Color Blind

Chapter Forty-Six

AN: Mad Season's 'Lifeless Dead' (live version). Fuck yeah.

* * *

"Huh? No, I'm gonna stay in tonight. Yeah, I'm fine. Cole broke his ribs, though, I don't really think he should be on his own...no, he'll be fine. I think. Thanks, though. Bye, Janet."

Ugh! Janet annoyed the living hell out of her some days, she really did. It wasn't even intentional, as far as Nancy knew. It better not have been intentional. She needed a new friend if that was the case.

"Cole." she called. "Thanks for being broken."

"Why?"

"I have a good excuse to stay home."

He didn't answer. She shuffled into the living to see what he was doing and found him searching the couch cushions for something.

"Lost my pencil." he mumbled. "I think Sadie took it."

"Why do you need a pencil? Lie down before you start coughing again."

"I need to work."

"I need to go to the store, but I'm not."

"No, I need to work...found it!" He coughed and wound up on the couch, clutching a little yellow stub. "I need to work, Nance."

"You should be asleep."

"I'm tired of sleeping."

"Cole..."

"I need to work." he said again, his voice tight. "And I need to call the..."

No. He didn't need to do anything except lie on the couch and be quiet. She crossed her arms and scowled at him. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"What?"

"Just lie down and be quiet. Broken ribs don't heal on their own."

"I'm fine."

"Yeah. Real fine.

He was doing better than he had been, thanks to a sitcom marathon that had kept him on the couch for most of the weekend.

He propped himself up against his lounge pillow. He wasn't going to be any fun now. That was a shame.

"Nance?"

Or not.

"Yeah?"

"Could I draw you?"

"Why?"

He shrugged.

"I've never done a still life before."

"Maybe."

He blew his hair out of his eyes and bent over his paper. Nancy left him alone.

* * *

Nancy was making the bed when there was a crackle and a boom! of thunder. Then the lights went out.

No.

No. The lights had to come back on. The lights had to come back on before she had a freak-out.

"Nance?" Not now, she wasn't in the mood for conversation! "Do we have a flashlight?"

Flashlight! Flashlight, flashlight...um...

"Nance? You okay?"

"Kitchen!" Her voice caught and she swallowed hard. "Kitchen. Right-hand top drawer."

She could do this. All she had to do was breathe. She'd survived power outages before...but she'd been alone during those times.

A beam of light came around the corner and she jumped.