Vindicated

by Keary Taylor

  “Let’s go,” I said, having a hard time meeting his eyes. Not saying a word, he followed me out to the garage.

  We drove in silence for a long while, tension hanging in the air. My fingers were knotted together tightly in my lap, my palms sweating.

  “Is there something you want to tell me?” Alex finally asked. He kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead of him, his left hand gripping the top of the steering wheel just a little too tightly. The veins in his forearm bulged out.

  I just shook my head and stared out the passenger window. Through the reflection in the glass I saw his jaw tighten.

  As soon as we pulled into the driveway of the house, I jumped out of the truck, before Alex had even put it into park. Not seeing Caroline at the front steps, I practically ran around the back of the house. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and started dialing 911.

  And there she was, passed out on the back step of the house. We had only brought her here once to see all the improvements Alex had made but apparently she had a good memory. I wondered how long she had been lying there, unable to get through the locked door.

  “Caroline?!” Alex shouted as he followed me. Moving faster than me, he was suddenly by her side, rolling her onto her back, and pressing two fingers to the side of her neck.

  “She’s still alive,” he said, followed by a curse under his breath. “She reeks of alcohol and I don’t even want to know what else. Call an ambulance.”

  I simply pressed send.

  In less than five minutes we heard the sirens wailing and the saw the lights flashing in the early morning air. A man and a woman loaded her up and less than seven minutes since I made the call, Alex and I were headed to the hospital.

  “How did you know?” Alex asked very quietly. His entire frame was rigid.

  “I just had a feeling,” I lied, hating myself.

  “How did you know, Jessica?!” he half shouted.

  I glanced at him, seeing his cold, hard eyes turn on me. “I had a dream about it, okay?” I said defensively.

  Alex glanced at me from the road for a moment, gauging what I had said. Finally his expression softened, he let out the breath he had been holding.

  “I’m sorry I yelled,” he said, his voice still tight. Given my past experience with dreams, it was understandable that he believed me. “It’s just everything about Caroline gets me so freaked out. Sometimes I think it was a mistake bringing her back here.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” I said firmly. “She needs you. And you should be able to need your own mother.”

  He reached across the seat and took my hand in his. He glanced down at the ring on my finger for a moment, a small smile cracking on his lips.

  “Moving on,” he said quietly as he looked back at the road, his smile quickly fading. I didn’t have the will-power to ask what he was referring to in this instance.

  By the time we arrived in the emergency room at St. Joseph’s hospital, Caroline had already been taken to a room and was receiving treatment. There was nothing Alex and I could do but sit in the waiting room and fill out paperwork.

  “I don’t even know half this information,” Alex sighed as he worked his way down the page.

  “Just do what you can,” I said quietly as I tried not to meet the eyes of every staring person in the room. People always stared. I didn’t know why I had expected that to stop. Their eyes would linger on my skin, on my too bright eyes. They didn’t seem to be able to help it.

  Alex stood back up, walking to the reception counter. “I’m sorry,” he said as he handed the paperwork back to her on the clipboard. “That was all I knew. Any of the billing can come to me.”

  After getting more paperwork handed to him, Alex sat back down next to me.

  “At least we found her,” I said quietly. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, letting my hair fall around my face. I hated feeling like I had to hide. But I didn’t want all their eyes on me. “She’ll be at the wedding now, as long as she’s okay.”

  “Well, I don’t want to get any of my expectations up,” Alex said as he continued to work on the forms. “Like I said, she’s going straight to rehab this time.”

  My phone vibrated in my pocket. Pulling it out, I found a text from my dad.

  Is there anything you need us to help with? Our flight leaves tomorrow morning.

  And then it hit me. I’d been so distracted the last week that the days had been slipping by without my even noticing them.

  The wedding was only three days away now.

  While my heart suddenly started beating faster in excitement and anticipation, my stomach sank, fear for losing Alex taking over. I didn’t have much guaranteed time after the wedding.

