That never got me anywhere, and we were trying to get ahead of our past traumas.
“Well, seeing as I’m not anyone to him, this is a moot point, isn’t it?” I asked. “I’m alive. You really don’t have to stay.”
He studied me for a long time, and while he was doing that, I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the pain that was pounding my head.
Seriously, I should’ve never gotten up.
I should’ve let that phone ring if he was going to let himself in anyway.
“I’ll let you go to bed,” he said. “But I’m not leaving.”
I shrugged. “See you later then.”
He understood a dismissal when he heard one and left, leaving me alone to wallow in my pain and misery—the misery being what a shitshow my life had become.
It was pure crazy to me that a girl who worked her ass off to go to school to become a doctor could be this far gone in terms of her life.
I should have the entire world ahead of me, and instead I had loan debt, parent issues, sisters who semi-tolerated me, and a single friend.
What kind of life was that?
And what, really, did I have to look forward to when every single odd was stacked against me?
Five
Underestimate me. That’ll be fun.
—Creed’s secret thoughts
Creed
I tossed the blanket to the back of the couch, once again wrinkling my nose at the smell of overwhelming aftershave, and stood up.
My gaze went to the small house, and I studied it with a critical eye.
There was a whole lot of nothing here.
She had a couch but no coffee table. A television, but no stand to put it on. She had no decorations on the wall, but several vases on the floor with shriveled flowers in them. Her kitchen wasn’t much better. She had all the essentials that she needed, like flour and sugar and salt. But all of them were in their original containers on the kitchen counter.
A very small kitchen counter that was not only holding dishes and cooking wares, but also other things that would normally go into the drawers.
Out of curiosity, I went to the drawers to pull them out to see what was inside, only to find no bottom to the drawers. Just an empty hole where the wood backing should’ve been.
I opened the cabinets next only to find toilet paper, laundry detergent, and hair products?
What the hell?
That had my curiosity running wild, so I headed to the bathroom next to find a pedestal sink and a toilet.
That was it.
The toilet paper was resting on the back of the toilet. There was a red glass cup holding toothpaste and a toothbrush.
And that was it.
She didn’t even have a bathroom mirror, but a small, handheld mirror held up on the wall with a thumbtack.
I used the facilities while I was in there, washed my hands with a bar of soap, then headed outside to my truck so I could get my uniform.
