Running Away

by Jen Andrews

  “What’s up, Teagan?” Again, he sounded like he didn’t want to talk to me.

  “Gary, what’s going on? Where are you?”

  He sighed and I waited for an explanation.

  “I’m still at work. We have a big account that one of the idiot entry-level accountants messed up royally, and guess who gets to fix it? That would be me,” he muttered.

  “I’m sorry you’re stuck fixing their mistake, Gary. I only wanted to check in and make sure everything is okay since you weren’t home yet. Thanks for taking care of the oil on the driveway. I made an appointment tomorrow after work to drop my car off to be fixed.”

  I heard him typing frantically on his keyboard and wondered if he was paying any attention to what I was saying. “Gary, are you still there?”

  “Look, Teagan, I don’t have time for this. I need to fix this account and you’re making me lose my concentration. I’ll see you when I see you.”

  Wow . . . what a jerk! “Alright, I’ll talk to you later. I love you,” I said, to see if he’d return the sentiment.

  “Whatever,” he mumbled and then hung up the phone.

  In my gut, I was certain there was something going on.

  Once I arrived at the Johnsons’ house, I let myself in and headed toward Mr. Johnson’s room. I found Katie standing in the hallway outside his closed bedroom door, talking on her cell phone.

  She smiled when she noticed me coming down the hallway then returned to her call. “I gotta go for now. Teagan is here. I’ll be at your place later.” She slipped her phone into the front pocket of her scrubs top. “Hey, girlie.” She looped her arm through mine and we went to the living room. We sat on the couch and she filled me in on our patient.

  After she left, I checked on Mr. Johnson. According to Katie, he’d taken another turn for the worse. He would pass away soon so I prepared myself to handle the grief the family would no doubt go through within the next several hours.

  Around two in the morning, they decided to try to get some sleep. I settled into the recliner in Mr. Johnson’s bedroom and pulled a book out of my purse to read. After an hour, the machines around Mr. Johnson began beeping indicating his heart had stopped. I tossed my book down and shut off the machine.

  After I confirmed his death, I unhooked all the tubes and the IV then pushed the IV stand to the corner of the room. I said a quiet farewell to Mr. Johnson then went to wake his family.

  Once everyone was awake and in the room saying their own goodbyes, I called the funeral home for them to pick up Mr. Johnson’s body. I’d prearranged with Mrs. Johnson to call them if he passed on my shift, so they could spend time with him instead of having to make calls.

  When I returned to the room, the family was standing in a circle around the bed, holding hands, and praying. Mrs. Johnson looked over and held her hand out for me to join them. I stepped between her and her daughter, Maddie, took their hands, and bowed my head right along with them. I felt the love from them filling the room.

  While Mrs. Johnson led the prayer, my mind drifted back to my own family in Sacramento. I missed them terribly. I missed our bi-weekly get-togethers, the holidays, and I just missed . . . them. Over a year had passed since I’d been to Sacramento. Because Gary hadn’t been able to take time off work, I had flown home alone as a surprise for Nanna’s eightieth birthday and had been thrilled to spend two weeks with them. I needed to visit them again, soon.

  Right after five, the funeral home van pulled away from the house. I met with everyone in the living room where Mrs. Johnson hugged me one last time.

  “Thank you again for everything, Teagan. We never would’ve made it through this without you. Why don’t you head on home, sweetie. There’s no reason for you to stay until the end of your shift,” she said.

  I gave my condolences and left. My Neon started on the first try and I made my way home. Thank you, car gods!

  The house was dark when I arrived, but it was almost time for Gary to get up and get ready for work. I wanted to speak to him face to face and see what was going on with him. I dropped my purse onto the couch and headed to our bedroom.

  As I walked down the hallway, I heard the radio playing through the open door and knew Gary would be awake. Assuming he would be in the shower, I flipped on the light when I entered the bedroom.

  What I saw in front of me would be burned in my brain forever. On the bed was my best friend, Katie, buck-naked and screwing my boyfriend.

