Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 112951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
I was supposed to stay in the wheelchair until the car, but I couldn’t handle it. Irritation and general tension (though I didn’t know why) sat like two boulders in the bottom of my gut. They wouldn’t go away, no matter what I thought to myself. I had a prescription for painkillers, but I wished I’d upped the morphine dose, just to get me to the car.
“The minivan, huh?” I remarked as Blake wheeled me up to the side door.
We could still hear Mom chattering to someone behind us. “Yeah, not the car. She wasn’t sure how long we’d stay, so she insisted. She brought half the house with us. More room with this one.”
He opened the door and held my hand as I stood and got in. My legs were a little unsteady, but nothing major. The nerves were from leaving, nothing else.
I’d been attacked, but I wasn’t thinking about that.
I wasn’t thinking about Shay, Missy, or Kristina, or what anyone was saying on campus.
And I wasn’t lying to myself, either.
“How are you doing? Really?”
Blake paused by the door, waiting for my answer.
“Okay! Sounds amazing. I’ll be DMing it. It’s all about Instagram, or wait. Do you have a Snipchat?”
We both looked back.
My mom meant well. She worked as a hotel manager, but her hobby and life’s passion was an actress. So far, she only got starring roles in our local community plays, but she was dedicated. We all gave her grief, but if our mother ended up on the big screen somewhere, I wouldn’t be surprised.
She was playing the “cool mother” at this moment. Or trying.
I nodded to Blake. “Just tired, is all.”
He nodded back, though he didn’t look convinced, and shut the door. Mom piled into the passenger door, turning around to me, and Blake got behind the steering wheel.
“We got a hotel room. Did Gage tell you that? He has that apartment, but he has roommates, and you have that dorm. Blake can’t be there past hours, right? I talked to your roommate. She explained everything.” She took a breath. “So, honey, where would you like to go?”
There was one place, but I said instead, “Your hotel is fine.”
“Splendid!” She beamed at me.
I had enough.
It was hour five at the hotel. Blake left for the hotel’s gym, and I grabbed my phone and snuck out into the hallway. I called Gage and hissed once he answered, “Mom is driving me crazy.”
He laughed, and I could hear people in his background. He said, “She just wants to make sure you’re okay, but not be too overbearing. She does that by doing weird stuff. You know that.”
“She’s acting like she’s a real nurse. She called the front desk and asked if they had an IV pole. When they didn’t, she asked for anything that stood high, upright, and was skinny. She told the room service guy she’d need something for the morphine drip. I don’t have a morphine drip. I have pills, and she’s counted all of them and put them into a dispenser that’s broken up into the days of the week. I swear, Gage, if she asks me one more time to sit so she can practice her manual blood pressure skills, I’ll throw them in her face.”
He smothered some laughter. “You know what she’s like. She’s scared and worried. Your attack was traumatic to us all. I thought for a second you were gone. I’m sure Mom did, too. Heck, I know she did. She was screaming when she called me.”
I heard her calling me inside the hotel and glanced back. I sighed.
I wasn’t upset with her. I wasn’t upset with anyone.
There were two truths ringing in me, and I only wanted to acknowledge one. I wanted to see Shay. And pulling my big girl panties on, I asked, “Have you talked to Shay today?”
“Yeah.” I could almost hear him grinning through the phone. “I was wondering when you were going to ask.”
I swore at him.
He laughed. “He said he can’t miss football practice, but asked if he could see you tonight.”
I groaned into the phone. “Mom is going to be so embarrassing.”
“She already was. She fawned all over him. He was still in the hospital when she and Blake arrived. She went gaga over him, touching him all over, hugging him, crying. If she could date him, I think she would. She wouldn’t care if you already were or not.”
“You’re not helping.”
“Not trying to, but yes, he’s asked. I told him you were in Witness Protection, i.e., our mother.”
I grinned. The label had some merit. “Would you be pissed if I snuck out to see him?”
“No, but Mom would.”
“Really?”
“Well.” He thought about it. “Maybe not, but she’d be jealous, and she’d ask you all the details I don’t want to hear as your brother.”
I cringed, imagining her asking if he “pounded” or “made sweet, sweet love.” The nausea was coming back. “Let’s tell her after I’m gone.”