Choosing Happiness (21 page)

“I do.” Andrea tilted her head back so she could look up at Jake, who kissed her forehead. Looking back at Ben with a slight smile on her face she asked, “Was there anything else?”

“When you’re feeling up to it, how about you come over and have dinner with Jeanie and me? We’d love to have you.”

“I’m not sure how long before I’m up to going somewhere and holding a conversation, but I’ll let you know as soon as I’m up to it.”

A
ndrea had been home from the hospital for a week before Jake would agree to leave her long enough to go back to work. Even then it was only because Andrea agreed to let others come by and check on her while he was gone. His first day back to work his partner, Ramon, picked him up at her place.

"How are you feeling, ma'am?" Ramon asked when she answered the door.

"Good. Come on in." She stepped out of the doorway. "Jake's almost ready."

He followed her into the front room, where she sat back down on the sofa where Jake had gathered all the things he thought she would need while he was gone and left them nearby. "Have a seat," she invited. "How much trouble is Jake in over the time he's taken off?"

"None that I know of," Ramon shook his head. "We’ve all wondered how we would react if it were someone we cared about inside that bank. Most of us doubt we'd be as cool headed as he was. Plus, the pictures you sent out to him were a major break. They helped us get everyone out of there alive."

"I'm glad they could help, even if they are what got me shot." She rubbed her right hand along the sling that held her left arm.

Ramon shook his head but kept his eyes on her. "I'm still amazed you thought to take them and send them to us. That's a new one, I've never heard of it having been done before."

"I don't know why it occurred to me, but it did. I felt like I had to do anything I could to help everyone in there."

"Well, you did help them, and us."

Andrea smiled.

"How's your shoulder?" Ramon asked.

"Healing, I hope." She looked down at the sling, "The entry wound and incision from the surgery is healing well, I get my stitches out tomorrow. The bone will take a while longer. I'm looking at least a couple of months before I can go back to work."

"I'm sorry to hear that. You going to be able to cover living expenses until then?"

"Oh, yeah. No problems there. I have short term disability insurance. It will cover my missed wages as long as I'm out of work, so I'll be able to cover food and utilities."

"That's good to hear."

Jake stepped into the living room adjusting his duty belt over his uniform. He wore the same tan long sleeve shirt and brown pants that Ramon had on. Seeing him in his uniform sent a bolt of heat through her. She wished he didn’t need to go to work, as if they hadn’t just gotten out of bed an hour ago.

"Hey Ramon, I'm almost ready." He bent over the back of the sofa and kissed her on top of the head. "You have everything you need?"

"Yes,"

"You're sure?"

"Jake, I'm not bedridden. I can get up and get things for myself, or cook for myself. Go to work before you make me crazy!" She leaned her head back and kissed him on the cheek, softening her harsh words.

"All right.” He stood up and headed for the door. "I'm just worried about you."

"I know," Andrea said. "That's why you're walking without a limp."

"I don't doubt it." Jake turned to Ramon. "Are we going?"

"It was good to see you, ma'am." Ramon stood and followed Jake to the door.

"It was good to see you too, Ramon, but call me Andrea, it'll be easier."

"All right, ma'am."

Jake and Ramon left, leaving Andrea completely alone for the first time since before she'd been shot. She turned on her favorite movie and settled in to watch the old film she was too embarrassed to ask Jake to watch with her.

The movie was almost over, the final scene just starting when she heard a knock at the door. Andrea paused the movie and got up to see who it was. Opening the door, she found Jeanie on the small porch. She let her new sister-in law in and invited her into the living room where they both sat down.

"How are you doing?" Jeanie asked, sitting in the recliner near Andrea’s nest on the sofa.

"Good. I'm enjoying a little time to myself," she said. "I swear I haven't been alone more than a few minutes at a time in over a week. I needed some time to myself."

"That's good, we all need a little time to ourselves now and then."

Andrea nodded but didn’t know what else to say.

