My head was pounding as I swam through the soup of sleep and dreams and into consciousness. The night had been long, and I had spent most of it either crying or shouting into my pillow. God, how I wanted this nightmare to be over! I forced myself to struggle to a sitting position, and it was only then that I realized my head wasn’t the only thing that was pounding. Someone was knocking on my door. Crap! I really wanted to wallow in self-pity right now. I didn’t have the time or the inclination to deal with whoever was out there.I flopped back down onto my bed and burrowed under the covers. The knocking stopped, thank heaven, but then my phone started buzzing. Damn, but someone was persistent! I groped on my side table, swearing as I knocked both the cell and the lamp onto the floor. I scrambled out of bed and snatched up the phone, hitting the answer button without bothering to check to see who was calling.“What?” I barked