Sophie Ch. 07

This is a series and will make much more sense if you read them in order.

*

He followed her out of the room, stealing one last glance at the small bundle on the bed. They went into a little kitchen and the woman pulled two mugs out of the cabinet. He saw her pour coffee from a glass pitcher. She turned and put the mugs on the table. She turned back and returned with a glass bowl of sugar and a glass pitcher of creamer.

"You take it with cream and sugar, right?" She said.

He nodded and looked perplexed. How did she know that?

"Solvia told me." The woman said and sat down.

He stood there looking at her, still perplexed. He had never had coffee with Sophie, how did she know that?

"Sit Doc, you're making me tired looking at you." The woman said with a familiar laugh.

He sat slowly and grabbed his mug. It was warm and felt good in his hands.

"Thank you so much for bringing her home, Doc. She told me you would but I was worried. Not that I could stop her, that girl is so determined when she gets a thought in her head." She said and sipped her coffee.

"What do you mean, she told you I would bring her home?" he asked.

"She was very sick yesterday and I was able to talk her into staying home. However, this morning she would have none of it. She said she could not miss your class. Something about it was a critical day and not to worry, you would bring her home." The woman said and took another sip.

He tried to process what she was saying. He was very confused. He thought about what Sophie said when she got in the car, "I knew you would come." How did she know that? Did she know or did she hope and was there a difference between those two with this girl?

"Maam, she did not ask me to take her home. I saw someone standing in the rain at the bus stop and offered them a ride. I didn't know it was her until she got in the car." He said.

He saw the woman's face break into a big smile and she shook her head slowly side to side. She sipped her coffee and then looked up at him.

"You offered a complete stranger a ride? And one that was soaking wet at that? You do that often Doc?" she said with a little smile.

"No, I have never done anything like that before and I'm not sure I know why I did it today. I was very close to driving away and leaving her." He said, concern in his voice.

"But you didn't." she said and took another sip.

"Yes, but if I had there is no telling what would have happened to her." He said, now very worried.

"True, but you didn't." She said again.

"Dammit, she can't be doing that. She could get hurt or something much worse." He said and he could feel himself getting angry.

The woman smiled at him in her calm way and it got him even more frustrated.

"Doc, when Solvia gets an idea in her head she is unstoppable. She has been that way her whole life. I worry about her constantly but I realized long ago that I can't do anything about it. That is how she is, I can't change her, I won't change her. I just love her and enjoy every minute I have with her. That is what she has taught me. It is hard but she always seems to know what she is doing." The woman said.

"How can you just let her do these things? Can't you just tell her no?" He asked, suddenly feeling as if he was going somewhere he shouldn't.

The woman chuckled. He could feel his face screwing up into a frown. He was starting to think that he had no idea what was going on.

"She was right again. She said you would be mad at first. She then said I just needed to talk to you for a while and you would be fine. Doc, I am her mother and she does listen to me. I could forbid her from doing these things but you do understand that telling her no and forcing her to do something different would change her. Would you change anything about her Doc?" the woman said.

He felt like he had been hit with a shovel. The first thought that flew across his brain was that he would change absolutely nothing about her. She was perfect, better than perfect. He could not come up with a word to explain her. The realization hit him about what she was saying, what she went through being Sophie's mother. He felt sorry for her and felt sadness that she had to constantly worry that her perfect daughter was dancing daily with unknown dangers. He looked at her and saw she was smiling. How could she stay positive in all of this? Then another realization hit him. He had felt the unbelievable happiness coming off of Sophie in the small moments he had been around her. This woman lived with her, she must have that happiness bombarding her constantly and how could anyone feel anything but euphoria living with that every day?

"You understand now, don't you?" She said and sipped her coffee.

He shook his head.

"Let's go check on her." She said and stood.

He followed her into the small bedroom. He saw Sophie had not moved. He stared at her chest and felt instant relief when he saw it rise and fall slightly. The woman kissed Sophie's forehead again. He saw her face change.

"Doc, go and get me a warm, wet cloth, please?" She said and he sensed concern in her voice for the first time.

He ran into the bathroom and grabbed the cloth on the tub. He ran warm water through it, wrung it out and ran back into the bedroom. He handed it to the woman and she placed it on Sophie's forehead. He saw her place her hands on Sophie's cheeks. He noticed her cheeks looked very pale next to her mom's hands. The woman looked at her watch and shook her head.

"Where are those girls?" he heard her whisper.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

He saw her face change back to calm as she looked up at him.

"She's a little too cold but she will be fine. The girls will be here soon." The woman said.

"Her sisters?" he said.

The woman nodded and looked at her watch again. He wondered what two 18 year old high school girls could possibly do to help with this?

"Shouldn't we take her to the hospital?" he said.

"No, no, Doc. We can't do that? We don't use any medicine. That would not be possible. She would be really mad if we did that." The woman said, calmly.

"What? What do you mean you don't use any medicine? Don't you have anything we can give her?" he asked.

"No, Doc, she will be fine. We don't have any of that in the house anyway." The woman said.

He started to say something as he felt his anger growing again but the sound of a door opening broke his train of thought.

"Momma?" he heard a young girl's voice.

"In here honey." The woman responded.

He looked at the door and saw two young girls come into the room. The first thing he noticed was they were absolutely identical. They were wearing school uniforms, white shirts and short dark blue skirts. Their hair was long, black and pulled into identical ponytails. Their faces looked like porcelain dolls, their skin was flawless and their features were perfect. He noticed that they had on no makeup but yet they were incredibly beautiful. Obviously, that runs in the family, he thought.

