The Summer House Read Online Free PDF Page A

in college, but I’d never gotten drunk; this I was going to change.  I poured what would become the first of many drinks that night and watched movies until it was time to stumble to bed.  It was almost dawn by that time and even in my restless dreams, the guilt, the pain were still there.  Was I to be haunted by my conscience or was I feeling what I’d expected my ultra-religious parents wanted me to feel? 
     

Chapter 6 -
     
    The knocking on the door was what woke me up.  I’d fallen asleep, and slept hard, my arm asleep.  The next thing I noticed was that my head was pounding and I felt sick to my stomach.  I tried to get up, but the blankets were all twisted up in my legs and I tripped before going two steps.  I untangled myself and lurched to the door and I was horrified to see Derek and Daniel waiting at the door, a case of beer with them.  My God, what time was it?
     
    “Oh jeez, I’m sorry Caroline, I know we’re early…” I was too bleary-eyed to make out which of them spoke, but I was feeling a thousand times worse. 
     
    I ran to the bathroom, and made it in time to be sick.  My head was pounding, each pulse of pain matching the rhythm of my heart.  My eyeballs didn’t quite pop out of my head, but that’s what it felt was going to happen.  Suddenly a strong arm was around my waist, and one rough callused hand was pulling my hair back.
     
    “Hangover,” Daniel said.  Good, I could tell them apart by voice at least. 
     
    “Vodka,” Derek said, showing his brother the near-empty bottle I’d left near the couch.
     
    “Don’t worry, girl, it feels better to get it over with,” Daniel told me, moving his hand to my back and starting rubbing.
     
    Even though I had just gotten sick, that hand on my back started a burning within me that no amount of pain could put out.
     
    “I think I’m done for now,” I told them, standing up. “Gross. I think I need to hop in the shower, though,” I said, flushing the mess away.  I hated that he had to drop his hand, but I wasn’t exactly feeling sexy at the moment, and I’m pretty sure I’d gotten puke in my hair.
     
    “You must not have had hangovers often. If you’re just getting sick for the first time, it’s probably the first wave,” Daniel told me.  I just nodded, agreeing with the sentiment, but not sure what he meant by wave.
     
    “I’m sorry, guys,” I said and started to wobble out of the bathroom.  I was able to make it to the kitchen table, where I sat down.  OK, I lied; I really flopped down in the chair, and buried my head in my arms. “What time is it anyway?”
     
    “It’s a little after noonish,” Derek told me.
     
    “We got a phone call about a new job so we came early to drop off the wood,” Daniel said, and Derek finished, “so we have to cancel on dinner later on.”
     
    “Job?”
     
    “Yeah, we got a call; we’re going to be doing some more work on rigs in the Gulf.” Even though I had my head down I could hear their excitement.  Damn, there went my fantasy.
     
    “We already stacked the wood, but we can’t leave you like this.”
     
    “I’ll be OK,” I lied.  My heart was breaking while they were obviously excited.
     
    “No you won’t. Go hop in the shower, and we’ll whip something up to make you feel better,” Daniel said and Derek continued, “and then we can tell you all about it, but we have to get our passports updated,” and Daniel finished, “that’s why we came early.”
     
    Now I understood why folks who weren’t used to it got confused when they did that.  I was only functioning at half capacity, my eyes hurt, my head hurt, my stomach felt a mess, and listening to them banter back and forth made me want to…
     
    “Excuse me a second,” I said and fled to the bathroom.
     
    After I was done with the second wave, I decided that I’d take a quick shower.  I felt like hell, but being sick the second time seemed to have helped.  I was hoping the shower