Hooked

Chapter Thirty-Six: Prepared

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, N.L. PETIT 2015.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Prepared

I wasn't ready.

No, I mentally rephrased, I'm definitely ready. I've just never been more nervous in my life.

I stood in front of the bathroom vanity, my mind and heart racing one another. My eyes were locked on my reflection, the pretty blue sundress ghosting loosely over my frame. I looked exactly as I had yesterday, when I hadn't known that my life would be changed forever.

What if something is wrong? What if I do something wrong? I'll never forgive myself.

I closed my eyes and counted slowly to ten, knowing that helped some people calm down. It didn't do much.

This was such amazing news -- yet I'd never been more afraid of myself in my entire life. My body had the ultimate task, and I didn't know what to do first.

Tell him, obviously.

I wanted to smack myself for not jumping to that sooner.

Adrian had been out all afternoon with Patrick and his nephew who, by now, was learning about his upcoming shift when he turned ten. While he still had a few years to go, Matt was more than eager, and the majority of their learning excursions lasted most of the day.

For all of the hours they'd been gone, I had been sitting on the floor or pacing restlessly since the moment I'd been hit with unexpected, unsettling nausea.

Was I ready? Of course not, but I wasn't sure that anyone was ever ready, and that thought comforted me.

"You can do this," I motivated my reflection. It stated back at me with an apprehensive, deer-in-headlights expression that I hoped wouldn't alarm Adrian too much when he came home.

Feeling anxious yet again, I straightened my dress and grabbed my purse from my bedside table, staring at the bedsheets with new interest. Shaking my head, I pulled my keys out and walked into the garage, pressing the button to open the doors. It was storming outside, and I looked to see my rain jacket lying folded on the passenger's seat. My heart pounded because I knew Adrian had put it there for me.

I reversed the car onto the street and drove towards the grocery store, knowing we hadn't been in over a week -- and needing the distraction. I began driving to one a bit further than usual, hoping not to run into anyone I knew just yet, and stopped at a red light just a few miles from the house.

I looked around. The ground was barely visible around the car, and the windshield wipers were on their highest setting. The storm was getting much worse, and I could hear the wind whipping past my car on every side. I knew it wasn't safe to be out in this weather, regardless of my strength. Making a quick decision to stay at the store until the storm let up, I pressed gradually on the gas when the light turned green, trying my best to see through the sheets of rain pounding against my car.

Suddenly, there was a massive crack!, and an ear piercing screech reverberated through the car. A dark mass tilted outside my window, and as I squinted to see it, the metal body of the car let out a shuddering, deafening noise as it crunched beneath the weight of a telephone pole. The air bags popped from all sides and slammed into my body. The car shuddered to a halt, the back flipping over the hood and landing on its roof in an instant. It skidded forward until the pole prevented it from moving, and my body dangled upside down in the driver's seat.