"How are things between you and Jake?"

"Great, now that I've figured out what I want and what not to let mess with my head. We couldn't be doing better."

"That's great."

"It is. He's all but moved in here and I love it. I'm going to talk to him tonight about him moving in here officially. Why should he pay rent on a place when he's never there?"

"It's moving a little fast, don't you think?"

"It might be, but I don't care. It's right. That's what matters."

Jeanie fell silent a moment. "Is there anything you need help doing while I'm here?"

"I can't think of anything." Andrea followed the change of subject with no trouble now that she wasn't taking as much of the pain meds, mostly just before bed so she could sleep. "Jake made sure I had everything he could think of right here. The only things I have to get up for are the door, the bathroom and hot food."

Jeanie laughed. "And he's got us all lined up to stop by and check on you periodically while he's gone."

"I don't doubt it. He's been treating me like I'm made of glass all week. Between him and the constant flow of people wanting to check on me, it's starting to get on my nerves."

"He's just trying to take care of you, we all are."

"I understand that, and I appreciate it. I really do. There's a lot I still can't do without help and won't be able to for a while yet. I know everyone else just wants to let me know they care. I appreciate that. But Jake needs to understand that there's a lot I
can
still do."

Jeanie watched her as she talked.

"It's like this," Andrea motioned to the collection of things surrounding her. "He gathered up anything he thought I would need and made sure it was close by so I wouldn't have to go get or move anything. It's incredibly sweet, but at the same time frustrating." She took a deep breath. "On top of that I've been here, in the house, the whole time, with the exception of a single trip to his place so he could get some things, and a stop at the grocery store on the way back. I think I'm going stir crazy."

"Do you want to go out? I'd be more than happy to take you anywhere you'd like to go."

"You know, that sounds wonderful. I've been putting off getting a new phone and I'd love to go down to the local shop and pick one out, if you're sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all." Jeanie said.

"I need to change clothes before I can go out, the problem is I can't do it alone." Andrea made an unhappy face. "Would you mind giving me a hand with that, too?"

"Just tell me what you need and I'll help you out."

After Andrea changed into clothes she was willing to leave the house in, jeans, a teal button up shirt, covered with the same blue hoodie she’d worn when her mother came. The jacket was still hooked over her left shoulder, she grabbed boots she could get on with one hand, and was finally ready to go.

"Are you're sure you're going to be warm enough in that?" Jeanie asked. "It’s pretty cold out"

"It's going to have to do, I'm not even gonna try putting on a coat with this arm."

"Wait... don't you have a nice warm shawl? Didn't you wear it last winter with a dress?"

"Yeah. That would work and not be a pain to get off and on. It's in the car, it makes for a great cover if I get somewhere and it's colder than I expect. We can get it on our way out.” She picked up her purse, Ramon had brought it by a couple days after she’d gotten home, and headed for the door, Jeanie right behind her.

They went to the cellular provider store and Andrea looked at phones, trying to decide what she wanted. While she was browsing through the selection a salesman approached them.

"What can I help you with today?" The man asked. He was probably late twenties and dressed well, his hair obviously styled to perfection. His name tag said Jason.

"I need to replace my phone." Andrea said.

"Do you have your old one with you?"

"No, unfortunately, it was destroyed. That's why I need to replace it."

"Do you have insurance?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Did you file a police report or have the remains of the phone?"

"I haven't filed a report on the destruction of the phone, but I'm sure the police have what’s left of it and the fact that it was destroyed in a report somewhere."

"Oh." He looked confused for a moment. "Is there any way you could get a copy of the report? For the insurance claim?"

"Possibly, but I'm also eligible for an upgrade, so I thought I'd see which would cost less, an insurance replacement or the upgrade price."

"That's going to depend on what phone you want." He turned to the display she'd been looking at. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I want a smart phone, Android not iPhone." She was sure of that.

