The Hourglass (UNEDITED)

Chapter 19

Somebody kicked Jace on his shin and he groaned at the pain. He opened his eyes and looked up at a precious sight; standing over him was his beloved Katherine. Jace's face lit into a slow yet serene smile. Even if Katherine frowned down at him, he didn't mind. Seeing her for the first time in the whole day just made everything better for him.

"Hi there," he greeted happily. Katherine looked about her surrounding and glared back down at Jace.

"Jace, get up from there before the neighbors see you." He obeyed and was up that instantly. He stopped himself when he moved ahead to hug her.

"You need help with that?" he asked, noting the number of plastic bags she was carrying. Katherine looked down at her bags, seemingly thinking of his offer.

"No I got it," she said softly without looking up at him.

"Please let me help you. You'll need one of those hands to open the door." Katherine rolled her eyes and hated that he was right; she could very well open the front door while carrying all the grocery bags.

"Fine. Here," she conceded handing Jace all the bags. Actually, she kind of threw the bags at him and he winced at the pain of having some of the items make hard contact with his sides. But he didn't mind; in fact her allowance of him helping her was a good sign, so it stopped any possible sense of hopelessness that would take root and grow. He followed Katherine inside the apartment and all the way into the kitchen. When his hands were free of grocery, he turned to look at her and give her a solemn smile. Katherine averted her eyes as she stood there three feet from him, wringing her hands.

"You were in here yesterday. You were inside this apartment," she began quietly. Jace remained still, not knowing what to say. He couldn't deny that fact because it would be obvious he was lying and...well, he didn't want to deny it anyway. Her voice was quite neutral so it was hard to detect if she was angry.

"I knew you because I could smell your cologne...it was permeating everywhere." Jace watched her as she spoke, waiting for the coin to drop. It didn't happen yet.

"I love that cologne of yours, it felt as though you stood right beside me." Very carefully, Jace took a step toward her.

"And now I'm here. Really, really here."

"I'm sorry I couldn't come to therapy yesterday. I was busy," Katherine said, changing the subject and changing the mood. Making Jace angry about that. It caught him off guard because she had been bearing herself to him and he was happy that she had allowed him the opportunity to get in. that didn't happen as she closed the door just as swiftly as she had opened it. Now, her face wasn't neutral in and lost in thought, it was hard and defensive and it was hating him.

"That's okay. The next session is tomorrow. Will you please come?"

"I'll think about it."

"Come on, I know you can do better than that," Jace chuckled.

"Good-bye Jace," Katherine hinted, "please close the door on your way out." She had left him alone in the kitchen and Jace heard the loud bang of the bedroom door closing. Holding on tightly to his patience, he sighed and did as she had asked. He looked at the time on his watch. He wasn't interested in the hour as much as he was about the day. But he knew that the hours counted, they made everyday pass by. On the fifth day of his time in the past, he was back in Dr. Stromer's offices. He had sent Katherine a message telling her about the appointment. While he waited, he occupied himself with a cup of coffee while he waited for the therapist and his wife. Minutes later, he saw Dr, Stromer emerge from her office and she smiled at him.