"Good morning, Eileen," Veronica greeted her step-daughter as she entered the kitchen. "Breakfast is on the counter. Oh and there's a letter for you, too. It's from the college."
Eileen stopped in her tracks. A letter from her school couldn't be good news. "Has Daddy seen it yet?"
"I don't think so."
Eileen hurried towards the counter and tore open the envelope. As she scanned the pages inside the sense of dread she felt only worsened. The news was even worse than she had expected. She sighed and then stuffed the papers back into the envelope.
When she heard her father's footsteps approaching, she looked for a place to hide the letter, but she didn't have time. Her father was already walking into the room, so she casually picked up the letter from the counter.
"Good morning," Arthur greeted his wife and daughter in a tired voice.
Veronica looked up long enough to cheerfully return the salutation before hiding behind her newspaper again. She knew something unpleasant was about to take place and she didn't want to get in the middle of it.
"You were out late last night, Eileen," he remarked.
"I had to take my friend Cassandra to the hospital."
"Cassandra? I don't remember you mentioning her before. Is she alright?"
"Yeah, they think so. She just fainted."
Arthur could tell that Eileen was nervous about something, but it took him a moment to notice the letter she was gripping tightly in one hand. "What do you have there?"
"Just a letter, Dad," Eileen replied innocently, but Art was not convinced.He held out his hand and, with a sigh, Eileen gave him the letter.
Arthur removed the letter from its envelope and started reading. He had only read half of it before he decided he had seen enough. He folded the letter back up and took a deep breath before he finally spoke. "Well, Eileen, what do you have to say about this? Can you explain to me how an intelligent girl like yourself can be failing every one of her classes?
Eileen shrugged. "No, but I'll try to do better."
"Do you realize how serious this is, Eileen?" Arthur asked sternly. "If you don't get these grades up before the end of the term, they won't let you come back next semester. This is your last chance."
"Maybe it's for the best," Eileen mumbled. "I'm not learning anything useful there anyway."
"Oh really? Maybe if you spend less time running around, having fun with your friends and a little more time on your classes, you'll see things differently."
Arthur didn't arrive at the office in good spirits. Eileen had argued and protested, but he stuck with his decision. It was high time that Eileen take things more seriously and learn some responsibility. He knew he was partly to blame for spoiling her when she was growing up, but maybe a few weeks at home without parties and friends to distract her would do some good.
I have a message for you, Mr. Townsend," Lauren greeted him. As she sorted through the notes on her desk, Arthur wondered what bad news he could be getting next. "Here it is. Jerry Keller wants you to call him back as soon as you can. He said he has some big news."
Arthur perked up immediately. "Thanks, Lauren."
Cassandra had been admitted into the hospital overnight for observation. The doctor had told her to rest, but she had trouble following that order. She dozed in and out of a fitful sleep. There was something on her mind that she knew was important to remember, but for some reason she couldn't recall what it was.
When Lucy came in to check on her as she was doing the rounds on her internship, Cassandra was muttering in her sleep. The patient gasped and awoke with a start.
"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked professionally.
"Tired," Cassandra replied.
"I have good news for you. Your sister is waiting for you in the reception area. There are a few papers that you need to sign, but other than that you're free to go home. Maybe you'll sleep better in your own bed."
"Maybe, but I doubt it," Cassandra replied and crawled out of bed.
As she started across the room to get dressed, she stopped suddenly in her tracks.
"Are you ok?" Lucy asked.
Cassandra spun around quickly. "It has to do with you."
"What does?" Lucy asked.
"I don't know. I can't remember," Cassandra struggled. "Before I fainted I knew something bad was going to happen. I can't remember what it was now or who I had to warn, but it has something to do with someone close to you. I can feel it."
Lucy had no idea how to reply to that, she wasn't even sure what she should make of the assertion. Cassandra had bumped her head when she fainted, maybe that was affecting her thinking. "I need to check on some other patients," Lucy said as she nervously backed towards the door. "Just stop by the nurse's station when you're ready to leave."
While Cassandra was filling out her paperwork, Lucy spoke to Zara, privately to let her know that her sister had made some strange remarks and if they continued, to bring her back in for another check-up. Zara nodded, but said little.
"Ok, I'm ready," Cassandra announced.
As the sisters left the hospital Zara said, "You had another premonition, didn't you?" When Cassandra said she had, Zara sighed. "You've got to stop telling people things like that, Cass."
"I know, but I had to do something."
"You have got to be more careful. You don't want end up like Mom, do you?"
Lucy was still shaken by Cassandra's statement when she got home. As she walked into the house she was greeted by the sound of soothing music. She followed it's source to the foyer where Jordan was listening to a record.
"Good evening, Miss Stuart," Jordan greeted her as he moved to turn off the music.
"Don't turn it off," Lucy insisted. "What are you listening to?"
Jordan told her the name of the song and explained, "I was finalizing the plans for the country club's next charity event and I thought it might be a good song to use."
"It's lovely."
"It's a very popular song at events like these, especially when there is dancing. As I recall there was a particular dance my previous employers would dance to this song. It was a beautiful sight to watch."
"Oh, really?" Lucy asked with interested. "Would you show it to me?"
Jordan was reluctant. "Do you think that's a good idea, Miss Stuart?"
"Of course, I do. I've had an difficult day and I could use a dance."
It was in Jordan's job description to fulfill his employer's requests, so he took Lucy in his arms and lead her in a dance.
As they glided across the floor, Lucy became aware of how strong and graceful Jordan was and, seeing him up close, how handsome he was. But as soon as she realized what she was thinking, she tried to put those kind of thoughts out of her mind.
As the song ended, Jordan lowered Lucy until a final dip. They held that position for an extended moment, before Jordan pulled Lucy back to her feet.
"That was very nice. Thank you," Lucy said quietly.
"The pleasure was mine," Jordan replied.
They were spared from the awkward moment that passed by the ringing of the telephone. Jordan moved to answer it, but Lucy stopped him. "Don't worry, I'll get it."
"Hello?"
"Can I speak to Lucy Stuart, please?"
"This is her."
"This is Gloria Churchill from Earhart Memorial Hospital. A friend of yours, Craig Sexton, was in an accident this evening. He was just admitted a few minutes ago and he gave us your name as the person we should contact."
"I'll be right there," Lucy said and quickly hung up the phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment