Under my Skin [Sam]

She smiled a little, amused when he said she was the not-crazy one as she stood up, getting a couple of pills and a glass of water and bringing them over to Jamie.

"Here. These will help."

She settled on the edge of the bed. "You passed out...they brought you inside...they were both...very worried. But...I told them I would watch you. That you needed a break. That they needed a break." She paused, glancing away slightly. "I did not think you would want to...talk to them much...right now..."

She could understand why, she knew she was overly sensitive to such things, but she'd also grown tired of the fighting too, it hurt her in her head and in her heart to hear it so much, all the time. Just like it hurt to see Jamie like this. She wished she was better at...pretty much everything, that she could do something to help.

Jamie gave her a thankful nod when she brought over the medicine, popping the pills into his mouth before taking the water from her to swallow them down, "thank you..." He gave her a tired smile, "I guess I just...Got overworked..." He sighed, "I suppose I wasn't completely ready to be up and about. I'm just sick of being stuck in bed..." He hated being inactive for so long, sleeping in once in a while was fine but this was driving him nuts.

He frowned and nodded, looking to the side, "I don't." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "I told them. I told them that I couldn't talk to them about this junk." He laid back down against the pillow and looked away, "I'm just sick of their constant fighting. Everyone is." He turned to face her, shifting so he wasn't laying awkwardly on his healing arm, "I used to feel like I could depend on Sam for anything...Like I could talk to him about anything...But now I can't." He looked up at her, "you're sick of it too, huh?" He was sure if Sam kept this up with Harriett he'd lose the respect of a lot of his workers, "I get shit's tough for them but...This is getting so hard to swallow..."

She nodded sympathetically. "You don't like just being in one place." She said. "You get all...antsy."

She seemed to be considering something for a moment, then tilted her head slightly to look at him. "It's not...working outside...but there are things you could help me with?" She knew he was worried about finding a place now that he couldn't work liek he had before, he worried about becoming useless, dead weight. "I keep the books...money, inventory...but it's a lot...I could teach you, and you could help me?" She offered.

Her expression darkened when he started talking about Sam and the tension around the place lately. "They fight...they have always fought...all the time I've known them...but...not like this. This...she's afraid...and he's sad...and...I think he's afraid too...and it just spills everywhere..." She looked down at her hands, these were two people she'd known, been close to for nearly two decades now, it bothered her to see everything as it was now.

"But...I don't want to talk about that." She looked up. "Want to help you instead."

He nodded and looked down, "exactly...I'm used to working from morning to night...Not doing that is killing me." His expression became curious when she spoke, and he smiled at her offer, "well, I ain't never been very good with numbers'n stuff but...Well I'd be willing to give it a go!" He looked down, "I'll miss getting to work alongside Sam but, well hey, I'd also like being able to help you!" He grinned, feeling a little bit better, "because you do this alone...Like you deserve help!" He laid back and let out a soft sigh, "thanks, Sarah...I was starting to really worry."

He nodded and frowned at the thought, sure he felt sorry for them, but they had to know that their constant fighting wasn't going to get anything done, all it was going to do was make everyone lose faith in them. He sighed and nodded when she said she didn't want to talk about that, "me neither..." He chuckled softly, "thank you, I'm glad I have you to look out for me too, you're really calm and I think...I think I need that right now." He thought back to passing out in the yard, getting that worked up, it wasn't even his fight, "I've been such a writhing ball of stress...Some calm sounds really nice..."

She smiled. "I would like the help...and it's not hard once you learn now." She could handle it all on her own, she did have a good head for such things, but she wouldn't mind the help at all and it would be good for him, to have something to work on other than sitting in bed slowly going stir-crazy.

She nodded. "We can all use that right now." She spoke softly, reaching over and putting a cool hand on his burning forehead, frowning a little at the fever still burning through him. "I told them...to let you be...until you wanted to see them. That I would help you...so...whatever you need...I will help you. And be calm." She promised, smile twitching up just a little, a bit of good natured teasing. "I just want you to feel better. I want to help."

He nodded with an eager smile, "Hey! Well I'm your man then!" He chuckled, rubbing a hand over his eyes, which felt way to heavy and raw from the tears he'd shed before, "I'm sure I can pick it up with you showing me how, it'll be nice to be doing something useful." He breathed out a soft sigh and closed his eyes a moment, "I know it'll get easier to do things...Just between then and now is driving me mad..." He was glad to not be yelling, talking calmly, his voice still hurt anyway.

"understatement." He mumbled softly, "whole damn ranch has lost its marbles it feels like..." He shook his head with a soft tsk. He couldn't help but smile when she did, chuckling softly, "you're a blessing..." He grumbled softly, "my head feels like it's gonna pop...Maybe a cool cloth would chase this fever away?" He could feel the chills it was giving him, he'd been convinced he was past all this sickness and fever nonsense.