  I gasped and slapped my hand over my open mouth. I stood, staring at them, not knowing what to do. Katie turned and screamed as she jumped off Gary. She pulled the sheet over herself as Gary sat up to see what was going on.

  “What are you doing here, Teagan?” Gary asked.

  “The last time I checked, I lived here.” I still didn’t believe what I was seeing. “How could you two do this to me?”

  Katie immediately began crying. She flung the sheet off, picked up her clothes off the floor, and put them back on. “Teags, I’m so sorry. It just happened,” she cried.

  Gary covered himself and then leaned back against the headboard. He was cheating on me in our bed! In our home! But instead of cheating with one of his coworkers like the last time, he was cheating on me with my supposed best friend. Why was he acting like this was no big deal?

  Katie ran past me through the bedroom door, crying her apologies as she went by. I walked to the edge of the bed and glared down at Gary.

  “What’s going on, Gary?” I wasn’t sure why I asked because I knew he was going to blame me like he always did.

  He gawked at me with an indignant expression on his face. I hated that expression and it made me want to smack him upside his stupid-ass head.

  “What does it look like to you, Teagan?”

  I stepped closer.

  He was relaxed and acting like what I’d just caught him doing was completely acceptable.

  “It looks like my boyfriend of three wasted years, is screwing my best friend while I’ve been at work watching a man die and his family grieve!”

  Rolling his eyes, Gary huffed out an annoyed breath and threw the sheet off himself. He picked up his underwear from the floor, shoved his feet through the leg holes, and pulled them on as he stood.

  He brushed past me, went into the bathroom, and slammed the door. I stood in disbelief for a minute before I went and retrieved my luggage. I tossed my suitcases onto the bed, and started packing my clothes. I was filling another suitcase when Gary came out of the bathroom freshly showered for work.

  “I don’t know what I did to deserve this, Gary. If you wanted me to leave, you should have said so, and not screwed my best friend. I forgave you for the other women, but no more!” I was trying not to cry.

  Besides my good friend, Reese, Katie was the only other true friend I had made since moving to Denver. Sure, I had acquaintances, but I hadn’t really connected with anyone like I had with Katie and Reese.

  Gary turned and looked me up and down as if I repulsed him. “You should be thinking about what you didn’t do, Teagan. Look at you! You completely let yourself go and I don’t even recognize you anymore.” He smirked and brushed past me to his dresser for clothes.

  I turned to face the full-length mirror on the closet door and scrutinized my body. I hated to admit it, but he was right. I didn’t know how much weight I’d gained, but each time I went shopping for clothes, I needed a bigger size. My five-foot-two frame was no longer visible. I didn’t need to take my clothes off to see that.

  Yet, I did. I yanked my shirt off over my head and dropped it to the floor then turned from side to side. My face was full, my cheekbones hidden. A layer of fat covered me giving me the dreaded muffin-top spilling over the waistband of my scrubs pants.

  Gary stood behind me and glared over my shoulder, making eye contact with me in the mirror. “See what I mean? You make me sick,” he muttered, and then he did the unthinkable. He gripped the fat around my middle with both hands and shook it.

  I watched in di
sgust as my belly fat and boobs jiggled like Jell-O.

  My heart pounded in my chest as my eyes filled with tears. My body trembled, but not from being hurt. I was downright mad and tired of his insults. Before I realized what I was doing, I turned and slapped him across the face. “You son of a bitch!” I seethed.

  He touched his reddening cheek.

  I attempted to slap his other cheek, but he grasped my arm, and we struggled.

  He finally twisted me around and tossed me onto the bed then straddled me, with his hand gripping my neck. “You’re a crazy bitch, Teagan! I want you out of here by the time I get home from work.” Gary released his hold on me and shifted off the bed.

  Gasping for air, I stared at the ceiling, wondering what had just happened. The fight drained out of me, and the tears flowed freely.

  “Why are you doing this again, Gary? Why did you have to pick my best friend this time?” I sat up to find my shirt.

