Chapter 36 Sydney #2
Murmurs and exclamations sound behind me. Janessa and Bronwyn reach me the same time I get to Gabriel. Gabriel closes his eyes and appears to stop trying to stay upright. He sags against the guard, who supports his weight.
“How could you do this on her birthday?” Bronwyn asks, her voice a guttural whisper.
He blinks his green eyes open slowly and, frowning, presses his palm to his temple. “Shhhhooh.”
Gabriel’s parents join us, both of their faces wreathed with conflicting emotions, but I barely spare them a glance.
Janessa tugs on my arm. “Come on, Sydney.” She shoots a venomous glare at Gabriel. “I’ll help you pack and move to your apartment.”
It takes a second, but Janessa’s words finally appear to break through my shock and Gabriel’s haze.
“No. Don’t.” He lifts a hand toward me, then lets it flop at his side.
My gaze narrows on his slack face, dilated pupils, and uncoordinated movements.
He blinks at me stupidly. “I need you,” he slurs.
“He doesn’t smell like alcohol, but he’s on something,” Bronwyn says.
“Obviously,” I snap, pulling away from Janessa to get closer to Gabriel. “That doesn’t mean he chose to take it.”
Bronwyn’s eyes soften. “I love him with all my heart, but Gabriel has a track record.”
Gabriel’s fingers clutch my T-shirt, his eyes closing and opening on a series of slow blinks. “Believe. Me.”
If Gabriel didn’t think he could keep his promises, he wouldn’t have made them. He’d stay away before making me relive something like this. I push down my panic and cup his jaw. “I’m here, pretty boy.”
His eyelids drift closed.
I search the people hovering in a circle around us. “Where’s Henry?”
“Right here.” Henry’s voice sounds from directly behind me. He checks his pupils, then presses his fingers to Gabriel’s wrist.
His dad nods at the house then props his shoulder under Gabriel’s other arm. “Let’s get you inside to sleep it off. You don’t want the kids to see you like this.”
“He needs a hospital,” I say.
“Call Granthy and tell him to meet us there. He can’t be far away,” Henry tells the bodyguard.
“Don’t. Don’t tell him this happened. Don’t take Gabriel anywhere Granthy works. Bring the car around. We’ll take my husband ourselves,” I say.
The guard hesitates and looks at Arden.
My father-in-law frowns. “Frederick Granthy knows Gabriel’s medical history.”
I don’t have time to decide what’s paranoia and what’s not. “I’m his wife. Gabriel’s medical care is my call.” Turning back to the guard, I snap, “Do as I say.”
The guard looks at Arden once more, then speaks into his earpiece as I brush my hand over Gabriel’s forehead and search his clouded green gaze. “We’re going to the hospital, handsome. Stay awake for me until we get there, okay?”
He drops his chin, and his eyelashes flutter. “Stay awake. For you.”
Arden pulls some strings at the hospital so we’re able to use the ambulance entrance and take Gabriel straight to a private room.
After an exam, Dr. Stevens, a Black man in his early forties with an easy bedside manner, speaks in a reassuringly calm tone.
“Mr. McRae doesn’t appear to be in danger at this time, but we’ll keep him overnight for observation as the drug works through his system and confirm when we receive his lab results. ”
When the doctor leaves me alone with Arden and Charlotte, I pull my chair closer to Gabriel’s bed and take his hand. My muscles burn with fatigue, but I’ll wait for Gabriel to wake as long as it takes.
Across the room, Arden clears his throat. ”I didn’t want to argue with you until we knew Gabriel was safe, but there’s no reason to believe that someone else drugged him.”
I shake my head. “I have every reason.”
“It would have been easy for Gabriel to develop a new addiction. Maybe he started prescription painkillers when he broke his leg, and he managed to keep it quiet. Or he may have needed something for insomnia or anxiety in recent months and found himself taking more than prescribed. It can happen to anyone. I thought Ariana was clean too, when she quit drinking. The best thing we can do is support him, keep him safe, and get him back into rehab. But you’re not helping him if you stay in denial,” Arden says.
Gabriel’s parents love him. So do his siblings, but they’re jumping to the same conclusion I would have less than two weeks ago. “Gabriel deserves better than for us to assume the worst of him when he can’t speak for himself.”
Arden looks at his wife.
“She’s right.” Charlotte gives me a small smile. “He’s lucky to have you in his corner.”
Arden watches his son with troubled eyes, then he returns his gaze to me. “And your refusal to allow Gabriel to see his regular doctor?” The words aren’t a demand, but a man trying to understand.
I shrug. “Look, I’m aware that my reaction to Dr. Granthy is probably paranoia.
But until we figure out who drugged Gabriel, it makes sense to take reasonable precautions.
Every one of you looked at Gabriel and assumed he chose this.
I don’t want a doctor who does the same thing or who doesn’t listen to me when I tell them to check for signs of foul play because he thinks he knows him better than I do.
Every other time I saw Granthy in the past, I couldn’t remember him or the visit.
I didn’t start to heal until I went to Hawai’i.
And I had my first and only major setback there after he examined me. ”
“Coincidence, not evidence.”
I’m too tired to run through all the reasons for my suspicions again. “We’ll have a better idea, one way or the other, when the team locates that can of seltzer and confirms whether there was anything added to it.”
Arden nods. “All right.”
“You should also know that my co-workers gave me back my lucky hat as a birthday present.”
“Where did they find it?” Charlotte asks.
“They claim it’s not the same hat, and it’s from an auction site online. But it’s the same one. Though, if they had anything to do with it, I can’t understand why they would hand over evidence,” I say.
“Many possible reasons. Anything from the subconscious desire to be caught and punished, to the arrogant belief that they’re untouchable, to taking sick pleasure from confusing and taunting their victims.”
Charlotte opens the door and speaks quietly to someone in the hall, then returns. “The security cameras cover the patio area. Clay will go over the footage to see if they happened to catch anyone spiking Gabriel’s drink on camera.”
“My team will take care of everything,” Arden says.
Rubbing my thumb over my sleeping husband’s wedding ring, I take in the dark circles under his eyes and his shallow breaths.
Sitting back and letting Arden handle this isn’t enough. “I need closure. I want answers only Rob and Amelia can give me, and I want to look them in the eyes when they do it.”
“If she’s the woman you remember from your captivity, there’s no answer that could justify her helping Nikolai Markov,” Arden says.
I shake my head. “If it’s her, I don’t care about her reasons for doing what she did. I care about mine.”