"All right. All our Android phones are over here." He led her to one side of the display. "Any features you’re sure you want?"

"I want a good sized screen but not a huge one. I need one with a decent amount of memory and a good camera. I take a lot of pictures and I want plenty of space for them.”

“Alright.” Jason kept smiling. “Do you know what model your last phone was?”

Andrea frowned. “Does X6 make any sense? I’m not sure it’s right, but I think that was at least part of it.”

His smile widened. “It does. That’s a Motocera, they’re very popular. Did you like it?”

“I did.” She lifted her shoulders. “I liked it enough I wouldn’t be replacing it if I didn’t have to.”

“All right, how about this. We’ve got both the X8 and the X9, same line as the X6, but upgraded. Both are a bit larger and faster, both have better cameras than the X6 had.”

She looked at the two phones he pointed out and couldn’t see much difference. One at a time, she picked them up and tried to get some idea of which might feel better in her hand. One was slightly larger than the other but both felt good in her hand. “Tell me the differences between them.” She kept her eyes on the two devices.

“Well, the screen on the X9 is slightly larger than on the X8. It also has better resolution. The X9 has twice the memory of the X8, and both cameras, front and back, have higher resolution.”

Andrea turned to Jeanie who was standing next to her listening but had been silent so far. “What do you think?”

Jeanie looked back and forth between the two. “If you can afford the better one, that’s what I’d get. Between the better camera and double memory, it’s worth it.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” She turned back to Jason. “Let’s talk prices. What will they each run me?”

“Well with a two year contract, the X8 is $99 and the X9 is $199.”

Andrea sucked air between her teeth. That was steep, especially when she was on partial pay from her short term disability.

“However, we have a fairly new program, you pay the full price of your phone, in even payments over the course of two years, and you can trade up after one. At the same time, we discount your service plan $40 a month.”

“How much are the monthly payments for each?”

“Now, I’m not sure of the exact amount, but the X8 is somewhere near $35 a month and I believe the X9 is just under $40.”

“So I put nothing down on the phone and my bill stays roughly the same?”

Jason nodded once. “Exactly.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do. I’ll take the X9.”

“Alright, if you’ll step over here.” He led her to one of several computer stations scattered around the store. “It will just take us a few minutes to get everything all taken care of.”

He took her account information and less than an hour later they walked out of the store. Andrea carried a small bag holding the box with everything that had come with her new phone, the phone itself tucked safely into her purse.

"You want to get something to eat?" Jeanie looked at her as she started the car.

"Sounds great." Andrea said. She was busy trying to get through the set up on the new phone so her contacts would download from her email account. Sometimes fumbling from only being able to use one hand, Andrea continued to mess with the new phone until Jeanie pulled into the parking lot of a nearby Applebee's.

"How's this?" Jeanie asked.

Andrea looked up, noticing the restaurant for the first time. "Great, I'm starved. Let's go." She dropped the phone into her purse and went into the restaurant.

They'd were at the table looking over their menus when Jeanie's phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered, listening for a moment. "She's right here, hang on." She pulled the phone away from her ear and extended it to Andrea. "It's Jake. You didn’t answer when he called the house so he called to see how you were when I checked on you."

Andrea took the phone and held it to her ear. "Hey, babe."

"Hey, you, how are you doing?"

"Good, Jeanie came by to check on me, I told her I was getting stir crazy so she offered to take me out."

"I would have taken you out."

"I know you would have, but we needed some girl time."

Jake laughed on the other end of the line. "All right, just don't overdo it."

"I got a new phone, you can call or text my cell number now."

"Good, I was hoping we could get you a new phone soon."

"Jeanie and I went."

"Did they give you any trouble replacing your old one?"

"No, if I had used the insurance I would have needed to get a copy of the police report saying it had been destroyed. But I had a renewal and that was cheaper so I didn't need to bother with it."

"That's good."

"It is, made things easier."

"Now that you have your cell back I'll try not to worry quite so much."