Page 5 of The Book of Wrath

“Well, thank your lucky stars. You’ll be discharged in an hour. If you want your sister or Ally to come pick you up, you should call them now. I’ll have all the paperwork ready for you. Also, there will be a work note in the paperwork as well. I think you shouldn’t rush back, but something tells me you’ve been put down long enough,” he chuckled through the last of his sentence. I might actually miss Arthur. He wasn’t a horrible doctor. He was definitely easy on the eyes.

“My sister and Ally are working. I’ll figure it out though. I can always get an uber if I need to,” I replied with a smile on my face. Arthur’s face, however, looked displeased by my answer.

“I can always take her home. We live in the same neighborhood. It’s up to her though,” Max spoke up from the seat beside my bed. I looked over at him with the surprise clearly glistening in my eyes. I didn’t even think to ask him, and I never would’ve thought he would’ve offered.

“If you’re okay with that Miss. Monroe, we can try to get you out a little sooner. I do want to schedule you an appointment with me at my office to check in on your progress in two weeks. I’m going to set that up for you now,” Arthur said as he wrote something out on one of the papers on the little desk.

“Okay,” was all I could say. I was going home, but what was I going home to? How much damage would I be walking into? What all would I have to replace? I didn’t want to think of that right now. Soon I’d have to face it head on, but I didn’t want to until I had to. Arthur looked at me once more, leaving an appointment card on the bedside table.

“I made you an appointment next Tuesday. If you need to reschedule, just call the number on the front of the card. I will see you next week,” he said before moving off to the door. I nodded and he left.

“Are you okay?” Max asked, drawing my attention back to the room that has been my home for more days than I want to think about. Aside from the nightmares of reliving that night over and over again, this has been the best sleep I’ve gotten in months.

“Just thinking about the mess I’m going to be walking into when I get home,” I replied, staring past him and out the window. The cold interior of this room was gloomier than usual with the clouds from the coming storm.

“I’ll help you clean up when we get there. You shouldn’t have to do this alone,” he smiled at me, and I felt a warmth and a dread sense all at the same time.

I nodded, focusing on the little birds flying in the wind. I hope they make it to safety before the storm comes. The news said this one was going to be dangerous. I can only imagine what danger it will bring to our area.

Leaving the hospital felt so foreign to me. The smells of the coming rain, the wind dancing within my hair to an unheard song. I wonder if this is how someone who’s lived their lives in confinement feels once being rescued. Everything feels weird.

“My cars over this way,” Max was being very patient with me as he waited for me to follow him to his car. A Dodge Challenger SXT Hellcat in matte black. She was a beautiful car to look at and I know I would never in a million years be able to afford one of these. Hell, looking at it makes me anxious.

“You own a Hellcat?” I slightly choked out as we got closer to the car. I looked over at him as he eyed up his car with pride.

“I saved up and got lucky with some investments. I wanted a ’67 Chevy Impala, but the only three I could find locally were either beat down and needed more to fix them or they were outrageously priced,” he looked at me with a grin.

“Are you a super fan or just a car fan?” I teased as he unlocked the doors and open the passenger door for me. Who said chivalry is dead? I got in the car and the interior was immaculate. The seats and trim, a beautiful crimson red, the rest of the interior was a sleek black. Not a fingerprint in sight. I felt like my best option was to keep my hands folded in my lap until we got to my place.

He closed my door and slid into the driver seat, “I’m a car guy sure, but I am a total super fan.” He chuckled as he turned on the car and the engine roared to life. The radio started blasting rock music really loud. He jumped, quicky turning down the volume. “Shit, sorry about that. I like to listen to my music loud.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I have no idea how loud my radio is going to be when I finally get back in my car. I’m a loud metal girl myself,” I said staring out the window. The hospital was only about twenty minutes from my house, and I would’ve been fine if it was two hours away. I didn’t want to go home. At least not yet.

“Hey, are you hungry?” Max asked me, eyes trained on the road in front of us. I wonder if he could sense my dread. I glanced over at him, but before I could utter a word my stomach decided to announce my answer. Talk about embarrassing.

“Well, we have three options. Wendy’s, McDonald’s, or that sit down dinner on the corner by the neighborhood,” he listed off the locations as we took off from the red light. I was thinking fast food would be the better option. Fuck! I’m going to have to throw out so much food when I get back. I let out an audible sigh. Why is this my fucking life?

“Wendy’s or McDonald’s would be great,” I started thinking of all the food and other items that I would have to toss. How bad the house probably smells thanks to the trash that wasn’t taken out before everything went to shit. I have so much I have to do when I get home. I just hope my body will hold off and not drop me to my knees from being in pain.

“Okay, McDonald’s it is then,” he got over into the turning lane that would take us to McDonald’s. I was surprised he would bother with fast food. He didn’t look like someone who would eat that crap. Honestly, I wasn’t a fan myself, but it was lazy, comfort food.

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked, my curiosity was running rampant in my head and if I didn’t answer it, it wouldn’t end well for me trying to sleep without being medicated.

“Go for it,” he replied, turning into the drive thru. “Want anything specific?”

“McChicken, plain with cheese and fries will do. Any type of soda with caffeine will do. I have money in my wallet. Give me a second,” I went to open my purse to get my wallet, but he reached over, resting his hand on mine.

“I got this. You’ve been through enough,” he said and placed our order. I watched him with wide eyes. I wasn’t used to not paying for things. “What did you want to ask me?” He pulled forward to the first window and passed his card through to the worker. I was still a little stunned by his actions.

“I was wondering why you were doing all of this for me,” I blurted out, face completely red from embarrassment.

“Doing what? Being a friend?” he asked in response, and I paused for a bit. I wasn’t sure what I thought about his reply. It was a bit odd.

“I’m not used to people being like this to me. Ally is probably the only friend I have that doesn’t expect me to pay for everything. I bet when I finally charge my phone and get it turned back on, there will be several messages from friends pissed off because they couldn’t reach me for a night out that we planned for this past weekend. Not a single one of them will ask if I am okay or ask what happened,” I sighed again at the realization that I have a really bad track record with friendships and relationships.

The worker at the next window passed our food through to him and he took it all. I put my hands out to take the brown paper bag from him as he put our drinks in his cup holder. He pulled away from the drive-thru, the silence deafening as he drove the road to our neighborhood.

Good going, Meg.

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