Up in the Air

Chapter 31

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I'm sorry in advance for the weepiness towards the end.

Chapter31

Reason and responsibility won over.

All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and not resurface for a week but I found myself stopping at the Andersons' first.

"We're in the kitchen," Mrs. Anderson called out over her husband's laugh when she heard the front door open and then shut. Both their smiles froze when I walked into the kitchen. I tried to give them a reassuring smile but it came out more like a grimace.

"Everything okay, Sara?" Mr.Anderson asked.

He took a step towards me but I stepped back. "Is Nate back?"

They snuck a look at each other. "He's still at Amanda's." Mrs. Anderson's voice was gentler than usual. "Are you sure everything's –"

"Yes, I'm o–"I couldn't say it when it was too far from the truth. "I'm not feeling too good. I think I'm catching a cold."

Mr. Anderson looked like he believed me but Mrs. Anderson wasn't fooled. She walked up to me and placed both hands on my shoulders. "Sara, if something happened –"

"I don't want to get you guys sick." I sniffed and went to get a tissue to slip away.

"You can stay in the guest room."

I shook my head. "I'll feel better at home."

"Wait for Nate; he can stay with you," Mr. Anderson pleaded. "It isn't safe for you to be alone –"

"It's okay." I was already at the door. "I'll turn on the alarm."

I crawled into bed, shoes and all, not long after that.

But the escape of sleep was short-lived.

I was jolted wide awake when the house filled with blaring sirens and my sense of survival won over my superpower to sleep like the dead. I jumped out of bed to quickly shut and lock my bedroom door but a beefy arm came between it and the frame.

Almost immediately, I heard a familiar voice cursing out in pain.

"Nate?"

"Yes."

The sirens were drowning out our voices.

I yanked my bedroom door open and Nate was kneeling by it, holding his right arm close to his chest."Disable the alarm system first," he gruffly ordered before I could apologize.

I didn't have to hear the words but I knew he was swearing from the pain as I ran down the hall. I took the stairs two steps at a time and punched in the code into the keypad by the front door. The shrill ring of the land line immediately followed the half beat of silence. It was an operator from the security company. I explained what happened – Nate always knew where the spare key was but the alarm system was an entirely new thing.

"Adam?" Nate asked.

"You could never be too safe," I replied in my best impression of my brother. "He had it installed a couple of weeks ago. You can tell he's just going to be an overprotective Dad."

Nate's expression silently said no duh. "Get me some ice?"

Nate played football. I was sure I'd barely dented him but walked into the kitchen anyway. "What's wrong with you?" I handed him a bag of frozen vegetables.