That thought was quickly replaced by a sense of dread when I glanced over at my car. A neatly folded piece of notepad paper was tucked under the windshield.
Maybe it’s a notice from the building management,I tried to convince myself in spite of the uptick in my heartbeat.
I glanced around at the other parked cars that were in the lot and not one of them had anything tucked in their windshields. Reality was telling me what my instincts were already aware of—this wasn’t a note from my apartment’s management. I heard my heartbeat in my eardrums as I moved closer to the car. My grip on the canister of pepper spray attached to my keys tightened. As soon as I reached my vehicle, I angrily snatched the paper and unfolded it. I took one last look around to see if anyone was nearby before reading the note.
Primum non nocere
I felt sick to my stomach.First, do no harm. A saying that is memorized and quoted by doctors all over the world. A saying I once loved, now was being used as a warning.
“Bastard,” I blurted out angrily. But even as my anger rose my eyes misted with fear. I blinked back the tears, refusing to let them fall. I squeezed my eyes shut as images of the last year tried to invade my sanity. I wouldn’t let them.
I blinked my eyes open, hand still tight around the can of pepper spray on my keychain. No one was around but I didn’t need to see anyone to know who or whom was responsible for this note. For months I’d been harassed. I’d moved three different times, eventually leaving Portland altogether, to a smaller town just outside the city, and still I wasn’t safe. One night of my being irresponsible and reckless had caused all of this. It was my fault why I was suffering. I knew that. I just wanted it all to be over with, to move on with my damn life.
Was that too much to ask? Of course it was when you were dealing with an obvious sociopath.
I crumpled up the note in my hands, knowing it would be useless to take to the police. Hell, just the thought of walking into a police station made me want to upchuck that morning’s breakfast. I inhaled deeply, before tossing the note into a nearby trashcan and getting in my car to head to work.
I would not let that bring me down. I had started the day in a great mood and I had intentions on keeping it that way. But even the best laid plans get sidetracked when an unhinged person has you in their sights. Halfway through the work day, I was informed by the receptionist at the front desk that I had a call. When she transferred the call, all I heard repeated over and over again were the wordsprimum non nocere.I could tell the voice had been put through some sort of voice scrambler but it was him. I knew it was. Or possibly one of his fellow officers he’d recruited to aid in carrying out his dirty work.
I was unsettled for the rest of the day. He knew where I worked and where I lived. I was just starting to get comfortable in my new town and job. It’d taken me months to even feel comfortable or safe enough to decide to go out for a bike ride. I’d moved there with a broken spirit, the same way I’d moved from Williamsport to Portland. But I loved my work. Was I supposed to pick up and leave again? Where would I move to?
You could always go home.
The answer in my head came too quickly to be ignored.
Home.
I hadn’t lived in Williamsport in close to seven years. I kept my visits to once a year, around the holidays to visit my parents. And even then, they were no longer than a week, and I avoided major gatherings to avoid running into anyone I knew. One person in particular. But maybe it was time to go back to the place that’d been calling me for more than a few years. My dilemma was only exacerbated when I spoke with my mother later that evening and she once again brought up the subject of my moving back home.
“Ay mija, think of all the people you could help right here in your home city. The clinic we went to that first diagnosed you is still open and in desperate need of volunteers.”
My mother knew just what to say to make the biggest dent in my stubbornness. She knew all of my buttons. I supposed everyone’s mother was like that. I wrestled all night with my decision, unable to sleep, tossing and turning. My six month lease was up for renewal, which made this the perfect time to move if I was going to. And as much as I denied it, moving closer to my parents did fill me with joy. I’d missed them. And I’d always envisioned myself living and working in Williamsport. It was a dream for both my best friend Chelsea and I to open a joint practice one day to serve people with both conventional and alternative medicine. A dream Chelsea would never get to see.
Reaching for the top drawer of my pinewood nightstand, I pulled out the picture of Chelsea and I. This picture was from our senior prom. We were sitting, huddled together at a table, me leaning into Chelsea’s bright, blonde hair as if I was about to share a secret with her. Her shining blue eyes are staring directly at the camera, so loving. Her pink lips turned up into a big smile. My mouth is covered with my hand, my red curls wild and unruly as they fall to my shoulders. My eyes are squinted, giving the camera the vixen, signature look I was once known for. That picture was the perfect embodiment of the two of us.
“I’ll make this happen, Chels,” I promised as I stared into the picture. I’d betrayed her once. I wouldn’t do it again by failing to live out our dream. With that resolution finally made, I was able to turn over and get some sleep.
****
Joshua
“This better be a goddamned emergency.” My tone was sharp as I answered my ringing phone. I hadn’t even opened my eyes fully but through the cracks of my eyelids I knew it was before seven in the morning. I wasn’t a morning person. Most people in my life knew it. My current project manager damn well knew it but here he was waking me up bright and early as hell.
“Mr. Townsend, there’s been an incident at the Crestview property.”
That made my eyes pop open fully. “Was anyone hurt?”
“Yes.”
Fuck.“What happened?” I demanded at the same time I threw the blanket and sheet off of me and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I listened earnestly to my PM as I moved into the bathroom, brushing my teeth and readying myself to head out the door. I didn’t like what I was hearing. And now, I had to take a two hour trip to the Crestview property Townsend Real Estate had just broken ground on two weeks prior, in order to sort this shit out.
Coffee.
I was definitely going to need a huge cup of coffee in order to deal with this. Luckily for everyone involved, I had just the stash I needed. Twenty minutes after first waking up, I entered my kitchen in a fresh suit with the jacket slung over my arm. I used my free arm to open the cabinet that held my various gourmet coffees. I honed in on my favorite flavor and quickly began brewing a pot while I thumbed through my phone for any emails or messages I’d missed during the night. Aside from the standard stuff, there was a reminder voicemail from my mother reminding me of the hospital charity event that was in two days. I grunted at the sight of that reminder. I loved my family but as of late, my mother and father had been on my case about settling down.
My two eldest brothers had married within the previous year and a half, and both of their wives were on the verge of popping out kids. You’d think that’d been good enough for my parents, right?
Wrong.
