Page 78 of Stitch
“You okay?”
I heard something rustling on the other end of the phone.
“I… there are letters for you. Here at the house. I think they’ve been here a while.” Stitch’s face dropped, and I grabbed his free hand, feeling him squeezing my fingers. Letters. Maybe the very letters he’d been waiting for.
“Uh… from the hospital?”
“Yes. Oh god, Seth, why are there three of them? I’m scared.” From the look on my husband’s face, I knew she wasn’t alone in that fear, because we were both feeling it too.
“Three? Jesus, that can’t be good.” His voice was surprisingly strong, but he shot me a worried look.
“How long have they been there, sweets? I’ve been waiting for something, you know that.”
She groaned, rustling more papers, or maybe the same damn ones that might be about to ruin three lives.
“I just came back today, and they were waiting.”
“Today? What do you mean, just today? You’ve… have you been at the fucking clubhouse this whole time? Without me? Reacher hasn’t been there either, for fuck’s sake.”
She sighed heavily, and there was more rustling.
“You need to come home, Seth. These are probably important, and no, don’task me to open them and read them to you. I’m… I’m too scared to.”
Stitch threw back the covers, and slid out of bed.
“I’m getting ready right now. I’ll meet you at the clubhouse as soon as I can, uh… how far away are we, babe?”
“An hour? Hour and a half maybe?”
“Yeah, we’ll meet you there in two hours, tops.”
There was too long a pause.
“You want me to go back to the clubhouse? I just got home.”
Stitch was already sliding into his jeans and cursed out loud.
“Don’t fucking push me on this, Elise. Those letters are the most important fucking mail I’ve ever received. You’re another hour away from the clubhouse. Please don’t make me wait even longer.”
“No. You’re right. I’ll uh… I’ll go back… there. Drive safe, Seth. It could be good news.”
“Yeah, three letters are bound to be good news. Jesus fuck! Be safe, sweets. I’ll see you as soon as I can.”
He ended the call and stared at me, all motion suddenly ceasing.
“Jesus. This is it. Clearly today is meant to be the day we get the answers, babe.” He stood frozen for a moment, so I grabbed his hands and squeezed them, waiting until he met my eyes again. I nodded at him, trying to show him that he could do this, that it might not be bad news, that I’d be with him no matter what. I’m sure he got none of that, but I hoped that the sentiment would permeate the universe somehow and let me keep the man I loved so much.
I released his hands, hurrying him along, until we were both dressed and freshened up, with me behind the wheel, because I was worried he was too preoccupied to drive.
Stitch
No matter what kindof front I put on, the truth was that I didn’t want those damn letters. Why were there three? Was it bad news and then they’d chased me up when I didn’t answer? Was I supposed to be back there for urgent surgery or fucking treatment? Was it something else?
I had no idea how long the letters had even been there, because Jesus, how long was it since we’d returned to the clubhouse, and with so much happening since, it hadn’t even occurred to me that the letters would be there at my registered address.
Even more curious was why the hell my baby sister hadn’t gone straight back to the house when I went on my impromptu honeymoon. Why the hell did she stick around there without me? Who the hell would she spend time with? Who the fuck had been entertaining her in my absence? If anyone had hit on her or made her uncomfortable, I’d kill them.
“Stop stewing over there and talk to me.”
