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CHAPTER ONE
Oakland
“God I’m so tired,” I whine out loud.
Tonight was my last night working graveyard shift in the Emergency Room and to say I’m so damn happy about it would be the understatement of the year.
I’m on vacation for the next two weeks and then Harley and I are rotating permanently to the day shift.
Halle-freaking-lujah
With that happy thought, I make the turn off the boulevard and onto the gravel lane that leads into Sunny Hills Trailer Park and sigh.
Sunny Hills.
As if.
The name should be an oxymoron considering how much of a dump this place is.
Living here is just temporary I remind myself as I slowly coast down the lane and pull into my driveway.
This isn’t the life I envisioned for my baby girl, and it kills me that I can’t give her more.
One day, I’ll get us out of here and into some place nicer.
On this thought, the alarm on my phone starts blaring and for the first time since I left home, I smile.
6:30 a.m.
Time to wake up the dragon.
With a tired grin on my face, I haul my butt out of my car and climb the rickety steps onto my porch. My feet feel like lead weight, but I keep moving, knowing it’ll all be worth it when I get to see Morgan’s sleepy face.
Trying to be quiet, I unlock the flimsy metal door and push it open, wincing when the hinges groan loudly.
As I’m making a mental note to add WD-40 to the shopping list, my eyes catch on Ms. Keneski sound asleep in the recliner.
Tiptoeing over to the blue corduroy chair, I place my hand on her shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze.
"How was your shift?" she asks as her eyes slowly open.
"Brutal," I admit, sinking onto the loveseat beside her. I’d been expecting tonight to be crazy; it always was when there was a full moon. "I swear, every full moon brings out the worst in people. We had everything from bar fight victims to a guy who thought he was going to fly off the roof on the third floor of his apartment building.”
Ms. K chuckles softly. "Sounds like quite a night."
I nod, rubbing my eyes. "It’s a wonder Harley and I were able to keep up. Needless to say, I'm running on fumes and counting down the minutes until I can close my eyes."
"Your two-week vacation starts today?" she asks as she pushes the lever to tuck away the footrest.
"Yes, ma'am." I smile, a wave of relief washing over me at the thought.
Two whole weeks to relax and hang out with Morgan.
Heaven.
I hadn’t planned on taking any time off.
This ‘vacation’ was a last-minute decision. Not that I’m complaining. When Human Resources called me up to their office two days ago to inform me, I had a surplus of vacation time and had two choices: use it or lose it. The choice was easy, use it.
