Away (6 page)

“Cassie…” I heard his voice more clearly as he continued to say my name while stroking the side of my face. “Cassie…”

The vision of his face was faintly coming into sight. I tried to focus on it and relax myself as best I could. A few moments later, his face was in full view, and I could finally catch a decent breath.

“That’s it, stay with me,” he said calmly, but the look on his face said he was ready to pack me up and either take me to the hospital or the looney house. I clearly scared him.

“I’m here, I’m here,” I said. “I think I just had a panic attack.” Unfortunately, I’d been having them more frequently these days.

“I’m going,” he started to say as I shoved my hand against his mouth, his lips touching the palm of my hand. His eyes got wide, and his head moved back while I kept my hand held against his lips.

“No, I am not going to the hospital!” I yelled to him. He calmly took my hand in his and lowered it to the bed, keeping a loose hold on it.

“I’m going to get you some water,” he said, slowly arching his eyebrows.

“Oh, sorry.” I was thoroughly embarrassed.

His hand finally let go of mine, and he left the room.
Get it together, Cassandra.
This was ridiculous and childish. I mean, what would my parents think of me if they saw me like this? They would for sure have me committed. Jason came back into my room after a few minutes carrying a large glass of water in one hand and something wrapped in a paper towel in the other. He set the water on the nightstand next to the bed and pulled his flip phone out of his pocket, setting it next to the water.

“Drink this and use that,” he said, peering down at me. I nodded my head in acceptance. “And eat this, no questions asked.” He handed me what was in his other hand. I opened it to find a sandwich.

“I will,” I told him.

“I’ll be downstairs. It’s the door in the back of the kitchen.”

“Thanks Jason, again.”

“You’re welcome.”

Once he left the room and closed the door behind him, I nearly drowned myself in the water. It never tasted so good. I put the finished glass down on the nightstand and ate my sandwich. Something so simple was entirely too satisfying. I put the empty paper towel aside and picked up his flip phone. I was just not going to get over his phone. I flipped it open to a small screen with the time and date in the corner and a picture in the middle. I brought the phone to my face to look more closely at the picture, being that the screen was smaller than the phones I was used to. The picture was of a tree, a large one. Squinting more I could tell that it looked damaged. Oh My God, you have got to be kidding me. I shook my head in utter shock that he would take this picture, and then of course let me see it on his phone, knowing darn well I would notice it. He was undeniably atypical in all the right ways.

When I was done being amused with the tree on his screen I navigated my way through his phone. I reached the contacts, and I was starting to feel a little too invasive. I wanted to know more about this stranger who was hardly a stranger any longer. He was too intriguing. He looked about my age if not a couple years older, he lived at home, and he had a life that I was not used to seeing. I wanted to understand it. I wanted to know if he had siblings, a girlfriend, a best friend, and then I wanted to investigate his photo albums. But, I knew deep down that I had to stop. The line would be crossed in bright red if I didn’t back off now. This Cassandra would have never let a stranger’s phone that fell into her inquisitive hands go unturned, but this felt wrong. A family I didn’t know, a guy I barely knew, welcomed me with open arms into their home, cared for me, and let me hang on to his phone without hesitation. I wanted to be like them and not question every little thing. I didn’t want to be intrusive. Letting out another breath, I decided that I did well on closing out of the contacts icon and instead started to dial Mel’s number.

On the second ring, Mel answered the phone sounding terrified. “Hello?”

“Mel, it’s me.” I started choking up just hearing her voice. I wanted so much to be with her right now. I was supposed to be with her in her warm embrace right now.

“Oh my God, Cassandra, where in the hell are you? I’ve called every hospital from Alamosa to Boulder. Please tell me you aren’t in some ditch on the side of the road. I was just getting ready to report you missing. What’s going on? Are you okay? Where is your phone? Whose phone is this?” She spouted off question after question until she ran out of breath.

“I don’t even know where the hell I am. My GPS got me lost apparently. They said I’m like 4 hours from Alamosa, my tire blew out, I hit a tree with my car, I ended up at the hospital, they thought I had a concussion, I went to a rat infested motel last night, I was exhausted beyond words and forgot to call you, then I came home with this family, I’m staying in their spare bedroom, I can’t find my phone, this is Jason’s phone I’m using, and my car is in the process of getting fixed,” I spewed out to her until I ran out of breath and had to stop to catch it.

“What?” she asked confused.

“Exactly,” I said just as confused as she was. We sat on the phone for what felt like forever in silence, but I’m sure it was only a minute or so. Trying to get a grip on what happened.

“I’m coming to get you, can you please find out where you are?” She finally asked, breaking the silence between us.

“What about my car, Mel?” I reminded her.

“We’ll come back to get it. Cassandra, right now, I just want you safe with me,” she said hastily.

I held the sobs back that were ready to escape. Just hearing that she was ready to jump in a car tonight to come and get me was enough for me to remember exactly why this girl was my best friend and my sister. Even if not blood related, she was family enough for me.

“Who’s this Jason guy and what family are you staying with?” she asked eagerly.

I wasn’t surprised she asked, in fact, it would be the first thing I would ask her if she were in this predicament. I began to think about Jason and this family I was staying with, and I could tell a smile was spreading across my face. They were nothing like my own and I was pretty sure I was more than okay with that.

“Well, are you locked up in some basement, Cass? Do I need to call the cops?” she asked quickly and frantically. I must have stayed deep in thought too long.

“No, Mel, not at the moment anyway,” I tried to reassure her. “Jason’s the one who saw me crash and called the cops and ambulance to come to the scene of the accident. Then I was taken to the hospital.” I paused after hearing her gasp. “I’m six weeks.”

