No Place Like Home Ch 11 pt 2

Meanwhile, Rose was laying in bed, bored to tears.  The people who loved her were not even allowing her to get out of bed and she was starting to feel Closter phobic.  Even Sturgis seemed to be keeping vigil by her bedside and followed her everywhere, even to the bathroom. She was still having to get used to the idea that she was’t having a baby.  The sadness she felt was in sharp contrast to the debilitating fear that she had felt while she was pregnant.  Even with her background in psychology, she couldn't’t understand her sense of loss.  Why was this bothering her?  She was no longer pregnant and she now had no ties whatsoever to David.  She finally had her own place to live and on top of that, she was being waited on hand and foot.  Still a sadness in the pit of her stomach caused her to spontaneously cry and she knew that Gilbert, Charlie and her parents were worried about her.  Weather it was  hormones or full blown depression Rose could tell that something wasn't’t right.  Her intuition gnawed at her senses and she desperately needed a distraction.1

Her boredom was nearing madness when Charlie walked into the room, carrying a plate and an armful of books.2

“Are you alright?  How are you feeling? I brought you some books I found in your van.”  Charlie said, handing her half of a turkey sandwich on a plate.  “Here, eat this before you take your pain medication.”  3

Rose reached out for the plate but her hand felt weak and the sandwich fell onto the bed, spilling turkey and tomato onto the sheets.  “Sorry.” Rose began repeating profusely trying to clean it up.  Tears started to well up in her eyes and her heart felt as though it were sitting in a vice.  Charlie sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.  He knew he couldn't’t really help her but he desperately wanted to.  His patience and understanding was more then Rose could handle and the floodgates opened.  She started  crying so hard that she began to tremble.  Her face was red and puffy  and snot was running down her nose, but she hurt too bad to be self conscious.  Charlie pulled away and Rose thought that she had grossed him out, but he took off his shirt and wiped her eyes and nose with it and leaned her back onto her pillow.  Rose pleaded with him to stay, so he laid down and let her rest on his chest.  His heartbeat was calming and Rose felt safe.4

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me Charlie.  I feel like I‘m going crazy, why didn't‘t I feel this way at the hospital?”5

“It just took some time setting in that’s all.  You‘ll be alright, but you need to take care of yourself.”6

“Why do you even care? Rose asked.  “It’s not like it was your baby.”7

“No, but it was a piece of you and I care about you.” he said.8

Rose noticed that he wasn't’t stuttering and she wondered why the sudden change.9

“How do you care about me?” Rose sniffled.  She saw that Charlie looked uncomfortable. 10

I-I-I j-just d-do. He replied,  his stutter instantaneously returning.  Looking ashamed, he got up and  abruptly left the room.  Rose tried to go after him, but when she sat up her stomach hurt.  Feeling defeated she grabbed the stack books on the bed and began looking at them.  She realized that they were the same books she’d borrowed from the abandoned house in Meriden.  As she flipped through the pages a feeling of urgency crept over her and she decided to start reading the book that looked like a thinner version of the Bible.  It was also broken into different parts.  The first one was called “The First Book of Nephi”  and it told the story of a man named Lehi, his wife Saria, and their family.  11

As she sat alone in her room engrossed in this  story  about a family from Jerusalem and their struggles for survival and their search for safety after the destruction of their homeland was ominously declared by their Father, Lehi.  When she had first started reading she’d assumed that these were fictional characters, but the more she read the more this family began to gain depth and Rose found herself curious.  Just what was she reading and what did it mean.   12

She had heard of the Book of Mormon in college, and had a very limited idea of who Joseph Smith was, but she had most certainly never been interested by any of it.  She was sure that the only reason she was curious now was because she was stuck in her bedroom with her family guarding the door, and she welcomed the distraction.   However, a number of questions were going through her mind and she began writing them down.  Perhaps when she returned to work she would get on the computer and do some research, but for the time being it seemed she was under lock and key.13

                          *14

Meanwhile Shandrea was also becoming more and more agitated in her current place of residence.  It was visiting hours, but she’d chosen to stay in her cell just to get a break from her cellmate.  The Shawnee County Jail was full and she was forced to share a cell with a methamphetamine addict who was coming down hard. 15

Since she was not doing to well herself she was not going to get along well with others.  Although she was being evaluated by a psychiatrist she was not currently taking any medication and her system was cleaner then it had been in years.  The clarity that sobriety was providing her was unwelcome in her current surroundings and she desperately wanted to find a fix of some kind.  She knew David could help her, but she wasn't’t sure that he would.  He’d been acting rather nice to her lately and that was putting her on edge.  David had been many things to her over the years, but polite was not one of them.  Just as she was contemplating David’s change in behavior a large female guard unlocked her cell and told her that she had a visitor.  Butterflies began to build in her stomach.  16

“I bet you want something to help you sleep!”  David said, but Shandrea looked around.  There was no one there except her and the guard.  “How did you know?” She replied, and noticed that the guard was looking at her.17

“Excuse me?” the guard asked, “Did you just say something?”18

Shandrea shook her head and looked down at the floor as David continued to speak to her.  She was lead into the visitation room and was shown to a seat with a telephone.  The two rooms were separated by a partition of plexi-glass and Shandrea wondered how David could be visiting her in jail, at the same time he was talking to her over the transmitter.  Her question was quickly answered however when a tall thin man with gray hair and a blue suit sat down in the chair in front of her.  She thought she recognized him, but was having trouble placing his face.  She carefully picked up the phone. “Hello?”19

Her response sounded more like a question than a greeting and the man on the other side of the glass realized that she did not remember him.20

“My name is Bill Hecht.” he said, hoping to jog her memory.21

The name sounded familiar to her too, but she still didn't’t know who he was.  “I’m sorry.” she replied still sounding confused.22

“I’m a lawyer.  David asked me to take your case.  That is, only if you’re interested.”23

Shandrea felt uncomfortable, but she didn't’t know why.  David was actually paying a lawyer ( and by the look of his suit, a good one) and although she appreciated it she was unsure of his motives so she played coy. 24

“I’ll think about it.“  She said. 25

“Don‘t worry about the cost, David has agreed to pay for all the expenses, no matter how long the trial is.”26

“Do you think the trial will be very long?”27

“I won’t really know until I get the chance to research it, but I bet I can keep you out of jail.  Maybe get you some treatment.  Especially since the child was found unharmed.”28

“Treatment for what?  I’m fine and I was fine when I found that poor child she’d been left by herself out in the cold.  Thank you for your time, Sir, but I already have a court appointed attorney…” she said, “and send David my regards.” Shandrea did not trust this guy and she wondered where she knew him from.29

“ If you change your mind, here’s my card.” he said, handing it to the guard that stood at the door.  She already seemed suspicious and he didn't’t want to come across as forceful.  Bill was certain that after a few days of thinking about it she would probably call.30