Witness

I came downstairs to find my dad sitting in his usual chair in front of the TV."What do you want for dinner tonight?" He asked as I took a seat on the nearby couch."You didn't plan anything?" I teased. I knew he wouldn't have planned dinner for us without my opinion.My dad was a simple guy. If it were up to him, he would live off of frozen pizza, microwave meals, and cheddar ruffle chips. Earlier when I mentioned having home cooked meals, that's only when I was home to cook for him."Well, I went grocery shopping earlier, but I'm not sure if you have anything to make; why don't you take a look in the kitchen? We could do steaks, or tacos, or I don't know, maybe spaghetti if I have it?"I chuckled at his random options, "Let's do steaks; I haven't had one in forever and that way you can grill while I make whatever sides I can find."He agreed with my suggestion and I sat down beside him on the couch, watching the football game that he had on in comfortable silence. I wasn't a huge d

After the police, firemen, and paramedics arrived at the scene, I was gently pulled from my car and placed on a gurney as they loaded me into an ambulance. I stayed alert throughout the process, but the feeling of the accident and the sensation of being loaded into an ambulance was all too familiar to me, as images of my past accident flashed in my mind. Panicked, and after a final request to call my dad, I somehow lost consciousness before making it to the hospital. When I finally woke up, I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but I was in a hospital bed with my arm now in a sling and a thick bandage over my shoulder. My dad was in the room, but he was chatting with an officer and another man off in the corner. The officer wasn't doing much of the talking, but the man next to him was holding something in his hands that looked to be an FBI badge. He was a very large man--muscular and definitely above 6' as he was much taller than my dad. He was dark skinned, bald, and looked to be

Almost 5 hours had passed since Jaxon and I left the station, and I already felt like it had been an eon. I shifted in my seat, crossing my legs and hugging my arms tight to my chest for comfort and warmth. "You okay?" Jaxon asked, turning the radio down a few notches. This was the first thing he said to me since we left; I must not have moved much until now. Although his question was nice, it seemed he was trying to keep me at a distance; like he asked more for common curtesy rather than legitimate concern. But to answer his question, no. I was in no way okay. My arm was throbbing from the gun shot, I had whiplash starting to kick in from the car flipping, and I was freezing from the inside out. But, the absolute worst part, was knowing that everything was about to change, and knowing that my poor father was left behind, on his own, to sell my death to everyone. So no... not okay, Jaxon. "Emery?" He asked again while still remaining focused on the road. This time though, I did c

After my shower, I made quick work of getting dressed and crawling into bed. Jaxon and I only exchanged a few words, and he hadn't looked at me even once since I was out of the bathroom. He had the TV on and asked if I had a channel preference, which I politely declined. I knew I wouldn't be awake long anyway once I was tucked into the firm hotel bed. Sure enough, I fell asleep within moments despite the fact that I had a lot to process. My brain and body were just completely drained at this point. However, because of everything that happened, my subconscious was on overdrive, and it made for some horrifying dreams. I don't remember the specifics of the dream, but next thing I knew, I was being woken up by Jaxon. He had his hands placed gently on my uninjured arm, shaking me slightly as I came to. I was surprised to find I had only been asleep for about an hour and that tears were still streaming down my face as my body trembled. Honestly, I was amazed I even had any tears left in

After Laurie took my measurements for new clothes and took my photo for my new ID, she lead me through a series of hallways until we arrived at a different room. She opened the door to reveal a small, plain room where Jaxon was seated, going over what looked to be blueprints with another man— Cal, I assumed."Jaxon, she's ready for you," Laurie announced. He and Cal immediately turned to look at me, and I suddenly felt self-conscious. I was about to reach out and stroke my hair out of nervous habit, but stopped when I realized I no longer had the length that I used to."Wow... nice job, Laurie," Jaxon stated. My heart was pounding. He had complimented Laurie, but did that mean he thinks I look nice? I willed my face to stay neutral as I approached the table. "Did you look at your file?" Jaxon asked me before I had time to overthink his comment. I nodded in response, feeling nervous for some reason about finding my voice. Something about the small, bland space was oddly off-puttin