Just Breathe Again Read Online Free PDF Page A

dispatching. She spent a good portion of her day in a cubicle with no windows, and in a garage that smelled like diesel. The men were rough and tough, and she had a hard time telling them what to do without being treated poorly or hit on. Two nights a week and most weekends, she waitressed at the local sports bar. Her legs and back hurt every day and she was in a constant state of dread. There wasn’t a day that Jeannie didn’t get up already exhausted, even on the weekend. Her problems showed when she looked in the rear view mirror noticing the dark circles forming under her puffy eyes.  It was life. A life she didn’t ask for, just one she had to live. Her husband’s death changed her in ways she never dreamed, but it was just the beginning to what lay ahead of her. This is the story of a woman that walked through hell barely hanging on. A woman that never knew she had the strength to pull herself up and go on again.

Chapter 1
       
    “ L ydia, are you coming?” her mom yelled through the thin bathroom door.
      Lydia tried to move her aching body and get enough strength to speak. “One minute, Mom.”             
      Lydia’s body didn’t want to cooperate. She tried to tell her body to move, though nothing helped. Nothing would register from her brain. The pain took over everything.
      “Your brother has to use the bathroom before we leave for school, so please hurry,” Jeannie yelled, this time knocking on the door.
       As the pain passed through her head and down her body, all she could do was whisper. “Okay.”          
      Jeannie was becoming more frustrated by the minute. “One minute is all we have Lydia then I’ll be late again, fired, and we will be living in a tent. Please move a little faster. It’s school, not the prom.”         
       For the past few weeks, Lydia made her mom late for work every day. Jeannie had no idea her daughter wasn’t feeling well again, and not telling her. She figured the procrastination had to do with not getting enough sleep, studying, or on her phone. Jeannie feared Lydia’s behavior could be a sign of rebellion or something worse. What if she was taking drugs or worse yet, dating some degenerate, or pregnant? Lydia was a straight-A student, track star, and involved at her church. She liked boys, but had not yet dated a serious boyfriend. She would have known if that was the case. Jeannie had no idea what was happening because Lydia didn’t want to worry her. Jeannie had been through too much the past year and finally getting back on her feet. Lydia didn’t want her mom to become concerned with her headaches. They had enough to worry about since their lives had changed so drastically. No longer could they run to a doctor when they felt a cold coming on or a headache. They had no medical insurance, or money to go to a doctor. Lydia didn’t want her mom to have another bill she could not pay for even though she said going to the doctor didn’t count. Lydia saw the “didn’t count” from her dads hospital stay piling up on the counter and her debt didn’t need to get bigger.
      Still standing outside the bathroom, and once again banging on the door to speed Lydia up, Jeannie had lost her patience with her slowness.
      “I will be in the car and your brother is sitting here waiting to go to the bathroom. Please, for the love of God, hurry. If you aren’t out here in two minutes, I’m leaving,” she yelled.
      Jeannie didn’t realize as she was yelling, Lydia’s head pounded in pain, making her dizzy and sick to her stomach. She didn’t realize while she yelled for her to come to the car, Lydia rummaged through the medicine cabinet for some type of pain reliever. She had to find something to dull the torment. Whatever they gave her last year, worked for a long time, until the prescription ran out. Now, nothing dulled the horrific pain that seemed to come in the morning and ravage her body the rest of