Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
He hadn’t sought medical treatment, choosing instead to treat himself.
The infection grew slowly.
Then, eventually, the sepsis set in.
Due to the extent of the damage to his organs from it, there really was just no saving him.
I went ahead and called that an act of God, who knew that the law couldn’t kill him, so he did the job Himself.
Mari seemed to relax almost immediately following the news.
She wouldn’t admit it, but once she’d started to work through her trauma, she’d gotten incredibly anxious about the prospect of a trial.
Over dinner one night, Gawen had asked her about Brandon’s death, trying to gauge if she was struggling with any guilt for having caused the wound that did eventually kill him, but he told me later that she seemed to have a good handle on the whole situation.
She was looking into a therapist, wanting to make sure she was dealing with it all now before it became a real problem.
It felt like we were both on the right path.
And she’d all but moved in with me now.
Her clothes were in my closet and dresser. Her books were on the end tables and nightstand. Food was filling my fridge, and she was making home-cooked meals instead of us ordering in.
I could imagine a million more days just like this.
And, what’s more, I was looking forward to them.
Mari - 4 weeks
I’d gotten fired.
I mean, I can’t say I was surprised.
After the second attack, I’d taken what was left of my sick and vacation days to try to recover, and to let the news storm die down.
A week after I was back, though, my manager called me in and fired me, stating ‘poor job performance.’
We all knew the truth, though.
She didn’t like the idea of the survivor of a serial killer working at her office. It didn’t fit in with her aesthetic she had for the place.
I won’t say I was disappointed.
And I wasn’t overly worried about bills, since Wells had already asked me to move in with him, saying it was silly to keep paying two mortgages, and two light bills, etc. when we were only ever staying at his place.
If I sold my house, in the current market, I would be banking a decent amount of money after everything was paid. Not enough to, you know, live off of. But enough to hold me over while I figured out my next move.
And I wasn’t entirely sure that the next move was going to be going back to work in physical therapy.
“Hello?” I answered as my phone pulled me out of my swirling thoughts.
“Hey, come outside a minute,” Wells demanded, something off in his voice. Excitement or amusement. Maybe both.
Interesting.
“Hold down the fort,” I called to Boss and Matilda who were curled up on their bed, completely ignoring my existence.
I moved outside, finding him standing beside his car, but on the passenger side, a strange, almost goofy smile tugging at his lips, and a light in his eyes.
“What is it?” I asked as I got close, feeling my own lips curve up just in response to his clear joy about something.
With that, he pulled open the door.
And there it was.
A German Shepherd puppy, all fluffy coat and big, floppy ears that hadn’t learned to sit up straight yet.
He sat on the seat, head tucked to the side, regarding me.
“What’s this?” I asked, smile breaking out because, well, a puppy. But confused why he was here.
“Well, this little dude just failed out of K9 training. Spectacularly, actually,” he added with a little chuckle.
“Oh, no. What did he do?” I asked, already reaching for him, then lifting him into my arms when he licked my hand.
“What didn’t he do? Wouldn’t sit or stay. Rolled over to show his belly when he was told to come. Chased his tail so hard in a circle that he wrapped up the officer in his leash and made him fall and whack his head. Cowered at the sound of the sirens and ran to hide under a bush. And, apparently, he knows all of those commands. Just didn’t want to do them for us,” he told me.
“Well, hey, police work isn’t for everybody, right, buddy?” I asked, rubbing my face in his soft coat.
“So, I was thinking…” he said.
“What’s one more?” I finished for him.
“Provided that Boss and Matilda like him, of course. And you are okay with it, since you will be home with him the most.”
“I’m already in love with him. But, yeah, we need to see how Boss and Matilda do.”
So with that, we took turns holding the puppy’s leash while the other one brought out one of the dogs onto the street on neutral turf, allowing them to get a feel for each other.
“Oh!” I cried a while later when we deemed it safe to let them loose in the yard together, and Boss let out a growl and stood over the puppy.