I stood straight and turned to look at Aiden. “Nothing. Go take a seat at the table.” I went back to the counter to finish buttering Aiden’s toast and plated his scrambled eggs.
“Thank you,” he said as I sat his plate down in front of him.
I ran my fingers through his hair. “You didn’t have any more bad dreams last night, did you?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Good.”
A week earlier, the night I thought he’d heard Ace and me, it turned out Aiden had another one of his nightmares. He said that he couldn’t remember what the dream was about but that it was scary.
He’d begged me not to leave him, which was how I ended up sleeping in his bed for the rest of the night.
Not that I minded. The last place I wanted to go back to was Ace’s bedroom after what we did. I was just relieved that we hadn’t awakened Aiden. I already felt guilty enough for dragging him into this.
For his part, though, Aiden adjusted well to his new environment. He was intrigued that Ace was a fighter pilot. Early on, he’d had a million and one questions for me about the types of planes Ace flew and how big they were, and how long he’d been flying.
Ace was better suited to answer those questions, but I didn’t approach him about it. The more I managed to keep my distance from him over the next six months, the better.
“We’ve got about fifteen minutes before we need to leave for camp,” I told Aiden. “Go up and brush your teeth and then come down and put your shoes on.”
While Aiden headed upstairs, I finished my breakfast of scrambled egg whites with spinach and mushroom and toast with extra butter.
I’d made a massive cup of coffee and hoped it was enough to carry me through the rest of the morning.
After I dropped Aiden off at camp, I had plans to look for a job. There were a couple of urgent care facilities in the city of Harlington where I wanted to apply.
I figured it was best to get a job as soon as possible for Aiden and me to live off of when this was all over.
“Ready,” Aiden declared as soon as I dropped my plate into the sink.
“Me too. Let’s go.”
We made it out the door in good time, and the drive from Ace’s home to Aiden’s summer camp was only about ten minutes. I dropped him off with a wave and a kiss and headed to the first urgent care office I had on my list.
I knew in this day and age, most people sent résumés via online applications, but I speculated that applying in person would help me stand out amongst the other applicants.
The third office I drove into had a filled parking lot. I doubted I would be able to speak with any of the hiring managers or staff, by the looks of the outer office. Patients lined every single one of the ten chairs, and a few were left standing.
I scanned the patients, observing a woman who had a pretty nasty cough. A toddler played on the floor beside her. My childhood memory of waiting with my mother in a similar office while she coughed and coughed floated to mind.
I was much older than this little girl, though. But I was still useless to help my mother. Only a week later, she died of undiagnosed pneumonia.
With a shake of my head, I released that thought from my mind and pressed ahead to the front counter.
“Good morning,” I said cheerily to the receptionist behind the desk.
She glanced up and gave me a half-smile. She was cute, looked to be about in her late twenties or early thirties, and wore dark brown and blond box braids.
“Hi,” she greeted. “Please fill out one of these forms and then take a seat in the lobby.”
“Oh no.” I shook my head. “I recognize you’re busy, but I wanted to drop off my résumé. I saw online your facility is hiring for a physician assistant.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “Um, I think so.”
Before she could continue, another woman, this one tall and dressed in a white lab coat, entered the receptionist’s office from the back, where I assumed her office and examination rooms were.
“Reese, can you make a note for Gwen to order more supplies later today?”
