Page 59 of Hurry Up And Wait

“And my arm might be barely hanging on, but cooking a meal for myself should be no problem at all.”

“That’s the spirit. Now, call me when you have real news. Like…I don’t know, a gigantic hole in your chest or something. Frankly, I’m disappointed you went to the hospital at all. Where’s your grit?”

I grinned at her. “You’re right. I have to toughen up.”

“That’s all I’m saying. Talk to ya later.”

“Bye.” I hung up with a sigh, looking around the office. What the hell was I supposed to do now?

“This sucks,” I grumbled, taking in everything at the desk. IKE had everything neatly arranged and perfectly lined up. There were no fingerprints anywhere on the glass or the screen. It was as if someone had wiped it down after the last use.

I rubbed my temples, willing away my headache. What I needed was a shower and a good night’s sleep. After that, I might actually feel like a human again. Pushing out of the chair took more work than it should have. My muscles protested the movement, but somehow, I made it work.

There were no bedrooms downstairs, so I made the long trek up the staircase, having to stop every few stairs to take a break. I felt like an old lady at the pace I was moving. A long hallway stretched from one length of the house to the other. Several rooms lined both sides and I found an ensuite in one room, which probably meant it was the master. Not that you could tell by what was in the room. All of them were spotless, and I wasn’t about to go nosing through closets to find out which one was IKE’s.

However, I had no choice but to use the master bath since that was the only bathroom with any products inside. And they were all for men. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, and at this point, if I had to smell like a man, I would take it over smelling like smoke.

I turned on the water and let it run hot before stepping in. My muscles protested the additional movements, but soon relaxed under the heat of the water. I was so exhausted that all I could do was lean my forehead against the wall of the shower and let it cascade over my body. But I couldn’t stay like this forever.

I tilted my head back and let the water run over my head for several minutes. The water soothed the pounding in my head, and while it didn’t eliminate the pain, it made it more tolerable. I slid my hands over my body, probing the spots I knew had taken a beating. As it turned out, my whole left side was basically one giant bruise.

Sighing, I finished washing and shut off the water. I had little energy left to continue standing, and even walking down the hallway sounded like too much work. With my towel wrapped around my slick skin, I crept back into the room, peeking into the hall to listen for IKE. It didn’t sound like he’d returned yet, so I hurried over to his drawers and dug through them. There had to be something I could wear. Unfortunately, all I found were socks and underwear. It was like the man didn’t have a single T-shirt.

I strode over to his closet and yanked it open, shaking my headwhen I found a line of shirts, jackets, and pants—all hanging in color-coded fashion. I plucked the first shirt from the hangar, choosing a dark gray one that would at least hide all of my lady bits while I was waiting on new clothes. I tugged it on, then rolled up the sleeves and buttoned the front. It was huge on me, but at least it fell far enough below my ass that I could say I was covered.

I looked longingly at the bed. It was so large and cozy and inviting. And the other beds were so far away. I just didn’t have it in me to walk down the hall. As my shoulder tugged painfully, I stumbled over to the bed and sat on the edge, resting my head in my hand. I just needed some sleep.

Without thinking twice, I laid back and pulled the covers over me, immediately sinking into the warmth of the bed. It wasn’t even two seconds after my head hit the pillow that I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

I didn’t knowwhat woke me, but the silence that greeted me sent chills down my spine. The room was cloaked in darkness, only lit by the sparse light filtering in through the window. I jumped as a streak of lightning filled the sky and faded just as quickly. In that flash, I swore I saw someone in the corner of the room.

I skittered out of bed, my heart ramping up as my fingers grazed over nearly everything on the nightstand to turn on the light. But when I found the switch, nothing happened. The power was out. That had to be what woke me—the silence of nothing running.

I stood stock still, my eyes trained on the corner where I thought I saw the shadow. My heart slammed in my chest, threatening to burst free any minute. The harder I stared, the more I wondered if it was only ghosts I was seeing. But the hairs that stood on the back of my neck said otherwise.

Fear clawed its way up my throat with every moment that passed. With my hand still on the nightstand, I felt along it for anything I might use as a weapon, but came up empty aside from the lamp sitting atop it. My fingers found the handle to the drawer and I yanked itopen. Something heavy slid inside and I grasped it, my eyes widening as I felt the thick handle of the gun.

As I pulled it out and held it in my inexperienced hands, I let the fear of not knowing how to handle it slide away. Just holding it in my grip made me feel safer than standing here without it.

Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, but this time, there was no one standing in the corner of the room. In fact, I was pretty sure it was empty. But I knew there had been someone here. I saw the silhouette with my own eyes. Hadn’t I?

Sweat beaded on my forehead, but despite the heavy air in the room, a chill ran over my skin. Where was IKE? Had he really left me? A crack of thunder made me jump and I made the decision to move. I couldn’t be sure that I was alone in the house, but staying in one spot seemed like a bad idea. With my back to the wall, I slid over to the doorway, the gun pointed at the ground. It was too heavy to hold up with only one hand, and with my other arm throbbing painfully, I knew using it was a bad idea unless absolutely necessary.

When I reached the door, I peered into the hallway, but saw nothing. Darkness seemed to swirl closer to me, moving in waves and shadows. I shook my head, sure I was imagining things. Maybe it was the pain or the head wound, but either way, I had to be imagining things.

A creak sounded in the house and I jerked my head in the direction of the sound, sure someone was going to jump out at me. But when nothing happened, I slid one foot into the hallway and listened again.

Nothing.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to get myself under control. My heart was pounding so loud that I was sure anyone in the house would hear it. My stomach twisted with nausea and bile rose in my throat. I pushed it down, breathing through the urge to vomit. Now was not the time to let fear win. I was used to being scared. Riley and I made a game out of it when we were kids. But this wasn’t a game. This was real life, and if someone was in this house, the only way to stay alive was to be the last person standing.

With a final deep breath, I opened my eyes and crept down the hall, making sure to move as quietly as possible. I peeked into theother bedrooms, but only gave a cursory glance before moving on. I wasn’t stupid enough to go looking for whoever was in the house. My only thoughts were of staying alive and finding a good place to hide until IKE came back or the sky lightened enough for me to see clearly.

Once I reached the top of the staircase, I looked over the railing, biting my lip to hold in the grunt of pain from overusing my body. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could make it in this condition. My body was begging for me to sit down, sending warning signals through my muscles with every movement. The pain meds from the hospital had long worn off, leaving me feeling every ache and strain from the explosion.

With a glance back from where I’d come, I made my way down the steps. Once I reached the bottom, I cursed under my breath. I was left in a wide space with no protection. Maybe I should have stayed in the bedroom. I could have locked myself inside and waited out the storm, but that would have required looking in the closet and bathroom for the intruder, and right now, my mind was too frazzled to handle the terror that would bring.

I raised the gun slightly, holding it in front of me as I slowly spun around the room, watching for any movement. My ragged breathing cut through the darkness. No matter how I tried to control it, nothing seemed to help. Terror licked at me, taunting me in the darkness. Shadows moved around the room, always eluding me just when I thought I caught them. I took a step back, ready to turn and run, but instead, I bumped into a hard body.