Thunder Storms (#1 - Semper Fi Series)

Part IV

As Renee readied for work the next day, she thought about Adam and how he was being friendlier now than he had been the last six months. Interesting. I’m glad he is, but what sparked his sudden interest in getting to know me? That’s odd. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the ex was behind this, she thought to herself.

But, she’d known her ex her whole life. He was in another town, in another State. He started out nice enough, but the green-eyed monster was ugly and took over his personality. He became overly protective, and possessive. He wanted to spend all of his time with her, and never let her have time to herself. Joining the Army shortly after she broke their relationship off was the best way to leave town. How he ever found her was a puzzle she didn’t want to solve. She just wanted him to leave her alone.

She’d also known Adam for years, though not too well, but they certainly played as small children. She only saw him a few times growing up. Maybe the reason was the vacations he had overseas. Something seemed different, though. He was nicer now. He’s always been nice, but, now in a way that appealed to her womanhood. His hug was serene. He was kind and honest-to-goodness sincere in wanting to be her friend.

Renee resolved to ask Adam why he’d suddenly decided to show such an interest in getting to know her.

She grabbed her lunch, which would actually be a midnight snack, and a change of clothes for her locker, and jumped in the car. She was getting a late start. She swung the car out of the driveway, and honked and waved as she passed Adam. He waved with a questioning look. No time to stop and explain. He’ll figure it out.

Forty minutes later, she pulled into the hospital parking lot. Such a long drive to go to work. Hopefully today she would not wind up working overtime. She still had not caught up on her sleep. Maybe today there would be an hour or two to catch a nap. That sounded good now, and this is a bad way to start a shift.

“What’s on the board today, Stella?” Renee asked the surgical secretary. Stella was a forty-something black Southern Belle, who had hair straightened to her shoulders, long red nails, brown eyes that were almost black, and a thick accent and a heart of pure sugar. She could be strict if need be, but most of the time, she was very nice.

“Well, Dr. Monahan has a double bypass scheduled, but he has everyone he needs for that. Dr. Johnson is scheduled to repair a hernia, and he has all of his personnel requirements met as well. So, unless you just want to scrub in to be another set of hands, there’s not much to do just yet. I think they each have another surgery, but that will be after you are off shift. They don’t like to stay after 6, so, barring any....”

“Don’t say it, Stella. You’ll jinx it!” Renee laughed. “I will be on stand-by for trauma if they need me. Any C-sections scheduled? That’s always a nice break from surge... new babies being born. Let me know if anything different needs to be done.”

“Will do, Renee!” Stella called back. Then, “Oh, Renee! I forgot to tell you. Some man came in here asking about you. He said he was your fiancé?”

Renee’s heart stopped for a split second. Her breath caught in the back of her throat. With hesitation in her voice, she asked, “Did he give a name?”

Stella’s answer was, “No, he said he’d call you later. I didn’t give him any information, though. It sounded strange. Why would he be looking for you if you were already engaged? Something’s not right, if you ask my sense of intuition.”

“Thank you, Stella. If he comes back, tell him I was fired, or dead, or something. I have a feeling I know who it is, and if he thinks he’s found me, there might be trouble. Big, hairy, somebody’s gonna get hurt, kind of trouble.” Renee did not need this. Not now! Not when she was finally, three long years later, about to have her life back. Why wouldn’t he just give up? It’s been over for almost 7 years now. “I moved on with my life. And now, I’ve moved on since he ruined my life. He needs to stop. This is growing old, and with a quickness.”

After a less than eventful day, and night, Renee was ready to go home and start all over, with sleep being her first priority.

. . . . .

Across the street a silver Honda sat parked among other cars. He just watched. He was learning her shifts. He wouldn’t follow her home. Not today, anyway. First, he wanted to see her routines. She went to the closest twenty-four hour grocery store, stayed inside for fourteen minutes, and then headed towards the highway. Tomorrow, at 3:30, he’d be here, waiting for her to arrive for her shift.

With a disgruntled chuckle, he started his car and headed back to the trailer park. He’d rented a trailer when he learned where she was living. Odd how people never thought that writing to their mamas would give their location away. She’d tried to be sneaky, he remembered. She had a post office box in a nearby town for mail. She didn’t bank on her information being online. Maybe she wasn’t thinking of it. She should be more careful about her information and who has access to it. She was easy enough to find. Convincing her she loved him would be difficult, especially after the accident. He laughed.

. . . . .

Renee looked behind her. She was now wary of any and every shadow and unknown person she saw. How did he make her so jumpy, even after all this time? She thought about a restraining order, but he’d have to be a threat before these local police did anything. She was so far out in the country; it would take a while for an officer to respond anyway.

She walked into the kitchen from the garage, started some coffee, changed clothes, and turned on the computer. Sleep would come soon, but she had not checked e-mail in days.

 There was a quick note from Mom; another from Aunt Nelle; a spam letter to buy a new car. What’s this?

“You were lost, now you are found!”

Panic and terror shot through her body like lightning. “No! NO!” Bile attempted to rise in her throat, but she swallowed it down. In the pit of her stomach, a sickening feeling began to creep in. Afterwards, she had an overwhelming sense of anger and dread, like when someone is in a hospital and the prognosis is not a good one.

Think. Think. Too tired to think. Get some sleep. Think in six hours.

Mechanically, almost robotically, Renee went to bed. Sleep would not come. She tossed and turned for almost an hour. It was almost six in the morning. Sitting up, she turned on the television, and flipped through innumerous infomercials, finally landing on her favorite music channel, and relaxed.