Rose came home after a particularily hard day at work. It seemed now that Sam was out of the hospital, all of the doctors wanted to shove their work at her. She had recieved praise for the work she had done with him, but now that it was done, she had to prove that she could do it again with someone else.
She sat in her car in the driveway for a minute to collect her thoughts. Staring up at the ceiling, she tried to destress before going inside. After all that Sam had done for her this morning, she was worried what he would do if he saw her stressed out coming home.
Rose lightly slapped her cheeks a few times to get her thoughts under control. It wasn't as if she expected anything more from him. Breakfast was most likely his way of thanking her for putting a roof over his head.
Opening the door, a plesent aroma hit her. When she looked at the table, she saw a large plate of meatloaf and a wine glass waiting for her. Rose looked with wide eyes as Sam came from the kitchen with her cooking apron on. He looked ridiculous as he stood next to the table, waiting for her to sit down. In his hand, he carried a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. She didn't even remember telling him of her wine collecton but it didn't seem to matter.
She set her keys on the counter and looked at Sam. "What's this?" She asked as she went to the table.
"Dinner," Sam said in confusion. "Unless you aren't hungry." He raised an eyebrow.
"No," Rose said. "I mean yes, I'm hungry." She stammered as she sat at the table.
"Good," Sam poured a small amount of the red wine into the glass. "I've got mixed vegitables and mashed potatoes coming up." He smiled as he brought the bottle back to the kitchen, coming back with two large bowls of the promised vegitables.
"Is this going to be an every day occurrence?" She asked through a mouthful of the delicious meatloaf. She didn't even know she had the ingredients needed to make it, but it was amazing. She rolled her eyes in delight as she took a sip of the wine, not surprised at all that it was a perfect pairing.
"Dinner usually is, isn't it?" He smiled as he dished her plate up with mashed potatoes. He dished his own plate up and sat across the table from her.
"I mean, I love being pampered." She said as she took a bite of broccoli which practically melted in her mouth. She tasted the perfect melding of butter and vegitable. "But if this is just for a day, I don't think I'd be able to let treatment like this go." She smiled as she took another bite of meatloaf. The only thing that was missing was a candle in the center of the table.
"You call this pampering?" He raised an eyebrow.
"What would you call it?"
"I call it dinner." He smiled again. "You've got a full time job, Rose. This is what you deserve. No more, no less." He took a drink from his own wine glass as he looked across the table at her.
They finished their meal in relative silence. She enjoyed the meal while he enjoyed her company. When they were finished, Sam gathered the leftovers into a container and put it in the fridge. "If you want to bring this to work for lunch tomorrow, it'll be here."
Rose moved to the living room and crashed on the couch with a loud groan. She tried to massage her shoulder in a spot that was mostly always tense, but Sam was there in seconds. "May I?" He moved behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She nodded as he began kneading the knots from her back, his hands moving expertly down her back, following her spine. Goosebumps rose after every touch of his hands. "How was your day?" He finished with the small of her back and moved back to her shoulders, feeling the knot with his thumb and pressed into it rythmically.
"Ohh." She moaned with pleasure as he went up and down her back with his hands. "The doctors decided to fill me with all of their work because of how well I did with you." She admitted as she closed her eyes, allowing the calm to flow over her. "The director said that since I was able to spend as much time working on your rehab, If I can show that much enthusiasm for others, there would be a job at the hospital after the internship." She rolled her shoulders as he pressed into them, trying to release the pressure from the whole day. "It's not like I don't appreciate it," she sighed. "But why did it take a year for them to see my worth? What happened to all the other things I've done before you?" She looked up into his downturned face.
"Maybe they were just focused on their everyday work before me." Sam added as he went back down her spine. "I did practically come back from the dead, so when you involved yourself so completely with my rehab, they were focused on the job you were doing for once."
Rose thought about it for a minute, it did make sense. What didn't was the fact that Sam had listened to her whole rant and offered his input. She had heard of married women and those just in a relationship that complained about their men nodding along and then when asked for input, they just asked what they were talking about. "You are a rare person, Sam." She closed her eyes once more and focused on his massage. She really hoped that he never changed.