that he had found a solution to death.
I shivered as I thought of him, his body lying there on the floor that day I had been rescued.
For a long time, I was sure that Nathaniel was wrong about his claim that he was the one who had saved me after I was dead for 44 minutes. I had drowned in a mountain lake and when they brought me into the hospital, I was gone. But Nathaniel was there, with his serum, and he injected me and somehow, soon afterwards, I woke up from death.
I didn’t believe it for a long time. But now, after my time on the island, I knew in my heart that it was true. That I was alive only because of the injection. That his serum did, in fact, bring me back to life that terrible night and that it was Nathaniel Mortimer who had saved my life.
It haunted me sometimes, the knowledge that I owed my life to such a man. During the day, I was pretty good about not thinking about it. But in those long, desperate hours after midnight, the thoughts exploded in my head and pinballed inside my skull and I couldn’t stop them. I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
I looked over at Kate. She was still lost in thought. I picked up the control and flipped it on, finding Sweet Genius , a reality show that I liked to watch sometimes.
“That’s just life, isn’t it?” Kate said “You finally figure out what you want, but then it’s too damn late.”
“He’ll be back, Kate,” I said. “He loves you.”
I wondered why I had said that, when I knew that sometimes love just wasn’t enough.
CHAPTER 13
We weren’t able to close up on time so I texted Kate to let her know that I would be late.
Thanks for the heads up. See you soon.
Sometimes I hated Mike’s policy about how if a customer was sitting down and it was closing time, we couldn’t ask them to leave. We could start closing up, lock the doors, turn over the sign, but we had to wait patiently until they finished their drinks and left on their own.
Sometimes waiting was tough. I was tired and wanted to go home. And the two women who were engaged in an animated conversation seemed like they were never going to stop talking, even with the chilly glares that Mo sent their way every few minutes.
They also ignored us as we mopped and wiped down tables.
“Time to go,” Mo said under her breath, a little louder than I was expecting, as she walked by them and collected a few dirty cups.
But she was right. It was getting late and I found myself zoning out as I stood, staring into space. I was counting the hours that I had slept over the last three nights and had come up with eight. No wonder I was so emotional all day, and had felt like crying over nothing. It must have been all related to lack of sleep.
I had even snapped at Ty earlier, when he called and told me he couldn’t come over for dinner on Friday. They had asked him to work that night. It was pretty stupid anyway because I was way too tired to be slaving away on the Bolognese Lasagna I had planned to cook, but I was still upset. I called him back later and apologized about my behavior.
“No biggy,” he said. “I’m sorry too. Can’t we just do it on Thursday instead?”
“No, that won’t work. But how about next week?”
“Perfect,” he said.
I yawned again and started emptying trashcans, hoping the two women might finally get that it was time to hit the road. But no hope was needed. Mo, at the end of her rope, walked over and told them that we were closing.
“Screw the policy,” she said to me as she walked back over to the counter.
I looked at clock. It was close to ten.
“Bye, girls,” the larger woman said as she pushed open the door. Mo didn’t answer and I just gave a little wave to their backs.
There were still a few things to do, but we worked well together now. I didn’t mind Mo’s silences anymore and appreciated that I didn’t have to try and think of something to say. It wasn’t like that with Mike. I was always stressing about topics when he
I shivered as I thought of him, his body lying there on the floor that day I had been rescued.
For a long time, I was sure that Nathaniel was wrong about his claim that he was the one who had saved me after I was dead for 44 minutes. I had drowned in a mountain lake and when they brought me into the hospital, I was gone. But Nathaniel was there, with his serum, and he injected me and somehow, soon afterwards, I woke up from death.
I didn’t believe it for a long time. But now, after my time on the island, I knew in my heart that it was true. That I was alive only because of the injection. That his serum did, in fact, bring me back to life that terrible night and that it was Nathaniel Mortimer who had saved my life.
It haunted me sometimes, the knowledge that I owed my life to such a man. During the day, I was pretty good about not thinking about it. But in those long, desperate hours after midnight, the thoughts exploded in my head and pinballed inside my skull and I couldn’t stop them. I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
I looked over at Kate. She was still lost in thought. I picked up the control and flipped it on, finding Sweet Genius , a reality show that I liked to watch sometimes.
“That’s just life, isn’t it?” Kate said “You finally figure out what you want, but then it’s too damn late.”
“He’ll be back, Kate,” I said. “He loves you.”
I wondered why I had said that, when I knew that sometimes love just wasn’t enough.
CHAPTER 13
We weren’t able to close up on time so I texted Kate to let her know that I would be late.
Thanks for the heads up. See you soon.
Sometimes I hated Mike’s policy about how if a customer was sitting down and it was closing time, we couldn’t ask them to leave. We could start closing up, lock the doors, turn over the sign, but we had to wait patiently until they finished their drinks and left on their own.
Sometimes waiting was tough. I was tired and wanted to go home. And the two women who were engaged in an animated conversation seemed like they were never going to stop talking, even with the chilly glares that Mo sent their way every few minutes.
They also ignored us as we mopped and wiped down tables.
“Time to go,” Mo said under her breath, a little louder than I was expecting, as she walked by them and collected a few dirty cups.
But she was right. It was getting late and I found myself zoning out as I stood, staring into space. I was counting the hours that I had slept over the last three nights and had come up with eight. No wonder I was so emotional all day, and had felt like crying over nothing. It must have been all related to lack of sleep.
I had even snapped at Ty earlier, when he called and told me he couldn’t come over for dinner on Friday. They had asked him to work that night. It was pretty stupid anyway because I was way too tired to be slaving away on the Bolognese Lasagna I had planned to cook, but I was still upset. I called him back later and apologized about my behavior.
“No biggy,” he said. “I’m sorry too. Can’t we just do it on Thursday instead?”
“No, that won’t work. But how about next week?”
“Perfect,” he said.
I yawned again and started emptying trashcans, hoping the two women might finally get that it was time to hit the road. But no hope was needed. Mo, at the end of her rope, walked over and told them that we were closing.
“Screw the policy,” she said to me as she walked back over to the counter.
I looked at clock. It was close to ten.
“Bye, girls,” the larger woman said as she pushed open the door. Mo didn’t answer and I just gave a little wave to their backs.
There were still a few things to do, but we worked well together now. I didn’t mind Mo’s silences anymore and appreciated that I didn’t have to try and think of something to say. It wasn’t like that with Mike. I was always stressing about topics when he
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