“How are you feeling?” Maria brought Lee a cup of tea.
Lee was sitting on the couch trying to watch TV but it was a waste of time. She felt sleepy but she didn’t want to go back to bed. She had been confined in it for days, and had grown tired of it.
“Groggy. Thanks.” She sipped at the tea, hoping it would make her feel better.
“You want something to eat?”
The thought of food made her queasy. The painkillers were making her sick. Keeping food down became a task she never looked forward to.
“No thanks. I think I’m going to stop taking these meds,” she said, sipping some more of her tea.
“You can’t do that they are supposed to help you.”
“The only thing they are doing is making me sleep through the day. The time I spend not sleeping, my head is over the toilet, and I can’t even eat without gagging. I can’t take this anymore,” Lee whined
Ash was in one of his moods. He had been like that since the diner. Lee refusing to see or talk to him made him even more miserable. He knew Lee had seen apart of him that was supposed to remain secret. But that didn’t worry him as much as the violence she had seen he was capable of.When Billy told him there was a possibility that they would see Lee that evening, he made an effort to stay sober that day. He was longing for her, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Lee had woken up a lot of emotions he thought had died with Rosa.He was in love with Lee, but he was scared of losing her too. He didn’t want to risk Baku finding out about her. He knew he was taking a risk, but staying away from her was no longer an option he was willing to stick with. The beach party was supposed to be their first official date, but Steve messed that up. He hoped Lee would forgive him. He wasn’t sure if there was a future with her, but seeing her after such a l
“What’s wrong, did I say something or do something to offend you?” How could she have, all she did was say please and thank you, she hadn’t even moved.“No, it’s not you,” he clenched his fists on his side, “when I see you hurt, sick, and in pain, I remember what that animal did to you.”Her brows propped up. “Animal, are you sure? The only wild person I saw was you.”Lee’s words made him self-conscious again. He fidgeted, shifting further away from her. “I’m sorry…about what you saw, but I’m not going to apologize for Steve!”“Don’t. Just explain to me what happened. Don’t forget the part where your eyes turned silver, and the super speed you guys were moving at, that would put Flash Gordon to shame.”He looked at her, horrified by what she’d said. That’s when she knew she hadn’t imagined it, any of it. H
She turned his head to face her, but he kept his eyes down. “They were jealous of the beautiful magical hours of long lovemaking I had with you.”He raised his eyes and looked at her. “You are going to insist on sugar coating it, aren’t you?”She huffed loudly. “You know, you’re driving me crazy.” She dropped her hand. “And another thing, what did you mean by ‘heard Steve’, you weren’t in the diner?”He cleared his throat. “Yes, I was, you just didn’t see me.” His eyebrows creased, he bit the inside of his lower lip, glanced to his right and then stared back at Lee.“No, you weren’t. My line of vision was only blocked when Steve jumped me, and thirty seconds later you appeared.” Lee watched him carefully, she was sure that was a telltale sign of him lying.“How about we agree to disagree, just for tonight? We can continue this arg
“Ouch!” The pinch in her shoulder woke her. She had rolled on it, again. Her comfy human pillow had left, and was replaced by the feather filled sacks. This was becoming a habit. The growl in her stomach was a perfect motivation to leave her room. The bed squawked, rocking slightly as her moved to the edge. She smiled—the bed should be a landmark. Ash’s hypnotic grin from last night popped in her head. She was sure the bed would get at least two votes.Immediately feeling the weight of the pendant, she took it off and put it in the shoe box for safe keeping then she headed to the kitchen to get something to eat, she was really hungry. Maria was on the table, her head hiding behind a gigantic anatomy textbook. She wanted to be a pediatrician. She wasn’t so sure though, she is so soft and sensitive; Lee didn’t think she could stomach it, but that never stopped her from supporting Maria. She was her sister, that’s what they did.&
“Of course you do.” His expression changed immediately Maria flashed him her mean face. “But uh, we can’t take them back. They’re all already paid for.” Lee was shocked, what was she going to do with ten beds?“But I was only going to pick one! What was to happen to the other nine?” she said taking the catalogue back from him.He shrugged, “Your sisters were to pick one each if they wanted, and then you were to decide what was to happen to the rest.”It was getting more unbelievable by the second. Maria snatched the catalogue from Lee’s hand, she was excited, and she really wanted a new bed.Just then Ann appeared at the door with her signature attitude. “Get out of my way!” She yelled at the delivery guy and pushed him out of the way.“Hey!” he called back at her as he tried to get back his balance.“What!” she turned and shouted back
“Billy, what did you do?” Joe walked in to the AA room, his phone close to his ear and his face scrunched up. Billy was on the couch with Ash, drinking beer, eating chips and watching football, the usual.“What?” his eyes still on the screen.Ash turned and looked at Joe. Joe held the phone out in their direction. Billy turned down the volume on the TV, and then turned his ear to the phone’s direction. Ash started laughing. Joe covered the mouthpiece. Maria was on the line, she was giving Joe an ear full for what Billy had done to Ann. Billy looked distressed now, he didn’t say a word.“You’ll pay for this,” Joe said with venom as he walked out the room, replacing the phone on his ear.Ash turned to Billy after Joe left. “Billy how could you! You rented a stranger’s apartment for one night,” the humor was gone from his voice.“I wasn’t going to bring her here!
“No, it’s okay, it was time for a break any way.” She moved closer to him, turning so that he could have her injured arm.“Yeah, a break.” Ann rested her head on the open book and closed her eyes; Maria leaned back in her seat, one hand supporting her head, the other covering her eyes. “I can’t wait for summer.”Lee turned to look at him as he gently secured her arm in the sling. He looked glum, like something was wrong, “We have finals in two weeks,” she offered, searching his face, for another clue.“That’s good.” His face was still down, his expression unchanged.When he was done, she pushed him a few feet back. She wanted to find out what had changed his mood so suddenly. “Ash, what’s wrong?”“Where is your new bed?”“I didn’t take one.” She found it strange that the bed had gotten him into the foul mood he was in
Billy was waiting for Ash at the door. When he arrived, Billy grabbed him in a bear hug. “Thanks Ash, what did you say to her!”“She called? That’s good. I told her it was inconvenient for us to bring them here, and that we would be getting an apartment close to them.” Ash walked into the AA room and sat next to Joe on the leather seat.“I already found one. I started looking the minute you left. I’m going to check it out tomorrow!” Billy sat down next to him and picked up his beer. He felt more relaxed now that his fight with Ann was defused.“How’s Lee?” Joe asked before he filled his mouth with a hand full of popcorn, his eyes glued to the game on TV.Ash smiled, warmth spread through him at the mention of her name. He loved everything about her and how happy she made him feel. He saw her as a gift; a blessing the spirits had given him to fill the empty space in his heart. In such a shor