The Crying Bridge

The Crying Bridge--Chapter 24

 Though they had fallen asleep rather late, they both woke up feeling refreshed from several hours of uninterrupted sleep. Del woke with no nausea at all and decided to make some breakfast while Evan was in the shower. She ate a slice of cinnamon raisin toast with a little cream cheese and drank a small glass of soy milk. She put two slices of the raisin bread into the toaster for Evan and started a pot of coffee. She decided to take her pill then, hoping that taking it with food on her stomach would combat the inevitable queasiness.

Evan came into the kitchen dressed for work, his hair still damp. He kissed her and thanked her for breakfast. They had gotten up early enough that he could actually sit at the table with her and eat before having to leave.

"How are you doing this morning?" he asked.

"Okay," Del said. "My inner thighs are definitely feeling last night's activity, but I'm fine."

Evan laughed. "I meant about the whole thing with the medium," he said. "But sorry if I overworked you."

Del gave him a look. "I think we overworked each other," she said. "I'm surprised you don't need an ice pack on your crotch. But I'm fine about the other stuff, too."

"I'm glad you're okay," Evan said, glancing at his watch. "But that ice pack comment almost sounds like a challenge. I can do you again right now if I need to."

Del laughed, really laughed and if felt really good. Despite what she'd told him, she was still feeling overwhelmed and stressed over everything they'd learned from Gail Thomas last night. The idea that she was going to communicate with a dead woman in a few weeks totally freaked her out. The laughter helped her feel more like herself. "Just go to work, Evan," she said, still laughing. "I have no doubt you're fully capable of servicing me any time I want."

"Damn straight," Evan answered, smiling. He got up from the chair and went to the sink. He rinsed his plate and coffee cup and put them in the dishwasher. He turned back to her and kissed her firmly. "Shall we go out tonight?"

"We can if you want," Del said. "Any ideas?"

"Dan told me about a good Indian restaurant in the city we could try."

"Do you want me to meet you or are you going to come home first?"

"I'll be finishing at the youth center by 2:30 or 3:00," Evan said. "I'll just come home first."

"I'll be waiting," Del said. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, a really good kiss.

"Mmm," Evan murmured, wrapping his arms around her. "Can you be waiting naked?"

"Maybe," Del said. "Maybe I will be."

Evan suddenly stepped away from her. "Okay, I gotta get out of here. You make it way too tempting to call in sick."

Evan chanced one more tiny kiss and left for work.

It had been almost half an hour since she had taken her birth control pill and Del still wasn't feeling any queasiness. She thought maybe she'd learned the trick by eating a small breakfast first. She changed into running clothes, ran her two miles and stretched for about thirty minutes.

She didn't know what to do with herself for the rest of the day. She didn't really need to do any work and there wasn't any new research she could do on Emma. She finally changed into some old shorts and a tank top and started cleaning the house. She stripped the linens from the bed and started them in the wash machine. She sorted her other laundry to do later, then went room by room and did a thorough cleaning. The house was so small that even an in-depth cleaning only took her about an hour and a half. The laundry added another hour and she was finished. All of her and Evan's clothes were clean and put away and the house was spotless.