He watched them look down at their sister and then back up at him. He flinched as the brightness from their eyes hit him. They were brown but they sparkled just like Sophie's. They were both smiling at him.

"Hi Doc." They said in unison.

"Girls, I am so glad you are here. She is so cold, I have never seen her this bad before." The woman said.

The girls each walked to a different side of the bed. The woman moved back out of the way. He saw one of the twins crawl on the bed near Sophie's head and the other pulled back the covers. He saw Sophie's position had not changed, her hands were folded over her stomach and they were very pale. He felt his heart get heavy, she looked very bad.

The girl on the bed removed the wet cloth from Sophie's head and the other one was untying the robe. He watched as she opened the robe and Sophie lay there completely naked. The girl at her head pulled the turban towel off and Sophie's wet hair spread out over the pillow.

He looked over at the woman and she was holding her arms over her chest. She looked a little worried but she was smiling. He was so confused. He looked back and saw one of the girls was pressing her ear to Sophie's forehead. The other was rubbing her bare stomach. The girl lifted her head away from Sophie's forehead and then the other bent down to put her head between Sophie's breasts. It looked like they were listening for something.

"There is a fever and much congestion." The one at the head said while the other stayed on Sophie's chest.

"There is congestion here too and infection. I told her she was running too hot but she didn't listen again, what a surprise." The other one said as she lifted her head off of Sophie's chest.

He saw them both look at him. They were so beautiful. Their faces now had a little more color as they looked at him. They were smiling and their brown eyes sparkled.

"You are Doc Smith, right?" The one at the head said.

He nodded and thought how the hell did everyone seem to know him.

"I am Lacey and this is Holly." The one at Sophie's chest said.

"Can you help us?" The one at Sophie's head, Holly, asked.

He was still so confused and he looked over at the woman quickly. She had taken a step forward and he saw her hand on the side of her head.

"It's ok, Momma, she said it had to be him." Lacey said to her mom and the woman looked at him with concern on her face.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Please give me your hand." Lacey said and held out her hand.

He put his hand in hers, well, figuratively since her little hand disappeared in his. She pulled him closer and he shuffled next to the bed. His eyes drifted to Sophie and he felt embarrassed as he looked at her breasts and the small patch of hair between her legs. He could not even make the word to describe her crotch appear in his head. Lacey pulled his hand and placed it on Sophie's chest, directly between her breasts. He felt the slight curve of them as his fingers rested on her soft skin.

He held his hand in place and watched as Holly placed her hand on Sophie's forehead and then he felt Lacey's hand move over his. The girls took their other hands and put them together, holding onto each other. He felt really strange as he stood there watching this. They closed their eyes and he immediately felt heat on his hand. He flinched and he felt Lacey squeeze him to hold his hand in place.

The heat continued to build and it felt like it was running through his arm and hand. He looked at the woman and she was wringing her hands. He then felt a tug and whipped his head back around to look at the girls. The tug was in his chest, he felt as if something was actually pulling at his heart. He flinched and Lacey squeezed his hand again, holding it in place. The pulling continued, it didn't hurt, it was just weird, like something was trying to pull his heart towards his hand and Sophie. The girls were perfectly still and their eyes were still closed.

He looked at Sophie's face. Her eyes were closed and she looked asleep. Her eyes then snapped open and she stared right at him. The sparkle was there, dim but there, and he saw her smile. The girls did not move and he kept his hand in place. He felt her small hands wrap around his wrist as he held his hand on her chest. Her hands were cold but the heat was still running through his hand. He looked at her mouth and he saw her mouth the words "Thank You".

He felt the happiness hit him again right in the face and he could not help smiling. He saw her respond to his smile and his heart jumped. The tugging was still there but seemed like it was getting weaker. He hardly noticed it now as he stared at her perfect face. He could see the color evening out on her and the bags under her eyes were gone. She was back to his Sophie, his light.

The tugging stopped and he saw the sparkle leave Sophie's eyes. They were now dark and not only did they not sparkle but they didn't seem to be green anymore. She was still smiling at him and he heard her soft voice.

"Tired" she muttered.

Lacey lifted her hand and his from Sophie's chest. Holly was running her fingers lightly over Sophie's face. She was pushing her hair back and he saw her lean over and kiss her sister on the forehead. Sophie looked like she was already asleep. Her head was tilted and he saw her breathing was slow and steady. She looked much better though. Lacey closed her robe and then pulled the covers up to her chin.

He stood there like a statue, not sure of what he had just witnessed. Lacey turned and hugged him hard. Her head was only at his chest and he put his arms lightly around the young girl. He looked over at the woman and she was approaching the bed.

"Is she alright?" He saw the woman ask Holly.

"Yes, Momma, she will be fine." Holly answered.

"Oh, thank you girls, and thank God." The woman said and leaned over and held Sophie's face in her hands. She kissed both of her cheeks and her forehead.

"Sophie was right, you are very warm." He heard Lacey say from his chest.

He didn't know what to do with this young girl wrapped around him. He was definitely in an unfamiliar environment. He decided to just let it happen. He felt suddenly devoid of worry or sadness. He hugged Lacey and kissed the top of her head.

"Ok, girls, you need to get ready for dinner. Doc, come with me into the kitchen and we can have another hot cup of coffee." The woman said and walked past him.

Lacey let go of him and took her sister's hand. He watched the two twins leave the room and turn right down the hall.