Riona

CHAPTER 10

I just realized that the previous chapters have been way too short so here's a slightly longer one to compensate for my laziness.

Enjoy ✨

CHAPTER 10

"She's still asleep so it's all good. Her fever seems to be gone for the most part but just make sure she takes these when she wakes up. And please make sure she eats and gets a lot of rest. She can't leave this house and keep her away from anything she can use to hurt herself."

"Yes sir." Korra mocks him and Trevor places a kiss on her head as he picks up his bag, ready to leave. I close the bedroom door and walk into the living room.

Trevor notices me first.

"Oh Ree, you're awake. How're you feeling?" He places a hand on my forehead.

"I'm okay." This time I don't lie.

"I can tell. You have a real smile on your face this time." We laugh and Trevor pulls me into a tight hug before leaving.

Korra places her hands on my shoulders and pushes me back into the room. "You get back into bed, I'll get breakfast ready and bring it to you."

She pushes the curtains aside, brightening the room. Sam runs in just as Korra is about to shut the door. He jumps on the bed and places his head on my lap waiting to be pet.

"Hey buddy. How've you been holding up? Better than me I presume." He snuggles closer and I slowly pet his head down to his belly.

"Of course you're fine, you don't even know what's going on. I'm the one who's going through hell right now."

"Tea or coffee?" Korra shouts from the kitchen.

"Coffee, no sugar!" I answer and turn back to Sam.

"So what should I do now? I really don't know where my life's headed right now. I think I'm going to actually have to get a real job. I can't depend on my dad or Korra for the rest of my life. I don't even want to." Sam whimpers as if he feels the same way I do about working.

"I know boy. I'm dreading it too. What can I even do? I've never thought about what I want to do with my life before. I don't even know what I want to do with myself right now."

"Maybe being by myself for once will give me time to understand myself better. I'd call it running away but I'm not a kid anymore so it doesn't count as running away anymore. I'll just call it a vacation. I can't just sit at home and mope for the rest of my life right?" Sam turns around and the slow pet turns to a belly rub.

"Exactly. But I need to tie up all these loose ends lying around. I don't want to have to come back until I'm ready to start over. It's like HM used to say, 'shit happens, but that doesn't mean you should turn to shit too.' She used to give the best-worst advice". I laugh to myself.

I stand up and enter the closet to hang my robe. As I turn on the light, the first thing to catch my eye is the briefcase on the top shelf. Asher's briefcase. I almost forgot that I had it. I haven't even opened it.

I hang the robe, pull the briefcase off the shelf and take it to the bed. The passcode is 0218, our wedding anniversary. As I twist the last knob to 8, I hear a click. The latches snap open and I pull the handle up.

The inside of the briefcase is so disorganized, it looks like it had been tossed around quite a lot; it probably was. A picture of me and Asher that we took on our trip to Paris for our honeymoon was held back by an elastic string at the top of the case. Two books lay side by side on the very top, Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451' and Ted Dekker's 'Tea with Hezbollah'. His toothbrush and shaving stick are together under a blue and red striped cardigan.