It occurred to me while I was writing this how ironic it is that this is chapter 13.
Also, don't hate me. You'll understand once you read this.
Chapter 13
Yesterday hadn’t been a very productive day for Thirteen. House had even commented on how her attention span had been about that of a goldfish. She hadn’t been able to help it. She’d been too nervous about the results of her daughter’s test. She’d spent the entire day screwing up things she would have normally had trouble with. She’d tried to insert a folded up five dollar bill into the coin slot on the vending machine in the cafeteria, gone to the emergency room instead of the clinic twice, and spent an entire ten minutes trying to push the restroom door open before Bo had come up behind her and reminded she was supposed to pull.
She hadn’t slept at all that night. It was a waste of a night because they’d gotten off work at a reasonable night, and who knew when that would happen again, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to close her eyes. Instead she’d reached once again for the bottle on top of the refrigerator, and this time Bo hadn’t interrupted.
That morning she’d woken Bo up at five thirty to go in to the hospital, mostly because she was tired of sitting on the couch waiting for a reasonable time to wake Bo up. She hadn’t bothered to try to make conversation in the car. She’d been trying as hard as she could to keep her attention focused on driving instead of letting her mind wander to the test that was generating in the lab.
Now Bo was in the conference room, probably chatting up the rest of the team, oblivious to what was about to happen. Thirteen was sitting in the lab, barely managing to hold herself together, waiting for the results to Bo’s PCR test. It was ten times worse than when she was waiting for her own. She knew this was her last chance to change her mind, and she wanted to, but she had to do this.
She gripped the rim of the stool she was sitting on and watched the paper print. It was probably the longest five seconds of her life. She grabbed for the paper and closed her eyes, not ready to find out quite yet, sparing herself a few more seconds. Finally she willed herself to slowly open her eyes. It took another few seconds worth of willpower to make herself skim down the page. Finally, after she’d been sitting in the lab for half and hour her eyes rested on three small letters: POS.
Thirteen had never cried much, but once she’d balled up the paper and thrown it against the wall in front of her as hard as she could, she wound her fingers threw her hair to hold her head off the table, squeezed her fists shut so hard that it hurt, and let the tears she’d been holding in for years flow steadily down her cheeks.
I'm going to try really hard to have chapter 14 up tomorrow. I'd write it tonight, because I kind of don't want to stop, but it's like 2:15 am here.
Also, don't hate me. You'll understand once you read this.
Chapter 13
Yesterday hadn’t been a very productive day for Thirteen. House had even commented on how her attention span had been about that of a goldfish. She hadn’t been able to help it. She’d been too nervous about the results of her daughter’s test. She’d spent the entire day screwing up things she would have normally had trouble with. She’d tried to insert a folded up five dollar bill into the coin slot on the vending machine in the cafeteria, gone to the emergency room instead of the clinic twice, and spent an entire ten minutes trying to push the restroom door open before Bo had come up behind her and reminded she was supposed to pull.
She hadn’t slept at all that night. It was a waste of a night because they’d gotten off work at a reasonable night, and who knew when that would happen again, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to close her eyes. Instead she’d reached once again for the bottle on top of the refrigerator, and this time Bo hadn’t interrupted.
That morning she’d woken Bo up at five thirty to go in to the hospital, mostly because she was tired of sitting on the couch waiting for a reasonable time to wake Bo up. She hadn’t bothered to try to make conversation in the car. She’d been trying as hard as she could to keep her attention focused on driving instead of letting her mind wander to the test that was generating in the lab.
Now Bo was in the conference room, probably chatting up the rest of the team, oblivious to what was about to happen. Thirteen was sitting in the lab, barely managing to hold herself together, waiting for the results to Bo’s PCR test. It was ten times worse than when she was waiting for her own. She knew this was her last chance to change her mind, and she wanted to, but she had to do this.
She gripped the rim of the stool she was sitting on and watched the paper print. It was probably the longest five seconds of her life. She grabbed for the paper and closed her eyes, not ready to find out quite yet, sparing herself a few more seconds. Finally she willed herself to slowly open her eyes. It took another few seconds worth of willpower to make herself skim down the page. Finally, after she’d been sitting in the lab for half and hour her eyes rested on three small letters: POS.
Thirteen had never cried much, but once she’d balled up the paper and thrown it against the wall in front of her as hard as she could, she wound her fingers threw her hair to hold her head off the table, squeezed her fists shut so hard that it hurt, and let the tears she’d been holding in for years flow steadily down her cheeks.
I'm going to try really hard to have chapter 14 up tomorrow. I'd write it tonight, because I kind of don't want to stop, but it's like 2:15 am here.