Then another: I can help
Josie was overwhelmed. She concluded that she had made a grave mistake in sending the initial message. What had she been thinking? As the messages continued to come through despite her lack of response, she became frustrated. She considered throwing her phone against the wall but she knew she would regret it and also wake up the entire household. She considered blocking the number, but she hesitated to do so. Besides, he had her number now, it would be as simple as getting a burner phone to contact her again so what was the use in blocking this number. Instead, she powered it down, preventing any further messages from reaching her tonight. She tossed it back onto her night table and curled in a ball under the covers. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks despite any attempt to stop them. After a while, sheer exhaustion overcame her, and she fell asleep, getting a few hours of sleep before the morning broke.
He set down his phone. The last several messages had gone unanswered; she was ignoring him. It frustrated him, every step he took forward seemed to be followed by three steps back. He checked his phone again, no answer. He doubted he would get a response tonight. The last thing she had sent asked him to leave her alone. But he couldn’t do that. He would have to wait for her to respond or continue to send her messages until she did. He tried to focus on the good. She had texted him, she had reached out, she had opened the lines of communication. Not only did it mean that she was coming around but also that he could now get in touch with her without having to follow her every move and calculate when he could approach her. Things were moving in the positive direction, he had to believe that. Otherwise, he faced certain doom, they all did.
Chapter 10
Josie slept in the next morning, exhausted after another restless night. Before even considering breakfast, she lay with a cool, damp towel over her eyes, swollen from the crying overnight. She felt awful, exhausted both emotionally and physically, with a headache and a touchy stomach.
After about an hour, she dragged herself from her bed and down for breakfast. She was the last one awake, which was unusual. “No jog today?” Michael asked as she plodded into the kitchen.
Josie stifled a yawn. “No, took the morning off,” she said, making herself some oatmeal.
“No jog? That’s not like you! You must be sick!” Damien joined the conversation.
“I feel awful. I’m going to spend the day in bed.”
Michael and Damien shared a glance, the news not sitting well with them. “Do you think you should call the therapist and see him earlier?” Michael asked.
“Yeah, or maybe get a sedative?” Damien added.
Josie realized they meant well but her sheer exhaustion made the conversation tedious. “I’ll see how things go after today,” she said, hoping to end any further conversation.
She wasn’t that lucky. Michael continued. “I wouldn’t put it off, Josie. It seems like you’re getting worse.”
“Getting worse? What’s that even mean?”
“You’re getting less sleep, having the nightmares more often, you’re having some physical symptoms now like headaches, fainting, I just…” he began to respond.
Josie cut him off. “I fainted once. It’s Sunday. If I need him, I’ll call tomorrow.”
“He has an emergency line,” Damien offered.
“And that line is for emergencies. This is not an emergency. Asking for a sleep aid is not an emergency.” Josie sighed.
“How about an over-the-counter?” Michael asked.
“Those do the exact opposite of what they’re supposed to do for me,” Josie said, knowing that over-the-counter sleep aids made her jittery. “I’m just going to hang out in bed today, try to rest and relax and if I am this bad tomorrow, I’ll call, okay?”
The men shared a glance. They weren’t getting any further with this advice at the moment. “Okay,” they both said in unison.
As Josie left the room with her bowl of oatmeal, Damien called after her, “Text us if you need anything, we can bring it up to you.”
“Thanks, D,” she shouted back.
Josie forced her oatmeal down before lying back in bed. She grabbed her remote and turned on the small T.V. she had in her room. She didn’t care what she watched she just wanted some background noise. She started to perk up a little, but she didn’t want to push herself. Maybe that was the problem, she was pushing herself too hard and needed a day of rest. She settled back into her pillows, determined that this would make a world of difference for her psyche.
Perhaps she would take Damien up on his offer to bring her something and trouble him for a cup of tea, she thought, grabbing her phone. As she picked it up, she recalled turning it off last night, having received several unwanted texts from the strange man who had been following her. She supposed it was stupid to have texted a stranger, but she had been so desperate last night.
She turned the phone back on, waiting for it to power up. As she waited, she hoped that she would find no messages waiting for her. She planned to delete the conversation from her phone and throw the business card away so she wouldn’t be tempted to repeat something so foolish again.
As her phone came to life and connected to the network, she heard several chimes. So much for her wish being granted. Several text messages waited for her, all of them from the same person. She frowned; she had made a huge error in texting him. Unlocking her phone, she began by texting Damien, requesting a cup of tea. He answered her within seconds that he would have a hot cup up to her in a jiffy with a smiley face and a hug emoticon.
Josie smiled at the message before setting her phone down. She did not
