Stressing
She had prolonged getting out of bed as long as she could on the day after New Year’s Eve. Her head throbbed and the light of day seemed brighter than usual when she first woke up in the twin bed. “Oh someone put me out of my misery,” she moaned. Kathleen thought Jill would have been in the other twin bed next to her in the guest room, but when she looked she saw that her bed had been made.
Kathleen moved slowly when she sat up in bed to lessen the pain that felt like an ice pick in her head which wiggled on the slightest move. She finally made it to her feet and over to Jill’s bed where a note laid on the pillow. She half expected that Jill had taken her friend’s offer of private ski lessons, and had left early for the slopes. It made her smile and happy that Jill might have gone skiing. It was about time that the FBI agent had some fun.
Once she started to read the note, her smile faded. Jill had rushed to take the next plane out of Helena to get back to Chicago by that afternoon. She read that the mutants had broken free from Lincoln Park and attacked a crowd of people at the outdoor New Year’s party. The image of disfigured mutants flashed in her mind, followed by the image of the vampire feeding on the man at the bar. It made her feel ill. The note fell to the floor as Kathleen rushed to the bathroom to puke in the toilet.
After the purge, she cleaned up quickly, and then grabbed her heavy coat and her phone to find the best cell reception. She still felt weak and ill, but she was concerned about her friends who lived in Chicago.
After beep, she talked into her smart phone, “Toby, it’s me, Kathleen. I just heard about Lincoln Park. Please call me as soon as you get this message … Ok. “She ended the call, and stood outside for a moment while snowflakes fell from the sky.