  “Look at her, and look at you!” he yelled. “Besides, what difference would it make who it was? I can’t stand to touch you anymore. You’re never home because of your stupid job. You never want to go out to do anything because you’re always tired. I can’t live like that anymore, Teagan.”

  What he and Katie had done to me wasn’t right. I’d lost my best friend. What was I going to do now? Where was I supposed to go? The only other person I knew here was Reese, but all I wanted was to go home to Sacramento. Unfortunately, there was no way my car would make the twelve hundred mile drive without a major overhaul.

  I turned and stomped to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I sat in there until I heard Gary leave for work. Once he was gone, I pulled all my dirty clothes out of the hamper and dropped them into the washer then finished packing up the rest of my clean clothes. What am I going to do about a place to live?

  While I waited on my clothes to wash and dry, I gathered my personal items and packed them into a few boxes I found in the garage. Once my clothes were done, I packed them too then crammed all my belongings into my car.

  I drove straight to the bank where my joint bank account with Gary was and withdrew the money from my last two paychecks, plus another thousand dollars from our savings. I had myself removed from the account and opened my own account.

  From the bank, I drove around aimlessly and decided to rent a motel room for the time being. I pulled my car into the cheapest, but safest looking motel I saw and paid for a week in advance. I would give myself that time to figure out what to do.

  God, I hated hospitals. Yet, here I was, in the elevator headed to the maternity floor to see my sister. The halls smelled like antiseptic, and the lights were too bright.

  I didn’t know why I hated them, really. I’d been in the hospital once to have my appendix removed when I was ten. It hadn’t been a traumatic experience or anything, so my dislike made no sense.

  When the doors slid open, I stepped out onto the floor that housed the maternity wing and nursery. Across from the elevator was the visitors’ waiting room. I checked it, but no one in my family was there. Shit. I didn’t even know my sister’s room number.

  A cute blonde-haired chick with fake tits popping out of the V-neck of her scrubs top came bouncing through a door and nearly ran in to me. I grinned down at her, sneaking a peek over the rest of her body.

  “You look lost. Are you here to visit someone?” she asked in a flirty tone. “Your wife maybe?” She blatantly checked my left hand for a wedding ring.

  I shook my head and grinned. “No, no wife or girlfriend. My sister is here actually. She had a baby yesterday. Can you help me find her?”

  I turned on a little charm, hoping she’d help me, and then maybe give me her number so we might hook up later.

  “Sure thing, handsome. Follow me.”

  She turned and walked toward the nurses’ station. She had a nice ass, and the sway of her hips made my dick twitch.

  Damn, I desperately needed to get laid.

  All of my go-to girls had boyfriends now, except Nicole who was completely off-limits to me after a run-in with my sister Zoey.

  Nobody was more important to me than my family, and I would do anything for them. That included distancing myself from people who tried to hurt them.

  She sat at the desk behind the nurses’ station and asked, “What’s your sister’s name?” She batted her eyelashes and tapped the tip of her pen on the desk while she waited for my response.

  “Zoey Tate.” I leaned across the counter on my elbows and had a nice view down her shirt from that angle. She had a great rack. Not too big, not too small. Yet, definitely fake.

  After a few mouse clicks, she scribbled something down on a piece of paper. “Your sister’s in room 405, down the hall behind you, and to the left. This is my number. Call me sometime. My name’s Cammie.” She held the paper between two fingers.

  I took the paper and shoved it in the front pocket of my jeans. “I’m Jeremy. What time are you off tonight, Cammie?”

  She looked at her watch and smiled. “I’m off in an hour. Meet me here then?”

  Hell yes. I thumped the top of the counter with my fingers. “See you in an hour.”

  Zoey’s was the first room I came to when I made the left turn at the end of the hall. The door was open, and I walked in only to find the room empty of visitors. My sister was lying on her side, staring down in awe at the pink bundle beside her on the bed.

  Her eyes shot up to mine when the bottom of my shoe squeaked on the floor. I stopped in my tracks, so I wouldn’t do it again. “Sorry, Z, did I wake her?”

