A Grateful Heart (ONC 2023; manxman)✅

Chapter 14

The damn alarm went off at its normal time, and once again, I hit the snooze button at the normal time. Usually I'd hit it three times before dragging myself out of bed, but this morning was different. As I rolled over, unanticipated pain shot up my arm. I noticed it was in a plaster cast from my hand to an inch or two below my elbow.

When did I break my arm? And how could I not remember breaking it?

I stared at my arm, trying my hardest to remember how I broke it. No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn't remember.

I discovered a text from school, alerting me of the school closure. I hadn't been this happy for a snow day since I was a kid. Now I had time to figure out what happened to my arm. As I scanned through my phone, I hoped to trigger my memories. I remembered talking to the crazy old cat lady yesterday after she fell. Then what happened?

Despite the pain in my arm, the idea of getting out of bed didn't exhaust me and the depression and anger were practically nonexistent. I wasn't full of dread. Well-rested with an indescribable peace in my heart, I was both content and sexually satisfied, something I hadn't experienced in a long time. Sitting up, I scratched the back of my head, desperately trying to remember something, anything.

My body felt like I'd just had a long night of incredible sex. His scent lingered on my body. I could still feel him. I flung my covers off the bed, trying to figure out if we did it here or some place else. I found no evidence that a man had been in my bed.

I staggered to the window to get a glimpse at the snowy winter wonderland outside. I'd been shoveling the crazy old cat lady's driveway and walkway for three years, so I was surprised to see that her walkway had already been cleared. As I took a step, I tripped and stumbled to the floor. "Son of a bitch," I muttered. A worn out brown leather briefcase lay on the floor by the bed, a stupid place to leave it.

When did I buy a brown briefcase? I always stored my lesson plans in my cheap black briefcase that I left at my kitchen table with my laptop. I opened the brown briefcase to find faded loose papers. The papers looked a hundred years old. The handwriting was in cursive, the ink also faded and smudged.

This briefcase was strangely familiar. Someone gave this to me, but who? Desperate for a cup of coffee, I left the briefcase on my bedroom floor and went to the kitchen. My laptop was still running, my black briefcase placed haphazardly on the floor. An empty beer bottle sat beside the laptop.

With the snow coming down hard, I decided to get dressed and check on my neighbor to make sure she had everything she needed, like food and heat.

Bits and pieces of information from the day before came back to me. For one, I promised myself to get the crazy old cat lady's name when I got home so I'd stop calling her the crazy old cat lady.

... when I got home...

From where?

If I had any common sense, I would have gone to the hospital to have my arm checked out since I had no clue how badly I'd broken it.

But I was stupid and chose not to go.

I frantically searched my room for my watch, the one my sister gave me with the rainbow wristband. I always kept it plugged in on the nightstand, but it wasn't there this morning. I must have hit my head when I fell and broke my arm.

Giving up on finding my watch, I put on my winter gear and headed across the street.

After ten minutes, my neighbor came to the door. "Oh, Eric, you're back!" she exclaimed. "It's so good to see you!" She acted like I'd been on a long trip. "Please come in."