Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
I rummage through my big purse, tossing things aside and grabbing my keys and unlocking the door to get in. I start the car and roll down the windows as I pull out of the parking spot. Stopping at the closed barrier to scan my parking pass, I wait for it to open up so I can drive through.
I pull out of the parking lot, turning on the radio and listening to the non-Christmas songs as I make my way home. After a long night shift, I’m ready to be in my apartment. I drive up to my apartment complex, park in my assigned spot, and wait for the window to roll up. I grab my bag and head toward the stairs that lead up to my door. The stairs open to both sides, each floor has two apartments on it, four floors per unit. I walk up the two flights of stairs, finally making it home. The rug at the door is a gift from my brother Jack and his wife, Evie, when they came to stay with me for a week on their way to New Zealand. Jack and Evie met when they were both in the hospital at the same time for cancer treatments. They became the best of friends; they even had nicknames, Jack was called Jumping Jack and Evie was called Easy Evie, because she was so easy to make happy. Jack was lucky that our father could afford the treatment. Evie’s family were not as lucky, but my father made it possible that she got treatment also. They only found out when they both turned sixteen that our dad made it so Evie could afford the care. From then on they were even more attached at the hip. Then it quickly went past the best friends stage and they finally caved to their feelings. She and Jack finally got married six years ago and are looking at adopting their first child.
Welcome-ish, depends on who you are and how long you plan to stay.
I press my code into the door pad and wait for the lock to unlatch before turning the handle and stepping in. The shades are still drawn from when I left thirteen hours ago. I dump my bag off at the door and kick off my sneakers.
I make my way over to the living room, opening up the blinds before walking into the kitchen and doing the same thing to the window by the table. I walk into the back of the apartment, where my room is, heading straight for the shower. Opening the glass door, I turn on the water before undressing out of my scrubs.
I let the warm water wash over me as I put my head back and water runs down the nape of my neck. I close my eyes and exhaustion washes over me. Getting out I grab a towel, wrapping my hair up in it before grabbing my white robe.
I walk over to the chest of drawers and take out a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top before returning to the kitchen and opening the fridge. I move things out of the way, trying to decide what to eat for dinner. It’s breakfast for certain people, dinner for me. The last snack of a protein bar, between patients at 4:00 a.m., wore off about thirty minutes ago. I’m starving and exhausted, so whatever is going to be the fastest to heat up is what I’m going with.
I take out one of the prepared meals I usually order when I’m working for the week and turn toward the oven, starting it. As soon as I place it in the oven and start to make my way back to the bathroom to comb out my hair, the phone rings from beside the door.
I walk over, grabbing my bag and closing my eyes for a moment, hoping it’s not the hospital calling me in for an emergency. Turning it over in my hand, I see it’s my mother FaceTiming me.
Smiling, I slide the green button to the side and wait until her face fills the screen. “She’s alive!” she shouts over her shoulder, and I roll my eyes at her.
“Where has she been for the last week, Elizabeth?” I hear my father, Zack, shouting from somewhere in the house.
“Your father wants to know,” she starts, as if I just didn’t hear him shouting from the other side of the room. I see her sitting down in the kitchen, all the lights on in the room.
“Yeah.” I laugh. “I heard him. I was working. Plus, with the time difference, I would pick up the phone to call you and it would be in the middle of the night over there.”
“You know that wouldn’t happen if you lived closer to us.” My mother smiles at me. “We could even work side by side.”