Crashed Into Reality

Chapter 8

7:30 AM

June woke up, took a shower, got dressed, and looked in the mirror. Ugh! She couldn't believe how awful her face looked. She ended up sleeping dreamlessly, which was a blessing, she was afraid of the dreams she might have had. She started putting on her make up, just nice and light, but enough to help cover up some of the swelling in her face from all the crying and stress. She topped it off with her favorite glistening peach lipstick.

She walked downstairs and headed to the couch. She heard Matt breathing really hard, and when she looked at him, he was still sleeping, but she could see pain etched on his face.

"Matt," She touched his shoulder, and shook him lightly. "Matt, wake up, you're dreaming."

He opened his eyes, saw June sitting across from him, staring down at him. He smiled. "Wow, what a nice sight to wake up to!" Oops, did he say that out loud again.

This time June smiled and leaned back a little, as Matt maneuvered to sit up. "Good morning, sorry to wake you, but you looked like you were hurting. Is it your leg?"

"Well, uh, no, and yes. Actually, I kind of forgot about the leg thing, oh, but it's all coming back to me now." He was standing and stretching, his leg sore, but he planned to ignore it, not think about it.

"Hey, how about I make you breakfast today, then we can start trying to figure out what this key goes to. How about pancakes?"

"Sure, June, that sounds great!" He limped behind her as they went to the kitchen. This time Matt took the seat at the bar while June made her way around the kitchen, gathering ingredients. It was a lot more than the "just add water" mix he used for pancakes.

"You know, I could make you some Mickey Mouse pancakes, those are Trina's favorite. Well, actually I add a little bow to hers, so they are Minnie Mouse ones." June smiled at him, as she was mixing flour and sugar, and eggs.

"You're making them from scratch? I didn't expect that, you certainly don't have to go to all that trouble, I'm good with cereal."

"Yeah, well, too bad, you're getting pancakes. Besides, it only takes a few minutes to mix it up, hardly any more time that it would to do the ready-made mix. See? It's already ready." She showed him the bowl with the batter, and put a griddle pan on the stove top, and got it preheating. She looked up at him, with a more serious look, "Matt, will you tell me about it?"

"About what?"

"Well, about your dream, I mean I know it was painful, I could see it on your face, but, umm, never mind, you don't have to, I was just curious." She felt guilty for asking him about something that might be very personal. She started to drop batter onto the griddle.

"Well, I don't talk about it much, it's still pretty fresh in my mind..." Matt went on to tell her all about his parents' and his brother's murders. He looked up in her eyes, and her eyes were wet, she had such compassion on her face.

"Oh, Matt! I am so sorry!" She finished the last pancake, turned off the stove, and came over and hugged him.

"You know, June, you are an amazing woman! From the first day I met you, under the worst of circumstances, I was moved by your concern and care for others even while you were hurting. You have a beautiful heart." He pulled back and looked at her, "You are beautiful!" He so badly wanted to kiss her again, but he pulled back more, and kept his arms out. He was stupid to be having these feelings for a woman, who just two days ago lost her husband. She seemed to get the message, and turned back to the kitchen and served up the pancakes for both of them. Mickey Mouse pancakes. Matt smiled at that. "Why don't you tell me about you and Garrett?"