Here’s another chapter of Falling For Raine.
Here’s the note: my older brother (whom I live with) and a health incident Monday. He’s feeling OK now and pretty much back to normal but we’re getting it checked out and keeping a very close eye on things, especially for the rest of this week. We’re also making some changes here because of it.
This kinda upended my plans for the week. (Stripe’s assholery didn’t help of course.) I have some new videos I’ve been working on, and I’ll be finishing them up and posting them as soon as things settle down. I expect that to be next week.
I’ll be catching up on other stuff too. Super-huge Thank You’s for you all patience and amazing support! 😄
Chapter 19. Savannah
What the ever-loving fuck? What happened to me?
Did I get hit by a train?
Not possible. No train wreck ever felt this bad. And it would be over… quick.
Fuucckkk, my head hurts. My body hurts. My feet hurt.
Everything hurts.
My mouth tastes like a whole family of nasty rodents nested there. And died…
I wanna die. Curl up and die. Right here. Right now…
“Just so y’know, dying’s not allowed in this house.”
Huh? Erin?
I crack an eyelid only to have blinding light stab it like a ice pick. Squeezing that eye shut, I contract under the covers to escape and…
What in hell? Erin can’t be here, cuz—Hold up… This isn’t my jeep. This isn’t my bed either.
“Where…” My voice is so broken and clotted I have to start over. “Where—wha… what happened?”
“You had a bad night.” Her voice is barely above a whisper but still makes me wince.
“Yeah…” Bad night. No shit…
“I brought you back to my place.” I clench my teeth at her soft murmur. “Here”—a muted clink as she puts something next to me—“There’s a glass of water and Advil when you’re ready. The bathroom’s right here… if you need it.”
A bathroom. The word brings two feelings raging to life. I need to pee…
And I’m gonna puke.
Struggling out from under the covers, I clamp one hand over my mouth against my roiling stomach. Squinting in the searing brightness, I see the open door. I can make it. Hunching over, I ease my legs out of bed. This is gonna be close. My feet touch the carpet and I force down a burp.
Lurching into staggering lunge for the bathroom, I make it just in time, then collapse on the cold tile floor three or four heaves later, shivering.
Happy birthday to me…
♦ ♦ ♦
The rest of the morning (cuz yeah, I did figure out it’s morning) went by in blur—or make that a fog. I drank the water Erin left, took the Advil, and hoped I’d be able to keep them down. After I don’t-know-how-long, I won my fight with my stomach and burrowed under the covers again until my head didn’t feel quite so much like a wrecking ball was banging around in it.
As vicious throb eases, memories come back in snarled-up fragments—Erin, the restaurant, stealing that bottle of jack, and Jessie’s call…
Oh, fuck… that call. Mom, tests, hospital…
My hands ball into fists and my teeth grind so hard I think I’ll break a molar. It’s worse than the wrecking ball in my brain.
How could I lose it so fucking badly?
I have to call Jessie and… My whole body contracts and another wave a nausea washes over me. I don’t have a phone. I’ll have to borrow Erin’s phone. I chant “fuck” under my breath like a mantra and then force myself to stop and breathe like I did when Jessie called. Same drill.
In through the nose…
Hold it…
Out through the mouth.
Hold it…
Repeat…
Right as I’m about to try to get up and call Erin, there’s a soft knock on the door.
“Yeah?” It’s comes out no more than a croak, but the door opens a few inches and Erin peeks in.
“Hey?” Her expression is worried, her brow tight with concern. “I only wanted to see how you’re doing. Can I get you anything?”
I lift painfully into a sitting position. The covers slide down to my lap, reminding me I’m only wearing panties. Erin must’ve undressed me when she put me to bed but it hardly matters. We’ve already seen each other practically naked—I did finger-fuck Amie in front of her that night at the club—but being that way in her bed does bring out more than a touch of shyness.
Along with a whole boatload of embarrassment at her seeing me so wrecked—absolutely shitfaced like I haven’t been in years.
God, what did I say?
What did I do?
But Erin’s simply standing there in the doorway, not a speck of judgement on her face. And I do need to call… “Uh, yeah? I need to make a call. Can I borrow a phone?”
“Of course. Absolutely.” She nods and gestures behind her. “Just a sec. I’ll get mine.”
I ease back down against the pillows and right after my head settles into them, she’s back with her phone in hand.
“Here.” She puts it on the side table and notices the empty glass. “More water?”
