1,468 words.On the drive home Martin rubbed his side where Alicia had hit him with her elbow as if it were still in pain, and glanced over at her. "So, we're not telling anyone I take it?"
Alicia half smiled at his mock pain. "That wasn't my reason for poking you."
"That's what you call a poke? Yikes!" He laughed. Which made Alicia smile a little more.
"Okay, fine. That wasn't my reason for smacking you with my arm," she corrected her statement with emphasis. "Better?"
Martin smiled. "Yes."
Alicia shook her head slightly at him, then shifted in her seat to gaze out her window. "Natalie and the kids didn't need to know how close they came to losing Doug."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Martin admitted. "Natalie wouldn't have wanted to know."
"Nope," Alicia agreed. "But... since you brought it up." She paused, then sighed.
"What?" Martin prompted.
"Maybe we shouldn't be telling anyone about me," she said in a way that indicated she wasn't sure if she wanted to keep things a secret.
"Why?" Martin wondered aloud.
"Well, honestly, because of Maria," Alicia answered. "I mean, if I a helping her, that's great. And I do want to. But, well, there are a lot of people in that hospital...."
"Alicia, you aren't required to help everyone," Martin told her.
"I know. But it almost seems unfair. I have the ability to save them all, don't I?"
"Theoretically," Martin answered as best he could.
She turned her eyes to the sky. "Then shouldn't I?" Martin didn't answer. She dropped her head and closed her eyes in shame. "I feel so selfish."
"For what?" Martin asked with attitude in his voice.
"Because. I don't want to live at the hospital."
"And you shouldn't," Martin informed her.
"But that's where D is. All the time. If I am going to stop her, that's where I need to be," Alicia explained.
Martin diverted his attention from her as they approached the intersection of the accident. He slowed down, carefully making his way through. Several more moments passed in silence.
Finally Martin cut the tension. "You still have your own life to live," he said. "You can't let your gift run your life, or ruin it. Think about it this way. Before you found out, you went around acting like every other normal person. Yet you were helping people along the way without even realizing it. Well, now you know. That means you can actively help people now, maybe even go out of your way for others. But, you still have to keep your day job. And the things that make you happy."
Alicia nodded slowly.
"You're right," Martin added. "We shouldn't be telling people. The last thing you need is people mobbing you at the hospital every time you go to help someone."
"Just what I need," Alicia said, rolling her eyes. "I bet D would love that."
"Oh yeah. They'd probably keep you from getting in his way! Very much counterproductive." He chuckled slightly. "So, no telling anyone then?"
"Well," Alicia hesitated with thought. "I think I am going to tell my parents."
Martin gave her an 'oh really' look. "Oh yeah?" he asked to match it.
"They are my parents after all," she replied. "I can't just keep something this important from them."
Martin bobbed his head. "Of course not."
At Alicia's apartment building Martin pulled into the parking lot to let her out. She closed the door behind her, then immediately turned around and motioned for him to open the window.
"Forget something?" he asked.
"No," she said, then smiled. "I just want to thank you. You know, for driving me all over, and making sure I'm okay, and everything."
He smiled back. "No problem. Besides, this is a rental, so it doesn't really matter how many miles I put on it!"
She chuckled slightly. "I suppose not. Well, thanks again."
"You're welcome," he replied sincerely. "See you tomorrow."
When Alicia got into her apartment, she turned on the lights, dropped her keys and purse by the door, and sighed. "This place is a dump," she commented to no one as she looked around. Usually her place only passable for clean. As in she managed to keep it picked up most of the time, but real cleaning happened about once a month at best. With a broken right arm, and being right handed, she had found it nigh impossible to keep her place even low clutter. The thought of hiring a maid service crossed her mind, but she knew she couldn't afford it. "Oh well," she said, and sighed again. "Let's see what's for dinner."
There was practically nothing in her refrigerator. She hadn't been to the grocery store since the accident. She frowned at the empty space for a moment, then opened the freezer. Two frozen dinners sat encrusted with ice crystals, signifying they'd been in there for quite a long while. "You'll have to do," she said as she pulled one out and looked at it.
Minutes later the microwave dinged, and Alicia had a nice hot mediocre meal ready for eating. She sat down in front of the tv with it. But as soon as she was done eating she turned off the tv, it wasn't at all what she wanted to do.
She moped around her apartment for a little while, collecting clothes and picking up other miscellaneous items, but not at all interesting in doing that either. Finally she flopped down on her couch.
"Why am I so depressed?" she asked noone. She sighed heavily. "Do I miss work?" She shook her head. "No, not really," she grumbled. She rolled her head to one side. Soon she was picking at the loose strings on her couch. Once she'd had enough of that, she sat up and looked around.
"Am I lonely?" she wondered. She shrugged to herself. "I don't think so." She looked around more, and soon her gaze landed on her phone. "Oh! I was going to call Mom," she reminded herself. "I should go visit her and Dad this weekend."
She walked over and picked up the phone. But as she started dialing, she thought of someone else. She pressed the phone's hook down, let go, then started a new number.
"Hello?" a voice on the other side answered after a couple rings.
"Tracy? It's Alicia."
"Alicia!" Tracy replied, the joy evident in her voice. Just the sound of it made Alicia feel better. "It's been almost a week! How are you? How's your arm?" Tracy asked.
"Oh I'm fine. My arm's pretty much the same. Sorry I didn't call a few days ago."
"Oh that's okay. It's not like I called you either. Things around here have been SO busy!"
"Yeah," Alicia nodded. "I know how it's gets for you." She paused a moment. "I miss you."
"I miss you too, sweetheart," Tracy replied. "Are we still on for this weekend?"
Alicia cringed inwardly. So much for Mom and Dad. "Of course," she replied.
"You sound a little down," Tracy said with concern. "You sure you're okay?"
"Oh I'm fine," Alicia told her.
"You said that already," Tracy retorted. "Come on, you can tell me."
Alicia sighed slowly. "Ah. It's just that this place is a mess 'cause I can't clean it properly. I'm all out of clean clothes. And I have almost no food in the house, not that I can cook now either. I guess I'm just feeling a little annoyed at feeling a little helpless."
"Well that's understandable," Tracy assured her. After a moment she said, "Tell you what. I'll take off work a little early tomorrow and come out to see you. We can go shopping, get a good meal in you, and take care of the house work, okay?"
"You don't have to that," Alicia said with sincerity.
"I know I don't," Tracy replied with matching tone. "But I want to. Besides, it's an excuse to get to see you sooner!"
Alicia smiled at her best friend's ability to make her feel important. "Sounds good," she said, the smile carrying to her voice. "I can't wait."
"Good," Tracy said, "What kind of ice cream do you want me to bring?"
It was tradition for the two of them to start off a shopping excursion with ice cream, the reasoning was so they wouldn't loose steam part of the way through. "Um, how about Strawberry this time," Alicia suggested.
"Oh that's easy," Tracy replied. "Come on, give me a challenge!"
"What can I say, I'm in the mood for fruit," Alicia replied with a shrug.
"That's fine," Tracy replied with a laugh. "Well, I have to go now. But I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay. See you tomorrow," Alicia echoed.
"Bye," they said together, and hung up.
Labels: BoD, NaNoWriMo 2005, Story
