Vindicated

Chapter SIXTEEN



The sun shone in brightly through the bedroom window, amplified by the reflection off the lake. I rolled over, pushing my hair out of my eyes, squinting against the light. The sound of the TV drifted into the bedroom.

Straightening my clothes, I shuffled across the floor, glancing at the clock. It was already ten-thirty.

Rubbing my eyes, I stepped into the living room.

“Whatcha’ watching?” I said with a yawn.

And then I opened my eyes. My parents were sitting on the couch, chatting with Alex.

It hadn’t been the TV I’d heard.

“Hey sleepy head,” Dad said cheerfully as he stood and crossed the room to give me a hug. I suddenly stiffened, realizing I was wearing only a spaghetti strapped top. I could be thankful for my mane of hair to cover most everything. I also felt self-conscious for wearing extremely short shorts.

“Hi,” I breathed as he wrapped his arms around me. “I didn’t expect you guys so early.”

“Well, the day is almost half over,” he teased as he stepped away from me. My eyes shifted over to my mom, who sat stiff and tense on the couch.

“Hi sweetie,” she said with a slightly forced looking smile.

“Hi mom,” I said, attempting to smile back.

It was then that I noticed Alex trying to hold back a chuckle.

“What?” I demanded, glaring at him.

“Nice hair,” he finally laughed, covering his smile with his fist.

“Oh my gosh,” I said in horror, retreating back into my room. I could feel my face flood red. Dashing into the bathroom, I found it smashed completely flat on one side, and sticking up to a comical height on the other.

“I’m jumping in the shower,” I yelled from the bathroom, and heard laughter answer me back.

Just breathe, I reminded myself as I stepped into the warm water. You’re a grown up. You have your own life, you’re getting married. Stop letting her affect you so much.

After pulling on a pair of jeans and a light sweater, I made extra sure my hair stayed in a general downward direction. My heart couldn’t seem to decide if it wanted to be calm or try and hammer out of my chest.

By the time I made my way back out into the living area, my parents were seated at the bar and Alex was working on a brunch that would feed a small army.

“Better?” I teased Alex as I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with orange juice.

“Beautiful,” he smiled, kissing me on the cheek.

“You two are so cute together,” my mom said with a sigh, a real, happy smile on her face.

I genuinely managed to return it as I sat on the barstool next to my dad.

“So what can we help with this morning?” she asked as Alex set a plate of pancakes on the counter. “There’s got to be a lot to do still, you guys threw this together so fast.”

“Not really,” I said, eyeing the pancakes, my stomach suddenly churning slightly. “We’ve got the venue all picked out and ready to go. Its outdoors so there’s not really any decorating that needs to be done. The dresses are set to go.”

“You picked one?” my mom beamed.

I nodded. “And then we just have to pick up the flowers tomorrow afternoon. Alex has the cake just about done. Um…” I tried to think. My mind had been in so many other places I felt like there was something I was forgetting. Somehow I felt cheated out of what was supposed to be the biggest day of my life. There were so many other things going on that the wedding felt almost unimportant. “Anything else, Alex?”

He shook his head as he forked pieces of bacon onto a plate. “I don’t think so. Everything’s pretty much ready.”

“Well what about a reception after the ceremony?” Mom asked, her brow furrowing.

“There’s not really any need,” I said with a hard swallow. My stomach didn’t feel right. “We literally only have eight guests coming. We’re keeping it really small.”

“Really?” Dad said in surprise. “What about all of your friends from down in California, Alex?”

I saw Alex’s eyes flash to my face for just a moment. He shook his head, throwing on a small smile. “None of them could make it up on such short notice. I don’t mind it being small though.”

I hated Alex having to lie. He wasn’t inviting his friends because he had cut off almost all ties now that he had changed so dramatically. It was easier this way. But still not right.

“It sounds romantic, sweetie,” Mom smiled at me.

I smiled back, glancing down at the glass I held between my hands. My stomach felt like it was quivering. Small tremors worked their way from my core, out into my limbs and down into my fingers and toes.

Maybe I should have expected that going back to the afterlife, being mostly dead myself, would have repercussions.

My throat felt like it was caving in on itself as all of my insides tightened on me. Suddenly my body felt as if it was crushing itself from the outside in.

I glanced up at Alex and found him watching me with narrowed eyes. I felt my own widen as the breath caught in my throat, feeling like my lungs were slowly dissolving in my chest.

Suddenly the glass between my hands shattered.

Every one of us jumped, my dad leaping from his seat to avoid the shards that sprayed across the bar.

“Whoa!” Dad cried as he half tripped over himself. And then his eyes narrowed.

There was a shard of glass sticking out of the fleshy part of my palm. I yanked it out before he could even process the movement.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” I jumped to my feet, trying to divert attention before my dad realized that he really had seen what he thought he had. Going to the pantry, I grabbed the broom and the vacuum.

“Are you alright?” Mom called, jumping to her feet to help. “What happened?”

“I…” I stuttered, trying to make my brain function again. It couldn’t seem to come up with a believable lie in that moment.

“She must have grabbed the glass with the crack in it,” Alex covered for me as he started sweeping the glass up on the bar with a rag. “I knew I should have just thrown it out when I saw the crack. Sorry, Jessica.”

“I’m okay,” I repeated, setting to cleaning up. I’m okay, I said again to myself internally. The earthquake inside of me started to calm.

