Fall With Me (UIC 2022)

8 - There's No Place Like Home

A single ping from her cell phone woke Sawyer up. She shifted in bed, wondering why everything felt off. Not bad, but good.

Like—really, really good.

The mattress was soft, the pillows firm beneath her head. There were actual sheets on the bed and not a dime store throw that was too short to cover her body completely. All the linens smelled fresh—not like the cheap bar soap she sometimes grabbed from the bar kitchen.

Sawyer blinked and the room came into focus. She was home, lying in her childhood queen-sized bed. Her eyes flickered to the digital alarm clock on her desk: noon.

Not exactly an odd time for her to be getting up, but she actually went to bed at a reasonable hour last night. It had been an adjustment to sit in the dining room with her parents and brother, eating normal, healthy food. Well, if you counted the celery that came with Wings over Hecate City's Firestarter Buffalo Wings "healthy" ... Still, it was the most food she'd had in a long time and consequently, she got sleepy right after dinner.

Her phone pinged again.

Yawning, Sawyer reached out, grabbed it off the desk, and looked at the message. It was from Caleb:

<< I didn't wake you, did I? >>

That was Caleb—always thoughtful. << No. I just woke up a little while ago. >> A little white lie.

<< Are you free to talk? I just got off of work. >>

Sawyer's lips pursed and she found herself hesitating. But why? She was already home. That's what Caleb and her family wanted in the first place. So many habits to break, Sawyer mused as she hit the "call" button; Caleb answered on the second ring.

"Hey," he drawled, the warmth in his voice tempered by weariness.

"You sound tired," Sawyer replied, sitting up in bed and leaning against the wall. Comic posters crinkled as she moved.

Caleb chuckled wryly. "You got me there. Just got done taking care of a residential fire on Patterson."

Sawyer shifted, crossing her legs beneath the sheets. "Oh? Is everyone all right?"

"No." Caleb sighed. "It was a hoarding situation with no working smoke detectors. By the time we got there, the elderly homeowner passed from smoke inhalation and her daughter is in critical condition at Laurel Reed Medical Center."

"Oh, my goddess." Sawyer clapped her free hand to her mouth. "Are you all right?"

"It's not the ideal situation, obviously. But I'll be fine. I just wanted to see how you're doing this morning."

Sawyer paused, considering. "Good. I'm good." The second time she said the word, she actually believed it.

Caleb's sigh of relief was audible over the phone. "I'm glad, Savvy, I really am." He took a deep breath, then said, "I want to apologize."

"For what?" she asked, staring at her open bathroom door in confusion.

"For ... for pressuring you to come home. I've been thinking about it a lot, actually. I didn't realize how much pain my grandfather caused you, and—"

Goddess. "Caleb," Sawyer interrupted gently.

"Hm?"

"You don't have to be sorry."

"But you weren't ready," he argued.

"But it's what I needed." However, it took nearly all day for everything to sink in.