The Crash

Chapter 50

50

POLLY

How could I have been so stupid?

At the end of her life, my mother required more and more pain meds just to get through the day. It felt like I was constantly running to the pharmacy for more pills. But sometimes the pills weren’t enough, and sometimes it was hard for her to swallow, so I also had injectable pain medications for the really bad times. Thankfully, since I am a nurse, it wasn’t a big deal to inject them for her. And I used to keep the syringes and the needles in the bathroom.

I guess I never got rid of them.

“Tegan,” I manage, “don’t do this. You’re making a terrible mistake.”

She lets out a harsh laugh. “You’re joking, right? I’m actually doing something to get out of here, and you’re telling me it’s a mistake? I don’t think so.”

I look at the syringe in her right hand. She’s got a good grip on my right wrist, but my left hand is free. I could try to take a swing at her, or I could try to grab the syringe. In a fight, it’s hard to imagine I wouldn’t win. She has a lot going against her right now.

Then again, Tegan is desperate. Who knows what she’s capable of? I don’t want to get stabbed in the jugular with a needle.

“What do you want?” I ask as calmly as I can.

She grits her teeth. “I want you to call 911 and tell them I’m here. I want you to do it right this minute.”

I make a show of patting my pocket. “Tegan, I would help you, but I left my phone upstairs. I can’t call anyone.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s true.”

She’s itching to check my pockets herself, but with the syringe in one hand and holding on to me with the other, she can’t do it.

“So we’ll wait,” she says decidedly. “When your husband comes home, I’ll tell him he has to call 911 or else you get stabbed.”

“He won’t be home for another hour or two,” I lie. “You really think you can hold my wrist effectively for hours on end?”

“I absolutely can.”

“Really?”

Her chin wobbles. She knows she can’t. She took a gamble here, and she lost. It’s a good thing I really did leave my phone upstairs. And it’s also a lucky thing she wasn’t able to hear Hank’s voice earlier.

“Let go of my wrist, Tegan,” I say as calmly as I can. Thankfully, I have a lot of experience talking to pregnant women in the throes of labor, so I know what to say to talk someone down.

She shakes her head even as the grip on my wrist loosens just a bit.

“You’re going to get out of here,” I say, “but it’s not going to be good for either of us if you try to hurt me. This is not the right way.”

“It’s the only way,” she chokes out.

Tegan’s grip on my arm loosens just a tiny bit more, and that’s all I need. I yank my arm out of her grasp and take several steps back, away from that syringe she is still clutching. Her face collapses.

“You should drop that syringe,” I tell her, “before you hurt yourself with it.”

She doesn’t drop it though. She tightens her grip on it, her knuckles turning white. “No.”

“Tegan,” I say patiently, “I’m going to leave now, and I won’t come back unless you drop that syringe. If it’s not me, it’s going to be Hank coming down here. You don’t want that, do you?”

I might not be her favorite person right now, but the dread on her face when I say my husband’s name is unmistakable. She’s terrified of him, which is a bit ironic since he’s the one who wants to bring her to the hospital. But she doesn’t know that.

She glares at me, her eyes burning with hatred. We stand there for a moment, staring at each other, before the syringe clatters to the floor.

I don’t waste a second scooping it up off the floor. My next stop is the bathroom to make sure there aren’t any other syringes left in there, but I don’t find any. I do a quick sweep of all the dressers to make sure she didn’t stash any away. I come up empty.

This is getting to be quite a hassle. I hope that Midwives Brew is effective, and by tomorrow, she’s in labor. Then I can finally be done with this.

“You better not try that again,” I admonish her.

She looks away from me, her cheeks scarlet. She hates me right about now, but I can’t let that bother me. Real soon, she’s going to give me exactly what I want. I can’t let anything get in the way.