Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Now I’m exhausted as I drive home to take a shower and take a quick nap so I can turn around and go back to the hospital. The doctors managed to stabilize him again assured me he’d be taken care of while I was away for a bit.
I don’t know if my father is overly optimistic or delusional in thinking can get out of this mess he’s in without help. Frankly, I’m not sure how much I can do to help either.
The number one priority is getting his health in order and I can do that by getting power of attorney to take over his medical decision, It would also be helpful to look into elder services to figure out my options about the foreclosure. There’s no way, I’ll allow him to lose the house he and Mom loved so much.
I’m not sure how I managed to drive back to the house without falling asleep behind the wheel. I haven’t slept since I’ve arrived back in town and my body feels heavy and the headache from earlier has intensified.
I contemplate skipping the shower but once I step until the stinging spray of the water, I feel somewhat better. Even better is when I finally slide into bed on the soft mattress of my teen years. An old comforting embrace that lulls me into the arms nocturnal bliss.
The abrupt shrill of the doorbell cuts its way through the sleep my body desperately craves. I initially think I could have been dreaming but the bell rings again and again.
Damn.
My father has a few neighbors he’s friendly with so maybe one of two of them noticed the ambulance earlier.
I’m tempted to pull the pillow over my head and ignore whoever this intruder was. But the doorbell ringing is followed by the obnoxious pounding of the door. Since my room is located over the front porch the knocking is especially pronounced.
With a groan, I roll out of bed to peak out the window to see if I can get a view of the visitor but they are obscured by the porch roof. I do however notice a flashy black sports car. I’m not car savvy but I can tell the vehicle is far beyond my tax bracket.
Could it be someone from the bank? Was it too late to make some sort of deal with them.
I’m only in a t-shirt and panties so I frantically search through my still unpacked suitcase for my pajama bottoms.
The bell rang again.
“In a minute!” I yelled, still frantically searching. I can’t find them.
Fuck it. I’ll just tell whoever it is to go away. It will only be for a minute.
By the time I make it downstairs, I’m so annoyed because whoever is on the other end of the door won’t stop knocking. Most people would have given up by now and left but this persistent pest was clearly on a mission.
Look through the peephole and still can’t make out who it is because their back is now turned to the door.
“What?” I demand when I yank the door open. I’m beyond annoyed. My head still hurts I’m so tired my entire body aches.
Slowly my unwelcome visitor turns around and I freeze.
I’ve got to be dreaming. I have to be because I’m standing in the middle of a nightmare.
If this isn’t a dream, Jackson Champion is standing on the doorstep.
10
ZORA
Irub my tired eyes because I still can’t figure out whether I’m really awake. And why would I dream of Jackson of all people, after all this time?
It’s been twelve years since I’ve seen him in person. I’d seen a picture of him from the online new publication from the Champion Gazette but it couldn’t have prepared me for his larger than life presence.
He has the face of the of boy who used to torment me in high school, albeit more mature, but this version of him is all man. He seems taller than I remember if that’s even possible. A light stubble grazed his jawline, highlighting the sharpness of his features. His hair was slightly longer, falling just below his collar but it was still full, black and wavy.
His build was similar to the one he had in high school but his shoulders seemed broader and somehow he felt bigger, dwarfing over me like an intimidating harbinger of bad news.
It had to be bad news. Why else would he be here after all this time. We hadn’t spoken since that night An unidentifiable emotion welled within my chest? Anger? Anxiety? Annoyance? I couldn’t pinpoint which one exactly. Maybe it was all of them.
His eyes are still the startling aqua I remember them being and they slowly move along the length of me. It’s when I realize, I made a mistake answering the door in only my t-shirt and panties.
A slow smirk curves lips that have no business being so juicy and inviting for a creep like him. Despite all my years of therapy and training, all the resentment I’d once carried for him welled within me.