Page 44 of Interference

“Night.”

And… that was that. The lights were off. We both rolled in opposite directions. In no time at all, Simon was out.

I fully expected to toss and turn all night while I tried to make sense of everything.

But exhaustion—along with some relief I didn’t have time to pick apart—carried me off to sleep in minutes.

Chapter 12

Wyatt

Tonight was the second night of Anthony’s road trip. It was a little weird being here in his house alone. He’d left me instructions for feeding the cats, and I’d made sure to keep up on the litterbox, fill their water dishes, and entertain them.

Otherwise, there wasn’t a whole lot for me to do. I wasn’t bored per se; just not quite sure how to fill the time now that I wasn’t sweating bullets over food, shelter, and avoiding cops and criminals alike. That was especially surreal as rain slid down the huge windows overlooking Lake Washington. How long had it been since the sound of rain had done anything but fill me with dread? It was so weird to just listen to it falling from inside the dry, warm house, knowing the temperature was going to drop again tonight and freeze everything.

As the day wore on and the afternoon started to turn dark, I worried about some of the other homeless people I’d known. I felt guilty for being in here—being in a freaking mansion in Medina, for God’s sake—while they were cold, wet, and hungry out there. Hopefully they’d found enough shelter and warmth to get through the night. I just wished there was something I could do, but it wasn’t like I could just grab one of Anthony’s cars, drive downtown, and scoop up everyone I knew to come stay in his house. Best-case scenario, that would land us all in jail.

But as I gazed out the window, watching the slow-moving line of headlights crawling across the 520 bridge, I made a promise to myself: if I got back on my feet for real, I was doing something for the people who were still out there. No idea what yet—there was no telling how firmly I’d be on my feet and what means I’d have to do anything for anyone. I’d do something, though. Even if all I could do was hand out some sack lunches to people. A few organizations around Seattle did that, and I’d always been seriously grateful to see one of those vans pull up.

Hopefully, though, I’d be able to do more.

First things first—getting back on my feet. I’d called my lawyer earlier, and he was, as always, waiting on the VA to respond to him. No progress since the last time we’d spoken.

On the bright side, the longer this dragged out, the more back pay they’d owe me if they finally gave me the higher disability percentage. By the time it resolved, they could owe me a serious chunk of change.

Assuming, of course, it resolved in my favor. There was no guarantee of that, and I was starting to think even my attorney was losing confidence.

“I’m going to fight this ’til the end,” he’d told me. “You know I will. I just wish I could promise you it’s going to end the way we want it to.”

How nice. The Army took twelve years of my life, traumatized me beyond repair, and ruined my body, and we couldn’t even guarantee they’d compensate me for all the damage.

“Should’ve gone to college,” I muttered to myself as I stepped away from the windows. I’d be ass deep in student debt, but I wouldn’t be wrecked physically and the only sleep I lost would be over making my payments.

“Everyone told me the G.I. Bill was free college,” a buddy of mine had said when we were both recovering in that hospital in Germany. Gesturing at the bandages all over his left side, he’d quipped, “Cost me a fucking arm and a leg.”

We’d laughed about that because no one survived the Army without a fucked-up sense of humor. I’d had no idea in that moment that the surgery I’d had that morning to repair my ankle had turned my foot into a timebomb, and I’d eventually become an amputee myself. I wondered how he was doing these days.

Lily nudged my hand, drawing me back into the present. I hadn’t even realized the train of thought had started sending me into a dark place, but as I paused to pet her, my pulse steadily came back down. She’d also been there throughout the call with my lawyer, leaning hard against my chest as I’d knuckled through the frustrating conversation. After I’d ended the call, we’d sat there for a good ten minutes until I was back on level ground.

I gazed down at her and sighed as I ran my hand over her smooth head. The last several months—hell, the last several years—had been incredibly dark. I didn’t want to imagine where I’d be now if Lily hadn’t come into my life.

“Good girl,” I murmured, and her tail wagged. Then I took out my phone again. I was running a little low on minutes, so I’d need to top it up soon. I had enough to make an important weekly call, though.

I kept a hand on Lily’s back as the phone rang on the other end. After three rings, I worried there wouldn’t be an answer, which could just mean I’d picked a bad time… or it could mean things were bad.

“C’mon, c’mon,” I muttered into the silence. “Please pick up.”

The phone rang once more, but just before it would’ve clicked over to voicemail, my mother said, “Hi, honey!”

I smiled. “Hey. How is everything going? Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, no. I just left my phone in the kitchen and it took me a minute to get to it. How are you and Lily doing?”

“We’re okay,” I said more truthfully than usual. “Just been a little busy lately.”

She sighed heavily. “They’re still working you into the ground, aren’t they?”

I didn’t even wince anymore, honestly. As much as I hated lying to my mother, it was the lesser of two evils. She wouldn’t be able to handle the truth about my situation, and she had more than enough on her plate right now. I swallowed. “Yeah, but it means I’m getting a lot of hours, so that’s good. Keeps the bills paid.”

---