One
“Hello, it’s um, it’s me. I’m- I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it tonight…somethings come up…I’m sorry.”
Sitting in her car outside the prison after her shift, Vera frowned as she listened to the short voicemail for a second time. There was a wavering in Joan’s voice she hadn’t heard before.
They had planned to have dinner tonight after Vera’s shift had ended, and in her months of dating the older woman, she had never once cancelled their plans. So this message worried her.
She hit redial, but there was no answer. She tried again, and still nothing. She tried once more before finally hanging up with a sigh.
She knew the older woman had worked the night shift and had gone home just before her deputy’s shift began. The message was sent 4 hours ago, what had happened since than? What had happened before?? Millions of different scenarios flashed through her mind as she anxiously chewed on her bottom lip.
She hadn’t heard of anything happening during her shift, though. Surely, if something had gone down, somebody would have told her. Vera tried to rationalize.
Though Joan was much more sensitive than people thought, something small could have set her off, and without her deputy seeing the signs, she could have easily spiralled into a dark place.
Vera took a deep breath, trying to quell her rising panic, as she pulled up messages.
They rarely texted, both preferring to talk over the phone, avoiding the ambiguity texting often brought, but the younger woman needed to know what was happening.
Is everything alright? She typed.
Less than a minute later, her phone buzzed.
Yes.
Are you sure? I called you three times, but you didn’t pick up.
I must have missed them. Everything is fine.
Please talk to me.
No response. Vera sighed again.
Despite their relationship, Joan kept so much to herself. Vera knew she was trying, but when big emotions came up, the older woman still had a tendency to shut down and shut her out.
Can I call you?
The bubble on the screen indicated that the woman was typing; it disappeared and reappeared several times before finally vanishing.
Well, she didn’t say no, she thought as she hit redial again.
This time, the phone didn’t even ring; it went straight to voicemail. Vera felt her heart drop to her toes. Had she turned her phone off?
Something was definitely wrong, she thought as she started the car and drove off toward Joan’s house.