Prologue

“Emotions creep in through the sides of me...”

I was thinking about the limits of time. The sun would slowly reach the top of the sky and then gradually go back down, thus creating a day. Suddenly, everywhere I looked I could see time ticking away. Years, months, days, it all created this calendar of events that we followed with no question, sometimes without thought. I don’t know why, but I found myself wondering about forever. The word forever describes every bit of time. It’s ones of those words that bunch all the others together, sticking them into one syllable so we don’t take moments out of our day to describe something like time. Infinity is another one of those words and ironically enough it depicts the same thing. So, what is time?

“Evelyn, it’s time to go,” the voice of irony soared through my thoughts. A smile broke through the barrier of my lips as joy enveloped me. Today would be another family dinner. Simply my mom, dad, brother, husband, and me would eat and talk about things that have happened since the last time we’d seen each other. I enjoyed doing this once every month; it simply completed my four weeks of hard work.

“Alright, Oscar, I’ll be there in a minute,” I called from our bedroom. As my voice drifted through the house I slid off my bed. The carpet gripped my cold feet immediately. Grabbing my flip flops off the table I ran from the bedroom like a little girl.

Oscar was there in the kitchen, picking up his keys to head for the car. I watched him for a moment, a tint of happiness glittering in my blue eyes. He was absolutely perfect all the way from his bare feet to his auburn hair. I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“You ready?” I whispered, allowing my breath to feather across his ear. I could feel the reaction in his shiver. Once again, a smile danced in my eyes.

“Are you?” He questioned, turning his head side ways and steadying his green eyes with mine. I nodded with a smile. Artfully, I plucked the keys from his fingers and ran for the car. Honestly, I could feel his pursuit more than hear it. Without hesitation his strong arms hooked around my middle and hoisted me into the air. I giggled while tightening my grasp around the keys and letting the flip flops fall to the floor.

“I believe that is stealing, young lady.” Oscar challenged, still holding me against him. I shook my head childishly and pouted to add effect. “I’m not falling for that look,” he smiled unable to hide the joy in his eyes.

“I wanna drive….” I whined, attempting to shimmy from his grasp.

“We’re going to be late if you don’t behave,” he fake scolded, giving me a disciplinary look. I bit my lip and widened my eyes. Feeling his pause I quickly added more puppy-like emotion to my gaze. He sighed.

“Fine, but I drive on the way home.”

“Deal!” I exclaimed excitedly.

I like our car, a lot.

The ride was easy enough. My parents live in Arlington, Texas, which is about thirty minutes away from our town of Keller. My eyes were fixated on the house I used to call home; to some extent it still was home. The little pile of bricks hadn’t changed much since I was little, but the garden definitely needed some work and the garage door hadn’t been fixed ever since I’d received my permit. I most certainly wasn’t born to drive.

“You came!” A loud voice bellowed from the doorway. We hadn’t even knocked.

“Of course, mama! We always come!” My face lit up with greeting. She immediately ran up and gave me a bone-crushing hug. I swear the woman could have been a linebacker in her college days. After crushing me to death, she swooped in on Oscar. Over her shoulder he pleaded for release.

“Hey mama, is that Lucas pulling up?” I questioned, knowing full well that it was. She let go of Oscar and ran toward my older brother’s parked car. He was exactly four years older than me; he’s twenty-eight.

“Thank you,” my foolish husband murmured, rolling his shoulders in the process. I kissed him on the cheek and smiled.

“You’re a big baby,” I accused. He lifted an eyebrow and shook his head, flailing his messy hair to and fro. Suddenly, a suggestive look crossed his face along with a nice little smirk.

“Well, if I’m such a baby I’m going to need a nurse to take care of me…” He paused for effect, getting up close to me and leaning down just a few centimeters from my face. “You wanna play doctor?” He flipped his tongue lightly and cocked his head innocently. I wanted to devour him. Instead I kissed him lightly and pulled back with a smirk of my own.

“First, I’ve got to have dinner with my parents. So, I guess your going to have to wait until we get home.” A moment passed. “…In three hours and thirty minutes. Have fun thinking about that,” I turned on my heels and headed towards the house to greet my father. I heard a low grumble roll through Oscar’s throat, but didn’t pursue it. If I did… I would consume him.

“Papa! How are you?” I asked, giving him a big hug.

“I’m fine. How’s my pumpkin been?” Papa’s voice grinned for him. I lit up at the childhood nickname and explained everything that had gone on since the last family dinner. In the middle of my conversation I could hear Oscar and Lucas talking, they got along unusually well. They were about the same age, Oscar being two years older than me.

“I’m going to go get a drink, do you want something papa?” The words flicked off my tongue, before my mind could even process what I was saying. He shook his head as a reply. I left my father’s presence and began my journey to the kitchen. It didn’t take long for Lucas and Oscar to join me for a drink.

“You not going to say hello to me baby sis?” A deep bass attacked my ear canal as I bent forward to grab the pitcher filled with iced tea.

“I don’t see the point in it. You torture me enough with having to see your face.” I teased, shutting the refrigerator door and walking to the cabinet for a glass.

“Ah, Evelyn that hit was below the belt, uncalled for.” Lucas retorted. The two of us continued to banter for few minutes, while I tried to reach a glass. Of course, that never changed either… still on the top shelf. My small five foot four couldn’t reach the top shelf.

