Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Humor doesn’t suit you,” Dash murmured.
“Alexa, turn off the overhead bedroom lights.” The dogs lumbered inside the room to their doggie beds in the corner. I gathered the therapy notes from today and scooted close to Dash, tucking pillows behind my back to sit at Dash’s same angle.
A ravaging cough came out of nowhere. It was brutal. My one hand went to his back, rubbing upward to help push the gunk up. With my other hand, I reached for the boxes of tissues, shoving several into the hand covering his mouth. Several moments later, he gathered himself, and croaked out. “Read.”
I did, under the soft glow of the lamps on our nightstands. “It says you’re improvin’ on your therapies, but you need to rest more and your lungs need a break,” I said, my knees rose to balance the papers on my thighs.
“No, it doesn’t say that.” Dash twisted his upper body until we were old-schooling it with his head laid on my chest, his arm circling around me, keeping him in place against me. I circled an arm around him, making sure we stayed connected. I’d sleep just like this to better help him get through the coughing spells.
“It also says there’s a moderate risk that you aren’t my soulmate. That my actual soulmate doesn’t argue with me so much.”
“See how stupid treatment plans are?” Dash murmured. Seconds later, he began to snore, deep puffs of breath tickling my chest hair.
I placed the folder on the nightstand and tucked my hand around his head, my thumb gently swiping over his hair. Sea Springs had several new and trendy plant-based restaurants and stores, and a meal prep company to order from. There was also one that fascinated me, because it sold different levels of mineral water. My kind of store.
Dixie came to the edge of the bed. It was funny how they still asked to go outside when the doggie door was feet away. I motioned her out, trying to envision what the next few months looked like for us.
“Alexa, turnoff the bedroom lamps,” I whispered, the room went dark. I stared at the ceiling, wishing for sleep to take my mind off what the future looked like.
Dash
Six days later
Thanksgiving parade
The silence inside my empty home always gave an eerie vibe. Before I broke all of Beau’s overstated rules, I locked the dogs out of the house to keep them from getting underfoot, confining them to the backyard.
For the most part, I felt steady on my feet, managing to walk short distances on my own from my bed to the bathroom. But I regularly found myself out of breath, needing frequent rest periods before I started again. And stubbornly I refused to use this silly walker when anyone else was home.
Today, though, I conserved my energy. Dressed in their finest Thanksgiving costumes, the girls and the rest of the family had left for their school performance. They were beyond thrilled to celebrate a holiday they hadn’t known existed until weeks ago. Though, they did wish the holiday had gift giving associated with it. And they weren’t a hundred percent clear on why we give thanks, after all, according to everything they knew to this point, the Native Americans and pilgrims needed to thank each other for their friendship. Boy, learning that truth was going to hit hard.
But the turkey thawing in the refrigerator was officially given the name George by Amelia, and had regular eyes checking on its status of defrost. The girls loved the entire process.
I was on my sixth full lap around the kitchen table, weaving through the living room and making a turn through the bedroom. When fatigue overwhelmed me, I rested for no more than five minutes. I also relied on the breathing techniques I had learned to help my lungs to continue to expand properly, without giving out. Other than that, I gripped the walker as if it were an extension of my body.
As my feet changed gait to include a shuffle, I’d take a tumble if I didn’t take another break. But thanks to my superior time management skills, I anticipated my clan arriving home soon with pizza in hand. Which meant I needed to get back to bed before Beau went berserk because he thought I was overdoing it.
Like clockwork, the headlights of the Tahoe circled the inside wall of the living room. They pulled into the front of the house. A bead of sweat trickled down my temple as I hurried to stash the walker and open the doggie door for the two greeters to meet the rest of the family.
With a brief glance in the bathroom mirror, I caught my reflection and quickly tucked the longer strands behind my ears. There wasn’t much of a style, but the grown-out pieces didn’t look bad. The dark roots weren’t near as dark as I remembered. Maybe I had a new look.