Erin managed to sleep in the next morning, and when she woke up, she found a pitcher of orange juice and a stack of pancakes on the table waiting for her. Not bothering to pull out fresh clothes, she stumbled over to the table and touched the plate, finding it lukewarm still. Shrugging a little, she dug into the stack, smiling a little when she tasted the cinnamon chips baked inside.
She also didn't take the tray over to the stairs, figuring that Mary could use the exercise and get it herself if she wanted. The still, small, voice in her heart whispered that she was being petty, but she quickly stamped out that voice, wanting to feel bitter and angry and foul that morning. After pouring herself a glass of juice, she brought it and the pitcher over to her bed and made a nest out of the bedding before crawling into it and picking up The Shell Seekers. She was almost finished with it, having read more last night in an attempt to calm her raging heart.
It took her two hours to finish her book and she set it aside with a satisfying thump on the nightstand. Feeling a little adrift, she picked up her well-worn copy of The Four Loves, and turned to the passage on Philia. She smiled as she took a look at the notes she had written in the margins, the little insights she had added to Lewis's meditation on the power of friendship love. She wanted to share this with Penelope, but she hadn't had the chance to do so yet. Again, she started crying, and she closed the book to swipe at her eyes, damning herself for being so weak.
Sighing deeply, she set the book aside and picked up the laptop, opening it as she adjusted how she was sitting. Knowing that anything productive was a futile endeavor, she called up The Sims once more and started playing. She had just gotten Aaron and Jennifer with child when she got bored of playing, and so she saved her progress and exited out of the program before calling up her story. There wasn't much on the screen, but she was still unhappy with it. Quickly wiping out the words there, she started on a new tack, deciding to write a history of her life, hoping that one day her children would be able to read it and remember her fondly.
That seemed to be the thing that took her mind off her current predicament, and she tapped away at the keyboard, starting with her earliest memories. The hours passed by quickly, and she ate another sleeve of Pop Tarts as she continued to write. Finally, though, her fingers started to ache, and she set the laptop aside before drawing her knees up to her chest so that she could hug them to herself.
"Erin, you've been in tougher circumstances. John Curtis wanted you dead and you prevailed against him, by the grace of a God you weren't entirely sure you believed in any longer. Mary has been kind to you for the most part, save that one instance of anger after you provoked her. If you keep your head down, you will make it out of here alive. And you will give David the answer that he has wanted ever since you started dating."
Wiping her eyes free of tears once more, she unwound her body and picked up her laptop once more, opening her picture file and clicking through all the pictures of her family and her David. A tiny laugh bubbled out of her lips when she saw that Penelope had somehow managed to download a picture of them into the folder, and she reached out to run her finger over her friend's features.
"I suppose, if I were you, that I would check to see if any unlocked connections had popped up while I was wiling away the time being so morose," she murmured as she clicked on the connections button. A strangled gasp burst from her mouth as she saw that there was one such connection, and she clicked on it, hoping beyond hope that there would be no further authentication hoops to jump through.
Her shoulders slumped as she connected to the internet with no problems. The signal was a little weaker than she would like, but still, she had a slim filament to the outside world, and a chance at escape. Bringing up Firefox, she directed the browser to Gmail, and logged in quickly, her hands shaking with nerves.
She had to close her eyes to the host of messages from her children and David, knowing that she couldn't focus on that. If she did, she might lose the connection and be stuck for days longer in this Hell. Taking a deep breath, she clicked on compose and typed in Penelope's email, letting it autofill before going to the subject line, titling her message 'Help!'
Penelope, I have no idea where I'm being held, only that my captor's name is Mary Breslin and that she works at the same hospital as I do. She's being very nice, so far, making certain that I have food and drink, and bringing me my laptop. The house wi-fi network is locked, and I'm leaching off a neighbor's, I think. Find me, Penelope. Bring me home. I miss David, my children, and you so much. Give them all my love, just in case. Erin
She could feel herself start to come undone once more, and she quickly hit send, making certain that it had gone off before disconnecting from the internet and closing the laptop. She didn't want to take any more chances that day, and she tried to still the shaking of her hands. Erin knew that the nervous energy was not good, that it could very well give her away once Mary returned, and she stood up and began to pace the room, hoping to burn some of it off. Finally, she felt a little more calm, and she curled back up on the bed, picking up The Four Loves once more and settling in to read.
It was dark outside the next time she looked up from her book, and her stomach growled to inform her that she hadn't eaten in quite some time. Closing the book, she got up and crept over to the stairs, climbing them as quietly as she could and pressing her ear to the door. She couldn't hear a single whisper of movement behind it, and she wondered if somehow her email had been intercepted and she was now being left to die.
Shaking her head, she knew that she had to keep such negative thoughts out of her mind, that if she dwelt on the worst case scenario, she really would drive herself barmy. Heading back to the bed, she rummaged around the food box and pulled out something to tide her over until the morning, hoping that Mary would appear once more, and her newly normal routine would get back on track.
After she'd eaten, she found that she wasn't tired in the least, but she didn't have any concentration for reading or writing. Sighing, she thumped back against the headboard of the bed and stared at the ceiling once more, counting the boards until she felt tired enough to finally sleep, hoping that Penelope would take her email seriously and that David would find her and bring her home.