Days Until

Chapter One

  Tyler Laine had been in one of his usual drunken stupors when the football game he was previously watching suddenly cut to a newscaster standing in front of the memorial hospital. He groaned softly and rubbed his eyes, knocking over a bottle of whiskey with his elbow. Lucky for him, it was empty and had landed on the fraying carpet under the coffee table. With a slight huff, he leaned down and placed the glass bottle back onto the chipped wooden surface. Realizing the remote was on the other side of the couch, he shrugged and just stared at the television, trying to process what the news anchor was saying.

  Surprisingly, even through his tipsy nature, he noticed how anxious the anchorwoman really was. She fidgeted in her spot, glancing behind her every few seconds or so, as a stretcher with a sheet over it was being carted into the entrance. Something was thrashing around under the sheet... He also noted how it was May and the camera shouldn't have been shaking as much as it was. Tyler just blamed it on low-quality cameras and inexperienced workers and mumbled about how he deserved the job and could do a better performance than this trash angle. His current salary as a cashier at Wallie-Mart wasn't doing him justice anyhow.

  When Tyler lazily glanced at the clock, he nearly smacked the empty whiskey off the table again. He was going to be late picking up his kids—Ellie and Henry–from middle school. He scrambled to his feet and scrounged around the messy apartment for his shoes, hopping around on one foot as he tried to walk and put them on at the same time.

  After quickly entering the bathroom he splashed his drunken face with cold water and looked at himself in the mirror. He paused and frowned. Tyler saw himself as what he had been six months ago. A successful, well-groomed, and happy businessman who had a happy family as well. His knuckles balled up as he snapped out of it, reminding himself that the past is the past, and what's done is done.

  Tyler grabbed his car keys and rushed down the stairs to the parking lot where his old Mustang rested. It was gray, the paint scratched somewhat with a couple of dents here and there. The air conditioning didn't work and the windows were manual which left a slight workout for one's arm, too. He still felt his heart shrivel up every time he saw it. He missed his previous car, a white Lexus. He had always made sure to keep clean. After Theresa's death and the downfall of his career though, he sold it and bought the cheapest used car he could, using the rest of the funds for rent and household necessities.

  All the sadness aside, Tyler began down the road to the school. The amount of traffic on the streets really baffled him since it was only three in the afternoon, but he shrugged it off and pulled into the pickup line. He always hated this process. It was too damn slow and half the kids couldn't even recognize their parent's car to save their life. He supposed he shouldn't blame them though.

  After what felt like an hour Tyler finally made it to the crowd of kiddos. His eyes unconsciously scanned for the twins as he waited, sometimes letting his gaze linger over the female vice principal. Don't get the wrong idea, Tyler wasn't attracted to her. He just had a nagging suspicion that she wasn't fit for a school environment. Granted, he had only ever talked to her once, right after Theresa passed, and she had been very curt about everything she said. He could tell that she would much rather be partying than with troubling brats all day. Her expressions were quite readable.

  A loud click startled Tyler to almost flooring it into the car in front of him. Then he realized it was just his daughter pulling at the door handle. He unlocked the car and looked in the mirror to watch his kids—Henry and Ellie—climb into the backseat. Ellie sat her backpack on the floor while Henry dug around in his, pulling something out and shoving it at his dad. Tyler hesitantly grabbed it and pulled out of the school grounds, heading the opposite direction of home.

  Despite him driving, Tyler straightened out the piece of paper Henry had given him and skimmed through the long paragraph. Since the long awaited hangover was starting to form, he couldn't quite make out what it actually read. "What's this?" He looked back at Henry and noted his sheepish expression. He went to open his mouth when Ellie's voice cut in. "Henry threw a stick at the gym teacher." Henry's head turned to his twin so fast it was a miracle he didn't have whiplash. His expression said something along the lines of, 'are you serious right now?'