Tangled in a Web of Lies (16 page)

Odin shakes her, begging her to snap out of it. When he looks up, he sees the empty bottle of Valium on the table.
No! No! No!

“Don’t do this to me baby, please. Come on Lila!” Odin turns her head down, and stuffs his fingers into her throat. She heaves unconsciously, throwing up all over his pants. Her vomit reeks of liquor.

He does it again, trying to purge the poison out of her body. She’s flush white, and her pulse is very faint. Odin knows he can’t wait for an ambulance. He scoops her into his arms, letting her head dangle over his shoulder.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Gus asks, shocked as Odin hurries passed him.

“She’s not gonna make it if I don’t get her to a hospital now!” Odin opens the passenger door of his truck, and heaves Lila’s limp body inside. Rushing around the hood, he climbs in, pulling Lila’s head onto his lap.

His heart is pounding, adrenaline pushing him to move faster. In seconds he’s back on the main road, swerving around cars and running red lights.

“Stay with me Baby. Stay with me, I’m gonna get you to the hospital,” he promises, pulling her hair back out of her mouth. Her body lurches as more vomit drools from her mouth. He barely misses a minivan, pulling out of a driveway. It honks at him, but he pays no attention, speeding on toward St. Mary’s Hospital.

He pulls right up to the emergency entrance, designated for ambulance only. Medical personnel rush out the back door as he pulls Lila’s body out of the truck, rushing to get her inside. They help her onto a stretcher, and immediately dash her down the hallway. It’s so surreal.

As they pass through a set of revolving doors, a Doctor halts Odin.

“Sir you can’t go back here. Can you tell me what happened to her?” The doctor asserts herself, pulling Odin’s attention to her.

“She took Valium.”

“How much?”

“I have no idea.”

“Has she had any other drugs?” The questions come at him fast.

“No. I don’t think so. I don’t know. Wait,” Odin recalls taking her to the pharmacy earlier that morning. “She had an abortion this morning, at a clinic in Temecula.

“See if you can get us a name to that clinic. Wait here, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” The Doctor leaves Odin in the hallway, heading into the ER to begin pumping Lila’s stomach and trying to stabilize her.

Odin’s face goes pale, staring at the back of the doors of the ER.
This is all my fault. This is all my fucking fault!
His conscious taunts him.

Time creeps by, minutes feel like hours. He searches his phone for clinics in Temecula. When a nurse finally emerges from the room, he’s able to give her the number of the Eureka Springs Women’s Center. She asks him all sorts of questions about Lila. Her Blood type, whether she’s allergic to anything, does she have family, mostly questions he can’t answer.

It occurs to him that he should call Kelli. She would know more than he does. She’d probably be able to get a hold of her mom. As soon as the nurse leaves him, he pulls out his phone.

“Hello?” Kelli answers.

“Kelli, it’s Odin. Lila’s in the hospital, at St. Mary’s. Can you come down here? Please?” Odin’s voice is desperate.

“Yeah. What happened?”

“I don’t know. I think she OD’d. She’s in the ER.” Odin’s voice gets shaky, fear griping his heart.
Please God, don’t let her die.

Kelli hangs up, and Odin continues pacing in the hallway. No one comes to tell him anything, it’s the worst, most torturous feeling he’s ever experienced. Every time the door opens he fears the worst, but the nurses just walk pass him, always in a hurry.

Finally, Kelli arrives. She rushes through the doorway dressed in scrubs from CMH.

“Is she okay?” Kelli is almost hysterical. Her exaggerated emotions make him feel less crazy about his own.

“I don’t know. They have her in there.” He points to the doors across from them.

“What happened?”

“We got into a fight.” The words catch in his throat. Fight, is an understatement. Nothing will justify what he said to her, but he tries to explain anyway. “I found out she had an abortion and I flipped out. I said some really fucked up shit, and I left.”

Kelli doesn’t seem surprised at all about the abortion.

“I take it you knew she was pregnant,” Odin says.

