I wasn't planning on it. Kimberly had anxiety related insomnia and regularly had trouble sleeping. When she did manage to fall asleep, it was best to leave her alone. I went back into the living room and finished working on the brief.
Kimberly was still asleep when I was done, and I was getting tired, so it looked like the couch was my only option. It was a large couch with soft white cushions, but I'm a big guy. The sofa was just big enough to make sleeping possible, but too small to make it comfortable. I was just settling in when I heard a knock on the door.
Adam was on the other side looking as sad as Kimberly did when she showed up and also in pajamas. “Hey, man,” he said.
“Hey,” I replied.
“She here?”
“Yup.”
“She still mad at me?”
“Probably, but she’s asleep.”
“Shit.” Adam reached up and scratched his head, making me wonder if male pattern baldness was a real thing or just came as a result of falling in love with people that stressed us out. “Can I come in and wait for her?”
I stepped back, and he walked past me into the living room and settled himself in one of the armchairs. I was definitely not in the mood to have a heart-to-heart with my sister's sad fiancé, so I went to the bathroom. When I came out, Adam was spread out on the couch asleep.
This was ridiculous.
I thought about Lisa sleeping alone in the room with CJ. There was a queen-sized bed in there. Lisa and I have slept in the same bed twice, and at this point, I was too exhausted to be worried about anything happening because I was sure I’d be asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I tapped gently on the bedroom door and waited. No answer. I opened it slowly and crept inside. The operative word being crept because, though necessary, this was suspect behavior.
“Lisa?”
She didn't answer me, but I heard a low humming sound like a machine. Was Lisa using a vibrator? No, not with CJ in the room, and if she were awake, she would have heard me, but now I was wondering if Lisa owned a vibrator and how often she used it.
Focus, Cole.
I tiptoed over to the window to let in some moonlight so I could see where I was going. A beam of light hit Lisa's face, and I jumped.
“Holy shit!”
My exclamation startled her out of her sleep, and she sat up. Lisa's mouth and nose were covered with what looked like an oxygen mask connected to tubes plugged into a box on the nightstand that was the source of the mechanical noise.
She clawed at her face to remove the mask, and it probably took a few more seconds than she meant it to. "Cole!" she whisper-shouted.
CJ somehow miraculously managed to sleep through my outburst.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“What is that thing?” I whisper-shouted back.
“I asked you first.” She reached over to the nightstand and turned off the machine, plunging the room into an eerie silence.
I explained about Kimberly and Adam, making me homeless.
She covered her mouth, and her shoulders were shaking.
“Is this funny?”
She nodded, still holding back laughter. It took her a few seconds to regain her composure and remove her hand. “You can sleep in here with us,” she said between low chuckles.
"Now, answer my question. What is that thing?" I pointed to the mask, straps, and tubes in her lap.
“It’s a CPAP machine. It helps me breathe while I sleep.”
