17. Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MARGERY
S everal days had passed since she got back to New York City. The day before, she had borrowed money from Adalisa and bought a phone. From there, she was able to cancel and reissue new credit cards. She wouldn’t have anything for several days, but she was going to have to live with the fact that there was nothing she could do.
Margery went back and forth several times, thinking about calling her insurance company about her car, but she didn’t know whether it was still where she had totaled it or if Ethan had moved it. No doubt he somehow disposed of Max’s body. He didn’t flinch when he killed him, which made her think this wasn’t his first rodeo.
What had he turned into? What had he been doing all the years she thought he was dead?
Those were some of the questions she had, but more importantly, she wanted to know how he faked his own death. Why did he do it? Did he not want her back then and thought it was the only way to get out of it ?
Nothing was making any sense. Margery had tried to stop herself from thinking about this, but it was hard. Her mind was constantly on something related to Ethan and what he’d done.
“You look like shit,” Adalisa announced, walking in from the back room. “What happened? You look worse than before you left to go to the cabin.”
Margery rolled her eyes. Leave it to Adalisa to tell her the truth. But she shouldn’t expect much. Adalisa always gave her an honest opinion, and Margery liked that about her. Or, well, most of the time, she liked it. This was one of the few times she really didn’t appreciate it.
She knew she looked like shit. It wasn’t hard to tell. Margery had bags under her eyes, her skin was pale, and she looked lifeless. Something she hadn’t really looked like since Ethan had supposedly died eighteen years ago.
The past couple of days, she’d gone back and forth on calling Bonnie—-Ethan’s sister. She didn’t want to bring him possibly being alive up if Bonnie didn’t know. But what if she did? What if Bonnie knew and could tell Margery whether she was hallucinating or not?
It wasn’t something she could bring herself to ask. Margery hadn’t talked to Bonnie since the funeral all those years ago. It didn’t feel right calling her.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me. You know I tell the truth,” Adalisa scoffed. “Don’t get offended. You knew what you were signing up for when we became friends.”
“I know, but today really isn’t the day. I am exhausted, can’t you tell?” She joked .
“Oh, I can tell. What happened? You still haven’t told me much.”
Margery felt guilty. When she got back, she had told Adalisa the very basic stuff about leaving her wallet and everything else at the cabin. But she hadn’t given much else, and Adalisa didn’t ask any questions.
Kind of weird if you asked Margery, but she wasn’t going to question it. So much had gone on, and it wasn’t her priority to tell Adalisa everything that had happened.
“Well, I’m waiting. I have been patient since you came in the first day asking for a little money. I know you’re going to pay me back; I’m not worried about that. What I am worried about is you and what happened. It’s not like you to leave things behind.”
Marjory let out a breath of air. “I thought I saw somebody I knew from a long time ago, and it freaked me out a little. I left in a rush and ended up getting into a minor accident. Nothing too bad. Somebody found me and brought me to the hospital, where I spent at least twelve hours. It’s just been a rough couple of days.”
That was an understatement of the century. It’s been a rough couple of years, but especially months. Ever since she got that first stuffed zebra.
What could she have done differently? Probably nothing since she had called the authorities, but they didn’t do anything. And especially not the nurses who were supposed to report any abuse. The nurse thought she was in love with Ethan.
Okay, that was true. She did love the old Ethan, but maybe not this new Ethan. He was a lot different from the person she had known eighteen years before. So different.
“Sweetie.” Adalisa gently rested a hand on her shoulder. Margery knew this wasn’t going to be good. She called her sweetie, which was a telltale sign. “This isn’t healthy. You need to get checked out. It’s not good for you to be hallucinating about a guy you loved who died years ago. It’s been eighteen years, you’re hallucinating about him.”
“I don’t think I am, though.” It sounded so bad, but Margery needed to be honest. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she wasn’t.
“And why do you think that? Has anybody else seen him?”
Quickly, she nodded. “Yes! Somebody did, and they ended up dying. I’m telling you, I’m not seeing things. At first, I thought it was because of the stuffed zebras, but I’m not.”
“How do you know?” Adalisa looked at her quizzically.
“He grabbed me around the waist, leaving a bruise. I dashed out of the house in a panic because and ended up in a car accident where another guy saved me. Max, your aunt’s neighbor a mile away from the cabin. I’m not lying. Max took care of me. A couple of days later, Ethan found me and killed him.”
