C7ECK

My word count is at 1029, but this site is saying I only have 996.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Bella counted in her mind while physically checking that the burners on the stove were in the OFF position before leaving the house.

The gas stove ignited in her mind. She went back inside. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. She checked the burners again. Yet, they were still all in the off position.  

She checked the carbon monoxide detector. The green light blinked steadily. She pressed the test button. It chirped indicating that it was “on.”  

Was it working correctly?  How many times had she been over this with the guy who had installed this brand - the top model - for both her home and her appliances. It even synced with her phone beautifully.  

She counted to seven yet again. Then she walked past the stove, out the front door, and got into her car. She couldn't live like this. But this was how she lived. Day in and day out. Counting to seven and relentlessly checking. And for what? Everything was always ok.  

She started the engine of her car and drove across town to get a latte before starting her shift at the bank. The sequential numbers entered her mind as she took her place in the teller booth and she shook her head back and forth. The counting trailed off.  

It was a busy day at the bank and the busier it got, the easier it was for Bella to stay distracted and not think about needing to count. She had plenty of counting to do, but in many different ways during her day that actually mattered.   

Bella's phone chimed several times that morning, but the important message came in about two hours after her shift started. She was in the middle of a large transaction and could not get to it.  

Bella continued to greet customers and finally finished her latte. It was on her break that her phone chimed again.  

Bella looked down at the screen and her stomach immediately dropped.  

CO DETECTED IN YOUR SURROUNDING AREA.

There was no time for pleasantries. She took off down the hall and grabbed her things.  

"No!" she said out loud. Everyone turned and looked her way.   

“I can’t. I have to go - NOW!”     

Bella ran to her car and drove as fast as she could back to her house.   

Once back inside, she counted and retraced her steps once again. The stove was off. The CO detector light was not beeping and it was green. Bella checked the basement. There was absolutely nothing to explain the alert she had received. She checked the furnace and the pilot light was still lit. She opened the garage and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  

She checked the detector again. It was still green.  

Her phone chimed.  

CO DETECTED IN YOUR SURROUNDING AREA.

Bella froze. She counted to seven. Then she went back around to each appliance and checked them all again. There was still nothing to explain the alert on her phone.  

A couple minutes later, her phone chimed again.

CO DETECTED IN YOUR SURROUNDING AREA.

Bella now stood in the middle of her kitchen, staring at the detector. Everything in her house was fine. Or at least it appeared to be. She went over to the kitchen windows and began opening all of them just to be safe.  

She started counting to seven but stopped at five when she noticed, through one of her kitchen windows, that her neighbor's garage door was open. She looked closer and saw that their SUV was backed out of the garage about halfway, but appeared to be running.  

Her neighbors were usually gone during the day. Every once in a while, Bella would catch a glimpse of the mother buckling their little boy into his car seat before taking him to daycare.

Bella's phone chimed again.

CO DETECTED IN YOUR SURROUNDING AREA.

“Oh my God.”

She ran outside. She crossed the lawn and pounded on the neighbor's door, not once but seven times.  

“Hello?”

There was no response. She tried the knob. It was locked. Bella ran around to the garage door entrance. She knocked again. Nothing. She tried the door. It, too, was locked.  

She looked through the side window and saw two bodies lying on the floor. The little boy was right next to his backpack. The mother looked as if she had tripped and all the items spilled from her purse.  

Bella's heart beat so loud, she could feel it slam against her ribs. She pulled out her phone and dialed 911.

“What's your emergency?”

“I think my neighbors have carbon monoxide in their house.”

“Are you inside the home?”

“No. I'm outside.”

“Do you know if anyone is inside?”

Bella looked through the window again.

“Yes.”

She swallowed.

“There are at least two people.”

Bella continued to count as the sirens came closer and closer. Firefighters rushed inside with equipment and monitors. Paramedics stormed the house with lifesaving measures.  

Bella stood in the driveway, engulfed in her own fear, watching in disbelief. Minutes passed and a firefighter came running back outside.  

“Ma'am, you did the right thing by calling.”

Bella nodded but couldn't speak.

“Your neighbors were unconscious.”

She felt as if her knees were going to give out any second.

“They're alive,” he added quickly. “We're getting them out now.”

“How did you know to check on them?”

Bella looked toward her own house.

Her phone was still in her hand.

CO DETECTED IN YOUR SURROUNDING AREA.

She stared at the words.

For years, she'd hated herself for the stove, the locks, the lights, the doors; the endless loop of counting - seven times. Always seven. She had felt like a prisoner.  

But at that moment, Bella wondered if taking the time to notice what was right in front of her was really imprisonment at all.

Behind her, the ambulance doors slammed shut.

Bella closed her eyes and secretly thanked the universe seven times. 

She no longer felt like she was being held captive in her own mind.  

The difference was that now she was making a very definite choice of her own free will to stay “awake.”