“Oh yeah, that. I applied it to my sore muscles.”
“Sore from what?”
“I started lifting weights… to impress you.”
“I’d be more impressed if you donated your wealth to the poor.” A rash had spread across his back in angry pink blotches. “Anyway, I think you OD’d.”
He chuckled weakly. “You can’t OD on lidocaine… can you?”
“You most certainly can. And you most certainly did.”
Sam scurried to the water cart and grabbed a glass, along with a handful of cocktail napkins. She poured it all over Thomas’s back, wiping off the lidocaine and carefully watching Thomas for any improvement.
Within a few minutes the rash subtly lightened, his breathing started to normalize, and the twitching stopped.
“How are you feeling?” Sam asked.
“You were right. I guess I did OD on lidocaine. I feel a lot better, thanks to you. I can’t believe you—” Thomas turned his watery gaze up to meet hers, his voice choking with tearful gratitude, “you saved my life. Thank you.”
“Happy to help,” Sam tried her best to sound nurturing, awkwardly patting his soaked back.
“I could have died.”
“Well, I highly doubt lidocaine toxicity would have killed you.”
“And you saved me.”
“I simply tossed some water on you.”
Thomas grabbed her hands, full with wadded up soaked cocktail napkins, and fell to his knees before her. “Give me one chance to prove I’m worth it.”
“Worth what?”
“A date. Friday night.” He rose to his feet, pressing her hands to his heart. “It’s one of the last baseball games the Pirates will play at Forbes Field before they move to the new stadium.”
“I don’t think I should…”
“Maybe I’ll surprise you.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
In fact, Sam hated surprises, for they were rarely, if ever, good. The last surprise she had gotten was a phone call from her grandmother telling her she had a surprise waiting at the house for her. Sam showed up, thrilled to accept this mysterious gift, then entered the house to find her grandmother keeled over in her knitting chair, clutching a wrapped box.
Only after the funeral did Sam build up the courage to open it and found a handkerchief with Samantha Stanton embroidered across the corner. She could never look at that hanky again without conjuring the gray face of her dead grandmother, and she distrusted all surprises ever since.
“Maybe this will change your mind.” Thomas paused, closed his eyes, released her hands, and crossed his palms over his heart.
For a moment Sam thought he was going to pour something eloquent from his soul. Instead he proclaimed something much, much worse:
“You saved my life, it’s true.
And so I must thank you.
Let me rebuild your faith in me
like the fans rebuilt their faith in thee,
America’s greatest pastime sport.
And let me woo you enough to court.
Goodbye to crumbling walls I say
And begin a life with me this day.”
Thomas paused, opening his eyes and watching her for a reaction. “I just now wrote that for you, Samantha. And I meant every word.”
“I truly believe that. It’s quite… original,” was all she could muster.
“If I can’t convince you to give me a chance by the end of our evening together, I’ll walk away and never contact you again. With no hard feelings.”
But Sam also knew men tended to break promises. “I really, really don’t think it’s a good idea, Thomas.”
He exhaled heavily. “Don’t make me do this, Samantha.”
