Kris groaned in frustration as the incessant beeping of her nearby alarm clock roused herself from an exceptionally good dream that involved dancing, handsome men and other wonderful things like that.
She blinked blearily at the digits and attempted to recall why she’d become a police officer again when it meant getting up
this early. Reluctantly she peeled her covers back and placed her bare feet on the carpeted floor, thankful not for the first time that she’d manage to convince Simon that carpet was way better than wood or tiled floors.
Hands slid through her hair and promptly yanked it back into a boring but highly effective plait before those hands rummaged through her closet, pulling out the neatly pressed uniform she wore from the beginning to the end of her working day. She rubbed at an old scar on her shoulder and quickly covered it with the shirt a few moments later before tugging her pants on, the crease running the length of her thigh and shin as the hem of her pants settled around the boots she’d worn in over time.
Kris stifled another yawn as she stepped out of her room, tugging her belt on. “Morning,” she murmured to the passing cat that purred and generally made itself comfortable on her feet. Kris rolled her eyes and crouched down, rubbing at the cat’s ears before she finally made her way into the kitchen.
Simon looked half dead as he all but clung to the cup of coffee in his hands and as for Kris’ other housemate she was quite sickeningly perky.
Sickeningly perky was one way to describe the other housemate. Wired by caffeine was another, and probably more accurate at that. The other housemate had been up for about an hour already, had a good four or five cups of coffee - it was how she woke up - and a nice cold shower to get her started for the day. When she finished her shift from hell, she'd have a hot one before going to sleep.
( Sleeping Beauty )( Bigger girl )( Crazy this time of year )( Another day at the office, another headache )
It was just after one thirty in the afternoon when Jenny managed to drag her exhausted self home. The mere act of putting keys in a lock and turning them seemed to defeat her until she finally won the battle and pushed the door open, announcing as she did, "Hey honey, I'm home!" She was, however, greeted with nothing but metaphorical crickets chirping and yet another metaphorical tumbleweed.
"Oh I forgot," she muttered to herself, knocking the door shut with her foot as she struggled into the apartment and picked up a box of her things that she had yet to unpack (she'd only moved in a little while ago and she was still trying to sort herself out, give her a break!) so that she didn't break her neck on it, "I'm not married and my housemates work normal-people hours."
Deflating at the greeting she was more than used to, the newly qualified doctor moved through the apartment, spotting the big fluffy grey cat on the chair. He lifted his head, blinked at her and then settled down again.
"Hello to you too," she muttered, scratching behind his ears. He lifted his head into the touch and purred, stretching his paws out in front of himself and flexing his pads against the cushion he was lying on. She adjusted how she was carrying the box, resting it against her hip and she continued through the apartment towards her room.
After a grueling ten hour shift, the last thing she wanted to be doing was unpacking the very last of her belongings. It felt kind of unreal that she had managed to get a job here anyway, and more than that, meeting up with an old friend and being able to crash there on a permenant basis. It was always sometimes a little too good to be true.
It wasn't unusual for her to come home to an empty house, or an almost empty house, and sometimes it was all too easy for her to go by for three or four days without seeing either of her housemates due to her working hours and the fact that out of the three people living in that house, two of them worked in the public sector and had demanding jobs. The only way her housemates knew she was around - or that she'd been back at all - was because of the line of used coffee mugs beside the sink and an apologetic note saying she would wash them up when she got back, her shoes in the hallway or all of her showering stuff in the cubicle.
She wandered into her room, box under one arm, the other hand pinching the bridge of her nose. Her head was throbbing; she'd tried to make contact with a comatose patient today and it had felt very similar to slamming her head into a brick wall. She had managed to get little more than fractured information, but nothing all that clear. Unfortunately, it looked like he was going to be just another John Doe for a little while longer, with no family to visit him.
Her phone beeped twice at her, and then again: the first time was to tell her that her battery was dying and, if it would please her, it needed charging instantly before it gave up on living altogether; the second was to let her know that she had received a text message and that her phone was most indignant that she had been ignoring it.
There was a meow from somewhere around her ankles and the cat jumped up as she put the box on the end of the bed. He eyed her for a minute before he padded up towards the head and curled up on her pillow.
"Sampson," she hissed, he was her cat and he'd come with her from med-school. It had been really great that her housemates had accepted him and really loved the cat, but he was a cheeky bastard. "Get off my pillow, I don't wanna wake up with your fur in my hair!"
He meowed and then settled himself, only moving when Jenny swept him into her arms and hugged him. He was getting too big for her to manhandle with any kind of ease now, but the purr that came out of him reassured her that he didn't mind all that much. She rubbed behind his ears again and looked at her phone as it flashed and beeped once more.
She put the cat back down and then picked up her phone. There was an odd sense of trepidation that came with picking up her cell. It was usually one of two people that contacted her; the hospital or her family. And usually the messages weren't great. She slid it open and looked at the text message.
It was from Ben. Her older brother.
Hey JJ, can u lend me 200 dollars? Need some cash. Love u.
She bit back on a sigh; she wasn't made of money. Her cell phone inbox was filled with messages from Ben asking for money, explaining why he couldn't pay her back, promises that were empty as they were bullshit. Her thumb hovered over the c key that would just delete the message before she rolled her eyes at herself, sat down on the edge of the bed and pressed 'reply' instead.
Fine, but this is it. And you have to start paying me back, Ben. You really oughta find a job! If you need money, B, go to mom and dad?
It was likely that they'd said no too, but that was it. She wasn't going to let him do it again, she couldn't afford to keep lending him money. Once the message had disappeared off into the glorious realm of the text-message aether, she shut it, put the damn thing onto charge and then kicked off her work shoes.
It had been a long day.
"Time to shower," she mumbled to herself, rubbing her hand over her face. She could feel the people that lived near them having an argument, their angered words battering against her head and she took another breath, building her walls, shutting them out. Thankfully she had a day off tomorrow, the first one in a long time.
And Jenny? Well, Jenny was going to have something to eat after her shower, take a nap and then actually try to socialise with the people that she lived with. It was worth a try, right?
numb
amused
confused
accomplished