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“You good?”
“Yep.”
“No cutting,” she begged.
“No, babe, I’m good.” I hugged her.
It had been three weeks since she’d self-harmed and felt pretty good about that milestone.
“Hey, thanks, honey. Seriously.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.” Jesska hugged Adalyn again and watched her walk to her car before closing and locking the door. She was exceedingly grateful to her best friend as she fell asleep relatively quickly.
Thursday morning Jesska sat in her boss’s office and went over the proxy filings in front of her. An executive assistant for a high-powered human resources benefits guru, she was still trying to figure out what she wanted out of life. For now, however, she sat staring at the verbiage only people far smarter than she understood swimming before her.
Or it could be that babysitting her surrogate niece had worn her out. Kiana loved coming to Auntie Jess’s house, and made Adalyn pack a small suitcase with all manner of outfits for them to play dress-up. Jesska was convinced Kiana would one day be a writer... her storytelling unmatched by most adults.
For now, however, Jesska was required to pull the relevant information from the documents for her boss by noon, and her eyes were starting to cross with the tedium of it all. She hated her job most days, but she lived with it because she needed the money. And, if she was being honest, she pretty much hated her life as well. Why should her job be any different?
“Aha,” she breathed, locating the company information she needed. Maybe she was starting to understand some of this gibberish after all. She highlighted her findings, made a neat pile for her boss to go through, and headed back to her own desk.
“Hey, Jess.” Her coworker, Betty, peeked over the partition. “Ready for lunch?”
Jesska nodded. “Yep. Just let me check my e-mail, and then I’ll be all set.”
Betty sat back down at her desk and Jesska opened her e-mail just as her phone rang. Without taking her eyes from the screen, she answered it. “This is Jess.”
“Ah, Jessie Shane?”
Only Megan called her “Jessie.”
“Yes, this is Jessie.” She took a second to check the caller ID, but it didn’t give any helpful information.
An older woman’s voice said, “Miss Shane, your sister and niece have been in a motor vehicle accident, and you’re in her phone as an emergency contact.”
“What happened? Are they okay?” Jesska stood and grabbed her purse.
“That’s all I can tell you right now. I’m sorry.”
“Okay, where are they? I’ll be right there.”
“Legacy Emanuel. ICU.”
“Ah, thanks,” she said, and hung up the phone. “Betty, my sister and niece have been hurt. I have to go.”
“Is she okay?” Betty asked, popping her head over the cubicle again.
Jesska grabbed her jacket. “I have no idea. Can you let Tim know? I’ll call as soon as I know anything.”
She rushed down to her car and sped out of the parking garage a little faster than she probably should have, hitting Naito Parkway and heading to the freeway. “Call Dad,” she ordered her hands-free system. The call went to voice mail, so Jesska left a message and tried her mother. “Call Mom.”
No luck there either, so she left a message just as she arrived at the hospital entrance. She sent up a silent prayer to the traffic gods and hunted for a parking space.
Bíldudalur, Iceland
Kaspar Baldursson waved his hand, catching the book that came flying from the top shelf, and sat in one of the library chairs facing the large bay window in his home. He didn’t really know why he’d grabbed the book; he doubted he’d be able to focus enough to read it anyway.
