had sounded a little funny, like he was trying to hide the note of despair that was in it. Jim was suddenly glad that he hadn't given Blair a hard time about cleaning up after dinner. Knowing the kid, he would have cleaned up the mess,without ever saying a word. Jim set about cleaning up the kitchen. It only took a few minutes.
He took a piece of paper from the pad by the phone and wrote 'In case of emergency' on it. He pulled out his wallet and retrieved a new twenty dollar bill, and folded it neatly inside the note. Blair had laid his wallet inside the basket by the front door. Jim took the money and note and placed it carefully inside the wallet where it could be seen. It was the least Jim could do after letting the young man down. Even though it hadn't been intentional, Jim still felt a sense of guilt for not being there for his friend when he was needed. He laid the wallet back in the basket. He listened as Blair sneezed a few times and rolled over, returning to a peaceful state of sleep.
Jim decided to watch a little TV before turning in himself. His mind never really focused on the happenings on the television, it was busy with other thoughts. He thought about the man that he called friend. The one that he had sworn to protect, and tried with all of his might to do so. The one who had wormed his way into his home and into his heart. The old saying was true. You can't judge a book by its cover. If Jim had, and he almost had, he would have missed out on one of the greatest things he had ever experienced, friendship and love.
He smiled at how blessed the blessed protector truly was. Turning off the television, he made his way up stairs to his room. It was only 8:00, but it was lonely without the constant chatter of his friend. Within minutes the loft was dark. The only sound that could be heard was soft snores of two friends, their hearts beating in unison.
The end.
What did you think? Input would really be appreciated!