Chapter 9 #2
The music takes over my body again and I raise my arms and sway my hips back and forth. Before I know what’s happening, my stomach lurches and my vision blurs. I try to move my arms, but they feel heavy, like they’re filled with lead.
My lips tingle and start to go numb. I try to speak, but my tongue feels heavy and the words come out wrong. Something isn’t right.
I feel like I’m drunk, but that doesn’t make any sense. All I had tonight was club soda and water.
The flashing purple and white lights around me hurt my eyes, and when I look over at Jules, she’s saying something to me. I see her mouth moving, but I can’t make out what it is.
Next thing I know, she is lunging forward and the ceiling lights are blinding me.
My body hits the floor.
Jules kneels by my side and grabs my hand. My head cradled in Keirsten’s lap.
“What the fuck happened?!” His familiar voice cuts through the fog.
I turn my head to the side slowly, careful not to make myself vomit from moving too quickly. When I open my eyes, a set of chocolate brown ones are looking back at me.
Isaac
Serena is laying on the floor half conscious.
“I asked you a question, Jules. What the fuck happened?” I take her head from Keirsten, cradling it between my hands. Her eyes roll back, dazed and unfocused, and panic surges through my chest.
She looks at me with panic. “I don’t know. We were just dancing and having a great time. I turned away for like, a second, and when I turned back, she was falling to the floor.” Tears form along her bottom lashes.
I look at Keirsten. “I thought she was only drinking club soda.”
“She was! I’ve been with her all night.” Her eyes search frantically amongst the crowd.
Serena groans and tries to sit up. I reach down and put one arm underneath her back, and the other underneath her legs and pick her up. Her head falls against my chest and my grip tightens. Trying to ignore the way her body feels against mine and what it’s doing to me.
I know it is wrong to be turned on when she is in such a vulnerable state. But I have been imagining her head on my chest for weeks now. To be fair, this isn’t how I was picturing it happening, but the smell of peaches and cream surrounds me and shifts my focus.
I take Serena to the break room with Jules and Keirsten. There’s a couch there that I can lay her on, so she is more comfortable. She wouldn’t want everyone gawking at her while she was unconscious.
And it gives me a chance to talk to the girls in a quieter setting to figure out what the fuck happened. She was fine when she left the bar.
I lay her down gently on the cushions, cradling her head and propping it up on the pillow. It falls to the side, causing her soft caramel hair to drape over the side of the couch.
I grab a glass from the cupboard and fill it up with water from the sink. Tipping the glass of water to her parted lips, making sure to take my time so she doesn’t choke, my thoughts race with all of the possibilities. Landing on the most obvious.
“Is she going to be ok? Please tell me she is going to be ok?” Jules stands behind the arm of the couch caressing Serena’s hair.
“From what I can tell, her drink was spiked. Most likely Ketamine.” I stand up and turn towards Keirsten, who is now sitting at the break room table crying. “What happened when you guys left the bar? Did someone get her a drink?”
She hugs herself and sobs harder. Unable to speak, she just shakes her head vigorously back and forth. Her breathing becomes erratic, and snot runs down her face.
If this girl doesn’t calm down, she’s going to put herself into a full-blown panic attack.
The glass of water clinks when I set it down on the end table. I kneel in front of Keirsten and look up at her, trying to ground her and get her to focus. She looks away when I meet her tear-filled eyes. Cautiously, I place my hand on her cheek and turn her face back towards me.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. This was not your fault.” Keirsten sniffs and when she looks at me, I can see a subtle hint of guilt in her expression. “She is in good hands now. But I need you to think. Did anything happen when you guys were walking back to Jules? Anything at all?”
Sniffling, she wipes her nose and then subtly shakes her head. She stops mid shake and shoots her head up, looking at me with realization in her eyes.
“When we were walking through the crowd, some guy backed into Serena. He reached out and stopped her from falling. It happened so quickly, we didn’t think anything of it and just continued walking through the crowd.” She hides her face behind her hands again.
He must have used the distraction to slip something into her drink without anyone noticing. It would be the perfect cover.
Jules’ wide eyes look at me from the couch. “Oh my god. Do you think he could have dropped something into her drink?”
Serena stirs and groans softly and my feet can’t move fast enough to get to her. I grab the glass of water on the way, sitting on the couch next to her as I lift her legs carefully onto my lap.
I brush her hair away from her face. Her skin feels warm, too warm.
“It’s entirely possible.” My voice tight as I glance at Jules. “Men like that don’t require a lot of openings. One second is all it takes.” My focus snaps back to Serena, and I brush my thumb along her cheek.
I should have been watching her more closely. Should've stepped in sooner.
My jaw tightens and I adjust my hold on her, pulling her in closer.
“That’s disgusting. Why are men so horrible?” Jules continues to brush Serena’s hair away from her face.
“Some men are worse than others, but not all men like to prey on innocent women.” I take the back of Serena’s neck with my hand and lift her head up so I can give her more water. She’s going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow.
Jules looks at me with incredulity and raises an eyebrow. “Coming from the man who literally stalks a woman and shows up at her work.”
“Yet, here you both are.”
The door to the break room swings open and Sydney walks in with a tray on her hip. “Hey, Chels is swamped at the bar and wants to know when you’re going to be back.”
“Tell her to fuck off. I’m dealing with something right now.” My focus never leaves Serena.
Her hands cover her mouth and the tray clatters on the ground when she looks between us. “Oh my god, what happened?”
“She was drugged.” I clip. “Just tell Chelsey I will be there as soon as I can.”
Sydney bends down to pick up the tray that she dropped and, on her way back up, she stops. “Holly?”
Who the fuck is Holly? I follow her line of sight, and she is looking at Keirsten. Her eyes widen and all the color drains from her face. And I get the feeling that she knows exactly who Holly is.
The two of them stare at each other for a few seconds, and then a hint of understanding falls over Sydney’s face. She barely moves her head in a nod, turns around and walks back out to the main dance floor.
I’ll need to ask Sydney about that another time because right now, I don’t have the time or the patience to care and find out what that was about right now. My focus is Serena and making sure she is okay.
Her eyes flutter open and shut and she lifts her hand. I take it and pull it to my lips, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles.