Where to Next

Chapter 12

I have been working at the doctor's office for a few weeks now. Dr. Shapiro had heard about what had happened to me and offered to let me stay in a rental home that she currently had vacant. It was very quiet little apartment on the other side of town. The place came already furnished. It was mostly carpeted throughout the unit with tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. In the living room sat two grey sofas and a flat screen that was mounted above a small dark grey stand. Off near the kitchen was a small glass dining table that had stackable washer and dryer in the closet nearby. She told me I was free to decorate it how I liked, but I thought it was just fine the way it was. Since it was just me, I often would make myself a frozen dinner with a can of pop. 

Things had quieted down. The FBI was still looking to locate Mr. Whitman to question him about his involvement in the murders at the mansion. During their search they uncovered his little secret society thanks to the data collected by Robbie. Several politicians and government officials were arrested among the many millionaires taken down in the raid. They were all brought up on charges of money laundering, sex trafficing and many other crimes. I never told a soul about what happened between robbie and I that night. I just wanted to put it all behind me. I still haven't heard from Craig and most of the bodies had been identified through dental records. 

I wondered if Mr. Whitman took him off somewhere. Every once in awhile I check the crime database to see if they had found him yet. There are so many reports of sightings of him all the way from Korea to South America. I am sure half of the leads are bogus and are being called in to throw off the cops. I missed Craig so much, but I knew I had to move forward. I really enjoyed my job. Dr. Shapiro talked me into taking some online courses and was teaching me all about the practice. 

She was so comfortable with me that she booked herself a much needed vacation. She was so excited that is all I ever heard about. Finally the day had come that she was leaving for two weeks. I knew she trusted me, but  could tell she was a bit nervous.

̈ ̈Jade, I are you sure you can handle it ̈ she would often ask?

̈ ̈Yes Dr. Shapiro ̈ I tried to reassure her.

Ok, I will be on the cruise, but you can email me anytime. Whenever I can connect to wifi I will make sure to respond to you. She gave me a hug and ran out of the office. The next few days were pretty boring. The phones never rang because we sent out postcards letting all her patients know she would be out of the office for a few weeks. Even the fax machine was quite. I spent most of my day just rearranging the charts and shredding old records. After work I would go home and fall into my usual routine. I would pop in my microwavable dinner, open a soda and sit and watch the news checking for any new updates. I was the epitome of boring! I couldn't take it anymore. I got up from the table and walked into my room. I opened the sliding closet doors while trying to avoid pulling it off the hinges again. I squatted down onto the floor and started looking through my shoes. I pulled out a pair of blue keds, then a pair of white ones, and then finally my running shoes. ̈ ̈Yes ̈! I walked over to my bed and sat down. I pulled the shoe onto my foot and tied the laces. Then I slipped on the other one. It had been ages since I had been out for a run. I got up and grabbed my keys off the coffee table and headed out. I must of ran through my neighbor for about an hour before my legs finally started to tire out. I headed back home and took a shower. I was feeling so refreshed from getting out of the house. As I lay in bed that night I actually felt happy for the first time in a long time. The next morning I went into the office and opened up as usual. I headed into the back to grab some coffee and a danish that one of our patients dropped off. As I headed back up to the front of the phone rang. I grabbed it and without even thinking I just rattled off the usual greeting.