Out of Reach

Chapter Nineteen

I took another bite of my dinner as I sat across from my mom, dad, and his fiancé at the dinner table.

I could feel my mom staring at my face without even looking up from my plate.

"You did a number on yourself, honey." She said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," I looked up, faking a smile, "you know me...very clumsy."

"That you are," Tom remarked from his seat next to me.

I looked down at my plate, trying to ignore the throbbing pain my face was in.

"So, how are your classes going?" My dad chimed in.

"They're good," I shoved another spoonful of food in my mouth.

"And the job? Keeping busy?" He pressed.

I finally looked up, nodding.

"And you play lacrosse? Is that right, Tom?" My mom interjected.

Tom looked away from me, smiling at my mom, "Yeah, I do. So far, we're having a pretty good season. Hoping to get the MVP again this year."

"Good man." My dad nodded.

My mom rolled her eyes at my dad's candor.

After a few more moments of silence and staring back down at my plate, I couldn't help but feel the pressure of someone watching me.

I looked up from my plate to see my mom sympathetically staring at me, "Amber, are you okay? You're unusually quiet."

I looked over at Tom before looking back at her, "Yeah, sorry, I'm fine. Just have a lot on my mind."

The rest of the night was just as awkward and painfully long. Thankfully, when I got back to my dorm, Jacq was gone, so I didn't have to talk to anyone.

The next morning rolled around quickly, and to no surprise, Cassidy did not show up for class. I texted him, asking if he was alright, but there was no response.

If I didn't have work later, I would've gone to his house to talk to him after class. But instead, I went back to my dorm, got ready for my shift, and headed to work.

I punched into the time clock and set my stuff down in the break room, checking my phone once more to see if there was a text from Cassidy. But there wasn't.

I sighed, heading over to the aide I was taking over for.

"Hey girl," she greeted me, getting the clipboard out.

"How's it tonight?" I asked, slipping my phone back in my scrubs front pocket.

"Pretty much the usual, nothing crazy," She handed me the clipboard, "You have four patients. All of them are independent except Cade."

My head snapped up.

"Cassidy's here?" I asked, frantically searching for his name on the board.

"Yeah..." She said wearily, unsure of my crazed reaction, "...he came in late last night."

"What?" I asked, looking up at her.

"He's on 24-hour watch, so there is an aide in there with him now. She'll be there until the end of your shift when he gets off the 1 to 1 watch."

"What happened? Voluntary admission?" My voice reeked of concern, but at this moment, I didn't care enough to hide it. I just wanted answers.

"No, not this time. They found him walking on the edge of the bridge in town. Drunk out of his mind."