“That’s okay. We’ll figure out that stuff when you get here,” she said calmly.

She clearly couldn’t see me, but it felt good to hear the reassurance from her. “My nurse just so happened to be Jason’s mom. They offered me their spare bedroom to stay in while my car…” I stopped to shake my head in anger. I still had a hard time accepting what happened yesterday.

“It’s okay, Cass,” she said in a soft voice.

I swallowed my anger back and continued. “While my car gets fixed, but I don’t even know how long that will be. They said the parts aren’t in stock, and I’m positive it needs major body work,” I said in frustration. I could hear Mel doing the same on her end of the phone while we just sat there in silence again.

“Where are you at? I’m coming to get you,” she stated.

I looked around the room I was in. It was a luxury hotel compared to the motel I stayed in last night. The Cassandra I used to be would have NEVER in a million years stayed in a stranger’s house, but there was something about this family I couldn’t help but feel at ease around. Now was my chance to speak up and have Mel either come get me out of this town or hold my peace and accept that I was staying here with complete and utter strangers until my car was fixed. I took a deep breath in and pulled the phone down from my ear, looking at the picture of the damaged tree on the screen once more. It was weird and truly out of character, but I was going to stay. I put the phone back up to my ear and told Mel my decision.

“Like hell you are, I’m coming to get you right now. Give me the address,” she demanded.

“I’m fine here. This family, oddly enough, is genuinely kind, and I’ll be okay, honestly. I promise to call you every day, as soon as I find my phone that is,” I said, peering around my room wishing the damn thing would appear out of thin air.

“Are you serious, Cass?” she asked, sounding upset. “Can you rent a car maybe?”

I never thought about that, but with the town being as small as it is, I doubt they had one. “I have to use all the extra money I have to pay for the repairs on my car. I couldn’t afford one even if they did have a place.”

“So you’re staying with this family then? I don’t feel right about this.”

“I’m sure. I’ll be okay. You have Jason’s number. I called you on his phone remember?”

“Oh yes, and I intend to call it every day until you are back on the road,” she sassed. “What’s their last name? I need this information in case–in case of an emergency.”

“It’s Bradley. I’ll call you tomorrow then?”

“I guess, Cass. You aren’t giving me any other choice,” she said, sounding defeated. “You okay otherwise?”

I knew where she was going with this question, and I was glad she asked in a roundabout way; I wasn’t ready to accept anything yet. “Eh, okay, I suppose. Not great, that’s for sure,” I told her the truth.

“Okay, call me tomorrow love.” I told her I loved her and flipped the phone closed, placing it on the nightstand next to the bed.

A deep sigh escaped me, deflating my body as I weighed the decision I had just made. It was deeper than just waiting it out for my car and not wanting Mel to come pick me up. Not only did Mel have a life of her own to attend to without wasting a day to come and rescue my ass, but also something inside me made me want to stay here for other reasons. It could have been the kindness of Trish and Jason or the fact that I could be this lost girl around them and not have to worry about it. It didn’t hurt that Trish would be here to talk to if I wanted the chance to discuss my pregnancy with someone. She already knew what was going on and could be a lending shoulder, ear, or voice.

Perhaps it was something about their warm hearts and open arms that screamed to me because I missed having that in my life. I knew deep down in my core I was craving that sort of affection, and here it was, magically landing in my lap. I’d be a fool not to at least accept the attention and wait for my car, all the while, enjoying their company. I guess we would find out just how big of a fool I really was when all was said and done.

I
FINALLY
LAID
MY
HEAD
DOWN
on the pillow and thought about what a journey this was turning into. Here I was, thinking that things couldn’t get any worse, and then life laughed at me and threw a damn tree in my way. I was grateful that I wasn’t sleeping in a motel like last night. I needed to get some rest. My body was mentally and physically exhausted. I let my eyelids shut and fell fast asleep only to wake up parched a couple hours later. I tore the covers off of me thinking that maybe I was just overheated. I lay there for a few minutes contemplating the thought of needing versus wanting water. It was needed. I stood up out of the bed, slipped on a pair of cotton shorts and tiptoed out into the hallway. I couldn’t help but feel a little strange about walking around their home while they were asleep.

“Hello there.” A shadow from the kitchen table with a deep husky voice said.

“AHHH!” I screamed and all but jumped out of my skin when the voice rumbled through my body.

“Easy does it little lady, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said calmly, still sitting at the table.

There was enough light from the rising sun peeking through the windows that I could slightly make out his features. He was older with a full head of hair, and I couldn’t help but guess that it was Jason’s dad, Bart. I breathed out deeply, and quickly wiped around my frontal area, making sure I didn’t piss myself when he scared me from out of nowhere. I was good. I slowly made my way to the kitchen table where he was sitting.

“You must be Bart,” I said, still breathing heavy from being so frightened of the shadowed figure at the table.

“You must be Cassandra, the girl from the hospital,” he said in a husky voice that could give some actors a run for their money. It reminded me of one you’d hear in an old western movie, slow and easy.

“Yes, that’d be me,” I answered back. I wasn’t sure what to expect of his dad, and I thought we would have met in an entirely different way. Definitely not in the wee hours of the morning like this.

“Here, have a seat,” he said, pointing to the chair he just rose from.

“Okay,” I quietly said, walking over to the chair awaiting my arrival.

He slid my chair in as I sat down then walked over to the chair directly across from my seat. His eyes were squinted while he looked me over. I swallowed a deep gulp and let out the breath I had been holding when he shifted in his chair, putting one arm behind him on the back of it.