Chapter 32 #2
“But Mom, what happened?” I think back to this morning. “I ate a muffin and had a mocha. I felt fine until I walked into work. Then… I don’t remember.”
“They discovered”—her voice catches—“oxycodone in your system—Percocet. They found more pills in your purse.”
I process her words. The doctor mentioned that too. “What’s Percocet? I didn’t have anything in my purse.”
She lets out a choked, quaking breath. “Cali, why are you taking drugs? All the stories I told you about the casinos, how drugs and alcohol ruin lives—” She shakes her head.
Tears streak her cheeks. “I just never thought you’d do it.
Never thought you’d get caught up in that mess.
” Her voice cracks the way it does when she’s emotional or has just woken up.
God, I hate that croaky voice. It means my mom’s seriously upset or seriously tired. Neither makes me feel good.
“Mom, I don’t do drugs.” Okay, that’s a lie. “I smoked pot a couple of times in college,” I correct. “That’s it. I don’t know why they found that stuff in my purse, but it’s not mine.”
“Honey, the doctors ran blood tests. You had remnants of the drug in your system. And that wasn’t the only one. They found ecstasy as well.”
“What?” I try to sit up, but think better of it when my arms collapse.
“I don’t understand,” she says. “Were you experimenting?”
“No.” The strangeness of this morning fills my head. I was happy because of Jaeger and our little text exchange, and then really happy after I drank that mocha.
The one Brad gave me.
Why was Brad there, again? He’s a strange guy. And he gave me the drink. Leo said his roommate was into stuff—
“Mom, it wasn’t me. Look, this morning I got a ride from Leo.”
“Yesterday morning.”
“Yesterday?”
“You’ve been in the ICU for twenty-four hours,” she says.
I lost an entire day? God, this is crazy. “Mom, check with Leo. Maybe he knows something. His roommate Brad was there and he wasn’t supposed to be. He gave me the mocha. I—I think there might have been something in it. Leo’s expression this morning—yesterday morning—and what Leo said about Kate—”
“What?” The dark voice comes from Jaeger. “How is Kate involved?” On the surface, Jaeger’s question sounds concerned, but the edge is threatening, as if he’d like nothing more than to have another reason to wring Kate’s neck.
“Leo said he’s seen Kate at parties that his roommate has thrown.
He said his roommate was into stuff, but he didn’t explain.
I honestly didn’t care at the time. But what if he was referring to drugs?
Kate’s boyfriend is involved in that stuff.
I don’t know why Brad would put something in my drink, but he wasn’t supposed to be there yesterday.
Do you know what I’m saying?” I can’t tell if anything coming out of my mouth is making sense. My head is not exactly sharp.
The lines around Jaeger’s mouth turn white. “What is Leo’s number? His full name?”
I direct Jaeger to my purse, which the hospital placed beside my bed. He finds my phone and Leo’s number. He seems reluctant to leave, and kisses my forehead. “I’ll just go outside for a minute to make the call.”
I nod and he walks out the door.
Mom takes his seat. “That boy’s been sitting here since I arrived. I was at the end of the bed because there was no room beside you. Didn’t have the heart to ask him to move.”
She’s right. There’s a screen and no chairs on my right. Jaeger had the only spot for visitors.
“Don’t be fooled by his overgrown size,” she says.
“He was terrified. We all were. The doctor said he was optimistic. That with your general health you’d recover, but until you woke, I didn’t know, honey.
I didn’t know.” Her head dips, mouth pressed to our clasped hands.
Her shoulders rise and fall on quiet sobs.
This is all so crazy. One minute everything was fine and seemingly working out, the next, all hell has broken loose.
Tyler walks in with paper coffee cups in his hands. Surprise crosses his features, his shoulders dropping as if a great weight has been released.
He comes around the bed and sets the cups on the table beside it. Without a word, he bends over and hugs me, his arm shaking where it rests along my neck.
He pulls away and draws in a breath through his nose. “What’s up, Calzone? Glad you’re feeling better.”
Jaeger returns a second later, followed by a police officer. “Someone notified the police.” His voice is stiff, angry. “The police went to your work and traced you to the hospital.”
Went to my work? For what? I smile wearily at the officer, and Jaeger looks ready to rip the guy’s head off.
The officer asks me some questions, and I tell him everything I know, which is essentially not helpful.
