Elyzabel, a voluptuous woman of Hispanic decent, looked immediately contrite. "Sorry for getting all worked up about your head and things. It was just a shock to see all of it gone, so…" Elyzabel shrugged her shoulders.
"Eh, it's okay." Audrianna sighed and looked spaced out. "I think I'm over most of it already anyway."
"I'll bet you are." Elyzabel reached over and squeezed her arm, grinning from ear to ear knowingly. Elyzabel had light caramel-colored skin, with pink lips, straight short hair, and clear, honey-colored eyes always ready to dance in merriment. She wore a loose fitting, bright, flowery blouse that featured a curved neckline and slits from shoulder to elbow on both arms. Snug fitting blue jeans that hugged her curves and lacy six inch heels topped off the ensemble.
"At least your man is suave." Elyzabel brought up some text on her cell phone. She handed her cell to Audrianna. "Here, read this."
Audrianna took the phone, and as she read the text on the screen she laughed aloud. "Kelly sent this?"
Elyzabel nodded. "And is wasn't until after we 'got together' that he told me you were in the hospital and needed clothes and shit."
Audrianna read the text out loud, swallowing hard. "Come over sexy body and suck some crotch-but he not easy?"
Elyzabel frowned, shaking her head. "I thought that since Payne was raised 'alright' that he wouldn't be so vulgar."
Audrianna opened a radio application on her phone to listen to the local morning disc jockeys and placed the cell on the bedside table. "All of them are like that," Audrianna referred to Payne's other brothers and sister, shaking her head with a small smile, .
Elyzabel looked at her with a mischievous smile on her face. "Was Llewellyn like that?"
Audrianna settled down on the pillow, folding her arms. She screwed her mouth up into a small moue, her mind away on other things. Elyzabel laughed at her expression and got up and started unpacking clothes that Audrianna could wear and some toiletries, placing them on one of the other vacant beds.
She listened quietly to the two disc jockeys on the radio.
"You don't find it is just dark-"
"Every morning now. Normally you could tell when the sky is cloudy, but I just feel every morning it's just dark."
"Just dark-cold and dark…" Audrianna reached for the phone and placed it on mute.
She hugged herself and rubbed the sides of her arms, eager to dispel the unnerving feeling that crept into her body with thoughts of her ex.
A chilly, unannounced breeze swept through the room, and the curtains billowed. She looked towards the window over the green, distant hill tops. A waning howl from an unknown animal could be heard in the distance. She rubbed her arms up and down. She felt restless, and anxious all at once. A small tap on her shoulder from behind made her jump.