It was a few minutes past ten in the night when my phone trilled on the table, disrupting the otherwise quiet solitude of my study. I looked up from the manuscript I was working on, pushing the tortoise-shell glasses I’d recently gotten back over the bridge of my nose as I peered at the strange number on the screen.
I’d never seen that number before, and a part of me felt irritated. Perhaps it was Ivy or one of the girls in the proofreading department. Sighing, I picked it up at last.
“Hello?”
“M-Mr Sturm?” Ivy’s frightened voice set off my hackles. I rose from my chair quickly. Something was wrong.
“Ivy? What’s wrong? You don’t sound so good.”
“I’m so sorry,” she blurted out tearfully. “It’s all my fault. She wanted to leave when the boys approached but I stopped her… now she’s…” she rambled on.
“Calm down, Ivy. Deep breaths,” I stated calmly. “Breathe in. Breathe out. Now, tell me what’s wrong. Who did you stop from leaving?”
“It’s Elaine, Sir. She was found, knocked out cold by the side of the street. It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry.”
What the hell? I checked my time again. Twenty-five minutes till it clocked eleven. What was she doing outside by this time? Had she gone clubbing again and left Finn at home?
Fuck. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to get a grip on myself. “It’s.. fine. Where are you right now? Where has she been taken to?”
“Luckily, someone I know was the one who found her and called in an ambulance. We’re at St Maria Hospital… the one downtown. You have to come quickly. It’s urgent.”
“What are the doctors saying?”
“That she was…” she trailed off, choking back a sob. “That she was…”
“She was what?” I barked. “Spit it out already.”
“She was drugged,” she cried. “The boys we had drinks with at the restaurant must’ve been responsible for this. I’m so sorry. She told me she wanted to leave but I stopped her. It’s my fault…”
I dragged a hand down my face, exasperated. “I’m on my way. Is she still unconscious?”
“Yes. Yes, she is.”
“Expect me in fifteen minutes.”
–
It was exactly 2 o’clock in the morning. I huffed as I paced frantically in the waiting room, trying to piece together the puzzle of what had taken place last night.
Elaine was still unconscious. It had been four hours now, and I’d never been scared shit about anything like this in my entire life. I still found it hard to believe that she was drugged. It couldn’t just be that, and I wondered if she’d secretly been a drug addict all these while and I hadn’t noticed. I didn’t bother interrogating Ivy any further because she was equally in a mess, blaming herself over and over for everything. The sky was still a stunning midnight blue outside, but the nurses raced about with such a rare vibrance.
This had to be the longest, most frightening night of my life. It felt as though sleep had deserted me ever since Ivy broke the news to me.
The brown door creaked open and the doctor on duty, a stout, short blonde lady in her early thirties ambled out, her forehead creased with worry. Our eyes met, and she shrugged, letting me know that I could go in and see her.
“How is she doing?” I probed breathlessly, clutching her arm. She sighed, adjusting the stethoscope dangling from her neck.
“It’s hard to say for now. We’re still trying to identify the drugs in her system, and we hope she’d regain consciousness soon. I have to get going now. I’ve got other patients to attend to as well.”
I whirled past her into the emergency ward wordlessly. The sight of Elaine lying with her eyes closed was nerve-wracking. God, I prayed she survived this. I’d been horrible to her these past few days. Wiping away the tears that had gathered in my eyes, I took her hand in mine and squeezed softly. “Don’t leave me, please. Stay back. Finn needs you,” I whisper hoarsely against her left ear, kissing her temples. “I need you. Please be alright. Please open your eyes.”
I couldn’t believe that I’d been blind all this while. From the toxicology reports, she’d taken an overdose. How did it come to this? Fuck.
How could she have left Finn at home and gone drinking? How could she be so irresponsible? Who the hell were the boys she’d been with?
Maybe I’d pushed her away too hard. I hated this. Not knowing everything that went on in her life pissed me off.
My phone screen brightened. It was Cora calling. Swiping a thumb over the screen, I pressed it softly against my ear with a sigh. “Hey, Cora. How are you?”
“I’m good, I’m good,” she said in a rush. “What’s going on at the moment? Is she up yet?”
“Nope. The doctor says she’s not certain she’ll be awake any time soon.”
“Oh, God. That’s – ”
“It’s fine,” I cut her off, not wanting her pity. “How is Finn doing? Has he stopped crying?”
“No. He keeps demanding for his mother, and can’t sleep. I’ve tried all I can, Max. He’s super restless. I’m thinking of calling in his preschool head teacher and telling her that he’ll be staying home for the day. I’m on a week’s leave from work as well, so I’ll be able to take care of him.”
“You don’t know how much that means to me. Thank you so much.”
“Don’t mention. Call me whenever she gets up, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks again,” I hung up. Blowing out a breath, I pressed my forehead against hers, whispering. “Please don’t leave me. Please be alright.”
What if she couldn’t make it? What if she woke up with permanent brain damage? How could I live with myself and the way I’d treated her ever since I found out about Finn?
I shut my eyes tight, not willing to imagine the horror. How could this be? How could the woman I love so much change from such a lovely, fun angel to a careless, stubborn, drug addict in the space of three weeks? How?
The questions were simply too much. I couldn’t keep up.
But one thing was certain. Everything I thought I knew about her was… wrong. And fuck, that hurts. A lot.
Fear seized me as I thought about Finn. He loved her a lot. He couldn’t even sleep without her near. What if something happened to her? How would I ever grow the balls to tell him that his mother was so selfish, careless, and stubborn to allow herself to get drugged by unknown men? What if their intent was to have sex with her? What if they raped her?
God.
An hour flickered by, slowly. I’d been half-dozing quietly when she stirred, peering at me through half-lidded brows. “Max?”
“Elaine,” I beamed, tucking the hair that fell over her forehead back, then helped her sit up. “You’re awake? Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried.”
She scrunched up her face, her forehead drawn together tightly in pain. “Ugh. My head feels like there are bricks in it.”
“Oh, baby,” I kissed her forehead, holding her close. “I’m so happy. I thought you were going to… die. I thought I was going to lose you.”
I held her tight, crying uncontrollably. I loved her so much. I couldn’t imagine life without her. It’d be hell.
“What happened?” she asked. “How did I get here?”
“The doctor said you were drugged. Tell me, baby. Do you take drugs?”
“What?” she gasped incredulously, shoving me off weakly. “Of course not. Ugh,” she clutched her head. “Why would you think such a thing?”
“Well, the reports say so. You took an overdose. Who did you go out with?”
“Ivy, and some girls. We just wanted to have some fun. It was nothing serious.”
My frown deepened. “Do they do drugs as well?”
“God, Max, no. This whole… drug business is both funny and annoying. I’ve never done drugs in my entire life. Believe me.”
I wanted to. I wished I could. But there was evidence. The reports. “Who else did you go out with aside from Ivy and the girls?”
She scrunched up her face as she tried to recall. “There were men. Three men and Sky was among them.”
“Sky?”
“Yes. The one you had beaten up at Benson publishings.”
Fuck. “You went out with him? I’m so disappointed in you.”
“I did no such thing,” she shook her head as she drifted back to sleep, her head lolling on my arm. “You’ve got to… believe me. Please, Max.”