No, I didn’t take Percocet. I don’t do drugs, nor do I keep a stash in my purse—apparently, the paramedics who arrived at the scene found ecstasy and Percocet in a side pocket of my purse when they searched for allergy records and prescriptions.
No, I tell him, I don’t know why anyone, including Leo and his roommate Brad, would give me drugs without my knowledge.
The officer leaves, saying he’ll make inquiries, but his tone is flat, as if he thinks it’s a waste of time.
He doesn’t believe me.
I’m still processing this and what it means when Gen rushes through the door to my hospital room in her sweatpants, a tank top—probably sans bra, given it’s the one she wears to bed—and a light cropped sweatshirt.
Her hair shows signs of bedhead and she’s not wearing makeup, meaning lip balm. She has clearly come straight from bed.
“You’re awake,” she says on a sigh of relief. Lewis follows her into the room, and my mom and brother exit to make space.
What is going on with Gen and Lewis? Why would he come here with her?
Oh, God. I fainted at work. Lewis must have told Gen. The entire office must know what happened. Am I going to lose my job because of the drugs they found? Dammit! I just got that job and I really like working for Sallee Construction.
Why would someone do this to me? I can’t believe Leo would hurt me.
That leaves Brad, the generous, somewhat creepy roommate.
If the mocha is to blame for how the drugs ended up in my system, he was the one who bought it for me.
But Brad barely knows me. What did I ever do to him?
Leo said Kate used to go to Brad’s parties…
I’m so confused, and my head hurts. The blankets of my bed are stifling. I swat Gen’s hands away when she tries to tuck them in.
“Cali,” she says. “How did you get mixed up in this?”
Great, apparently everyone believes I’m a druggie. I roll my eyes and defend myself.
I do it several more times before the hospital decides it’s safe to release me four days later. My fever is gone and my lungs, though not clear, are improving as long as I take it easy in bed.
But that’s not going to happen, because the police are waiting.
Jaeger puts a body-lock arm around my waist and exchanges a few heated words with the lead officer, but it’s no use.
Aside from the fact that the paramedics found the drugs in my purse, someone called the police anonymously and told them I carried illegal drugs on me.
That’s why the police showed up at my office, and later at the hospital.
No wonder the officer who questioned me didn’t believe me.
Jaeger, Gen, and my family follow me to the police station, but I’m immediately separated from them, arrested, and strip-searched—most humiliating experience ever—and taken to a holding cell.
The space I’m in is empty, with the exception of a bench and a stainless steel toilet bowl.
I lie on the hard bench in shock and because I’m exhausted.
The popcorn sound coming from my chest has gone away, but my lungs wheeze and feel heavy, and I have a nasty cough. Physically I’ll recover, but then what?
Aside from reconnecting with Jaeger, I’ve had some messed-up luck returning to my hometown. First Drake blackballed me, making it difficult for me to find a job, and now the drug incident. Only this feels personal—not just some jerk on a power play.
Someone wanted to screw me over, and they did.
My own family and best friend didn’t initially believe me when I told them I hadn’t taken drugs.
It didn’t take long to convince them of the truth, but they know and trust me.
How will I convince the police that the drugs aren’t mine when all the evidence points to me?
An officer opens the metal door to my cell several minutes later. “Bail’s been posted. You’re free to go. For now.”
My mom, Tyler, and Jaeger wait at the front of the police station.
Jaeger’s the first out of his seat. He pulls me into a tight bear hug and releases me for a moment so I can embrace my family.
He tucks his arm around my waist, holding much of my weight as we leave the building, all of us uncharacteristically quiet.
I should tell Jaeger I’m fine, that I don’t need a crutch, but his strength is welcome because mine fails me.
I’ve always thought emotional and financial dependency on a guy led to disaster, but I don’t mind it so much with Jaeger.
“They’ve set a court date,” my mom says from the front seat of Tyler’s SUV. Jaeger and I are in the back. I’m sitting in the middle seat, my body plastered to him, his arm wrapped around me like a bungee cord.
Even with all this love and support, the truth of the matter disturbs me. The police think I’m guilty of drug possession. How will I get out of this? My eyes burn and blur, my raspy chest giving away my emotions as my breaths quicken and sputter.
“Babe.” Jaeger lifts my chin. “I’ll find out who did this to you.”
I nod. Somehow, as scary as everything is, I believe him. Because we chose each other and that makes us right. What we have is real and empowering.
I was the rock in my other relationships, but Jaeger is the boulder I cling to in the middle of the deep blue lake.