  Nope, I texted back. We’ve got pretty much everything done. Just show up.

  I can’t believe my little Jessica is getting married. Love you.

  Love you too, Dad.

  Alex walked up to the counter and handed the woman the rest of the paperwork. Sinking back into his chair, he rubbed his hands over his eyes with a sigh. “I can’t wait to get to the beach and unwind.”

  I rubbed circles into his back as he leaned forward. “Just the two of us,” I said with a smile.

  “Just the two of us,” he said as he reached a hand over and rested it on my knee. His hand was stiff though. Alex was still mad.

  We sat there for nearly an hour before a nurse came to get us. My stomach twisted as I remembered Sal lying in one of these beds, of finding a feather tangled in her blankets, of waking in a hospital bed myself, and knowing that I had to get out of there as soon as possible. It seemed I was visiting this hospital all too often the last seven months.

  We were led into a room with a doctor in a while lab coat fussing over Caroline’s still form.

  “You must be her family,” the doctor said as he stepped away from her and shook each of our hands. “I’m Dr. Scoresby.”

  “Alex Wright, and soon to be Mrs. Wright, Jessica,” Alex introduced. I couldn’t help but smile. Maybe he wasn’t too mad at me after all.

  Dr. Scoresby nodded. “We’re flushing Caroline’s system out right now. She had a dangerous mix of methamphetamines in her system, as well as extreme amounts of alcohol. She would have been dead within a few hours, maybe less, if you hadn’t found her when you did.”

  Alex just stared at his mother’s body. “Is she going to be okay?” I asked when Alex didn’t say anything.

  “It’s going to take a while to flush everything out of her system,” the doctor said, turning his eyes on me. He stared for a second, as if he was actually looking at me for the first time. “Uh,” he stuttered. “I’m going to recommend that she stay in hospital care for a few days. And if I may be frank, I suggest we immediately release her to rehab.”

  “That’s the plan,” Alex suddenly said, his eyes hardening as he continued to look at his mother.

  “Is there any chance,” I piped up “that she could be released by Saturday. Just for a few hours. That’s the day of the wedding.”

  A small smile crossed his face for a moment. “Congratulations,” he said. His smile then faded just as quickly. “We will see how treatment goes. She will need to be watched very closely. Drug addicts will do anything to get to their next fix. It might not be very enjoyable for the two of you to have to make sure she doesn’t abscond during your wedding.”

  “We’ll make it work,” I said as I slid my hand into Alex’s, giving it a tight squeeze. His fingers just hung loose.

  “Well, we’ll see how things go,” the doctor said. “Right now we can just wait while her system flushes out. I don’t think she’ll wake up for a while. A nurse will be in soon to look after your mother. If you’ll excuse me.”

  He offered one more smile before he let himself out of the door.

  Pulling away from my hand, Alex walked to the side of the bed. Looking down at her, I saw his eyes harden, his jaw tighten.

  “I’m so sick of her always screwing things up,” he said through c
lenched teeth. “I don’t know why I keep expecting her to change. To be a decent person.”

  I swallowed hard, stuffing my hands into my pockets, not knowing what to say. He was right though. She wasn’t a decent person. She was trying to kill herself with the life she was leading.

  “Do you still want her to come?” I asked.

  “To the wedding?” he asked, looking at me. I hated how sad his eyes looked. I nodded. His eyes dropped back down to her still form. “I don’t know. Maybe not. She might not even be able to come.”

  I came to his side, sliding my hand into his again. He loosely curled his fingers around mine. “Give her one more chance,” I said quietly as I looked down at her. She was so scary looking. “If she can, let her come to the wedding. If she cares enough to behave for a few hours and goes to rehab without issues, maybe she can change. If that doesn’t happen, if she continues her drama, be done. No one can blame you. She abandoned you all your life. She can’t expect you to keep swooping in and saving her at the last minute.”

