Chapter
13
A Serialized Story of the
Not So Distant Future
April 14, 2005
Part Eighteen
Sam actually managed to get through the next few days pretending to
be a "normal" person. Since he was managing well on his own, Martha
returned to work, leaving Sam by himself for most of the day. He had
no dreams about Gabrielle or of anything else for that matter, life
was taking a normal, if somewhat boring flavor.
Wedensday night came and Sam found himself being dragged to his
second prayer group meeting. Clara lived on the top floor of a three
family house. Sam found the effort of climbing stairs still to be a
challenge, he reminded himself to look into getting a bicycle like
Jose suggested.
"Hi Sam, how are you doing?" Clara said as he reached the top of the
stairs.
"Fine." Sam managed to say between breaths, "I'm just not used to
all
these stairs."
"Oh come in, I'll get you a seat." She took his arm and led him to
an
easy chair. Sam was a little embarrassed by it all, but the tops of
his thighs were burning and he was really glad to be sitting down.
Robbie led the prayer this time, which included a long moment of
silence for some American soldiers who had been shot down in a
transport plane.
Sam closed his eyes, his tired body seemed to relax immediately.
"I miss you." Gaby said, they were sitting on his bed.
The shift made Sam jump, and he found himself back in Clara's
apartment. A quick glance around showed that no one had noticed
anything.
"So Sammy, how's the recovery coming? You ready to play some
softball
yet?"Dean asked after the prayers were over.
"Not quite, but maybe next week."
"Your face has gotten a little color Sam, you're starting to look
like that stud from high school again." Clara said.
"Thanks. I just wish my hair color would come back."
"You know Sam, I know a great hairstylist, she could color your hair
for you." Clara said.
"Yeah, and then you can get your nails done too." Dean cracked.
"You and Mom could go to the beauty shop together." Robert added.
"Stop it you two, a lot of men color their hair." Clara said, "you
know Dean, you're starting to get a little gray there yourself."
Dean looked a little hurt by Clara's statement.
"Thanks anyway Clara, but I don't see myself dying my hair, it's
just
too much maintainence." Sam said.
Clara served wine and cheese, and Sam had his first bit of alcohol
since his awakening. The wine was a fruity Merlot and was quite
good,
he allowed himself two glasses, but stopped after that because he
started to feel a little buzzed.
"You sure you don't want some more Sam?" Clara asked.
"No, I'm fine really."
"You probably shouldn't be drinking at all, Sam." Martha said, "your
body just isn't ready for it yet." This was the first Martha had
said to Sam since they arrived, once again she spent most of the
evening talking to Mindy.
Sam wondered what that was all about and suddenly the nature of the
room changed about him. Everyone looked about the same, except the
room itself was full of some kind of colored static. It seemed to
radiate from everywhere at once, but radiated specifically from the
people in the room.
Looking at Mindy, Sam could see that the colors around her were
different, more murky thant the others. Both Dean and Robbie had
murky spots around their chest and throat areas, but Mindy was murky
all around, yet strangely bright around her chest and middle.
There was something else around Mindy too, a second figure, it was
kind of insubstantial, appearing only as the weird static in the
room
momentarily coalesced. It was a female form, Sam sensed, and it was
touching Mindy's arm at the bicep area.
"Gaby?" Sam exclaimed.
"Sam are you alright?" Martha said.
The room snapped back to normal and Sam realized that he had said
Gaby's name out loud. He flushed with embarrassment which was very
noticeable on his pale face. "I- too much wine I guess. I thought I
saw Gaby in the room for a second."
"It's ok dear, I went through the same thing when your father died.
It's perfectly normal."
"Yeah, I suppose." Sam said. Looking around the room again, Sam
noticed that Dean was staring at him a little strangely.
"I gotta get going." Dean said to Clara, "next week we're at my
house."
"Good night Dean." Clara said.
"You take care Sammy." Dean patted Sam's shoulder with way too much
force.
"Yeah, you too." Sam said.
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