Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
The longer the pair was in the room with her, the more upset I got.
They ‘showed’ her how to use her morphine pump, but she was so sleepy and out of it that she didn’t even catch how to use it.
Within twenty minutes, she woke up crying due to pain, so I pressed the green fucking button…even though I wasn’t supposed to.
And I called her sister. And Mig.
In fact, I pressed and called for well over three hours, just about when the sun started peeking over the horizon.
“What the fuck, motherfucker?” Mig growled into the phone as if I’d ripped him out of his dream.
He was a grouchy motherfucker.
“I’m at the hospital,” I wasted no time getting to the point.
“If you’re not dying, I don’t give a fuck where you are,” Mig snapped.
I heard the distinct sound of a smack in the background, but I couldn’t muster the urge to laugh like I normally would have.
“Why are you at the hospital?” Mig sighed after an intense conversation took place over the muffled line.
I wanted to hang up on him.
I wanted to keep Tasha to myself.
However, I wasn’t a complete dick.
“Tasha had to have emergency surgery,” I told him in a bored tone.
“What?” Mig yelled.
“Mig, what is it?” Annie exclaimed in alarm.
“Where are you? What hospital? What’s wrong with her? Why are you with her? Why haven’t you called?” Mig bellowed, peppering me with questions.
I could hear shuffling in the background, and I wanted to hang up, yet again, as Mig started to urgently tell Annie what was going on.
When Mig finally shifted his attention back to me, I said, “We’re in Marshall.”
Then I hung up.
Because he’d get here eventually, and I didn’t want to deal with his shit right now.
I was on edge.
I hadn’t slept in well over forty-eight hours.
I was hungry.
And Tasha was lucky to be alive.
It may be a little bit of an over exaggeration on my part, but I couldn’t help how I felt.
I didn’t do hospitals.
In fact, I despised them.
They were the bane of my existence.
I’d had five surgeries over the last five years. I’d lost friends in hospitals. I’d lost family in hospitals.
Hospitals were evil.
They gave me an itchy feeling on the back of my neck that never quite went away.
“Ten?” A raspy voice coughed from behind me. She was shortening my name now.
I turned to face Tasha.
“You feeling okay now?” I wondered.
She nodded.
“Was that my sister?” she confirmed, gesturing to the phone that was still in my hand.
I shook my head. “Mig. But they’re on the way.”
Tasha closed her eyes and smiled, stretching slightly.
She quickly froze, realizing that any movement hurt.
“Help me sit up, please?” she pleaded.
I walked over to her bed, placing the button that dispensed the meds into Tasha’s bloodstream down beside her.
Then I lifted her up, one arm around her legs, and the other around her shoulders, until she was sitting more straight up in her bed.
“Better?” I tested.
She nodded.
“You scared the fuck out of me,” I told her.
Her head lolled to the side.
“Sorry,” she croaked.
“You want water?” I asked.
She nodded, and I braved the nurse’s station one more time.
I came back moments later to find Tasha reaching for her phone.
“It’s been buzzing off the hook since I got in here,” I told her. “But it’s not your sister or parents. It’s that same number you showed me the other day that sent you that weird text.”
Tasha grimaced.
“Whomever it is won’t stop texting me. It’s getting old,” she grumbled.
I picked up her phone and started to scroll through the texts.
One after the other, getting more and more urgent.
Are you okay?
What’d he do to you?
I’ll rescue you.
Found you.
You’re okay.
I’m glad you’re okay.
Did you like the flowers?
That last text had been only moments before, and I looked up from the phone in my hand to see a huge vase of flowers sitting on the windowsill that hadn’t been there earlier.
I placed the phone down gently on the bed beside Tasha’s hand.
“Motherfucker,” I breathed, standing up to go to the flowers.
“What’s wrong?” Tasha stammered.
“Motherfucker’s sending you flowers. How does he know where you’re at?” I prodded, turning to her.
She shook her head.
“I’ve never even responded to him,” she vowed worriedly at my back.
I picked up the card, then immediately wished I’d not touched it without gloves on.
I’ll love you forever. Can’t wait for you to come home. Get well soon.
I stared blankly at the wall for a few long moments while I tried to process the words in front of my face.
What. The. Fuck.
Chapter 5
It’s hard to find a sister that’s caring, loving, sweet, generous, and a good listener. So be gentle with me, and try not to lose me.
-Tasha to Annie
Tasha
“This is absolutely ridiculous,” I growled to the shit head’s back.
Casten turned around.
“Listen, it’s not like I want another female in my home,” Casten threw up his hands. “But you’re not staying at your place. We’ve already given you the options of your parents, Mig’s or my place. You chose my place. Let’s please not do this again.”