“Is that a little high for you?” The blonde-haired bimbo questioned with a little too much sarcasm for my taste. The whole family had blonde hair; it was the one gene we all received. Obviously, I got the good looks and dufus over there didn’t. Other girls ogled him, but… he’s not pretty.

“Yes, can you get it for me Lucas?” The pitch change indicated the fake plea for help and unfortunately my brother knows me very well. He shook his head with a look that said ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t really care’. With a smile I turned to Oscar.

“Can you?”

“I’m just here for entertainment. Why don’t you try and reach that glass up there again? I know that gave me a little more than simple amusement.” Oscar replied with a lick of his lips. My brother made a look of disgust, wrinkling his nose as if he just found out he had bad B.O. I simply scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest.

“I guess we won’t be playing operation when we get home.” I lifted both of my eyebrows and added a sassy smile for fun. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that boy move that fast and I mean… it was extraordinary how he even poured me a glass of tea. Threaten a man’s sex life and expect whatever you want in return.

“Thank you.” I grinned, very satisfied with myself.

“Operation?” Lucas’s puzzled face was enough to make me burst out laughing.

“You don’t want to know…” I offered. He definitely understood, because the look on his face was priceless.

“Oh mama, dinner was amazing! I don’t think I’ll be able to get up…” I joked, laughter rippling through everyone else.

“That’s fine with me.” A brave voice filtered through the happiness of the table. I knew who it was. Papa had given me this lecture so many times before I could probably recite it back to him. Mama gave him a face of displeasure, but he went on.

“You should come see us more often,” he badgered looking me in the eye with a fierce gaze. When I was a child I used to be afraid of that intensity, but I was twenty-four years old.

“Papa, I come once a month and I call all the time.” He would still fight with me; I could see it in his eyes. The defiance reminded me of a ten year old who really wanted to spend the night at their friend’s house.

“Not nearly enough,” he stubbornly told me. I felt like I was being scolded over something that I’d never done. I hated it when he did this. I was his baby girl, I knew that, but I’d grown up and I didn’t need him to hold my hand anymore…

“Oscar, I think we should go.” I didn’t wait for a response; I leapt from my seat and headed for the door. Quickly, I turned back and told Lucas and Mama I would call them. They let me leave.

“I don’t know why he always does that! He’s so overprotective! We’ve been married for ten months, that’s almost a year!” I ranted; Oscar simply drove and listened to me. I loved that he does simple things like that. I could care less if he really heard anything I was saying, but at least he pretended to. He nodded in all the right places, and said ‘uh huh’ when necessary. What more could I ask for? Then there goes my father, clearly indicating that I shouldn’t be married to anybody but that stupid house!

“He is so infuriating!” I squealed, balling my fists. Oscar snickered. “And what do you find so funny?!” The anger seeped into my voice and to think I just complimented how good he was at this.

“I’m sorry!” He reprimanded. “I just find it funny that you called him ‘infuriating’…isn’t that a word someone would use in a soap opera or book or something… I don’t even know, it just sounded funny…” He attempted to explain. I thought about mentioning the soap opera comment, but bit my tongue. Oscar took a side look at me in order to see what I was thinking, but that’s all it took.

One moment I was reassuring him with a smile and the next panic had engraved into my facial features. I gripped my side of the car as I waited for the impact. Some idiot ran a red light and was about to hit my side of the car. The world spun in slow motion for about a minute or two. I could clearly see the car coming at me. Subconsciously, my body readied itself for the impact.

“Evelyn!” Oscar yelled, reaching out for me. His voice became distant in my mind; I could barely feel his touch. The world consisted of me and that car.

Bam! The slam caught me off guard. My body jerked and convulsed every which way. The glass to my right exploded in my face and my hand lifted to protect my eyes, but the air bag blew at the same time. My face blasted backwards and my hands pressed hard into my stomach. My vision faded and I passed out before I could see the end of the wreck.

: A few weeks later :

Tension ensnared my body as I faced in the direction of the door. No words could sift through the air at this moment. My stomach churned with anticipation, wonder, fear… I could barely breathe as I lay in that hospital bed. I’d been in here for a few weeks. Honestly, I can’t remember how long it’s really been. All I could focus on was the results I was waiting for. I felt a squeeze of reassurance from Oscar. My parents had long left the room. The results would be in soon. I didn’t know what to think, but my body found the emotions for me. Suddenly, I could hear the snap of metal as the door opened. My head shot up quickly, attempting to make contact with the person at the door.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Williams,” the feminine voice reached out to my ears. I don’t know what it was, but I felt a sinking feeling. “I’m Dr. Neil’s nurse, Trisha-“

“Please, just tell me…” I whispered, interrupting her. I knew she was stalling; I could hear the sorry note in her voice and feel the apprehension in the air.

“I’m sorry Evelyn Williams, but you have permanently lost your eye sight…” I let out the breath I was holding in and simply cried. Tears of fear, anxiety, sadness, and even anger slid down my cheeks in warm currents. I snuffed the snot back into my nose every few minutes and allowed my sobs to caress Oscar’s shoulder. Him being the wonderful person he was rubbed my back and murmured helping words into my ear.

Sitting there, we both knew that life would never be the same…