EXCERPT - And Then Some

Prologue

Tiffany’s raw nerves were almost as painful as her aching heart. Her mind puzzled over the events of the night before. How had things gotten so out of control? She was tired; her argument with Nelson, her fiancé, played in her mind throughout the night, precluding sleep. She turned the key in the ignition and drove away from the house to think and clear her head.

The leaves on the trees were the autumn colors, orange, green, yellow, and red that she loved. Some of them laid wet in the wet street as she drove over them. The temperature was in the upper thirties and there was a slight breeze in the air.

Tiffany drove for miles up and down the hills on one of the main roads not too far from where she lived in a quaint little brown stone in Arlington, Virginia.

Barnyards with black and brown horses were on her right. To her left she saw luxurious homes planted firmly on a hill far back off the road.

The drive relaxed her and at first she tried to think of nothing, preferring to drift into the soft music coming from her Miles Davis CD. She truly had not meant for the argument with Nelson to get out of hand as it did. They had blurted insults - some unintentional, some aimed to penetrate each other’s hot buttons. She knew she wanted to stop it, right in the middle as it was happening. She wanted to turn back the clock to where they had last felt each other’s comfort, not pain. But, no matter how hard she tried, her good intentions just didn’t prevail. Now, she was concerned that Nelson wasn’t convinced of her sincere efforts to try to make things work between them. That’s not good, she thought. After all they were about to become husband and wife and have a family.

Did Nelson still understand her? Did he even care to the same degree as before? Or, had he just become accustomed to her?

Her racing thoughts absorbed her attention until she heard the horn from another car blowing and the screeching of its tires. She screamed! Then, there was dead silence.
The paramedics ran from the ambulance, instruments in hand. Tiffany drifted in and out of consciousness. With utmost efficiency, they freed her from the car. It wasn’t until they placed her on the stretcher that one of the paramedics took a good look at her. “Dear God.” he said…

And Then Some By Teressa Leath