The Waiting Read Online Free PDF

about his growing rage one night. She’d assured him it was natural. Anyone would be mad in his position. Life demanded to go on, but the most significant part of his life was being held back. He was relieved when she told him she often felt helpless and downright pissed at times.  
    Marybeth went into the living room, then came back to the kitchen. “Okay, where did I put my keys?” she said.  
    “I thought you left them on the coffee table, sweetie,” Alice said.  
    “Yeah, me too,” Marybeth replied, still searching.  
    “Well, there aren’t a lot of places where they can be,” Tony said. “Brian’s still got a lot of furniture to buy and stuff to unpack.” He clapped him on the shoulder.  
    Brian said, “Maybe you brought them with you when you sat with Cassandra. I’ll check.”
    It didn’t take long to see the keys were not in the bedroom. Marybeth, Tony and Alice were in the living room looking around the boxes and containers.  
    “Any luck?” Brian asked.  
    “Nope,” Marybeth said, frustrated. “And this is my spare set. I lost my other set a month ago at the mall.”
    Tony shouted, “Bingo.” He twirled her key ring on his finger and tossed it to her.
    “Where did you find them?” she asked.  
    He shook his head. “In the last place you’d look. They were up here, on the windowsill.”
    Tony stood beneath the high-set window above the couch. It was made from colored glass and was a decorative addition to the house. The colors were too deep to see through, but it made nice patterns in the room when the sun shined through it.  
    “How the hell did they get up there?” Alice asked.  
    “I know I didn’t put them there,” Marybeth said. “I couldn’t even reach if I wanted to. Tony, are you messing with me?”
    She slapped his arm with the back of her hand. He winced.  
    “It wasn’t me,” he protested.  
    “Right.” She hugged Alice and Brian. “Thank you so much for dinner. Cass really looks better. I can feel that it’ll be any day now.”
    “Thanks. I hope so,” Brian said.  
    She sneered at Tony with mock contempt. “And you , I’ll see you around.”
    He held up his hands in surrender. “I swear, I didn’t put them there.”
    Brian heard them quibble as they walked to their cars.  
    He looked over and saw the old lady next door, ensconced in her chair. He and Alice had made several attempts to talk to her but were always met with blank stares. Several times a week, a younger person came to check on her; must have been one of those companion services. The Meals on Wheels people brought her dinner every night.  
    For the first time since he’d moved in, she looked at him with something close to open, yet silent, communication. Her lips parted as if to say something, but she sneezed instead. Her head gave a slow nod, and she trained her gaze back on the street-lit block. Marybeth and Tony pulled their cars away. The old lady continued nodding.  

Chapter Nine
    “MIL, have you seen my iPod?” Brian called up the stairs.  
    Alice’s head appeared over the banister. “I wouldn’t even know what an iPod looks like. Is it big, small…”
    Brian rechecked the pockets of his jogging jacket. Empty. He always kept his iPod in his pocket. Running was the only time he had to listen to music.  
    “Never mind,” he said. “I’ll look for it later.”
    He went to the bedroom to make sure Cassandra’s life support machine was working. Earlier, he had been woken up by the chiming of an alarm. The fluid had stopped moving within the tubing as it should and he had to open the pump’s door and rethread the IV tube. That had been two hours ago and he kept waiting for the alarm to sound again.
    “I’m going out for a run,” he said. Cassandra lay fast asleep, but he kept hoping she could hear every word he said. He kissed her dry lips and headed out the back door.  
    The missing iPod bothered him the entire time as he wound his way down the neighborhood side