Coming Home(178)

“This is an emergency,” Holly said, sitting on the edge of her bed. “I need to go shopping, and Robyn’s babysitting her nieces today, so I have no reinforcements.”

Leah’s hands dropped from her eyes as she turned her head, staring blankly at her friend. “We clearly have conflicting definitions of that word.”

Holly smiled. “Up you go, lovely,” she said, grabbing Leah’s hands and jerking her forcefully from the bed.

“Jesus!” Leah complained as she stumbled with the blanket tangled around her foot. “Take it easy!”

“Get in the shower,” Holly said, completely unfazed. “How long has it been since you’ve done that, by the way?” she added, making a face.

“Holly, I’m tired,” Leah said listlessly. “I just want to go back to bed.”

“And you can. As soon as we get back.”

Leah’s shoulders dropped as Holly said, “You’re making this a bigger deal than it needs to be. Shower, shop, home. So come on,” she said with a sharp clap of her hands. “Let’s get moving.”

Leah would have protested again if she thought it would do any good, but she’d known Holly too long. It was either do what she asked or spend the next few hours dealing with her nonsense.

“I hate you,” Leah grumbled, and Holly grabbed her wrist, pulling her toward the bathroom.

“That’s okay,” she said. “I still love you, and I’m very difficult to get rid of.” She leaned into the shower and turned on the water.

Leah folded her arms. “Are you gonna take my clothes off and wash me too, or can I handle it from here?”

“There was a time I may have taken you up on that offer, but mama’s let herself go lately,” she said, gesturing at Leah. “Clean yourself up and ask me again later.”

Leah didn’t want to smile, but she couldn’t help it.

Holly laughed before she walked past her. “I’ll be waiting in your room,” she said before she walked out of the bathroom and closed the door.

Leah sighed heavily as she began to strip off her clothes. Every movement felt like a chore, like she was fighting against the resistance of invisible rubber bands holding every one of her limbs in place.

She stepped into the shower, turning the knob so that the water would heat up. She welcomed the burn, forced herself to stay and deal with the sting.

She knew exactly what this little day-trip was about. Subtlety had never been Holly’s strong suit.

It had been just over two weeks since her visit with Danny, and Leah hadn’t left her house for anything outside of going to work. She would come home in the afternoon and crawl into bed, sometimes immediately falling asleep and not waking until the following morning.

Those were the merciful days.

There were other times she would lie there for hours on end, staring aimlessly at the ceiling or the TV or whatever else was in front of her, unable to sink into the benevolent refuge of unconsciousness.

She forgot meals entirely. She barely bathed.

Her colleagues at work knew she was sick. At least, that’s what she’d told them to account for her bedraggled appearance, the bags under her eyes, her hair pulled sloppily into a ponytail rather than blown straight and shiny. Every day they’d ask how she was feeling, offering her their sympathies and their diagnoses and their home remedies.

But there was only one cure for what ailed her. And it was unattainable.

A constant ache resided in her chest—a crushing pain that had her wondering if it were actually possible for a heart to break. If it were feasible for an organ to shatter, sending jagged shards throughout her body that pierced her with every movement.