A Stitch in Time Read Online Free

an appointment with my Doctor in the morning, but for now, I just want to sleep.’
    ‘Doctor, why?’
    ‘To get some antidepressants or something for this breakdown I’m having.’ She shrugged. ‘I’m obviously talking to a hallucination.’
    John threw back his head and laughed. ‘No, Sarah, I’m as real as you. It’s normal to feel shell-shocked, but you’ll get over it quite quickly; people usually do.’
    ‘So, I’m not having a breakdown?’
    ‘Not as far as I know … look, I am what’s known as a Time-Needle. It’s something you’re born into and can’t do anything about. My dad was a Time-Needle until his retirement a few years ago and so was his father. Our job is to sew together holes that have opened up in time using a Stitch. If they remain open, people will die. I find Stitches in time and you’re a Stitch.’
    Sarah looked at him open-mouthed for a few moments, and then, springing up, she wagged a finger at him. ‘OK, that’s it, and that’s all! I need a drink!’
    She shot out. John followed her to the kitchen. He watched, frowning, as she pulled a wine glass from the cupboard and picked up the bottle, all the while muttering under her breath.
    ‘Err … you have a glass out here in the hall already,’ he said, going to the hall and returning with the glass.
    ‘Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I forgot. How silly of me. I mean, I
am
behaving perfectly normally, aren’t I? Talking to a Time Lord, Needle, or whatever the hell you are, listening to stories of sewing holes together in time, and what was the last thing?’ she said, knocking back the wine in one gulp. ‘Oh, yes, I’m a Stitch … Yup, perfectly normal!’ She poured more wine and glared at him.
    ‘Oh dear, you really need to calm down a bit, Sarah. Do you mind if I have this one?’ John asked, holding up the wine glass.
    Sarah shrugged and stared out of the window. This was worse than she had initially feared. Not only was she having a full-blown breakdown, she couldn’t make the damned hallucination stop. Her mind was totally out of control!
    She closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, counted to three, and snapped her eyes open. No, he was still there, sipping her wine as if he was real! Her addled mind had conjured up a gorgeous guy and called him John. Johnny was apparently too obvious. God, how sad was she? Sipping her wine, she decided that the best thing to do was go with the flow.
If I play along, show myself
 …
my mind, that I’m not scared, perhaps the stress will go away
 …
and with it, the hallucination. And anyway, what choice do I have?
    ‘You look a bit calmer now,’ John said, setting his glass on the table and drawing up a stool.
    Sarah sighed and opened the fridge door. ‘Yes, well I think it’s sinking in a bit now. Would you like some crackers and cheese? Wine on an empty stomach isn’t such a good idea. I was going to dial a pizza later, but I’ve gone off that idea; funny, that.’
    ‘Yes, please if you’re sure it’s no trouble,’ John said, peering round her at the contents of the fridge. ‘Ooh, and a bit of that cold ham and pickles if there’s some going begging.’
    ‘Anything else, you know, while I’m here?’ Sarah asked.
    ‘Err … is that Sainsbury’s houmous?’ John asked, licking his lips.
    A few minutes later, Sarah, seated opposite at the kitchen table, watched as John made short work of his food. She decided he did look a bit like Johnny Depp, but his face was broader, his jaw squarer, and as far as she remembered Depp’s eyes were brown, not green like the twinkly ones looking at her right now. Biting into a cracker, Sarah pointed a piece of cheese at him and asked, ‘So, you’re a time traveller; do you have a wife?’
    ‘A wife?’ John looked startled. ‘No, but I think we need to keep our relationship platonic, Sarah. It’s not that I don’t find you attract—’
    ‘No! It’s a book and a film,’ she said,