This is My December

Several days had passed, and Elliot and Lydia had not exchanged a single word. Sure, they did give each other occasional, monosyllabic responses, but the house felt completely silent. They both knew if they did speak more than necessary, a heated quarrel was sure to rise.

Honestly, Elliot was glad about the quiet. It allowed him to fully concentrate on the task: taking care of his patient and have her out of there as soon as possible. He was uneasy enough using his limited medical knowledge to help her get better. He did not need the added stress of combating her in an argument. Elliot was sure her silence was an act as defiance when he flatly denied her the freedom she wanted.

Well lucky for her for that wish may soon be granted.

To his surprise, her recovery rate had been going on splendidly. Her fever had been going down at a steady rate, and Lydia already had enough strength to walk to the kitchen and back.

Just a few more days, and she would fully recovered. Then he could allow himself to mope in peace. One thing he learned in medical school was that he should not grow attached to any of his patients. An aspiring doctor’s work and their feelings always were separate. Once they were in full health, Elliot knew that he had to let them go.

One day, he decided to cook themselves a simple dinner. Her stomach was allowing her to eat more solid foods though her fever was still a little high. Elliot was not much of a cook - he will admit that much. Sure, for the past few days, he made the only thing he could possible make – soup – but how hard could cooking an actual meal be?

Harder than Elliot thought.

“No!! Oh my freakin’god, what are you doing?!” exclaimed a horrorstruck Lydia. He was all too expectant of her popping out of nowhere to frighten him, so he did not really react in any outright way.

Elliot replied nonchalantly, “Cooking dinner. What does it look like?”

Lydia started pacing around the cooking station, muttering nervously to herself. “No, no, no. This is not how you do it. You can’t just throw in whatever you want like that! You want to get the both of us sick, Elli?!”

Elliot’s annoyance soon grew, as he replied, “No, I am sorry about that, Dee Dee, but I was trying to be considerate and cook you food.”

Lydia scoffed. “Well I kind of like to actually eat my food. Not use it as firewood!”

“Well if you could do any better, why don’t you do this?”

“Maybe I will!”

With a loud humph, Lydia quickly shoved Elliot aside, and began observing Elliot’s concoction. She moved the pan around, observing as the pieces of food began shifting in its container.

Elliot soon taunted the little redhead, “You can start anytime now!”

She shot him a harsh look as she said, “Yeah, I know! You can’t rush genius, okay?”

He sneered, “So that’s what you call it, huh? Genius? I’d like to see that!”

Her eyes narrowed and she turned towards the pan. Elliot thought his eyes were going to pop out when he saw what dexterity she had when she finally got started. After a long eternity of staring as she cooked the meal, Lydia turned around and said, “Now, dinner is served!”

Elliot, though surprised by her skill, was wary. He was not sure if she should trust the fiery female. He was sure Lydia was not the kind to forgive so easily. After all, he did deprive her of the one wish she had wanted.

“Hey, Elli, you going to eat or just stand there like an idiot for the whole day?”

Elliot shook his head. “Uh… yeah, yeah. I’ll eat. I’ll eat. Just calm down already.”

A bright smile spread over her pallid features. “Wonderful! Now, why don’t you just sit down, and I’ll get you a plate!” With great enthusiasm, she dashed towards each cupboard, searching vigorously for a plate. Elliot cautiously took his respective seat.

Now if he was not suspicious before, he now was really suspicious. Why in the world would she want to do that? He should be the one providing her with the meal.

“Here you go, Elli! Enjoy!” Lydia piped up, breaking him of his thoughts. He watched as she plopped the plate right in front of him and trot back to her own seat. He observed even more closely as she took one large bite.

Hmm… well I guess the whole thing couldn’t be poisoned… but what if she did something to my plate alone? In Elliot’s mind, that could explain why she wanted to get the plates.

He looked down at his little meal. He had to admit, it surely looked delectable!

I know I’m going to regret this later, but I’m starving! He swiped his fork and shoveled one large piece into his mouth. Then he swallowed.

A few moments had passed, and they both sat silently in their seats as Elliot waited for some sort of reaction.

Seeing he did not die, he smiled and said, “Hey, Dee Dee, this isn’t…” He stopped in midsentence. His mouth felt like it was on fire.

~* * *~

“AH! WATER! WATER!!!!” Elliot screamed as Lydia began laughing hysterically in her seat.

