Page 14 of Between Hope & Tragedy

“Hello?”

It was Dad.I knew I should have hung up after the second ring.

“Hey,” I said timidly.

He stayed quiet for a moment before pulling the phone away from his mouth and called out to my mother.

“Your daughter is on the phone!”

That stung. Like I had tripped a bee’s nest and was being relentlessly attacked. But I took a deep breath and waited for Mom to come to the phone.

“Zaydee?”

“I was wondering if you had Uncle Bill’s phone number,” I said quietly.

Mom rattled off the number and I told her to wait so I could find a pen and piece of paper. When I was ready, I told her to go ahead. She gave it to me again and then was silent for a moment.

“Why are you calling Bill?” she asked curiously.

“Garrett and Grandma told me, Mom. I just ... I just want to make sure he’s doing okay,” I explained hesitantly.

“Send him our love.”

Click.

The line went dead and I listened to the sound of the buzzing until it dropped off into silence. I sighed unhappily and thought of how much more damage had been done to my parents after they found out that Garrett was the one who had gotten me pregnant at such a young age.

I hung up the phone and looked down at the number I had scrawled onto the back of the envelope stack that Grandma had given me. I put the pen and the packet next to the phone and laid down to face the window. I wouldn’t be able to call and check on him if I felt like a failure, so I decided to take a nap instead. Maybe by the time I woke up, I’d be brave enough to make that phone call.

A few hours later, the sound of the phone ringing incessantly woke me from my sleep. My body was completely stiff, causing me to flinch when I stretched. I closed my eyes tightly for a moment before turning onto my back and looking up at the ceiling. I draped an arm across my forehead and turned my head slightly to the right, waiting for the ringing to stop. But since it didn't, I blindly started reaching toward it in frustration. I sighed heavily when I accidentally knocked the receiver onto the floor from its cradle and had to roll over the side of the bed to retrieve it.

"Hello?" I asked tiredly, when I finally put it to my ear.

"It's about goddamn time! I've been calling you for days," Garrett barked into the phone.

"What? I took a nap, don't be so dramatic," I said, rolling onto my back again.

"Zaydee, it’s Sunday. How long did you plan on sleeping? Forever?" he asked angrily.

My eyes flew open and I sat up straight. There was no way in hell I had slept for two days. I had trouble sleeping full nights, let alone days at a time. I glanced around the room uneasily wondering what it was that had allowed me to sleep so peacefully. Whatever it was, I needed to buy one as soon as I got home, but there was nothing out of the ordinary that I could notice.

"Are you there?" Garrett asked, a little calmer.

"Yeah, sorry. What's up?" I asked, scooting myself back against the headboard. I reached for one of the large, fluffy pillows and put it behind me. I wanted to be comfortable enough, but not too comfortable. Falling asleep on the phone probably wouldn't impress him much.

"I'm calling to make sure you didn't change your mind. I told the school board that a family emergency came up and that I needed to take the week off. I'm leaving for Phoenix tomorrow morning."

I sighed. I understood his persistence, but he would just have to accept the fact that I wasn't going to bend on this. "No. Thank you. Just let me know how he is doing. That will be plenty for me."

"Alright. I'll call you as soon as I get there, okay?"

"Sure. Chances are I won't be leaving this room anyway," I replied with a tired chuckle.

He didn't hang up right away and neither did I. We were having that awkward listening to each other breathe moment again.

"I really did miss you," he said softly. "And I never stopped loving you. I couldn't; no matter how hard I tried to push you out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried to erase the memory of you in my heart, something inside of me wouldn't allow me to."

"Thanks," I replied quietly as I hung up the phone.

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