It had been over thirty minutes since Evelyn went into the bathroom. The shower had stopped running five minutes ago. Since there was only one bed, I decided to take an extra blanket from there and lay it on the floor with a pillow by the door. I was exhausted from driving for over eight hours straight in an effort to lose Charles, just in case he was following us. My body began to feel all the aches from the week and the week prior. I felt sleep creeping up on me, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay awake to wait for Evelyn to come out of the bathroom. As much as I wanted to check in with her. I quickly lost the battle to keep my eyes open.
The sound of wailing startled me awake. I shot upright from the floor and looked around the darkened room to see Evelyn thrashing around in the bed. This felt like deja vu, this was exactly how I found her at home during the fire. Standing up, I slowly walked to the bed, careful not to scare her.
I called out gently,Evelyn, but she was still trapped in this dream. Her screams got louder, and I reached out my hand to wake her. She thrashed more, fighting me off as if I were an attacker.
This time I called out a bit louder, “Evelyn, it’s Parker. You’re alright. It’s just Parker.”
Evelyn’s eyes opened and focused on me, her hands grabbing at my shirt like she was trying to make sure I was real. Tears flooded her eyes as she held onto me, her chest heaving with every sob that broke through.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.” She said, shaking her head, refusing to meet my eyes.
Hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around her, climbing into the space on the bed beside her and held her as her tears soaked through my shirt.
Did Evelyn go through this every night?The thought alone made me hug her closer to me, ignoring all the voices in my head telling me how much of a bad idea this was.
I’m not sure how long I held her for, but the heartbreaking noises she was making subsided eventually and were replaced by heavy breathing. I continued to stroke her head, and soon sleep took me too.
I woke up to a warm body nuzzling into my chest, a leg draped over my thigh, and a hand softly caressing the back of my neck. I felt my body start to wake up from the delight of being touched. However, my brain started to kick in not even a moment later, and my eyes flashed open.
Evelyn was wrapped around me like she was trying to meld our skin together, snoring lightly. Her now auburn curls were spread out on the pillow with her braids loosely intact. From this close I could see the freckles that peppered her face, sporadically placed around her eyes and nose. Her lips were full and plush, a combination of brown and pink. They were slightly puckered as if she was deep in thought. Her left hand was tucked under her head while her right hand was drawing lines against my neck in her sleep. She was only in a large t-shirt, and it had risen with her leg draped over mine. Her warm brown skin was marredwith scars and jagged, raised skin that I only assume came from the man that haunted her dreams at night and stole her peace during the daylight hours.
I stared at her a little too long, but I couldn’t help myself. After another beat, I maneuvered my body out from under her, taking my time not to wake her. I had a feeling that waking up in that position would embarrass her, and she already had a hard time opening up. We had just begun to make some progress, and I didn’t want her retreating into herself.
Silently, I moved around the room, collecting a fresh pair of boxers, a new shirt, and basketball shorts and headed towards the small bathroom to take a shower. I was grateful that she didn’t wake up, or she would have seen the stiffy that was starting to grow next to her warm body.
After my shower, I returned to the bedroom, but Evelyn was still fast asleep. I decided to let her rest since she had a rough night and headed out to grab breakfast for the two of us. There was no way either of us was interested in consuming anything this place put out, given the state of it. I quickly scrawled out a note on the back of a receipt and left it on the table before I ventured out into the Georgia summer heat.
Chapter 12
Evelyn
The sun shining through the paneled blinds woke me up. My eyes blink into focus, and I notice I’m alone. Parker isn't on the floor by the door. I listen for the sound of running water, but the room is unsettlingly silent.
My heart begins to race a bit, but then I notice a pen next to a piece of crumpled paper on the table in the corner.
“Out getting breakfast! Be back soon.” The words calm my heart. Ever since we crossed the New Jersey State line, I've felt like I had a target on my back. Charles wanted to hunt me down.
He banked on catching me alone. I just hoped we weren’t followed.
Taking in the room, I noticed the other side of the bed was mussed up and the sheet strewn as if someone had slept beside me. Running my hands over the sheets, it suddenly all comes back to me—I hadn't realized it at first, but I had woken up so calmly. Waking up without panic was unfamiliar to me. The sound of my own screams had roused me awake for the past year and a half. I remember waking up in the middle of the night to a voice calling out my name. When I finally shook the dream, sobs had wracked my body uncontrollably. I held onto Parker like hewas a lifeboat and I was drowning. I must have fallen asleep again.
My cheeks heated with embarrassment. I didn’t want Parker to see me like that. As much as I wished for peace before I shut my eyes, I knew that my mind wouldn’t let me catch a break. Waking up to Parker’s eyes on mine for the second time was startling. The nightmare felt so much worse than other nights. The dream was so vivid. He was dragging me by the ankles through the glass and debris. It was like I could feel every shard. When I grabbed onto Parker, I meant to push him away, but once his arms steadied mine, something cracked inside of me.
I could chalk it up to exhaustion, but that wouldn’t be completely true. I was starved for physical touch just as much as I was averse to it. No one’s touch felt right, not that I’ve explored many options these days. Something broke inside me. The wound that never healed properly was now critical. Last night I felt like if I didn’t hold on to something, someone, that I was going to lose myself in the abyss. Once Parker wrapped his arms around me, I just fell apart. The tension released from my body, and the dams broke. Two years of handshakes and shoulder pats weren’t enough. Everyone had a breaking point, and last night I met mine.
In the effort to shake off the lingering embarrassment, I headed over to the bathroom to get myself ready for the day. After throwing some water on my face, brushing my teeth, and wrangling my hair into a top bun, I decided to put my old SIM card in and check my phone to see if there had been any messages from my job.
I couldn’t say that I loved working at Mosaic Inc. I should have, though. It was a great job at a great company. But I took the job there as a means to an end. Once upon a time, I had dreams of starting my own company, but that was before.
My boss, Marcie, had been good to me. She was tough, but I knew she cared for me. When I called to let her know I would be taking some unexpected time off, I could hear a tinge of disappointment in her voice, though her words held nothing but understanding. Although I didn’t have any outstanding projects, I still wanted to make sure I was available in case she had any questions.
However, there were no messages from Marcie, only a text from Detective Hart.
[Detective Hart]: The hospital said you were discharged. The protective custody order was denied. Charles Gibbons’ alibi checked out. Waiting for DNA and/or print matches.
I stared at my phone reading the message over and over until I heard the door of the motel room open, the sound shocking me out of the daze I was in.
