Recovering – Chapter Three

I dropped my keys onto the counter and stooped to see what was in the fridge.

"How does pizza sound?" I called over my shoulder to Nijah, who was shuffling to her room.

"Hmm?" she asked, yanking an ear bud out.

"What do you want for dinner?" I rephrased louder.

Nijah joined me at the fridge and scowled at the sad, bland looking contents. "Let's just go out and eat." She said flatly.

I raised an eyebrow "You want to go out..." I asked delicately "after what happened at the mall, I mean."

She looked up at me with an smirk. "Yeah, I'm not going to let a couple of assholes ruin my day."

"Watch it," I said teasingly, nudging her with my elbow "Aunt Parveen would have a heart attack if she heard you talk like that."

We both laughed as I shut the fridge and picked up my keys again, ready to get back to the car.

"Oh," Nijah said, slapping her palm to her forehead. "I forgot to tell you! Aunt Parveen called while you were at work. She wants us to visit her and uncle Marven the day after tomorrow. I said we could. We can, right?"

"Yeah, I've got the next two weeks off of work anyway." I ran my hand through my hair, feeling stressed even at the thought of CTU.

"Sweet!" Nijah exclaimed. "I figured we could make it a day long trip...Maybe go shopping first?"

I nodded. "Sounds great, now let's go get something to eat."

2424242424...

"That was so much fun!" Nijah smiled over at me from the passenger seat.

"I haven't gone out in ages!" I said, smiling back at her.

Since transferring to CTU Los Angels, my free time had dwindled. I found myself putting in more and more overtime hours. Aside from preventing any chance of a love life, it wasn't really a problem until Nijah moved in with me.

"That guy at Taco Time was totally checking you out, Nadia." Nijah giggled.

My expression must have darkened because she quickly asked "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

My cell rang. "Agent Yassir." I answered, a habit from work.

"Uh—Is this Nadia?"

"Yes. Who's this?" I asked, taking a sip of my giant sized soda.

"John Doyle. You said to call if anything changed with Mike..." I choked and almost spit out my drink. "You alright?"

I coughed. "Yeah. I'm fine. How's Mike?"

"His doctors say they'll be taking him off the sedatives tonight, he'll be awake early tomorrow morning...maybe 4 or 5AM. I though maybe you'd prefer to visit him while he's awake."

"Oh," I said, pulling into the parking space in front of my apartment. I looked over at Nijah, who was giving me a curious look. I turned off the engine and tossed her the keys, motioning for her to go in the apartment.

When she shut the door I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I can come by tomorrow around 9:00."

"Great! I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you!"

The line clicked twice. I glanced back at the screen, assuming the click indicated low battery. "Yeah, I'll see you then. Bye."

I leaned forward, putting my elbows on the steering wheel and my head in my hands. There was a tap on my window and I instinctively grabbed my gun and pointed it in one fluid motion. Nijah jumped back and raised her hands over her head.

"Don't shoot!" She yelled.

I put the gun back in my purse and got out of the car. "Don't sneak up on me like that." I mumbled as I walked into the apartment with Nijah trailing behind me.

"Okay, you obviously need this vacation more than I thought." She said.

"Goodnight." I grumbled as I made my way back to my bedroom. "Oh, and I'll probably be gone when you get up in the morning"

"At work?!" Nijah asked in disbelief.

"No, to visit Mike."

"Alright. Good night."

"Night."