Healing Hearts

Chapter 6 - Holidays

October 31st, 2020 - 10 pm

HALLOWEEN

Too soon the holidays were upon them and she couldn't have been happier. It was finally a time when they could forget about all the pain and suffering the world had gone through. Halloween had always been her favorite holiday. At the hospital, the children patients that weren't very mobile sat outside their rooms with empty bowls and the nurses would walk around dropping candy in the bowl every time they walked passed. The smiles it brought to their faces warmed her heart and she always made it her goal to walk past the kids at least five or six times when she was on shift. At home, they never got any kids trick or treating because they were too close to the coast so she would stop at the store and get a bunch of candy that they would eat while watching scary movies. She hated scary movies but Halloween was the one time of year that she would let George and Billy scare her with them. This time though they had Raleigh's help and she had no clue the surprise she was in for when she got home from work.

The weather had started to cool off as they got further and further into fall. She was bundled up to keep the cold from hitting her too hard. Though she was still in her scrubs she had changed out of her white Keds and into her Timberlands and her jacket was zipped up with a scarf peeking out at the collar. Her braid had long since become a mess with hair falling out everywhere and pieces whipping in her face when she stepped out of her truck.

Looking at the house she couldn't see any lights on in the house and the hair on her arms stood on end. She knew they were home because the other truck was still there but she knew they were probably hiding in an attempt to scare her. She approached the house carefully. The anticipation was killing her and she was dreading stepping through the door. Reluctantly she slipped her key into the door, unlocked it, and pushed it open. She stayed on the porch in case they had planned to jump out the second she stepped through the door. But she knew better. Raleigh was smarter than that. With any luck, she would end up screaming and then crying and laughing in embarrassment. She huffed, just wanting to get it over with. She walked into the house and began her usual process of unbundling and putting her things in their proper place.

"I'm home!" She yelled into the house. She paused and waited for a response. Nothing. Absolute silence. She flipped the lights on and prepared for one of them to jump out. Instead, she found her house completely decked out with old Halloween decorations. Most of it was stuff she remembered from when her parents had brought her up here once to visit George. She couldn't help but smile, despite the creepy feeling the stupid decorations gave her.

She continued her way up the stairs and to her room. All the way up the stairs the boys had stretched and strung spiderwebs making it look like a tunnel. As she walked through it she could feel random pieces touching her and it gave her goosebumps. At the top of the stairs, she looked both ways and sighed. So far so good. She thought to herself. She entered her room as she always did, more focused on the door and where she was stepping than what was in front of her. She scratched the back of her neck, letting out a deep breath and made her way over to her closet.

"RAAARHH!" The sudden loud noise caused her to shriek and jump backward from her closet. Her hand had been hovering above the door handle when Raleigh had jumped out yelling at her. He was covered in fake blood and he looked like an almost zombie.

"Raleigh..." She whined, a hand over her heart and she sat down on the bed to catch her breath. He had his hands on his knees to keep himself from falling over with laughter. She just sat there and crossed her arms, glaring at him. A full ten minutes passed before he was able to speak and she was pretty sure she was still bright red.

"That was priceless." He breathed out, sitting on the bed beside her. She fixed him with a stern glare but she was having a hard time keeping it up with the look he was giving her in return. He had a twinkle in his eye she hadn't seen before and it made her heart melt.