She did sound crazy as she recounted the events. But she had a little hope that maybe Adalisa would believe her.
“Were you watching a crime TV show while you were in the hospital?”
“What?” She furrowed her eyebrows.
“You heard me. Were you watching a crime TV show while you were at the hospital? Were you so out of it that you possibly could think what you watched was what happened to you?”
Margery took a step back, and hurt filled her. She suspected Adalisa wasn’t going to believe her, but she didn’t think she was going to be rude about it.
“No, I wasn’t watching TV. I woke up and started panicking, and that’s when the nurse came in.”
“I had an uncle who went through hallucinations after a traumatic event. I found someone for him. I can refer you to her. She can help you,” Adalisa gently said as she took a step forward.
Margery lifted her hands, stopping her from getting any closer. “I don’t need to talk to somebody.”
“Honey, you do. Are you hearing yourself right now?”
Yeah, she was. Things were clear as day. Ethan was magically alive, and she had seen him multiple times. How was it not believable?
“Maybe the hospital caught him on their cameras. I could ask one of the nurses for the tape. Then I can show you that he was the one that dropped me off, and he is alive,” Margery explained. “That’s what I’ll do. Then you can see for yourself that I’m not lying.”
Adalisa walked over and wrapped her arms around Margery. Margery didn’t return the gesture, though. Why was she giving her a hug? They weren’t the hugging type of friends. They worked together and hung out outside of work, but that was it.
“Are you okay, Adalisa?” Margery asked .
Adalisa pulled away and gave her an ‘are you serious’ look. “Did you really just ask me that?”
“Yes. We don’t hug. It’s out of character for you. I wanted to make sure that you were okay. Is that a crime?” Margery blurted out.
“I can’t believe you asked me that. You really aren’t hearing yourself, are you? ” Adalisa was annoyed. It was clear in her voice. “Did you really just ask me if I was okay?”
Why was Adalisa so offended by that question? Okay, Margery could see why she was a little annoyed, but this was different. Adalisa didn’t want to believe what Margery was saying.
“I’m okay, but you aren’t. You really need to talk to somebody about all of this. It’s not okay, and it’s not normal. There is nothing normal about hallucinating about your dead ex-boyfriend.”
Harsh.
“I’m not hallucinating, though. I haven’t taken anything to make me hallucinate, I’m completely fine. I’m telling you he’s alive. Several people have seen him besides me.”
“But did they know it was Ethan, the guy who died in the horrific car crash a long time ago?”
Margery shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. And I can’t ask one of them because he’s dead!”
It should really bother Margery more that she witnessed Ethan murder somebody in front of her. She blamed it on still being in shock, but she didn’t know if that was true or not. And anytime she thought about Ethan killing the guy, she couldn’t help but feel a little aroused.
Was that wrong of her ?
Ethan had brought it up in the moment, and a man killing for her did turn her on. Call her weird, but she didn’t care. Okay, she did a little.
“Did you call the police about this supposed dead guy?”
Margery shook her head.
“Why not?” Adalisa probed.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I figured if Ethan did it to the guy who helped me, he would do it to anybody. I didn’t want to get another innocent person involved. Okay, maybe Max wasn’t innocent. He said some pretty weird things to me that I didn’t consent to. Things Ethan heard, and that’s when he came in and killed him.”
There was a lot she was leaving out.
Adalisa shook her head and chuckled. “We are not having this conversation anymore. What you need is some sleep, food, and somebody to talk to.”
“I can agree with you about sleep and food because I do need that. I haven’t been sleeping well since I got the first gift.”
“You need to talk to somebody. If you aren’t going to, then I’m going to call somewhere and have them admit you. And don’t think I won’t do it. I care about you. The way you’re talking about this isn’t right. You need to realize that he’s dead.”
“Okay, fine,” Margery finally gave in. “I’ll give the person a call. I haven’t been sleeping well, so maybe I’ll sleep better tonight and call them tomorrow.”
Was she actually going to call the person? Absolutely not, but she needed Adalisa off her back. She knew if she didn’t say she was going to call the specialist, Adalisa would act on her threat of having someone admit her.
“Maybe you should talk to somebody first and get medicine to help you sleep. Because honestly, I don’t think your sleep is going to get any better unless you have medication and are talking to somebody.”
“Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll think about calling tonight.”