Chapter 15 Back to Normal?

Chapter 15

Brittney woke up with a word buzzing in her head. Denouement? She remembered it from her reading and that it meant the climax to a sequence of events in a story. The point where significant decisions are made.

That’s where I am, she thought. “Denouement,” she whispered.

“Denou-what?” Alex said in the groggy speech of someone just returning to consciousness.

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking of words from my reading lately.”

“You read too much,” Alex said.

Brittney smiled. “Yes, I do.”

“So, it’s back to work today?” Alex asked.

“Yes. It will be good to get back in my routine,” Brittney said.

Yep, you had a busy time last week,” Alex said.

Brittney felt her neck starting to blush. “Yes, it was a week,” she said.

Brittney crawled from bed and went straight to the toilet to pee. She wondered why the sound of a woman peeing was so loud in the morning but rationalized it was because the house was so quiet.

As she dried herself with a tissue, she thought of the patients she would see that day. She was fascinated by how unique and varied medical histories can be. She looked down at herself and though, The history of this body got more complicated. She touched herself and thought, This body has seen a 100% increase in sexual partners during the last week. She almost laughed to herself, but a part of her saw no humor.

Brittney put on her robe and shuffled into the kitchen to start the coffee. She heard the girls chirping from their bedroom.

“Time to get up,” she called. They were quiet. “I know you’re awake. Today’s a school day and pancakes will be ready in a few.”

It was nice to hear the familiar sounds of her routine life after the week she’d had before.

By 9:00 her girls were in school, she was at the hospital, and all seemed right with the world. Everyone was in their place.

The day was a blur of business. She was playing catchup but that was something she expected. When her phone pinged, she expected a message from Alex as he sometimes sent after lunch. Sometimes it was, “Hey sweetie. Love you,” or just a heart. She always replied with a heart.

What she didn’t expect was a text from David.

“I’m planning my week and want to include you in the plan,” it said.

“Sorry, crazy week,” I replied.

“I know. That’s why planning is so important.”

He’s so persistent, she thought. She felt a little pinch of guilt but also the pull of desire. How does this end? she thought.

“Maybe by Thursday, I’ll start to catch up,” she replied.

“I’ll die before Thursday, but alright. Maybe a long lunch on Thursday?”

“Maybe,” texted Brittney. “Please don’t text until Thursday. I’m so far behind right now.”

“Alright. I understand,” said David.