A Stranger at the Door (A Rachel Marin Thriller) by Jason Pinter

Author:Jason Pinter [Pinter, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-01-11T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

Megan slept in a chair beside Rachel’s bed. Eric sat in another chair, but from what Rachel could tell, he didn’t sleep. Rachel tried to talk to him, but she had a hard time focusing, and Eric refused to give more than one-word answers. A constant faint glow from his cell phone illuminated his face. His thumbs tapped away incessantly. Rachel couldn’t tell if he was playing a game or sending a text. What if he’s texting Ruddock? Or Brice? Or Evie Boggs? She prayed it was something as simple as him texting Penny Wallace. If only things were as simple as a teenage crush.

She wanted so desperately to look inside his head, to see the wiring, to understand how to relieve him of his anger and sadness. She missed the carefree young boy she once knew. It destroyed her to think he might be gone. There were some pains that never subsided. There were some fractures not even a mother could mend.

Rachel flitted in and out of semiconsciousness. Doctors came in and out to check on her. Eric stayed in the room, next to Megan. She did not know if he slept.

At one point, Rachel looked at Eric, only to find that he was staring at her. His face was a mask. Emotionless. She smiled at him, drowsily.

“I love you,” she said.

Eric did not respond.

In the morning, John Serrano took the children to school. Megan gave Rachel a hug and said, “Mommy, come home.” It took everything she had not to cry.

“I should be able to get out of here today, dear,” she said.

Eric went over to the bed. His face gave no evidence of what he was thinking.

“I’ll see you later today,” she said. “I love you, Eric. No matter what.”

Eric simply nodded. He leaned down and placed his arms around his mother, but there was no weight or emotion behind the gesture. He may as well have been fastening a seat belt. Then they left Rachel alone.

By late morning, the wooziness had begun to subside. Her head still felt like she’d been kicked by a mule, but physical pain she could handle as long as her equilibrium returned. At ten o’clock, she was discharged with acetaminophen, with clear instructions not to take ibuprofen due to the increased risk of cranial bleeding.

She threw the pain meds in the garbage before she got to the parking lot.

She hailed a ride share from her app and went home. Rachel took a long, hot shower, turning the temperature down slightly when she began to feel dizzy. She traced the swollen wound beneath her shower cap. When she got out, she texted Serrano:

Kids get to school ok?

Yup. Megan told me the plot of her next Sadie Scout novel.

Tell me it doesn’t involve Sadie getting bonked in the head.

Ha, no. I told her they’ll make a great movie one day. She almost asked me to adopt her.

Thank you John. For everything.

No worries. Just glad Eric is ok, at least on the outside. Even if Brice is denying involvement, I’m going to keep an eye on things just to be sure.

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