Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 75193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
I was irrationally angry as I stared at the woman.
I wasn’t completely sure what ‘c-diff’ was, but I gathered that the man was contagious. And this lazy bitch was sending the pretty nurse in there to care for her seriously ill patient, possibly endangering her health in the process, just because she didn’t like her.
I didn’t like that, not one bit.
This bitch was not going to get away with it, and I would make sure of that.
***
Freya
I spun the Lazy Susan, staring at the gun as it twirled around and around on the table, the lit candle spinning with it as it went.
I didn’t know where the gun had originated from.
It was either from my brother or my father…I wasn’t sure.
I couldn’t ask, either, since both of them were dead.
My stomach clenched as the memories of that horrible night started flipping through my mind.
Memories of the next day started to assault me as well, and I was left barely breathing.
Tears coursed hotly down my cheeks, as I stared at my phone, willing my brother to call or text, telling me this was all just a bad dream.
But it didn’t happen.
It never did.
Not anymore.
It’d been weeks since Corey had left me, and I still wasn’t getting any better.
It actually hurt more now than it had when it first happened, and I felt the harsh realization of it settling over me.
He wasn’t coming back, and I was all alone in this world.
***
Ridley
I followed her home.
I didn’t know why.
Maybe it was because I saw a little bit of me in her.
Maybe it was because I knew what to look for.
Whatever the reason, I followed her.
It was easy, too.
She didn’t have a precautionary bone in her body, and it wasn’t like I even tried to prevent her from seeing me tailing her. She was just that unobservant.
She looked completely oblivious to the world around her.
She was also the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life.
Her blonde hair was piled up high on her head in a messy bun that looked almost purposeful. I knew it wasn’t, though, since I’d seen her haphazardly put it up when she got out of her car.
She was sitting at the table, occupied by something I couldn’t see in front of her.
It was only when she shifted that I saw exactly what it was.
My body moved forward in my haste to get to her, and my legs bumped into a clear box with a red lid on it labeled ‘Christmas Lights’ across the top on brown packing tape.
The sudden noise caused Freya to turn and look out the window in concern, giving me a good look at her face.
She was crying.
My heart faltered.
She sat there looking out the window as her fingers absently brushed the large, spinning plate-like object on the table in front of her. As it continued to turn with each of her touches, I saw the barrel of the gun rotating in the center of it.
Not knowing what I was going to do, I looked down at the box and sudden inspiration hit me.
“Yes,” I said to no one, picking up the box and walking to the front door.
Placing it down at the entrance, I rang the doorbell then backed away into the shadows of the huge shade tree in her front yard.
The door opened, a yellow halo of light seeping out around her.
“Hello?” she called out loudly.
I didn’t answer in hopes that she would take the bait.
She looked down, frowning, and her body shivered.
“Shit,” she said softly. “Shit.”
I watched her open the box. I heard her breath hitch, and I saw her tears as they starting pouring furiously down her cheeks.
“You were supposed to put these up with me yesterday,” she whispered brokenly.
I wouldn’t have heard it had the wind not carried her words to me, and I contemplated going to her the moment I heard them.
However, I didn’t want to spook her.
My gut instincts told me that if I wasn’t careful, I could turn this in the opposite direction from where I wanted it to go.
Freya dropped to her knees and started to pull stuff out of the box.
Roll after roll of lights emerged from the box, and she placed them carefully down amongst the other balls of lights that littered the ground around her.
“Ohh,” she whispered, pulling out what looked like some sort of inflatable decoration.
I couldn’t tell what it was.
From here it just looked like a ball of white.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Okay. I’ll do it. I see it now, Corey. I see it.”
My heart stuttered in my chest when I heard her say ‘Corey.’
Then I looked at her more closely, and things started clicking into place.
We were in Kilgore, where Corey had told me his sister lived.
I’d looked up her address, fully intending to stop by to make my condolences, but I’d never found the time in between working overtime and helping with my sister and niece.