Quantum Leap: My Bones May Break but the Law Never Will (NaNoWriMo 2015)

Chapter 2

Dozens of visions and scenarios from other leaps swirled through Sam's mind that night as he slept, but none of them were from his current leap. He awoke with a jolt, thinking he had reached the climax of a particularly horrifying leap, but nothing was there to hurt him this time, except his own body. The jolt sent a wave of exhaustion through his muscles despite their lack of use for the last ten hours. Sam checked the clock and just barely made out the time in this dim morning light: 7:45. Sam knew he had no obligation to get up this early, but he was wide awake and his stomach growled and gnawed at his insides, provoking him to rise.

Sam's bare feet hit the thin carpet. He dreaded standing, but that was the only way he would get food. He stood slowly and walked carefully, unsure of how much would provoke the worst of his potential symptoms. Upon opening the fridge, he discovered that someone had placed the pizza box there instead of leaving it to grow mold on the coffee table, something Sam himself forgot to do before heading to bed.

"Yun did that before heading out," Al said from behind him. Sam jumped, surprised at first because he didn't know his friend was there. "I saw her do it after you went to bed."

"That was nice of her." Sam opened the box and took out a slice for himself. He put it in the toaster oven and decided to look for something to drink, too. There was milk and orange juice in the fridge, but he was looking for something like coffee. However, they didn't even appear to have a coffee maker.

"There's a kettle there, Sam," Al pointed out. Sam quickly located the teabags in a glass jar close to the oven. All this grabbing and looking around was making his shoulders hurt, but Sam decided that this was what "normal" felt like for Rim, so he ignored it until it got worse later in the day.

He began his search for a mug. The cup cabinet, he discovered, was to the right of the medicine cabinet, which was to the right of the stove. Two cabinets beyond the cups held the plates. Sam grabbed one of those, too, in anticipation of the pizza. He put the kettle under the sink and let a pint or two fall into it before he shut it off and placed the kettle on the stove. A box of matches sat next to the stove for convenience, since it was still the kind that required fire underneath it.

"Hey, careful, Sam!" Al warned.

"I'll be fine, Al. I know how to light a match." He struck it against the box and the match flew right out of his hand, landing on the tile floor. Sam nearly stomped it out before realizing he didn't have any shoes on. Instead, he got a pair from close to the door and used one of those to do the job. Sam tried again, this time tightening his grip, and successfully lit the stove for the kettle. Al stared at him with raised eyebrows. Sam just shook his head, more frustrated with himself than anyone else. He decided to study the teabag instead, avoiding Al's stares. It was mint tea.

"Gotta get studying, Sam," he said. "I can help ya while you start your breakfast."

Sam groaned. "This Law stuff is so hard."

"You'll be fine, and don't forget that I have access to decades of tests, so you can even study specifically for this year's Bar." He began typing something into the handlink.

"Hey, is there anything that Rim has to help move around the house besides the bars?" Sam noticed that there were only bars in the bathroom.

"Yeah, you've got a cane in your room. I don't know where it is, though."

"I'll look for it," Sam said. He walked back to Rim's room and looked around. The bed was on the wall opposite of Sam with one window on either side. A short but wide dresser was placed along the wall to Sam's left and leaning against it was a wooden cane. Sam grabbed it and used it as he walked back to the kitchen.