(A/N)- Trying to get back in the swing of this story, but right now I'm mostly focused on paying for an apartment and working at Magic Kingdom every chance I get. I'll have time for this again, don't worry. ;P Enjoy! This is one of my favorite chapters. :D

Chapter 15 - It Doesn't Matter

They walked to work together the next morning, as usual. Randall took to holding her hand in the view of other employees. She knew he shouldn't risk it, if he feared Waternoose suspecting something, but she felt a part of him was trying to show her he wasn't afraid. And she did find it brave of him, but still, she didn't want him to wind up worrying about it later if Waternoose asked him about her.

Randall was walking Sandra to her Scare floor when they heard a voice call after them.

"Hey Randall!"

Sandra looked around to see the big furry blue monster that Randall loathed. He approached them with a cheery grin.

"Sullivan," Randall growled back, and she felt his hand tense up as she held it.

He stopped in front of them and grinned, "How've you been?" he asked. Randall just glowered at him as if he were stupid or something. Sullivan's smile faltered. Sandra glanced awkwardly between the two. She finally had the courage to break the silence, and extended a hand towards Sullivan.

"Hi, I'm Sandra ... Clemens," she added, worried that Randall might think she was being too friendly with him if she let him go on a first-name basis.

"Pleased to meet you," he said, and shook her hand, "I'm James P. Sullivan."

Randall snorted under his breath, "Everyone knows already."

She rolled her eyes at him for being so rude - sure there was competition on her Scare floor, but that didn't make anyone enemies, of all things. She supposed it was different for Randall because the top Scarer position had been his for a while, and he wasn't prepared to lose it.

She squeezed his hand, and he finally snapped to Sullivan, "Well, whaddaya want?"

Sullivan wasn't bothered by his snippiness - in fact he seemed to expect it. He responded to it with a friendly smile, "They're going to film a new commercial for the company in a couple of months," he said, "Waternoose told me. He said they'll put the Scarers from our floor in it, you know, to promote our cause, what with the Scream shortage and all ..."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, his eyes glancing to Sandra for a split second, before he said in mock cheerfulness to Sullivan, "So, you're getting friendly with Waternoose, huh?" he asked.

"Well, on a professional level ..." Sullivan said, "He's a pretty nice guy."

"Yeah, just watch your back around him," Randall muttered, almost inaudibly. She couldn't believe he was giving Sullivan what she supposed would be good advice, since he'd said pretty much the same to her.

"Well, I'll see you on the Scare floor later," Sullivan finished up with a wave, "And nice to meet you, Miss. Clemens!"

"Same here," she said politely as Sullivan headed off. Randall practically pulled her along, stopping by the opposite wall. He held her by both her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes.

"Same here? What's the matter with you?" he asked incredulously.

"What's the matter with you?" she hissed back, shrugging him away, "I know you don't like the guy but you could at least try some common courtesy!"

"Common courtesy?" he laughed, "Are you kidding? That guy's a phony - he only pretends to be nice but he's lookin' to put me out of my title!" he snapped, trying to keep his voice low, "Possibly out of a job to boot!"

"Randall, give me a break," she said seriously, "I know you love that title and all but there wouldn't be a title if it wasn't something that others considered to be a position of worthiness or whatever the hell you wanna call it," she explained, "I think it's natural for the others to compete for that title, don't you?"

He scoffed, "Oh, whaddoyou care about that title - it doesn't matter on your floor but it matters here!"

That did it. She stared at him in disbelief, "Doesn't matter?" she asked, appalled. She laughed humorlessly, "Oh, I get it now, so ... my job doesn't matter but yours does?"

"I didn't mean it like that, Sandra," he said flatly.

"Oh yeah? Well then why did you say it?" she asked.

He watched her a moment, but when he opened his mouth to answer, she took off.

"Well, I'm off to work, not that it matters."

"Aw, c'mon, Sandra!" he protested, calling after her, "Don't be like that!"

She pretended not to hear him as she headed off to her Scarefloor. Randall let out a frustrated sigh before storming off to his station.

-----

After his shift ended, Randall heard from Roz that they just had the CDA quarantine Sandra's Scare floor.

By the time he'd rushed over there, the CDA were gone and the Scare floor was empty. He went and asked the secretary of the floor, and he said that a dog had gotten loose after biting someone - exactly who it bit, he wasn't sure. Randall suspected the secretary had probably pulled down his window amidst the decontamination process, afraid that he too would get bit.

Fearing it had been Sandra who'd gotten bit, he hurried over to the infirmary, and his worst fears were confirmed.

Sandra sat there in the first room on the table, her right back leg getting bandaged up by a nurse. She didn't see him; she just watched the nurse, her eyes a little glassy as she winced every so often and snapped at the nurse to be more gentle.

Her bubblegum-pink assistant had suddenly leapt up in his face, waving and grinning insanely.

"Hey Sandra's boyfriend!" she greeted, causing Sandra to look over, "Sandra got bitten by a bulldog! Isn't that crazy?! She's lucky to be alive right now!"

"Yeah, thanks erm ... Cloey." he muttered; his eyes hadn't left Sandra, but she had long since looked away, looking madder than before she had known he was there.

"You okay?" he asked. She pretended not to hear him, but the nurse answered once she saw who he was.

"Don't worry, Mr. Boggs; your friend here is doing fine. She'd just gotten some deep lacerations but they'll certainly heal over time. She's lucky to have gotten him off of her before he could cause any more damage."

Sandra and Randall shared a quick glance, but she looked away again, furrowing her brows.

"I'll be back with your antibiotics," the nurse said as she got to her feet and headed out down the hallway.

