Conundrum by C. S. Lakin

Author:C. S. Lakin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ubiquitous Press via Indie Author Project
Published: 2013-12-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

I hadn’t meant to sleep so long. When I rolled over, the afternoon sun had baked my face into a clammy sweat. It took a few minutes to orient myself as images—like frames in a movie reel—of the accident, Jeremy in the hospital, and the letter notifying us of our eviction besieged my mind in a cacophonous roar. I forced myself to sit up, the bedcovers tangled around me. I threw them onto the floor, unwrapping myself from the sheet that had pulled loose from the mattress.

I had left the phone number for the hospital on my nightstand next to the clock—which strangely to me displayed 4:14. I listened and heard quiet, the afternoon stupor having fallen over bird and beast. No doubt my barnyard critters were snoozing under the trees in the warmth of the day. I berated myself for not setting an alarm. How could I have slept that many hours?

I picked up the phone receiver and punched in the number. After connecting to the switchboard, I learned Jeremy had been moved out of ICU and was in a private room. The operator asked if I wanted to ring his room, but I requested to speak to the doctor, or to a nurse on his floor, so I could find out his status. I put the speakerphone on while she had me wait, and I changed out of my sweaty clothes into clean ones. A nurse came on the line and told me Jeremy was stable and resting, and that I could come over anytime to see him.

I doubted I’d be back home soon, so threw a couple of flakes of hay out into the pasture and filled the dogs’ bowls with food. I startled Buster and Angel when I opened the door on my way out. They lifted sleepy heads long enough to assess I was leaving and that a walk would not be in their upcoming agenda. A couple of tail thumps later they were back asleep.

I drove much slower this time to the hospital. I kept thinking I needed to call someone, other people, and tell them what happened. I did leave a message with one of the employees at the feed store, instructing Daniel to cover things for a few days. But whenever serious things had cropped up in the past, my first impulse was to reach my mother, and then my brothers. We had always kept a tight network of communication, and now I was set adrift, directionless. I realized that apart from Anne I didn’t have any other close friends I confided in and leaned on. My family for all these years had been that strong tower, my rock and my refuge for any emergency. Without that support, I was like a chair wobbling on three legs.

I turned on the radio and heard Genesis singing “Invisible Touch.” Wanting to drown out my inner dialogue, which consisted of nine parts guilt to one part self-deprecation, I turned up the volume. The lyrics screamed out at me with a personal message.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.