Page 103 of Dark Obsession

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Cody drummed his hands along the steering wheel of his truck, his eyes fixed on the back exit of Memorial Hospital. Two weeks after the showdown with Bastian and his followers, the humidity had finally left the area. He had the windows down, enjoying the breeze as summer wound down toward September. Quiet sounds drifted through the cab: traffic out on 118, a group conversation about someone’s prognosis, and the screech of gulls wheeling overhead.

He forced himself to still his hands, but a minute later they started up again. His foot was bouncing, too. He glanced at the clock in the dash again, and his movements intensified.

Everything stopped, however, when the door across the lot pushed open. Zenona left the hospital, looked around, then headed toward his truck, her hair in that professional ponytail and her purse slung over one shoulder. She wore khaki pants and a white blouse that fluttered in the gentle breeze. She was finally back to work after spending several days in the hospital receiving transfusions and getting her strength back.

“Hi,” Zenona said as she came up to his window.

“Hi. You still want to do this?”

She bit her bottom lip and looked away, but she nodded. “I do.” She met his eyes again. “I need to.”

“Good.” He dredged up a grin as he gave a quick shrug. “I think I do, too.”

She reached into the cab to squeeze his shoulder. “Follow me there?”

His voice was scratchy and thick when he said, “Yeah.”

It was a short drive to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church a few blocks off 118. As he followed Zenona’s Subaru into the lot, Cody swallowed hard at the number of vehicles already there. How many people was he going to have to face? He pulled into a spot alongside her, raised the windows, then stepped out. She came up beside him and they stood together looking over the cars at the church.

“I’m nervous.” She turned to him. “Are you nervous?”

“Me? No. Nope, not at all.”

That produced the grin he was hoping for, and she gently bumped against him. “Liar.”

She took his hand and tugged him forward. He hadn’t expected it, but it was nice. Her hand was smaller than Demmy’s, the bones more fragile, and he focused on not gripping it too hard. That helped him not think about what he was going to say.

When they reached the doors of the church, he released her hand to pull it open and wave her through. There were short flights of steps going up and going down. A sign on a stand just inside the door had an arrow pointing toward the down steps and happily proclaimed: GRIEF SUPPORT MEETING IN GATHERING ROOM A.

They exchanged another glance before starting down the steps side-by-side. The room was smaller than he’d expected, and it smelled like overheated coffee and day-old donuts. An ancient plastic fan on a stand across the room turned slowly back and forth, slightly stirring the chill but damp basement air. Avoiding the coffee and donuts, they chose a couple of folding chairs from the twenty or so arranged in a circle. Some other attendees nodded or smiled at them. Cody tried to smile back, but it felt too slick, like it wouldn’t stay on his face.

A big-boned woman with lank, straight hair and glasses with frames that looked straight out of the 80s stood up and cleared her throat. “Let’s everyone take a seat now.” She waited until everyone had moved to a chair. “I’m Augusta, and I’ll be leading the meeting tonight. I see we have a couple of new people with us.” She looked at Cody and Zenona. “Why don’t you tell us your first names and just a quick explanation of what brings you here?”

Cody immediately nodded for Zenona to go first. She wrinkled her brow slightly in annoyance, but took a breath, let it out, and said, “Hi, I’m Zenona.”

“Hi, Zenona,” the rest of the group said, and Cody chuckled briefly with her.

“I’m here because…well, because I’ve recently lost someone I’d grown very close with. Okay, it might not be really recent because it happened last year. Last fall, I mean. Anyway, I haven’t been handling it so well and, um…” She glanced at Cody. “My friend convinced me to come.”

“Thank you, Zenona, and welcome,” Augusta said. “And grief doesn’t come to us on a strict timetable. We’re glad you’re here.” Augusta turned her attention to Cody. “How about you?”

He ran his hands up and down the legs of his shorts as a muscle beneath his eye twitched.

“Yeah, okay. Um, hi, I’m Cody.”

“Hi, Cody.”

“Hi. I’m here because I’ve…” A searing clot blocked his throat, stopping his words. His eyes burned, and that muscle beneath his eye fluttered again. He looked at the floor and drew in a deep breath, but it seemed to snag in his chest as Andy’s words echoed in the back of his mind: What the fuck did you do to me?

Cody closed his eyes. He listened to the buzz of the fluorescent lights, people shifting position around the circle, and the whir and click of the fan as it oscillated across the room. The tightness in his chest eased a bit, allowing him to slowly release his breath, and he managed to look up and into Augusta’s kind and patient face. Clearing his throat, he continued. “I’ve lost some people in my life the last few years, and I think it’s catching up with me.”

He shrugged as the faces around him blurred.

“That’s why we’re here,” Augusta assured him. “And you’ve both done a very brave thing by coming tonight. Thank you.”

The meeting continued, group members introducing themselves and sharing. But Cody had a hard time hearing them over the blood pounding in his ears. At one point, Zenona took his hand and squeezed it. He turned to her and saw tears running down her face. Wiping his cheeks, he was surprised when his fingers came away wet.