  “That’s the thing,” he said, his voice hinting at cracking. “She doesn’t want to be saved. She doesn’t want me saving her. She’s already told me that herself.”

  “One more chance,” I said, leaning my head against his shoulder.

  I felt him nod, giving my hand a tight squeeze. Finally. “One more chance. But I’m not waiting around the next few days, holding my breath.”

  Just then the door opened again, a young looking nurse with slanted eyes and straight black hair walking in.

  “I’m Caroline’s nurse until she’s transferred to her long term room,” she said quietly. “I’m just going to take her vitals and draw another blood test.”

  Alex nodded, stepping out of the way as she started to work. “We’re not staying actually,” Alex said as he cleared his throat. I could tell how hard this was for him. “She’s going to need to be watched closely. I’d say she’s a flight risk. Have them give me a call when they know more.”

  “I will let them know,” she said, giving Alex a sad smile.

  Alex nodded, and grasping my hand tighter, turned and we walked out of the room. Just as we were about to walk out of the sliding glass doors, Alex’s phone rang. He answered it with a curt sounding “Hello?”

  I felt like there was a rock in the pit of my stomach. It was supposed to be filled with happy butterflies just days before my wedding. Instead I was terrified of my fiancé being pulled into the world of the dead, my soon to be mother-in-law was strung out and nearly dead, and everything just felt wrong. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be.

  “That was the tux shop. My suit is ready,” Alex said as he slid his phone into his pocket. “Want to come with me to pick it up right now?”

  “Sure,” I said, my mood instantly brightened. This was more like it.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  It only took us a few minutes to get to the tux shop. My heart started beating faster with the right kind of anticipation as I thought of seeing Alex in a suit in just a few days, about to bind himself to me for as long as we had.

  Which I intended to make much longer.

  “You know,” I said as the woman helping us started to unzip the white garment bag that held Alex suit. “I think I’m going to wait outside while you try it on. I want to be surprised and see you in it for the first time at the wedding.”

  “How traditional of you,” Alex winked at me and I stepped back into the bright sunlight outside.

  My phone started ringing as soon as I sat on the bench just outside the doors. Pulling it out, I found it was Rita.

  “Hi,” I answered.

  “Hey, sweetie,” she said in her ever-kind voice. “I got Katlin to come in for your shift this afternoon. You’re only days out from your wedding and I feel bad for scheduling you today.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said as I picked at a thread on the hem of my jeans. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Well,” she said. “I’ve already asked her to come in and I think you might have other plans this afternoon.”

  “I don’t, really, its fine,” I tried to clarify.

  “I’ve got it covered sweetie. Have fun today. See you after you get back from your honeymoon!” and then she hung up the phone.

  I glanced at the screen, seeing “call ended” flashing at me. Shaking my head, I slid my phone back into my pocket. Just as I did it vibrated.

  Where are you? a text from Emily read.

  We have plans right now, another from Amber came through at the same time.

  I shook my head, laughing to myself. So that was what Rita had meant that I had plans for this afternoon.

  Be home soon, I texted back. With Alex picking up his suit.

  I didn’t have to wait long for Alex to come back out. His real Alex-smile spread on his lips as he walked out of the doors, white bag slung over one shoulder.

  “So apparently I have plans right now,” I said as we slid into the truck. “I’m a little afraid what Emily and Amber have in store for me.”

  “I guess I have plans too,” Alex chuckled as he started the engine. “Rod called while I was in there. We’re having a little ‘party’ tonight.”

  My face suddenly fell. “There aren’t going to be any strippers involved, are there?”

  Alex laughed as he looked over his shoulder and backed out of his parking space. “Don’t worry, if the strippers come out I’ll put an end to it. Maybe,” he added.

  “Alex!” I yelled as I hit his arm. My playful hit would have bruised a normal man.

  “Kidding! Kidding!” he laughed. “Don’t worry, Rod knows you’d kill him if he planned for strippers.”

