Escaping Love (Rewrite) [Book #1]

Chapter 37

Disclaimer/Trigger Warning: This chapter mentions drugs!

|| CHARLOTTE ||

|| Tuesday, February 4th ||

In the middle of teaching a lesson, my phone rang during my sixth-period. I sighed, "I'm sorry," I apologized, grabbing it out and muting it. My eyes landed on the caller's name. My heart raced, and I wasn't sure if I was going to answer.

"Ms. Evans?" Someone asked, and I looked up.

"Yes? Is there a question on the topic?"

"No, we were wondering if you were okay? You were staring off for a bit."

"Was I? I apologize," I said and looked out at the class. My eyes landed on Jackie, and she had a concerned look on her face. I smiled out at the students, "Okay, where were we?" I asked before diving into the remainder of the lesson.

The rest of the class went by slower than usual. My heart pumped quicker, thinking that Dr. Lane called about the results. I finally let the class work on the packet for the rest of the time. I sat down at my desk, looking at my phone. I saw a voicemail, but I didn't want to listen until the class was over.

Should I inform Principal Simpson about this?

I turned my head to watch the class. My eyes landed on Jackie, laughing with a couple of classmates as they multitasked with their work.

As class ended, everyone packed up. Jackie turned to me after the door closed. "I heard the phone. Was it Dr. Lane?"

"Yeah, he left a voicemail," I said and opened my phone.

I placed in an earbud and gave Jackie the other one as I played the message.

Voicemail [1:28 PM]: Hi, Charlotte. It's Dr. Andrew Lane. I'm calling to inform you that your test results came back. You can go to your doctor's office and get your results. I would also like to meet to clarify the results with you and what they mean. I'll inform Officer Tran and Officer Morgan so we can all meet and discuss it. Please contact the hospital and arrange a meeting with me as soon as possible. We want you and your fiancée with us. Have a nice day. Bye.

I called the hospital after listening to the voicemail, and he has an opening at 4:00 PM. It was around 3:00 PM when I decided to head home. Jackie did the same and said that she'd drop off her stuff and come by to pick me up.

I'm sitting at home feeling anxious, but before I can think more about the problem, there was a knock on my door.

Jackie stood on the other side, "Okay, you ready?" I shook my head, and we stepped inside the apartment for a second. Her arms wrapped around me, "You've been through so much in the past week. It's okay to take your time. I don't want you to feel rushed jumping into one situation and then the next."

I sat on the armrest of the couch as she brushed strands out of my face. Her eyes looked at me, making me stop my anxious thoughts. I placed a hand on hers, and she looked closely at my fingers.

"I forgot I gave you the silver band," she smiled, and I looked down at it. It's still on my ring finger.

"Right, sorry, I can give it back to you," I said, but she stopped me from removing it.

Jackie shook her head and smiled, "Keep it." I nodded, and she pecked my lips before we got up and walked to her car.

Once we arrived at the hospital, we met up with Dr. Lane, who made his way to the conference room.

"Right on schedule. Officer Tran and Officer Morgan just showed up a few minutes ago," Dr. Lane smiled and opened the door for us to walk in.

We greeted the officers and sat down across from them. Dr. Lane sat at the head of the table. My hand was lightly holding Jackie's under the table, and I felt her gently squeezing it.