“Oh my god! This is priceless!” She choked out in the midst in her hysteria. “Now this is payback time, sucker!” She watched him sprint towards the fridge to swipe a bottle of water and jug it all down. The water flooded from his mouth, streaming down his neck and soaking his shirt.

Lydia’s hilarity over the situation increased to an unbelievable degree. She laughed so hard that she fell off her chair. “Oh wow! You should have seen your face! This was just way too funny!” She wrapped her arms around her stomach, still laughing. “Ah! My tummy! My poor tummy! It hurts!”

After the bottle was emptied of all its liquids, Elliot’s green irises glared intensely at the hysterical redhead. “That was not funny, you little twerpette!”

Lydia took a few moments to calm herself and concentrate her golden eyes on his. “Okay, you’re right. It wasn’t funny. I’m sorry.”

He blinked a few moments, sincerely surprised by her response. “Really?”

“Yep! It was hilarious!” she chortled even more wildly, thrashing her limbs in pure hilarity. Elliot glared at the girl fiercely as he wiped his face of the remnants of the cold liquid.

“Just shut up, Dee Dee.”

“Okay, okay…” She took a few moments to calm herself, breathing in then out. “Okay there! I’m done. I just can’t believe you fell for that!”

Lydia could tell he could not believe it either. “So how did you do it?”

With a broad smile, she began to weave her tale. She explained that as she was avidly searching for the plates, she stumbled on her new friend, Mr. Hot Sauce. Then after she distributed the food to both dishes, she dumped a hardy amount of the spicy liquid on his specific saucer.

She honestly was surprised. If he was not so deep in thought, she was not sure she would have gotten away with it!

All emotion was wiped from Elliot’s face as Lydia smiled brightly at her accomplishment. She could tell he could not believe it.

A loud rumble erupted from someone’s stomach, breaking the silence. The little redhead giggled and pushed her plate forward.

“Here. You want it?” The man blinked a few times at her gesture, not at all making any indications he was going to take her gift. “Trust me, there’s nothing wrong with it. I probably have a lower tolerance towards spicy food then you. Plus, my stomach is still a little uneasy, and I don’t want to risk blemishing these pearly white floors of yours with any rancid acids that may expel from my mouth.”

Still wavering over distrust, Elliot asked, “Yeah, but you just ate it. Are you trying to get me sick?”

Lydia quickly countered, “So? I never touched it twice with any contaminated utensils that touched my lips. I even washed my hands. Furthermore, you did not seem so hesitant to eat before in fear of getting sick.”

She got him there. Elliot sighed as he seated himself and began eating.

A strange twinkle formed in his irises as he swallowed one bite. “This is just amazing.” He continued shoveling in more of the food as Lydia smiled.

“Thanks! I always try my best!”

With his mouth full he countered, “Well why don’t you try being modest?” She glared at him in response. He swallowed and continued, ignoring her angry stare completely, “Seriously, how did you learn to cook so well?”

Lydia’s eyes soon withheld a pensive glow as she replied in a low voice, “My mother had taught me when I was a little girl…” Elliot seemed to notice the softness in her voice and grew curious why that seemed like such a hard subject.

Lydia quickly shook herself of her dreamy state and changed the subject. “So how about you, Mr. Medicine Man? Where’d you learn to be such a good doctor?” Soon the atmosphere grew tense. Elliot’s eyes fell to the floor as his face hardened. Lydia waited impatiently for a reply. “Well do you think you want to answer in this lifetime?”

Elliot brusquely replied, “I don’t want to talk about it.” He swiftly stood up from his seat. “If you’d excuse me, I have to go change this wet shirt.”

Before Lydia could utter a word, he stood up and left.

God, what’s his problem? She crossed her arms around her chests in a big humph. It’s not like I care though…

The truth of the matter was that she really did care. He did not seem like the type to avoid such a simple question. In fact, she would have expected him to be gloating about his accomplishments.

The more she thought about it, the more his actions piqued her interests. She grimaced, seeing how curious she really was. She grew tired of the constant silence that brewed between them.

She would admit, the cold shoulder was mainly due to some anger towards the dark haired male for ignoring her request.

The other reason was due to the fact her throat was killing her! If she could have talked, she would!

Well… I might as well get something interesting out of my little sojourn here. After all, who doesn’t love a good story? Submitting to her inquisitive nature, she walked out back into the living room. A deviously ingenious plot was formulating in her mind…