Read Online Interlude by Josie Daleiden - Free Book Online Page A

said. What about her life
was so hard? What was so difficult to deal with? Was she formerly a
guy? Did she like girls? Whips and chains? Was she a serial killer?
Cal didn't care. He meticulously ran through all the things that he
would still cherish her through. She could be standing in front of
a burning orphanage with a gas can and a lighter, and he would take
the fall for her! The cafe finally started winding down as the
manager scooted Cal out the door.
    Cal made his way up the coast to his home
sweet trailer. The new life that he had regarded as fun and
adventurous just seemed like hell now. He felt inadequate in ways
that he never knew possible. His job was gone. His retirement was
gone. His spacious tract home was also gone. Through it all, he
still didn't regret the split. He knew that was one good thing that
this turn of events would never corrupt. As he pulled into the
alley behind Jeremy's house, he noticed a light on in the trailer.
He thought he had turned them all off. Before he could make sense
of what was happening, the door swung open with such force that it
jammed his hand and hit him in the forehead. He was reeling from
the blow when two men pulled him into the trailer. There were two
figures with ski masks standing over him, their eyes calm and
calculating as one of them kicked him in the side of the head. His
world went black.
    As Cal slowly came to, his brain tried to
make sense of last few weeks. The hotel, the trailer. He couldn't
even remember what home looked like anymore. As his mind came back
to him, he noticed a big, blue ice pack on his head. There were so
many people in his trailer, in the front and side yard of his
friend's house, that nobody seemed too interested in him. Just then
a younger girl, probably no older that high school age, started
yelling to the others.
    “Oh my god! He's awake he's awake! Her shrill
voice wrought havoc on Cal's head as her worded ricocheted around
the inside of the metal trailer. In her best efforts to be helpful,
she smashed the icepack down on his temple with youthful vigor.
    “Ugh, do you mind? What the hell happened?
Who are all these people?” Cal's voice still sounded distant and
funny to him as he continued to come to. He started to panic as he
realized his arms and legs didn't seem to be working. The
realization that he was strapped to a gurney become evident as he
felt himself being rolled out of the trailer and down the driveway.
The EMT seemed to aim for every crack and pebble as his aching head
bounced and swirled about.
    “Relax. You're going to be okay. We're taking
you to the hospital to get your head looked at.” An older man with
a gray mustache and round-framed glasses said. The man shined a
flashlight in his eyes while he explained his actions to the girl
holding the ice pack.
    “You see, I'm checking for a concussion by
observing his pupil's response to light.” The man said in a
fatherly tone as the girl watched intently, continuing to put way
too much pressure on the ice pack!
    Cal moved his head about to try and get the
girl to take a hint. “You mind, it hurts already.” He groaned, as
the girl stood back timidly. The instructor gave Cal an appraising
look as they loaded him onto the ambulance, banging the gurney on
everything they could in the process.
    Cal was admitted to the hospital for a week
to monitor his brain swelling and his other injuries. He was
bruised like a banana that had been tossed down a flight of stairs.
Getting knocked out in real life is nothing like the movies. Cal's
balance was still shaky, and he couldn't remember details leading
right up to the point where he went unconscious. There were two
guys and they both had masks on, that was all he could muster for
the cops. He'd received a lecture from the neurologist regarding
head trauma and could only manage a confused stare. “Yeah Doc, I'll
try harder not to get the shit kicked out of me by random thugs.”
He thought to himself as the nurse came in to give