Pandora's Box

Chapter 6: Sam

29 hours until The Sealing

***

Sam had been laying awake in bed for over an hour now, not wanting to leave his room. It was Saturday, which meant Cordelia wasn't working. And since she wasn't working, that meant that he would have to talk to her about last night.

Of course, Sam felt bad for hurting her feelings. He wasn't a malicious person, but he was an emotional one. He had experienced issues with controlling his emotions ever since he was little. When he was seven, Sam shoved a kid off the top of the playground during recess, solely because the kid told Sam that his mom was stupid. This kid had never even met Sam's mother, but this didn't stop Sam from defending her.

When his parents caught wind of this, they gave him the standard "don't use violence" speech that most kids are preached. However, he could tell they were trying not to laugh as they told it, and the conversation ended with the three of them getting ice cream.

Part of Sam wished that he could go back to those days, where everything was just carefree and happy. However, Sam also recognized the naivety that came with that, and he refused to go through that again. Sam had once saw a therapist that classified this as "trust issues brought on by trauma", but Sam just didn't like feeling foolish.

Sam glanced at the clock again to see another 30 minutes had passed. As he contemplated how long he could remain in his room without food, there was suddenly a knock at his door.

"Sam, are you awake in there? I made bacon if you want some," Cordelia called through the closed door.

Sam's stomach grumbled at the sound of that, and that tinge of hunger was enough to overpower the fear in his head. Throwing on a shirt, Sam exited his room to see his mom at the stove in the kitchen. Staying quiet, he took a seat at the table and pretended to pay attention to the news that was playing on the TV.

Cordelia placed the plate of bacon in front of Sam without saying a word. Sam mumbled a thank you, but he wasn't sure if she actually heard it. With her back turned to him, Sam was struggling to tell just how angry she was at the moment. Pressing his luck, he spoke up once again.

"Thanks for the bacon Mom. I appreciate it," Sam said apprehensively. What felt like a lifetime of silence passed before Cordelia responded.

"Yup," Cordelia responded shortly. She then returned to the dishes in the sink, scrubbing away at the grease. She didn't seem too pissed, but Sam was still uneasy. Afraid of making matters worse, Sam ate quickly and then announced that he would be in his room working on the video game if he was needed. He raced back to his room, trying to regain the sense of comfort he had felt prior to that interaction.

A few hours passed, and Sam was able to patch a couple different spots within the game's code. About an hour in to working, Sam heard his mom leave through the garage. He assumed that she was just running errands, but she hadn't made any kind of mention of anything to him. She still hadn't returned, and Sam was feeling worn out from working, so he decided to try and take a nap.

As Sam tried to fall asleep, his mind continued to race. His argument with his mother last night still occupied his thoughts, and he didn't really want to deal with that. The idea of seeing Mari in just a few short hours was also keeping him up, although he really didn't want to think about that. Despite them having talked numerous times, this would be the first time that they were seeing each other in person again (if you could count hyper-realistic virtual reality as "in person").

Sam tried to push all of this from his mind, but he did not succeed. Giving up on sleep, Sam rolled out of bed and checked his phone. Other than some messages from Jasper and Thomas about some bugs they had found, there wasn't much to see. He desperately wished that the launch time would come faster; he couldn't stand this relentless boredom.

Deciding that the best remedy for his boredom was exercise, Sam threw on his running shoes. Sam had recently found that if he worked himself hard enough while exercising, this could push everything else from his mind. His mom had cautioned him on the damage he could do by overworking his body, but he figured this was still a better coping mechanism than what most people used.

As he ran through his neighborhood, Sam contemplated just what he would say to Mari upon seeing her. They had talked some since their break up last summer, but only for short conversations and always in a group setting. The break up hadn't exactly been mutual, and he wasn't really sure where that left them.

Sam was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the sewer grate in front of him. As his foot entered the grate, he flew to the ground, skidding across the concrete.

"Ahh fuck," Sam said through gritted teeth. He looked down to see a large gash on his right knee, already bleeding profusely. Figuring that this needed taken care of, he got to his feet and started limping back to his house.

As Sam entered his driveway, he could see his mom's car in the garage. He had half-hoped that she wouldn't be home, but he also knew she would be able to treat his leg better than he could. It turned out that he didn't have to look too hard for her; as soon as he entered the garage, she started walking out the door.

"Oh, hey Sam. I'm just heading back out to- wait what happened to your leg?!" Cordelia said, eyes widening at the sight of the gash.

"Ah, I just fell while running. If you're heading out, I can take care of it myself though." Sam tried to act like he wasn't in any pain, but he could tell that his mom could see right through it.

"No, it's okay," Cordelia promised. "I'll just tell Pamela that i'll be a couple minutes late."

Pamela was the therapist that Cordelia had been seeing for the past couple of years. She had tried to get Sam to see her too, but he had told her that he didn't need therapy. He had enough experiences being in and out of therapist and behavioralist offices as a kid, and he really didn't want to continue that trend.

As Cordelia washed and bandaged Sam's knee, he couldn't help but notice just how attentive she was as she cared for him. He figured that this was a result of her time working in the hospital, but he couldn't help but feel as though this was specific to him.

As a kid, Cordelia was always the one to nurse Sam back to health whenever he was sick or injured. She always made him feel so safe, as if it never mattered what happened to him since she would be there to help him afterwards. However, they had drifted apart over the last couple of years, and he thought this time was behind him. And yet, seeing how she cared for him now, he couldn't help but relish the familiarity to the past.

Cordelia finished bandaging him and gave his leg a little pat, as if to signify that she was finished. As she stood up and started heading towards the door, Sam suddenly called out.

"Hey Mom... Thank you for always taking care of me. And I'm sorry for snapping at you during dinner last night," Sam said, trying to quell the shakiness in his voice.

Cordelia smiled softly. "Of course Sam." She paused for a second, as if she was trying to find the right words to continue. "And Pamela says it's understandable for you to be angry. She told me she'd still be happy to see you if you're interested." With that, Cordelia headed out the door.

"I'll think about it," Sam responded. And for the first time in a very long time, he meant it.