They stayed there in silence, that is, until Cloey bounced right back in, "Amazing, huh? And she had the nerve to help catch the dog afterwards! Me, I would've just ran for it like ... AHHH!!!"

"That's enough, Cloey!" Sandra snapped ferociously, causing her assistant's insane grin to disappear immediately. Now the three of them stayed there in silence, until Sandra broke it with an angry "Leave!!" as she lunged her head forward as if to bite her. The sudden movement caused her to wince painfully. She tried to hide it but it didn't go unnoticed by Randall.

Cloey squeaked in surprise and ran for it. Randall, quite taken aback by her anger, turned to leave as well.

"Not you," she said gruffly, her red eyes locking with his before she stared at the floor, "You stay." she muttered.

"Sandra, look ... I'm sorry about what I said earlier ..."

"Don't be," she said casually, almost calm but Randall felt afraid she was saying it in mockery, "My anger towards you had helped me to get as much scream as I did today, until that stupid dog had to jump outta nowhere ..."

"I guess we should fight more often then?" Randall offered with a nervous laugh. She simply raised a brow at him. He cleared his throat and continued.

"I would've been here sooner but I didn't find out about it until after my shift was over."

"It's alright," she mumbled, barely audibly.

"And again, I'm really sorry about earlier ..." he added earnestly.

"No, you're right," she said, "my job doesn't matter as much as yours--"

"Sandra .."

"Let me finish!" she snapped, "Your floor is the top-top, and mine is down by the bottom I think ... so yeah, it doesn't matter to the world as much as your job does, but it matters to me because it's my form of income, and now I realize I am literally risking my life and limbs going in and out of those doors ..." she said disgustedly, "you just need to watch about how you say things. To hear you say something cruel like that ... well, I don't like it. You come across really mean to others, and though you're not so mean to me most of the time, well ...." she paused, rubbing her neck in agitation, "I don't like to see you mean. At all."

He nodded and didn't say a word. He wound up looking to his feet shamefully as Sandra stared him down.

The nurse came bustling in at the next moment, "Okay, take one of these pills each day and it'll help your body to heal quicker. If there are any problems let me know," she said.

"Thanks," Sandra murmured, getting off the table. It hurt her a bit to walk, and Randall moved swiftly to support her around her shoulders, which earned him an irritated glance from her.

"Oh, and you'll need to change those bandages every night of course," she said, "Best to take them off in the shower to help clean the wound," she added, and reached for a bottle of peroxide.

"Don't worry," Randall said to the nurse, his arm still around Sandra, "I still have the bottle you gave me at home," he said with an uneasy grin.

"Right, ," the nurse said with a laugh, "Seems like you're in luck, Miss Clemens- you've got a professional to help you through the healing process."

Sandra snorted in disbelief, shaking her head as she looked away, pushing herself out of Randall's arms.

---

"You can't walk, Sandra."

"I'm halfway down the hallway - yeah, I'd call that walking," she replied bitterly.

"Really? Looks to me like you're limping," he retorted.

"Oh, what do you know? I'm perfectly fine." she said, breathing sharply through her teeth as she accidently put pressure on the injured leg.

"I happen to know a lot about those kinds of injuries." Randall said smugly.

"Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot" she said sarcastically, "You're the freakin' bite-master!" she exclaimed, and stumbled into the wall beside her. Randall, who was staying close and waiting for something like that to happen, quickly grabbed her from underneath her armpits and helped her off her knees.

"Want me to carry you?" he offered.

"I am not going to be seen being carried out of this building!" she nearly shouted, "How dramatic is that going to look?"

"Would you rather your foot fall off?"

"That's not going to happen," she growled, pushing his arms away. She thought a moment, and asked, "Is it?"

He chuckled, "Nah, I'm just messing with you."

She fought back a smile and socked him playfully in the stomach.

"So you're just going to limp your way out?"

"Yep."

"You do realize that once you get to the parking lot, there won't be any walls to hold onto."

She realized this, and replied confidently, "Then I'll hold onto cars."

"And what about the walk home?" he asked with a smirk.

She stopped, and turned to him, sneering as she tried to fight back a smile, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Nahh," he assured, but she didn't believe him, "Just that I didn't have someone to carry me whenever I got injured."

She snorted, "Ah yes, all those countless times ..." she smirked, "I'll bet you made Fungus carry you, or at least make him bring his car around."

"Nah," he replied, chuckling, "I was too stuck-up to ask for help, back then."

"And you're not now?" she asked in disbelief, and applied way too much pressure to her back leg, and wound up losing her balance, crashing into Randall, who quickly helped her back on her feet.

"At least let me help you along," he insisted, "Unless you really want to fall every couple of feet."

"Fine," she replied with a reluctant sigh, giving in. She didn't like the pain and giving in to him would make him shut up. She didn't push his arms away this time. Instead, she leant into him as she hobbled along, "Y'know, you'd think that it'd be easy to function with three out of four legs!" she laughed. And then something occurred to her, "What if Waternoose sees?"

"He's probably arguing with the CDA someplace," he dismissed, "He won't see us. And if he does, why should he care? I'm just helping out a fellow employee," he said innocently with a grin, "Don't think too far into it." he said, copying what she had said to him a while after they had first met.

She rolled her eyes, resting her head into the crook of his neck as they made their way across the lobby.

"I'm still angry with you, you know ..." she reminded.

"I know."

"But thank you," she said quietly, nuzzling closer to him.

He smiled softly as he rested his head comfortably on top of hers, "Don't mention it."

(A/N)- Review please but NOT IN EXCESS!! Stephanie Phelps. :P I like that you like this story, but please don't spam up my review box.