Falling Off The Edge

CHAPTER 8: HIGHS & LOWS

"You can't truly know someone unless you get close to them"- unknown

--••--

A week had passed since dinner with Wade's family at the shophouse but sadly, not a minute went by without those last words echoing deep within my subconscious. Undeniably, his words made my heart kick, but my head kicked back harder.

"To know you, Fel"

It had grown increasingly hard not to succumb to his request and nearly impossible to silence my guilt ridden conscience. Leaving him that night without an answer and avoiding him completely like a plague since then was the safest thing to do. I wanted safe, and him attempting to get close was all kinds of danger brewing. But I could hardly deny that I was already being drawn into the danger that was Wade Barnes.

"You've got this Fel!" I resounded to my reflection in the mirror. The girl staring back at me was tough stuff, like she was made to be. But even I could see in her own eyes that her resolve was weakening. The war in her mind was intensifying, and she was running out of weapons.

Splashing a hand full of water over my face, I forced myself back into reality and headed back to my room. I laid out a couple of posters and flyers I had collected over the week on the mattress. If changing jobs was the only way to get completely rid of the nightmare that is 'Wade Barnes', I was ready to do it. But the only challenge was finding a good job in this part of town. None of the flyers looked appealing, weakening my resolve even more.

The piercing sound of my phone ringing disrupted my train of thoughts. I scrambled the room in search of the annoying device and ended up turning my mattress over before finding it.

"Hello", I said into the phone almost breathlessly, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Am I speaking to a—Miss Felicia Armstrong?", a masculine voice asked.

I paused before answering, my fifth sense telling me it could be Wade at the other end of the line disguising his voice just to get me to talk to him.

You're losing it, Fel...

"Depends", I said suspiciously. "Who's asking?"

"Well lady, I'm actually calling from the Town Hospital and well er, I'm gonna need you to get down here as soon as possible", he demanded.

"What? Why?"

"Your mom had an accident and right now, it's a fifty-fifty life or death situation."

"What?" I yelled, my heart thumping against my chest. I began pacing frantically across the room."B-But how? What the hell are you talking about?"

I heard the man sigh loudly at the other end of the phone. "I suggest you stop asking questions lady and come down to the hospital."

"I-I'll uh-Yes, I'll be right there."

—••—

I ran into the hospital through the sliding glass doors, my bag almost getting caught in-between as I did. My nostrils were ambushed by the smell of medicine and disinfectant, causing me to pull my face mask over it in disgust. I nearly lost balance as my knees quivered at the sight of people being carried on stretchers and rushed into emergency rooms. I silently prayed my mom wasn't in there. Or what if she was? I gulped hard and hurried over to the nurse at the desk.

"H-Hi, I'm F-Felicia Armstrong. I'm here for my mom, Natalie Armstrong. I-I got a call from someone—a man, saying I um, I should come down here," I stated and drew in a deep breath, hiding my shaking hands in my coat pocket. The nurse sensed my agitation and offered me a warm smile.