Chapter 24: A Safe Place

I became aware of my surroundings as I rode in an ambulance, strapped to a spine board and unable to move. I attempted to speak, but my words were muddled by an oxygen mask.

I was whisked into the emergency room, and though I was anxious to move my limbs, a nurse explained that I would have to remain strapped to the spine board until they had my X-ray results.

After an IV was inserted into my right arm, I was wheeled into a private room, where my mother was waiting.

She appeared exhausted. Her eyes were swollen as though she had been crying, and the worry lines between her brows remained even after her expression softened at the sight of me.

The nurse in attendance informed us that the attending physician should be in shortly. Once she’d left, my mother’s face crumpled.

“I was so worried about you,” she confessed as she cupped my face in her hands. “You cannot imagine how terrified I was when I answered the phone and discovered it was the hospital calling.”

I ~could~ imagine. The last time the hospital had contacted her, it was to inform her that her husband had been in a car accident and was in critical condition.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” I croaked. “I don’t know what happened.”

“Don’t try to speak,” she warned me. “I don’t think I’m allowed to give you water just yet.”

I closed my eyes and did my best not to think about my dry throat as we waited for the doctor to arrive. My mother sat silently stroking my hair, and though my focus should have been on her, my mind kept wandering back to my vision.

Was I losing my mind? Why was I seeing memories of the Johnsons? What were they trying to tell me? And ~who~ was trying to tell me?

Did it have something to do with that cloud? Was someone trying to warn me that darkness still clung to the house? Who could I ask about this without sounding crazy?

But then I remembered Maggie’s words, and suddenly I wasn’t so sure I should ask anyone at all.

~Be a gazelle.~ ~Don’t go looking for trouble, Dharma~, I told myself as the attending physician finally made an appearance.

“Good afternoon. I’m Dr. Spath.” He took a moment to shake our hands.

As he got busy assessing my chart and checking my vitals, my mother asked, “What happened?”

“Miss Dupree went into anaphylactic shock.” He glanced at my chart. “It says here that you are allergic to aspirin. Is it possible that you may have taken something containing aspirin?”

I started to shake my head, but then I remembered the morning-after pill. I wasn’t sure if it contained aspirin or not, so I nodded. “It’s possible.”

I had hoped the doctor would accept my answer, but he stood there expectantly.

“Go on, honey,” my mother prompted me. “Tell him what you took.”

I averted my eyes from my mother as I said, “I took a morning-after pill.”

The doctor’s face remained neutral as he made a note on his chart. “The morning-after pill does not contain aspirin, but it is possible that there was some cross-contamination during processing. There is a number on the back of the packaging you can call to report any unusual effects.”

“Can I have some water?” I asked, hoping the act of drinking would distract me from my mother’s hard gaze.

“Sure,” the doctor said. “Let’s prop you up.” He reached down to adjust my bed, then he poured me a small glass of water from a plastic water pitcher that was propped on a rolling bedside table.

“Your X-rays were clear. No broken bones from the fall, and your vitals have returned to normal. So, if you feel well enough, I can release you into your mother’s custody.”

Though I wasn’t anxious to face my mother’s wrath, I was anxious to get home and into my own bed.

“Sit tight, and the nurses will be along soon with your discharge papers,” he said. “Unless either one of you has any more questions?”

“No. Thank you, Dr. Spath,” my mother said, standing to shake his hand.

“Yes, thank you…,” I muttered, accepting his hand briefly before he departed.

Once he was gone, my mother turned her attention to me, the disdain in her voice evident as she said, “I can’t believe you were so irresponsible, Dharma.”

“I thought the pill was safe,” I objected.

“I’m not talking about ~the pill~,” my mother snapped. “I’m talking about the precautions you failed to take, which made the pill necessary.”

I opened my mouth to protest but closed it again when I realized I didn’t have a logical argument. I had acted recklessly, and the consequences could have been fatal.

After I was discharged, the nurse insisted that I climb into a wheelchair. “I have to wheel you to the exit,” she explained. “It’s our hospital’s policy.”

Feeling silly, I did as she instructed and allowed her to push me down the hall while my mother followed alongside. As we rounded the corner into the waiting room, I spotted Justin sitting in the corner, appearing devastated.

As soon as he saw me, his face flooded with relief, and he rushed to the exit so he could receive me at the door.

As soon as I stood, he swept me into his arms. “Dharma, you have no idea how worried I was,” he wept into my shoulder.

I hugged him back, burying my head in his chest. Under any other circumstance, I would have been reluctant to be this intimate in front of my mother, but for now I didn’t care; I was just glad to be in his arms again.

I would have remained in his embrace for hours if my mother had not intervened.

“It’s time for us to go, Dharma.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he whispered as he reluctantly released me and dropped a kiss on my forehead, then he nodded at my mother. “I hope to see you again under different circumstances, Dr. Dupree.”

“Have a good evening, Justin,” she replied in a neutral tone, not even offering him a smile.

I wanted to scold her for being so rude, but I was in enough trouble as it was, so I kept my mouth shut.