Forever & More: The Friend Zone series (8 page)

I sit her up against Tom’s stone and pray to God that I can pull her through this. I push my fingers back into her throat again until she vomits. It’s such a heart-wrenching sight to witness the love of my life barely hanging on by a thread. Her body’s so weak that when she vomits, her eyes never open.

I dig my phone out of my pocket and dial 9-1-1. Once I get the operator on the line, I put it on speakerphone and try to make Chloe vomit again. I take a step closer and something crunches under my feet. When I look down and see the brown plastic in a million pieces, I know what it is.

What the fuck was she thinking? The entire bottle is empty, I pick it up and look at the label noting that it’s her Xanax prescription. I relay the information to the operator who then reminds me that help is on the way.

I look at the stone in front of me, and although I know I won’t get a response, it doesn’t stop me from screaming what I had to say.

“Tom, you piece of fucking shit. You took her life away; now’s your chance to give it back to her!”

“What was that, sir?” The operator asks.

“Just please hurry and get here,” I beg.

No sooner did the words leave my mouth, flashing red and white lights pull up next to Harley’s car. I pick up Chloe and run through the cemetery as fast as I can.

“You the husband?” The paramedic asks.

I nod.

“Are you riding or following, sir?”

“Riding,” I answer.

We get in the ambulance and turn left out of the parking lot so fast, it feels like we turned the corner on two wheels. Everything the men in blue pants and grey shirts say run together. Low BP, non-responsive, overdose, alcohol poisoning. I pull out my phone and send a text to Harley.

Meet me at the hospital. Chloe’s in bad shape. Cars at cemetery.

He will have to make do with that because I’m done; she needs me and nothing else matters. I put my phone silent, then shove it into my pocket.

The entire thirty-minute ride to the hospital is completely lost on me. I watch her face intently, not one time do I take my eyes off her pale face. Black mascara is smeared on her porcelain skin giving her raccoon eyes. Her lashes are matted together, twigs are sticking out of her hair, and dirt is smudged all over her face. The oxygen mask sitting on her face is an unfriendly reminder of all we’ve already gone through.

She looks so vulnerable and broken. My eyes flood with unshed tears. How did it all come to this? On that thought, the tears I was holding in spill over as I choke out my sobs. Chloe’s lifeless form becomes blurred and I rub at my swollen eyes in a feeble attempt to get them out of the way so I can see her again.

Each moment passes and I feel more and more helpless. There has to be something I can do to fix this, to fix her. There has to be some sort of cure to vanquish the demons she’s fighting inside her mind.

The blurred shadows of the paramedics become frantic. Up until now, I hadn’t heard a word they’ve said this entire journey until, “we’re losing her,” rings out above the commotion. My heart races as I listen to the high pitch noise as they charge the paddles. I hear one of them say “clear” and I squeeze my eyes shut. I barely open them when her body settles from the jolt of electricity they just shot through her tiny body.

My limbs are trembling and my stomach is churning, but through the turmoil and the sadness, I find myself begging God to let her live.

God please, I can’t live without her. Bring her back, give her back to me. Please, I’ll do anything!

I beg until I’m out of breath. I look up and immediately wished I hadn’t. Chloe’s eyes are open and zeroed in on me. The air’s knocked out of my lungs and I collapse to the ground, crawling to her. The paramedic grabs me by my shoulders but I shrug them off. There’s no way in hell they are taking her away from me. I just got her back for the second time and I’m not losing her a third time.

“Wake up, Chloe! Get up! Don’t you dare fucking leave me! Do you hear me? You can’t leave me!” My lips find hers and I don’t care that it reeks of Jack and vomit. I kiss her as if I can breathe the life back into her. I refuse to accept that this is it. I won’t let her leave me behind to live the rest of my life without her.

“Son, you need to back up.” The paramedic grabs for me again.

“Get the fuck off of me!” I growl, ready for a fight.

“You’re going to suffocate her. We need to get the oxygen mask back on her,” he states. His words cause me to freeze instantly.

“What? If she just died, why would she need oxygen?” I ask aloud but was only meant for me.

“Son, she’s still with us. Now I need you to get back in your seat,” he scolds while replacing the mask.

I move back to my seat, stunned.
She’s alive. Holy-mother-fucking-shit she’s not dead. She didn’t leave me.
I chuckle on a rush of air. This time, when I look into her eyes, I see what I missed the first time. She sees
me
, she knows I’m here.

The ambulance veers to the left, pulling into the hospital. When the doors open, I can see Sara just inside the main doors to the hospital with Harley. The paramedics quickly get Chloe inside and down the hall. I’m told to wait in the main waiting room while they get her ready and contact her next of kin.

“I’m her power of attorney,” Sara states from behind me.

“I still need you to go to the waiting room. Someone will be coming to get you shortly,” the nameless paramedic said. Sara and Harley start to walk away, but I remain stock-still.

“Dude, don’t. Just come on. The sooner we get out of their way, the sooner they can do their job and you can be with her again,” he whispers in my ear, sensing that I’m about to act out because the last thing I want to do is leave her here all alone.

As much as I hate to admit it right now, he’s right; I need to let them do their job so we can get her well and I can be by her side. That’s the place I want to be, it’s the only place I belong. Sara pulls out her phone and it reminds me that mine is off. I pull it out and power it on.

After a few moments of staring at a blank screen, I shove the phone in my pocket. My strides aren’t long or fast enough to exert all this pent up energy while I pace the waiting room. The main doors to the building open and a disheveled Sally enters the room. She makes a beeline straight to me.

“Where is she?” she asks out of breath.

“They have her in the back. They wouldn’t let me stay.” My voice doesn’t sound like my own.

“I will be right back.” She walks off.

