Chapter 36: Chapter 36

"What?" I ask this based on the expression on his face.

"I have an obligation to make a journey for work tomorrow." He lets out a sigh before laying his head on my shoulder and sighing again.

I inquired, "How much longer?"

The answer is "till Wednesday." Another sigh escapes him.

"Are you going to be able to make it back for Thanksgiving?" I ask, staring at him now.

"I certainly do. To our good fortune, there is nothing that has to be done." He is now seated. "Your mom and dad are seeing that everything is taken care of, right?"

"Yep. Nothing that I try to do is permitted by them. Not that I'm complaining, but I don't particularly enjoy preparing very large dinners." My recommendation is to switch it over to Netflix so that we may watch some of our shows.

We are able to get through a few more until Mark gets up to take a shower, at which point I need to change it. After discovering a sitcom by the name of Hart of Dixie, I made the decision to watch it. It's excellent.

Mark leaves for work, and I keep watching my show until Maya FaceTimes me. Then I will respond. I respond with "Hello" as soon as I see her face come on.

"Hey. What's up with that?" She inquires.

"Fairly satisfying. Mark is leaving for his trip tomorrow, and it's possible that I'll spend the week at my parents' house." I would suggest that we are becoming more accustomed to it. "How is it being a freshman?" I ask.

"Extremely enjoyable, but an extreme amount of pressure." She says getting comfy like me.

"Hello babe." I can make out a male voice coming from the direction of the phone.

I inquire, "Do you need to leave?"

"Nope. In all seriousness, I want you to talk to him." She grins from one ear to the other. I can tell that she has a lot of feelings for this guy. I watch her give him a wave as they approach.

I give him a polite greeting and a kind grin as soon as he takes a seat.

"Hello, it's great to finally meet you. You have a point there, Alyanna. Maya has filled me in on a lot of information regarding you." The individual claims. I can't bring his name to mind at the moment. Maya never mentioned his name until she started talking about him using pronouns.

"Good to meet you as well," he said. There is an uncomfortable pause in conversation. "So, what exactly are you majoring in?" I ask.

"Photography," he explains with a little smile on his face. "We worked together in teams. She was tasked with writing an article about something, and it was my responsibility to shoot a picture that did the subject justice. And vice versa." It elucidates how they wound up working together.

"That seems like a lot of fun," I said, even though I no longer feel like I'm a part of the conversation.

It appears as though Maya and the other guy, whose name I am not yet familiar with, are interested in making out because they constantly glancing at each other.

"Now it's time for me to leave. It was a pleasure to finally talk to you." I say. I really hope that he doesn't pick up on the fact that I didn't mention his name.

"And you," too. He says getting up.

"I'll give you a call the following day. I miss you." Maya tells her phone while blowing a kiss to it.

"I do miss you as well. Bye." Then we hung up.

I navigate to the post on Instagram that has his user name, and there I am. It is written with Kevin Cook. I give them a shrug and then return to show them the text from Mark.

Alyanna: Hey, considering that you have to go so early for the meeting, I'm thinking it might be best for me to spend the night at my dad's place.

Mark: It is very encouraging. I wouldn't want to wake you.

Then I send an SMS to my father.

Alyanna: Mark is going to be away on business. Would you like for me to spend the week with you?

Dad: My daughter Maddy and I would absolutely adore that!

Alyanna: Cool. May I come over later tonight?

Dad: The tune is sweet.

I get out of bed and head to the apartment to pack some things for the week. I bring a couple caps, a few changes of clothes, the charger for my phone, and headphones. A sketchbook alongside some pencils and markers to use in it. And Fire with Fire, the second installment in the Burn for Burn series.

I jump in my truck and begin the drive to my father's house. I play some card games with him and Maddy, and the most of the time I come out on top. As soon as it gets dark out, I make my way back to my room, which still contains a significant number of belongings. It has all of my books from kindergarten through high school, as well as a desk with drawers containing my old sketchbooks and journals. My bed, which features a comforter in a lilac color. A chair may be found in the far corner, along with a tall lamp.

"Oh, the good old times." I fall asleep while singing and putting my bag on the chair of my desk, and then I just sleep in my clothes.

"Hey." I say while trying to wave into the phone with a dry mouth. I'm currently lying in my hospital bed with Maddy by my side while Mark FaceTimes me on her phone.

"How are you feeling?" he inquires. "I'm OK."

"Tired." I mutter while slowly blinking my eyes.

"Hi dude. Are you all set to jump in the pool?" A voice can be heard coming from the other end. I don't recognize it. "Who exactly is this?" He asks. His tone conveys a sense of extreme surprise. I really just want to end this call, but before I do, I'd like to find out who's on the line.

"Jack, please meet my wife, Alyanna," Jack said to Alyanna. Mark says. I just realized that I'm not even wearing a hat, and now I'm feeling rather self-conscious about it.

"Oh, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alyanna." Jack says standing up and walking away.

"I really ought to let you go." I mumble something softly and flash him a little smile.

"I'll see you on Wednesday night," the speaker said. He says waving. I give a short nod, and then we end the call.

On Tuesdays, as soon as I get home, I head straight to the sofa and sleep for a longer period of time. This round is putting a lot of strain on me.

"What's up, hon?" My grandfather comes up to me and says he's going to sit at my feet while he rubs my arm. "What's the matter, why don't you go to your room?" I give a slight nod but remain still. I am aware of my father rising to his feet and wrapping his arms around me as he prepares to carry me to my bedroom.

There, I stayed for the entirety of the day. If it's not resting, it's probably reading a book or watching television. Each times I had a hard difficulty keeping myself from falling back asleep. Maddy and my dad will pop in here every once in a while to see how I am doing.

When I fall asleep for the second time in a row, I wake up to find that the sun is beaming through the windows. I have no idea what time it is. I glance down at the phone in my hand. One that occurs in the afternoon and is past due.

I get out of bed and take a shower. After I had significantly improved in my condition, I got dressed and went downstairs, where I discovered my mother, Will, Hannah, and Sophie, as well as my father and Maddy, all sitting on the floor, chairs, or couches. When I opened the door, I saw Charlie and Abby walking through it.

"Was there a party going on, and I wasn't even aware that it was happening?" I use my regular speaking voice to catch everyone's attention before asking.

"Alyanna!" I hear Hannah yell as she comes coming over to give me a hug.

"How are you? Best wishes for Thanksgiving!" I suggest giving her another hug in return. I make my way over to Sophie and offer her a hug when I get there. "What's up, Soph?"

"Hi Alyanna. We have missed you." Once we have parted ways, she says.

"Me too." I propose giving her another embrace and drawing her in closer. "Did you talk to mom?" I lower my voice so that only she can hear it. Once more, we part ways, and she gives a friendly nod and grin.

"How's my little one doing?" My mother gets from the couch, comes up to me, and gives me a hug before letting me sit in her old seat.

"Things are looking up now that everyone is present." I say this while putting my head against Charlie's shoulder. I am met by a cacophony of aws, which causes me to chuckle to myself.

"Where exactly is that man you call your husband?" Will asks.

It's likely that he's already on his way back home. It's time to get up and get to the kitchen to get some meal, in my opinion.

Where exactly was he? My mother has asked.

It was a business trip that brought him to St. Louis. When I was explaining that I was going to return with a bag of chips, my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answer. My eyes expanded. "Thank you, I'm on my way." I say then hang up. "Someone drove me to the hospital."