Blink Of An Eye

Chapter 8

Olivia's POV

It was the pregnancy test that set me off. It was just an unopened box sitting in the bathroom cabinet, but it made me think of the positive one I had taken in Daytona. Just hours before my life was torn apart. A pregnancy that only lasted for a couple of days. A pregnancy no one had even known about. I was unable to grieve then, but seeing that box sitting there, I lost it. I felt so alone. I couldn't talk to Ryan about it. More than anything, I wanted to reach for him. I wanted to hold him. I wanted him to hold me.

I could hear his steady breathing next to me. Although I took comfort in it, I was terrified that I could wake up the next morning, and he would be gone. Or more of him would be gone, and I couldn't bear to lose more of him then I already had.

I managed a couple of hours of sleep. I had a lot to do today. We had not been home in over three weeks. There was cleaning to do. Dust was everywhere. I needed to fix breakfast, but we needed groceries. We would have company later. Sturgill and Makenna were coming home and I had never got around to unloading the car yesterday.

Realizing further efforts at sleep were useless, I quietly got up ready to tackle the tasks at hand. Needing even the littlest of things to occupy my mind.

I finished my third cup of coffee. The caffeine did not quite have the effect I needed. I can't remember a time I've ever felt this on edge, like I was a rubber band being pulled tightly, just waiting to snap. I knew I needed sleep. I could not exist on coffee alone, and the excess caffeine wasn't doing anything except making me more jumpy.

*******

Ryan's POV

I woke up, and my head was pounding. The doctors had told me this was common as my brain was still healing, but I hated feeling like I was hungover when I had not had a drop to drink since who knows when.

I needed to ask Livvy where my meds were, but she was not next to me.

I walked into the kitchen. I looked around, and noticed the house had been cleaned from top to bottom. Our bags from Daytona were set up by the door. Breakfast was cooking as she unloaded the bags of groceries that were lining the counter tops.

How on earth did she find the time to do all of this? Did she even sleep at all?

"Good morning." I said softly, yet she still jumped from the sound of my voice. She was jittery, eyes heavy, yet flashing wildly. No doubt jacked up on coffee.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" She asked.

"Great actually. It was nice to be back in my bed. I woke up with a headache though and was wondering where my meds from the hospital were."

"Is it bad?" She asked with concern.

"No. It's not. I just need to take something before it gets to that point." I lied, not wanting to worry her anymore.

She reached for her purse, and I watched her hands shake as she pulled out a few prescription bottles and handed them to me. I also noticed my phone was in her purse. I guess I hadn't got an upgrade over the years because I recognize the worn case. Well, at least I knew now where it was.

I looked at the labels on the bottles. There was something for pain, something for nausea and something for anxiety. I was tempted to slip her one of the anxiety pills just to get her to relax.

She handed me a Body Armor from the fridge. I took one of the pain pills, but as an afterthought, I took one of each of the others. I knew if the pain didn't subside soon, it would make me sick, which in turn would make me anxious as well.