SMK
The Silent Killer
Chapter Fifteen
Inside her apartment, Francine Desmond tossed and turned on her bed. One minute she was cold, the next she was hot. Her head was throbbing, her throat was raw, and she felt as though she had been run over by an army tank.
Finally, in desperation, she slid out of her bed and made her way to the kitchen. The glass of water that she poured for herself was downed rapidly, along with a tablespoon of yucky tasting cold medicine.
"What is wrong with me?" she asked herself as she made her way back to the bedroom.
She glanced at her bedside clock and took notice of the time, one forty-five in the morning. For some reason, she calculated the time on the West Coast and wondered for a moment if her mother was still up.
It had been several weeks since she had called home, not that that was an unusual occurrence. Her mother had long ago given up on dependability as far as her only child was concerned when it came to keeping in contact.
Francine sniffled, coughed and then frowned. It had been even longer since she had been home. She didn't go very often and, when she did, she tried to schedule when her father was not anywhere near. Suddenly, Francine had the urge to go home and visit, to visit both of them.
"I must really be sick," she mumbled as she sat back down on her bed and attempted to decide if she wanted to pull the covers up or keep them off. While she was thinking about it, her eyes settled on the chair in the corner. There, like always, resided the brown teddy bear that had been a birthday present for her sixteenth birthday.
She fondly remembered how her mother had tried to make up for the lack of Francine's father not being there. Of course, by the time Francine had turned sixteen, she scarcely cared if the man was around or not.
In the end, his presence had not mattered. Her mother had made that particular birthday one of the best. Francine slid off the bed and padded over to the chair. She picked up the bear lovingly and smiled at the worn pink ribbon around his throat.
On that particular birthday, the ribbon had been brand new, not faded and had carried what Francine would always consider one of the best surprises she'd ever had.
Her mother had looped a key with the ribbon, so that it hung around the bear's neck.
It had been the key to Francine's first car and her mother had picked it out with particular care. She had obviously listened to her teenage daughter's random comments for the car had been exactly the color and model that Francine would have picked.
And it had come from her mother, along with the teddy bear.
She no longer had the car, but she still had the bear and the memories and her mother.
Keeping the bear close to her chest, Francine returned back to her bed.
When sleep finally came, restless as it was, the bear was still cradled in her arms.