A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,69
on his bed, his thoughts turning back to home. Despite knowing that he should try and focus on the here and now, he picked up his phone, powering it up once again, looking at the photos. He stopped on the family picture again. He was staring at his parents' faces, suddenly stricken by guilt when he realized that, while he was settling in, surrounded by supportive people he saw as friends, they must be going crazy, not knowing what happened to him. He was consumed by that thought, picturing his mother sitting at home weeping, his father brooding, bereft of their first born, with no clue to his fate. He was surprised when he saw the tears drop onto the face of his phone. He wiped them away, but more fell to replace them.
"Jake. Are you alright?" Madalin's voice came softly from the door.
Jake looked up to see her standing there, concern written over her kind face, seeing his tears fall. He wanted to say something, his mouth moving, but the words would not come. She quickly came over to him, sitting next to him on the bed and putting her arm around his shoulders, softly stroking his hair, whispering reassuring words. Her closeness and touch seemed to coax out all of the emotions he had been holding inside. Unable to help himself, he put his face into her shoulder and wept.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jake woke in the early morning, to the distant sound of a crowing rooster, his eyes puffy and feeling sandy from his tears the night before. He slowly got out of bed, filling the bowl on the dresser with water and dipping his face into it. Holding his breath, he rubbed the water over his face, the cool water soothing and bracing at the same time. He scrubbed his face until his breath gave out. Straightening and running his wet fingers through his hair, he dried his face and sat back down on his bed, trying to put his sudden burst of emotion behind him.
However, as he remembered Madalin comforting him last night, he flushed with both embarrassment and anger at himself. He could not believe that he had broken down like that. How weak he must have looked to her. It was bad enough she saw him like that once; he would not allow that to happen again. Fists clenched, he wrestled down his anger, trying to shift his focus to the present.
Looking up, he noticed his phone sitting on the dresser top. He stood quickly and grabbed it, making sure that it was powered off, then opened a drawer and shoved it under the clothes. He was here for the foreseeable future; he had to harden himself to that fact. His phone was a connection to a life that he had no idea when, or if, he would see again. He had to set it aside, a distraction he did not need. For the time being, he told himself, he would embrace the training regime that was set up for him.
He stood and began to change into his clothes and armor. His feet protested a bit when he pulled his boots on, but he tried to ignore it. He was finishing dressing, belting on his sword over his breastplate, when Norlan came knocking on the door frame. "Time for the morning meal, Jake." He said.
"I'll be there in a moment, Norlan." Jake replied, hearing Norlan walking back to the house. Cinching his belt tight, he shoved his money pouch into his pants pocket and headed out the door. He crossed the patio, the morning air cool as the sky lightened with the rising sun, and went into the house.
He made his way to the dining table, the delicious aromas of breakfast filling the room. Norlan and Cherise were already sitting down, Cherise scraping her pencil on the parchment in front of her, while Madalin finished her preparations. Cherise looked up from her drawing and gave Jake a wide smile, then put her head down again. Jake sat down in his chair, the process taking a moment as he figured out how to sit without tangling his sword into the chair.
Madalin came over with the tray of food and sat down. She reached over and laid her hand on Jake's, giving his a gentle squeeze, a soft smile on her face. Jake flushed with embarrassment again. Giving his hand once last pat, Madalin nodded to Norlan and nudged Cherise to have her put away her parchment.