I try to nod but that’s a spectacularly bad idea so I stop and croak, “Please.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Picking up her phone, I’m relieved it’s not an iPhone. That’s right—she said she wasn’t a fan of Apple. It also means I have to figure out how to use it. Thankfully, the phone icon is at the bottom of her mercifully uncluttered home screen. As I tap it, she comes back with more water. I force a smile—I’m sure it looks awful—and she smiles back, leaves and closes the door silently.
I guess she must have experience dealing with people who have Hangovers from Hell, but that’s none of my business. I’ll have to think of a way to thank her for rescuing my positively fucked-up drunk ass, but that’ll have wait till I talk to Jessie.
I enter Jessie’s number and take a couple of sips of the water while it rings. Five rings later, it goes to voicemail: Hey, you’ve reached Jessie. Leave me a message or if you want a faster response, send me a text message.
Shit. This one time, I thought she’d pick up.
Then it hits me—she doesn’t know this number. It probably wouldn’t even ring. Dammit…
I find the messaging app, open it and tap out a text; not so easy when your eyes are crossed. Laying the phone next to me, I sip more water and wait. Within three minutes, the phone chimes with a text notification. I swipe it open.
Is this really you? Whose number is this? Why are you using it?
Yeah, it’s me, lil sis, I reply, fingertip stumbling across the itsy-bitsy keyboard. Really-o, truly-o, little pet dragon.
That’ll convince her—it’s been our own secret phrase for “you gotta believe me” since we were little.
I couldn’t go back to the apartment last night, so no landline. I’m borrowing this from a friend.
Her text zings back in seconds. A FRIEND??? Did you MEET someone???
No. Not like that.
How do I explain without letting on that I got stinking drunk?
She simply gave me a place to crash.
Likely story, big sis. I want all the deets.
Really. It’s not like that. How’s mom?
She’s with the docs now.
Jesus. My nerves are about to fly apart and go kamikaze.
I’ll call.
Fraid I can’t talk. With the docs now. I’ll call back. SPILL THE DEETS!
Groaning, I drop the phone on the bed with a soft thud. Now she thinks I’m dating and she’s gonna tell Mom, who going to get super excited till I have to say it’s all a misunderstanding and throw ice water in her face while she’s in the fucking hospital!
When she calls, I’m gonna have to convince her she misunderstood and if she’s told Mom, ask her to break it to her gently.
And finally tell me what the fuck is going on. Only my hangover keeps me from ripping my hair out waiting for Jessie’s call.
When Erin’s phone rings at long last, I almost drop it in my haste to pick it up. “Yeah?”
“Hi, sweetie. It’s so lovely to hear your voice.”
“Mom?” My brain freezes a moment in alarm. When did her voice get so weak and raspy? A chill runs down my arms. What did Jesse tell her?
“Jessie tells me you’ve met someone.” Oh crap… “Is it serious? How long have you known her?”
“Mom, I…” My eyes squeeze shut, holding back sudden tears. “We’re just… It’s not…” I can’t force the rest of the sentence out.
“I understand, honey. This is all new and it’s been quite awhile since you had anyone. We’re happy for you, sweetheart. Please feel free to invite her along when you come back—we’d love to meet her.”
“Mom…” The tears start to seep past my scrunched eyelids.
I can’t do this. I can not do this.
“Yeah… right. Mom.” I fight to drag in a breath. “How are you? How are things there?”
“Oh, I’m fine, dear.”
Sure, you’re wheezing.
“Everyone here is perfectly lovely. I’m in good hands. The very best.”
Don’t scream, don’t scream… “I’m… glad to hear it. Glad they’re… taking good care of you.”
“They truly are, dear. Nothing to worry yourself about.”
Do Not Scream…
“Good.” More deep breaths. “Good. Mom? Can you hand the phone back to Jessie? We’ll talk more soon.”
“Of course, sweetheart. Here she is. I love you.”
“I love you too, Mom. Always.”
I squash a hand across my eyes while she hands the phone over.
“Jessie,” I bark as soon as I hear her on the line.
“Hold on, big sis.”
Her tone chills me to silence and I hear a door open and close.
“Sorry,” she says a handful of painful heartbeats later. “I had to go into the hall.”
“Jessie, what the fuck!”
“Savannah…”
My blood runs cold—she never uses my name.
“It’s… this is… not good.”
I think my heart’s gonna shatter against my ribcage. “The cancer’s back.”
“Yes. You gotta come home.”
This feels like a nightmare where you wake up in cold sweat.
If only… “I will.”
“I have to go back into Mom’s room. We’ll talk more when you’re here. Please come home fast.”
“I’ll be on the next available flight.”
Thanks again so very much for reading! I really, Really appreciate it! 😄