  I just shook my head and laughed. “Man, a bachelor party,” I said as we started back home. “This is getting pretty real.”

  “Not getting cold feet on me, are you?” he raised an eyebrow at me, a crooked smile on his lips.

  “No way! You’re not going to change your mind on me, are you?”

  Alex’s eyes got serious then as he glanced over at me. He took my hand in his again, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “Never.”

  By the time we pulled back into the driveway, everyone was there waiting for us, Emily, Amber, and Rod.

  “Prepare to be ambushed,” Alex said, hesitating to open the door.

  “Yikes,” I breathed.

  And as soon as I stepped out of the truck, I was attacked with a pink boa, a plastic tiara, and forced into a pair of black lacy panties, over my jeans.

  “These are your last days of freedom,” Emily declared as she spun me around, taking pictures as I twirled. “We must live it up before you’re tied down for eternity!”

  “Why didn’t you make him wear a speedo or something?” I asked Rod, giving him a mock glare. I could feel my face burning in embarrassment.

  Rod raised one eyebrow at us, shaking his head. “Unlike you ladies, I actually like my best friend, and am unwilling to submit him to this kind of humiliation.”

  “You’re just not as creative as us,” Amber said, bounding over to press a quick kiss to his cheek. He couldn’t help but smile.

  “Rod,” I said as the Emily started dragging me into the house. “No strippers, okay?”

  He laughed out loud. “Yeah, right. Alex would have a heart attack as soon as the first bit of clothing was removed.”

  Amber suddenly froze behind us, turning back toward the guys. “Rod,” she said seriously. “No strippers.”

  His face suddenly turned serious. “No strippers, baby.”

  She blew him a kiss before helping to shove me into the house. I barely managed a wave good-bye to Alex before he slipped into Rod’s car.

  As soon as I walked in the door, I froze in horror.

  “Oh my…” I trailed off.

  Posters were taped to the walls everywhere, each of them dominated by a man wearing only a tight pair of underwear, each of them sculpted to muscular perfection.

  “You guys,” I said as I shook my head, f
eeling my face flush with heat. “This is humiliating.”

  “Come on!” Emily said as she grinned mischievously and pulled me over to the couch. “Enjoy looking at a few half naked men before you aren’t allowed to anymore.”

  “Why would I want to look at any other half-naked men when I’ve got Alex?” I said as I raised an eyebrow at her.

  “You’ve got a point there,” she said with a mock wistful sigh. “But, the real point is that these men aren’t Alex.”

  “They’re also two dimensional men,” I teased her.

  “That’s enough!” Emily said in an authoritive voice, holding back her laughter. “Amber, get me the box!”

  A giddy laugh bubbled from Amber’s lips as she bounded to the bar and picked up a box.

  “You aren’t going to do anything to embarrass me further, are you?” I cringed as Amber bounded back across the room with a black box that had a pink lacy pattern printed on it.

  “We intend to educate you,” Emily said as she raised one eyebrow at me, a sly grin on her face. Taking the box from Amber, she opened the lid and handed it to me.

  As I looked inside, I flushed a scarlet that made my face burn.

  Well, they were right. This was one area I certainly had no experience in.

  “What’s the occasion ladies?” the waitress asked as she brought us our waters. “This wouldn’t be a bachelorette outing, would it?”

  “What gave me away?” I said as I looked down at the pink boa and touched the crown on my head. At least they had let me take the panties off. Emily and Amber snickered in their seats next to me. The waitress smiled.

  “When’s the wedding?”

  “Three days,” we all said at the same time.

  “Congratulations,” she smiled kindly. Getting back to her job, she took each of our orders and walked away.

  “Guys, this place is way too expensive for what I know you make,” I said as I looked around the darkly lit restaurant. I’d been there with Alex once upon a time and remembered the stack of cash he had to leave behind when we were done.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Amber smiled slyly. “Rod’s paying.”