Kelli nods. “She found out Tuesday, she asked me not to say anything.”

Tuesday?
If Lila just found out Tuesday, then the baby had nothing to do with why she left him weeks ago.

“How do you know she overdosed?”

“I went back. I should have never left.” Odin grips his chest, feeling the pain of regret. “I found her passed out on the floor with an empty bottle of Valium. It’s my fault.” Tears trickle down Odin’s eyes, despite his efforts to hold it together.

“It’s not your fault,” Kelli says, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“You didn’t hear the things I said to her.” His eyes glass over, and his own cruel words burn into his head.

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever you did, it was just the tip of the ice berg. That’s not what this is about. I should have seen this coming.” Kelli’s words catch his attention, confirming there is more to the story.

“What do you know?” he asks, angry that there are all these secrets Lila has been hiding.

“Oh no!” Kelli says tossing her hands in the air. “When Lila comes out of that room, she can tell you! I’m not even going there!”

Who does this Bitch think she is?

“She might fucking die in there! Tell me what the fuck you know!” He shouts at her.

Kelli’s jaw drops in astonishment.

“Excuse me! This is a hospital. How dare you scream at me like that, Sir! When her condition stabilizes, you’ll know more. Now, please refrain from shouting at me, and using foul language or I’ll have to get security to see you out!” Kelli raises her voice, and everyone turns to look at them.

Since she’s wearing nurse scrubs, she looks like she works here. She can get him thrown out in a minute. He’d like nothing more than to strangle her, but with all the eyes on them, he takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. Kelli walks away, trying to track down a nurse. Odin slams the back of his head against the wall in frustration. He slides down until he’s slouching on the floor, hanging his head in his hands.

Hours go by, as Odin and Kelli wait nervously. Finally a doctor comes out to meet them. Odin’s heart sinks, awaiting the news.

“Delilah is stable. We’re moving her upstairs. She’s in a temporary coma. It’s common in cases of an overdose. Patients usually wake up with in 12 to 36 hours.”

Both Odin and Kelli sigh in relief.

“Can I see her?” Odin asks.

“She’s being moved up to the third floor. Give it about 20 minutes, you can go up there to the desk, and they’ll be able to give you a room number.”

“Thank you,” Kelli says to the nurse before she walks away.

“Should we call her mom?” Odin asks Kelli once the nurse is gone.

“Hell no! Lila’s mom’s a total bitch. She’ll just guilt trip her, especially if she finds out Lila had an abortion. Lila wouldn’t want her here.” Kelli seems sure of herself, putting Odin’s mind at ease about it.

Together they make their way up to the third floor of the hospital. Lila is peaceful in her bed, an IV in her arm along with monitors showing her vital signs. Kelli takes a look at the monitors.

“Heart looks good,” she comments, as Odin takes the seat next to Lila’s head. He takes her hand in his, noticing the cut marks that have been stitched up. He wants so badly to tell her that he’s sorry, but as long as Kelli is in the room, he remains silent.

After an hour or so, a nurse comes in to inform them that visiting hours are over, and Lila is only allowed one over night guest in her room.

“There’s no fucking way in hell I’m leaving this room,” Odin warns when he sees Kelli readying for an argument.

She sighs in defeat. “Fine. Please call me when she wakes up.”

Odin agrees, and finally Kelli heads out, leaving him alone with Lila.

He catches very little sleep that night, immediately waking every time Lila moves in her sleep. He keeps her hand in his, praying silently to a God he’s not sure is listening to please let her wake up, and not let her walk away.

In the morning, Kelli stops by on her way to work to check on Lila. She can’t stay, having missed all of last week due to being holed up at Shannon’s house.

Kelli isn’t surprised to see Shannon in the lobby downstairs.

“Hey Hon, I thought you worked at the medical center?” Shannon says, glancing at Kelli’s scrubs while she gives her a friendly hug.

“I do, I just wanted to check on Lila before I went in this morning.”

“Lila?” Shannon is shocked, and Kelli stares at her.

