Learning How to Bend

Day 29 - Almost to the end of NaNo!

//Holy smokes, I've been updating every day for almost a month?! Can't say this will continue once December starts. It's a lot of work, ha, but I'll try to keep it up as long as I can! I know I might get impaled by an icicle like a certain snowman otherwise :) //

Katherine got to leave the hospital, but little Elizabeth remained behind in the NICU and would be there until further notice.  Both Kat and Joe had taken leave from their respective jobs so they could spend as much time with little Elizabeth as possible.  All of us were undecided on what nickname to use for her as of yet.  Joe used "Lizzy" quite a bit, while Kat tended to use "Eliza."  Me, on the other hand...I tended to use "Betha."  As in ElizaBETH, just with an A on the end.  I had not met her yet, but that was fine with me.  I wanted to meet her healthy and well outside the hospital walls rather than in a little chamber.  Plus, part of me really did not know if I could go inside that building again without having a heart attack.  Once was more than enough.

Joe thought I was crazy for going back to work in the few days between Christmas and New Year's, but I was starting to get bored.  I needed the mental stimulation, as it helped keep my brain occupied.  Occupation, even with mundane tasks, meant fewer nightmares.  I cannot say I enjoyed the work I did during that timeframe; it was mostly updating contact lists for my team inside the marketing department.  "Menial" was a generous descriptor.  I probably would have given it to an intern had we had any in the office, but they were all done for the semester.  I had really liked the two we had during the fall.  Both New York University students, they were hardworking, and they completed any task I presented to them accurately and usually before the provided due date.  Sometimes they would make mistakes, but I did not expect perfection.  They were students who were learning each day, not only in class but also inside our office walls and gaining real-life experience.  One was male, one was female.  I liked them both and actually found myself missing them.  I only hoped the two we would have next semester would be half as adequate.  They would start on January 16, giving us enough time to prepare projects and guidelines for them.

I rubbed my eyes, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly.  I was getting a headache.  Even though updating the contact lists was important, part of me really did not want to do it anymore.  I stood from my chair and went to the kitchen.  Opening a drawer, I pulled out a bottle of aspirin and dropped a couple pills in my hand.  Or at least, I thought it was aspirin.  The bottle was the right size.  The pills were the right size.  Good enough.  I pulled a bottle of water from the fridge, opened it, and swallowed the two pills before wandering to my room to lie on my bed, face down on my pillow.  Chelise came back with me and curled up at the bottom of the bed, head resting on one of my ankles.  I kicked her chin off my foot before rolling onto my side and curling up around my stuffed dog.  It was one of the only items I had kept from my childhood.  According to my father, my mother had purchased it for me before I was born.  It was all I had of her.  No clothes, no wedding dress, no voicemails.  Obviously no pictures, either, because those would mean nothing to me anyway since I could not see them.  All I had was this dog who was now flat with his matted fur.  He still had his eyes and nose, although I had sewn each of them back on twice.  They were probably a little uneven, and the nose might have been crooked, but that hardly mattered to me.  The little stuffed animal helped me sleep, and it was a physical memento of my mother's love for me.

I somehow managed to fall asleep despite the headache and woke up with the headache even worse than it was before.  When my phone rang with the "Frosty the Snowman" ringtone, I almost considered sending it to voicemail, but I reached for it off my nightstand.  I missed, though, knocking it onto the floor.  Not only that, I slipped from the bed and slammed my head into the corner of the table.  That only made the headache worse, and not only that, I thought I might be bleeding.  I scrambled up, keeping pressure on my head, and followed the sound of the ringtone to the phone on the other side of the nightstand.