Alarm Bells
Every time Joan glanced at the wall clock that was hanging above her bed, her abdominal muscles tightened, and her heart rate increased in dread of that moment when the hour hand of the clock would hit seven and the minute hand, which was already at nine, would strike twelve.
Patrick was coming by 7 o'clock, and she really wished she could just ask someone to tell him she was sick. She went to the toilet and sat down on the toilet seat since she was feeling nervous enough to have a running stomach.
After her phone call with Patrick earlier, a part of Joan had tried to convince her that she shouldn't judge Patrick by his actions in his past life. However, the more reasonable part of her had reminded her that the situation was still similar even though everything seemed different now.