  She shook her head after she checked Hannah. “I didn’t think you were going to come see us, Jer. Do you want to hold her?” she asked quietly then motioned for me to come closer.

  I walked over to the bed and stood, staring down at my new niece, Hannah. She was sleeping peacefully, so I didn’t want to wake her by picking her up.

  Zoey smirked. “Just pick her up you chicken-shit. She won’t bite,” she whispered.

  I let out a quiet chuckle and slipped one hand under Hannah’s body, and the other hand under her head and neck. I very carefully picked her up and cradled her against my chest. My tiny new niece was perfect.

  “Hey, sweet pea,” I said softly and kissed her on the head before making myself comfortable in the rocking chair near the bed. “Andy was right, Z. She does look exactly like you. Where is he anyway? I didn’t think you’d be here alone.”

  A guilty expression washed over her face. “Um, he went to get me some real food. I can’t eat any more hospital food—it tastes funny.”

  I stifled a laugh so I wouldn’t wake Hannah. “That sounds about right.”

  My sister’s aversion to anything out of a box or pre-made came from being neglected by her birth mother for the first eight years of her life, then spending the next six years in foster care before my parents adopted her.

  “So, what do you think, Jer?” Zoey grinned at me expectantly then looked from me to Hannah and back.

  “Think about what?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I figured out what she was asking me. “Not now, Zoey. I’ll find the right girl when she comes along.”

  She was always bugging me about settling down. I was going to be the big ‘three-oh’ on my next birthday. Holy shit . . . thirty! Fuck, I’m getting old.

  I looked back over at her. “Just because you found the love of your life, doesn’t mean it’s in the cards for the rest of us, Z.”

  She rolled her eyes at me like she always did when she thought I was being dumb. “Are you even trying to meet anyone?”

  Ignoring her question, my gaze drifted back down to the baby in my arms. She was getting squirmy and let out an adorable whimper. I started to get up and take her back to my sister, but she quieted down and remained sleeping.

  “I happen to have the phone number of a cute nurse I met when I got here.”

  Zoey perked up at my admission. “Oh yeah? What’s her name, Jeremy?” she asked as she narrowed her eyes a
t me.

  Shit . . . What the hell was her name again? Candy? Carrie? I had a sleeping baby in my arms; it’s not like I could reach into my pocket to pull out the slip of paper she gave me.

  “Uhh . . . shit. Okay, you got me. It begins with a C though. That I do remember.”

  She snorted and then winced. “Don’t make me laugh asshat. I have staples in my gut.”

  I smiled back at her. “You did it to yourself, jerk, so don’t blame me.”

  “What did you do to my wife?” Andy asked, strolling through the door carrying a plastic bag full of food containers.

  Glancing up at him, he had his usual love-struck grin on his face.

  “I didn’t do a damn thing to her, bro. She’s just being her usual, nosy-self and was teasing me.”

  When he reached Zoey’s bedside, he leaned over to kiss her. “Hey, beautiful, I hope you’re hungry.”

  He unpacked her dinner and set it on the table next to the bed.

  The way they took care of each other and seemed to know exactly what to do for one another made me want to gag sometimes. They’d been through so much in the short time they’d been together, but they loved each other and now had a new baby girl. For some reason though, today, they didn’t make me want to gag. Something had changed between them. They both seemed so content and happy. As if they were truly living the life they were supposed to.

  “You hungry mate?” Andy asked me, thankfully breaking my train of thought. “There’s more than enough food here.”

  “Nah, you two go ahead. I’ll hold Sweet Pea so you can eat.”

  I still had about twenty minutes until I was supposed to meet what’s-her-name, so I might as well stay put until then.

  Hannah became restless again, so I stood and walked around the room with her. It settled her right down, so I swayed back and forth with her.

  I watched as Andy hoovered his food down, while Zoey ate hers slowly and enjoyed every single bite. That dude packed away the food and never gained a pound. I didn’t think he even worked out or anything. I didn’t have that luxury. Jesus, I sounded like a bitch. What guy worried about their weight?