“Isn’t that why you’re here?” Kelli asks confused.

“I was here to check up on Nikko, bring him something to smoke. What the hell happened to Lila?”

Kelli had forgotten about Nikko getting shot. “Room 313, Odin’s up there. I have to get to work,” Kelli excuses herself, leaving Shannon gaping behind her. She doesn’t have the time to try and explain what the hell happened to Lila.

Shannon presses the elevator button over and over, getting impatient. She hurries up to the third floor and finds Odin, hunched in a chair over a ghostly looking Lila. Shannon knocks on the side of the door, startling Odin who turns to look at her. Her heart aches when she sees the pain in his expression and the fear in his eyes.

“What happened?” Shannon asks, walking into the room.

“It’s all my fault,” Odin says, returning his teary gaze to Lila. She looks peaceful, other than the dark circles around her eyes.

“Was it an accident?” Shannon stands at Odin’s side, noticing the puddle of dried throw up on his jeans.

“I took Lila to the doctor yesterday, found out she was having an abortion behind my back.”

Shannon gasps, putting her hand on Odin’s shoulder.

“I was pissed. I felt like she betrayed me. I said some really fucked up shit, and I left. I came back to apologize and I found her passed out with an empty bottle of Valium. I never should have left.” Odin’s barely able to push the words out, staring down at Lila and feeling the guilt rush over him all over again.

“Oh sweetheart, it’s not your fault.” Shannon leans over, giving Odin a hug. “You had every right to be upset. We all say things out of anger we don’t mean.”

“Angry is one thing. I called her a baby killing whore, and put my fist through her wall.”

“Did she say why she did it?”

Odin shakes his head. “Kelli seems to know something I don’t. I don’t think it was mine, or maybe she didn’t know. I don’t fucking know.”

Shannon strokes her fingers through Odin’s hair, trying to ease his mind like any good mother.

“Well you’re going to go crazy sitting here. Why don’t you go home and get some sleep. I can stay here with her,” she offers.

“No. I want to be here when she wakes up. I need to tell her how sorry I am, beg her to forgive me. I’m still pissed as hell that she lied to me, but… I don’t want to lose her.”

“If she wakes up, I’ll tell her how sorry you are. Trust me Honey, she’s going to need a minute to herself. Go home, take a shower. She’s not going to want to wake up to her dried barf all over your pants anyway. I’ll call you if she wakes up before you make it back.”

Odin sighs, looking down at the mess that has dried on his denim jeans. Maybe Shannon has a point. Lila might not want to see him. He swallows his pride. Standing up, he gives Shannon a hug.

“Don’t mention the abortion,” he warns her, looking her in the eyes.

“Of course not.” Shannon has every intention of questioning Lila, but she assures Odin otherwise. She takes his seat, and he reluctantly heads home to get cleaned up.

He calls Cole on the way out of the hospital.

“What’s up Bro? How’d things go with Lila?”

“Not good. Listen, I need a favor.”

“There better not be a body involved this time?”

“Not yet anyway. I need you to go by Lila’s apartment, patch a hole in the drywall and see about getting her a new door.”

“Alright…” Cole can sense that something is amiss, but he doesn’t pry.

“I’ll text you the address. Thanks Brother,” Odin says before he hangs up the phone.

He meets Cole a few hours later over at the condo. Cole was able to find a brand new door that matches the other tenants after a layer of fresh paint. Gus stops by just as Cole is putting the finishing touches on the wall in the kitchen.

“I appreciate you putting the place back together,” says Gus.

“No problem, we’re in construction,” Odin tells him as Cole takes a load of things back out to the truck.

“I thought I was going to wind up getting stuck with it. After what happened, I couldn’t see taking it out of the deposit. Think Lila’s got enough on her plate.”

Odin nods, not really sure of why Gus would care.
Did Lila sleep with him? Is that why she got an abortion?
It doesn’t seem like something she would do, but he did fire her. After everything he’s come to learn, he doesn’t feel like he really knows her at all. Odin eyes Gus warily.