Things settled back down quickly, my parents eating the meal Alex had prepared for them, Alex and I pretending to eat. But I saw how Alex kept looking at me, saw his eyes narrow.

He knew something was wrong. He knew my behavior, he knew me too well to not know something was wrong.

I didn’t know if I could keep hiding everything from him.

In an attempt to avoid the conversation I knew would be coming with Alex, I insisted on spending every moment of the rest of the day with my parents. I may have wanted to avoid my mother, but I wanted to avoid having to explain everything to Alex even more.

That evening, my parents being entertained by Alex, Amber, and Rod, I excused myself to go and check on Sal.

The house was quiet when I first walked in, though every single light was left on. Checking the first floor, I found no signs of Sal.

Keeping my feet quiet on the stairs to not wake her should she be asleep, I descended. And froze on the bottom step.

I could hear Sal talking, her voice low and hurried. She made no pauses, didn’t wait for a response, just continued her rushed speech.

For a few moments my heart leapt into my throat. There shouldn’t have been anyone in the house. Who was she talking to? Silently, I followed the sound of her voice, into her bedroom, and peeked around her bathroom door, which was just barely cracked.

Sal stood in front of the mirror, hurriedly speaking to her reflection, her eyes wide and blood-shot looking. Her hands twisted around each other, occasionally flitting to her mouth, covering her lips, though she never ceased her mumbled conversation.

“You… you…” she stuttered, looking at herself in the mirror. “Never should have talked to you at the beach that day. Never should have said hello. Hitting, hitting. So much hitting. I said stop, I said stop, but you, you couldn’t listen.”

I swallowed hard, remaining silent just outside the door. She was talking about her husband.

Or maybe talking to him.

“I…” she took a gasping, rattling breath, squeezing her eyes closed for a moment. “I can’t remember what it felt like. I felt it moving. I know I did. But I can’t remember…”

I thought back through what I knew about Sal’s past, trying to recall what she might be talking about.

“You…” tears started streaking down her cheeks. “You took him away! The blood… Mine… his. You killed him! You killed our baby boy!”

Goosebumps flashed across my skin and my blood chilled as I finally understood what Sal was ranting about.

Sal had been pregnant when Roger had nearly beaten her to death. She’d lost the baby because of him. That explained why he’d been sentenced to jail for the rest of his life.

He’d nearly ended two lives that day.

I never knew about that part.

“Sal?” I called, my throat tight. The word cracked as it came out.

She jumped violently, her hands finally falling still at her sides. She whipped around to face me, her eyes wide, and almost guilty looking.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I pushed the door open.

She pressed her lips tightly together and gave a small nod.

“Are you sure?” I saw her hands start to tremble.

“Uh huh,” she said with a shaky breath, wiping away one of the tears that rolled down her face.

“Why don’t you come lay down?” I asked, stepping into the bathroom and placing a hand on her back. Gently, I started guiding her back toward her bed. “It’s getting really late.”

“Yes,” she said, a small, very fake looking smile spreading on her face. “It’s very late. Very late.”

Sal crawled into her bed and I pulled the covers up to her chin. Sitting on the edge of her bed, I brushed the hair away from her face without thinking about it. She twitched away, her eyes squinting closed, her face cringing.

“I’m sorry, Sal!” I said, horrified, regret instantly filling me. I should have known better. She didn’t like to be touched in general and considering the state I had just found her in, this was the worst time I could have touched her.

“It’s okay,” she said, squeezing her eyes closed again for a moment, taking a deep breath. “You won’t hurt me.”

“No,” I shook my head. “I would never hurt you.”

“Never,” Sal said, shaking her head with her eyes closed.

“You know if something is going on that you can talk to me, right?” I asked.

She pressed her lips tight together again and nodded her head. A moment later she opened her eyes. As she looked up at me I saw fear hidden somewhere in them.

“Will you be okay tonight?” I asked, feeling my heart sink. It was so unfair, everything she had to go through. “I could stay tonight if you wanted.”

She shook her head once. “I’ll be okay, Jessica,” she said, a small smile spreading on her face. “You’re a good girl.”

“So are you,” I smiled back and stood. “Good-night, Sal.”

“Night.”

I glanced back at her just once more as I walked out her door. She was staring wide-eyed at the ceiling above her, the faintest movement forming on her lips.

She was getting worse.

As I got to the top of the stairs, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Alex. He picked up on the second ring.

“Hey,” he answered. I could hear everyone laughing in the background.

“Hi,” I said quietly. I didn’t want Sal to hear me. “Um, I think I’d better stay over here for the night. Sal’s not doing too good.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice concerned.

I sighed, pacing the floor. “Sal’s been acting strange lately. She keeps seeing her husband who’s in jail. She hasn’t been sleeping well. Just now I found her in her bathroom having a full-fledged conversation with herself in the mirror. She was really upset.”

“Do you want me to come over there with you?” he asked, I could hear him shutting a door behind him, like he had walked into the bedroom for privacy.

“No,” I breathed. “I’ll be okay. I’m just going to try and get some sleep on her couch. You keeping the troops entertained?”

“Yeah, everyone’s just playing a game right now,” Alex answered on the other line.

“Will you tell them that I’m sorry to cut the night short?”

“Sure.”

“Alex,” I said, pausing for just a moment. “I love you.”

My heart sank into my stomach for just a second when Alex paused for an instant too long. “I love you too.”





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