I hear Sara snicker and I turn to her, wondering what the hell is so funny. The moment my furious gaze lands on hers, she quiets.

“I’m sorry,” she says, staring at her lap.

I begin to pace again.
What the fuck is taking so long?
I can’t take it; all these unanswered questions are killing me. I can’t fucking take it anymore. I march to the window and tap loudly. The young redhead looks at me, the annoyed look on her face makes me want to put my fist through the thick, clear glass.

“Can I help you?” the woman asks.

“Yeah—” I’m interrupted by Sally coming through the set of double doors to my right. Turning my back on the unpleasant desk donkey, I approach Sally. Looking at her, I realize why Sara was laughing. Poor Sally must have come here straight from her bed. She’s still wearing her pajamas, a housecoat, and a pair of khaki Toms.

“Don’t. Say. A. Word. I’m more than aware of my appearance, but I didn’t have time to get dressed.”

“I don’t care if you’re wearing a potato sack. How’s Chloe? Can I see her?” I’m prepared to throw several more questions at her, but she holds her hand up at me.

“Skye, Chloe overdosed on Xanax and has alcohol poisoning. Did you know she was abusing her meds?”

“No,” I almost shout. “I only started to suspect these past couple of days. I’ve mentioned it, but she would get so angry. I’ve been trying to find the right time to bring it up again, but then we got into it at BAR earlier and she went MIA. Fuck, this is so messed up.”

“Well, they just finished pumping her stomach. She’s going to have to stay here for a couple of days. Someone should go and get her a change of clothes. I think you need to bring all her meds here for the doctors to reevaluate her prescription options.”

The disappointment wears down Sally’s facial features. Her shoulders are slumped and the unshed tears show how deeply this is affecting her.

“Yes, ma’am,” I say to break the awkward silence. I move closer to her and wrap my arms around her neck.

“Thank you, Sally. Thank you for being the mother that neither of us ever had. You’re so important to us and we love you,” I whisper into her curly, grey hair. The urge to share this with her was so strong it just flowed from my lips with no effort. I should have thought about what I was saying though, because as soon as the words left my mouth, Sally broke.

Her shoulders start shaking and her knees grow weak. I tighten my arms around her to help support her. We stand like that for what feels like forever. Both of us sobbing for someone we love.

“Y’all will get through this,” she mumbled into my chest. “That girl is stronger than you and I put together. Mark my words, she’s gonna be all right. The lord is letting her bear this load so she can become the person she’s meant to be.” She pulls out of my arms, reaches up, pats my cheek, and walks away.

I go back over to Sara and Harley and relay everything Sally had just told me. Sara breaks out into full hysterics.

“This is all my fault.” She gasps for air before finishing her thoughts, “I never should have said those horrible things. When are they going to let us go back to see her?”

I shrug not knowing the answer to her question.

We wait a while longer before Doctor Jacobs enters the waiting area. I’ve never been so relieved to see someone in my life.

“Skye,” he addresses me before extending his hand to shake mine. “She’s in stable condition, but she’s sedated for now. We’re going to keep her for a day or so. I’m going to be honest, her mental well-being has been brought up and she will have to undergo a psychological evaluation before she leaves.”

I nod in agreement.

“We will also need you to bring in any narcotics she may have left. Do you think you can do that?”

“Yes, sir,” I answer honestly. “How long until we can see her?” My voice comes out eager.

“It will be a while before anyone can see her. She’s asleep for now and will probably be out for a while. You have time to go home and get the things she’ll need,” he explains and I nod.

Doctor Jacobs turns to Sara and gives her a soft smile. “How are you?” he asks.

She gives a half smile. “Good considering.”

“Will I be seeing you later this week? I heard you’re making great progress in physical therapy.”

“I’ll be there.”

I had forgotten about her appointment.

“Well then, I will leave you to it. Have the nurses page me if you need anything further.” He turns and walks off.

“You going to get her stuff?” Sara asks.

“Yeah, y’all gonna stay here?”

Harley speaks for Sara. “Man, we’ll stay at least until you get back.”

“I’m not go—” Sara starts but Harley cuts her off with a look and she goes silent.

Since I’ve known Sara, I’ve never seen anyone shut her up as quickly as Harley just did. I don’t linger on that thought long, though.

“All right, I’ll be back shortly.” I turn my back and walk away from them.

I get to the parking lot and realize I don’t have a ride. When I turn around, I spot a smiling Harley holding a pair of keys out to me.

“Figured since you rode in the ambulance you would need a ride.” He tosses me the Jeep keys and walks back into the hospital. I spot my Jeep parked in a handicapped spot to my right and head in that direction.

I’m on the road for a good ten minutes before I realize that I don’t remember any of the journey to the apartment. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t pay attention to where I was going. I pull up to the apartment and start up the stairs. As I round the last balcony about to head up the last flight, I crash into a soft body.

“Whoa, where’s the fire?”

I look up and spot Jay. “My bad, I’m kinda in a hurry,” I say as I try to breeze past her, but she blocks my path.

“How’s the boss lady?” Her words give the impression she’s concerned, but the sarcastic tone in her voice contradicts it. Brady hired her a few months back. I wasn’t impressed, but he was adamant about it so I figured we’d give her a shot. If I had to decide right this moment, I would be sending her packing just from the lack of respect for Chloe in her voice, but I’ll have to deal with her later.

While I’ve been talking to myself, she’s pressed herself up against me. I take a step back. “What the hell are you doing?” I’m livid now. What the fuck would make this girl think it’s okay to advance on me like this. She reaches up to wrap her arm around my neck, but I stop her movement by grabbing her wrist. “Keep your fucking hands off me. “

She fucking giggles like this is some kind of joke. “I love it when they play hard to get.” She spins like a fucking fairy past me and skips down the steps like she’s in the park and didn’t just push herself up against me.