I nod before leaving the group to each other, glancing in the direction of Vera who seems to be trying harder than necessary to keep her focuselsewhere. I stop at the nightstand on my way to the bathroom I don’t actually need to use. A few orange prescription bottles litter the surface, along with various over the counter medications and vitamins. Tilting each medicine bottle back, I scan the labels one at a time. Extra strength Ibuprofen. Fifteen milligram Meloxicam. Pepcid. Laxative. Vitamin D. Another confirmation that none of these pills on her nightstand would affect the size of her pupils.
Continuing into the bathroom, I pull my phone out and quickly shoot a text off to Maeve, relaying the name I’d seen on the nurse’s badge that dangled from her bejeweled badge clip.
Vera Bryan.
Colin and I are moving fast enough in my preferred direction that I might be able to take a hiatus from my own hiatus to save his mother from certain death, which is something I feel very strongly is in the cards for her.
Vera may be thebadkind of bad, but I’d still recognize it anywhere: the hunger for release in her eyes.
Flushing the toilet, I exit the bathroom and return to the group, settling onto the loveseat next to Colin again as he and his mother carry on about how the food in this place isn’t as good as she thought it would be.
“We’ll be here for a while,” I say to Vera, who briefly stiffens as she organizes her medication cart. “Feel free to give Elizabeth her meds so you can carry on about your day.” I smile innocently, though something tells me she can see right through it. Colin lifts an eyebrow at me, suspicious, or maybe appreciative, of how well I’m falling into my daughter-in-law duties.
Vera smiles in response, a lift of her lips that she tries to make look sweet and appreciative—like I actually give a shit about her schedule—but I can tell it’s actually tense and forced. She gives us a curt nod and goes about readying the medication for delivery.
Vera’s black hair is pulled back into a slick bun at the base of her neck, and as quickly as I’m gathering general details of her features and appearance, I’m also focused on her movements and demeanor.
She looks like she’s in her early forties, Botox keeping that pretty skin of hers wrinkle free. Her lips are painted red, like mine, and her long, dark lashes protect ocean-blue eyes. She’s gorgeous, and I find myself hating her for using her sweet-looking nature to take advantage of innocent, old women. My future mother-in-law, no less.
Earlier, Colin seemed taken aback by how quickly and easily his mother and I were getting acquainted. He seems more so now as I take up more air in the space than I probably would have, had I not sensed evil lurking in the room with us.
“What’s that one?” I ask Vera as she draws a clear liquid from a tiny vial through the tip of a needle. She smiles tightly, but I’m less focused on the curve of her lips and more focused on the flex of her arms, the tone of her biceps as she lifts the vial and needle into the air. The shape of her hand and fingers that look like they haven’t done a hard day’s worth of physical labor in her entire life.
All the while, Stone’s voice echoes in my brain, his tips about overpowering someone who ends up being stronger than I am or less impacted by the tranquilizers he gives them.Aim for the sensitive spots: throat, chest, eyes. Palm strike. Kick ‘em in the balls.Well, that last one’s not exactly relevant, but likely still effective.
Vera recites the name of the medication to us, which means nothing to me, but I file it away. “It’s a bone growth stimulator,” she explains. “She takes it daily.”
“That’s new,” Colin says beside me. “I didn’t see that one listed on her medication list,” he continues, his voice merely curious at the medication change while my blood pumps wildly in my temple and throat at his words. His arm is draped behind me, the heat of his body feeding my bravado as Vera moves between us and kneels in front of Elizabeth.
My heart nearly stops pumping altogether when Elizabeth’s dull eyes meet mine. They may be lifeless, but the look of terror in her growingpupils is so charged I can feel it zapping across every inch of my skin. And when my gaze trails to her hand in her lap and she performs the universal hand signal for distress—folding her fingers over her thumb bent into her palm before revealing it again—my focus snaps back up to her eyes so fast I think they’ll pop out of my head. My hand is whipping out and wrapping around Vera’s wrist before I can stop myself, stopping the forward movement of the needle readying to puncture Elizabeth’s skin.
“Skip this one,” I demand, as softly as possible even though my pulse is beating all over my body.
Vera is caught off guard by my hand on hers, I can tell by the way she freezes when I touch her cold skin. Her gaze slowly moves from where my fingers are pressing into her wrist up to meet my death glare.
“Chloe,” Colin interrupts, leaning forward beside me, his eyes caught on where I’ve trapped the nurse’s hand. But I ignore him. I have to.
I hold Vera’s threatening glare when I ask Elizabeth, “Do you want this one?” And all I need to see is the movement of Elizabeth’s head out of the corner of my eye as she shakes it back and forth for my grip to tighten on the nurse’s wrist, unwilling to let it move any further.
“It’s her medicine,” Vera says to me as I return her dark stare.
“And it’s her body,” I spit back. “She can miss one dose.”
Vera huffs before yanking her wrist from my fingers and rising quickly from her kneeling position, replacing the cap on the needle and tucking the vile of liquid back into its pouch at the medication cart. Pursing her lips, she busies herself at the metal rolling cart as I allow the breath caught in my lungs to breathe life into me again. “I’ll have to tell the doctor about this,” she sneers.
I’m so far from giving a fuck. The air in the room is so charged with tension I’d think it was actually warming up the place. Colin eyes his mother, the way she’s curled in on herself with Vera around, the relief rippling fromher shaking breaths at missing a dose of something I’m almost certain was not for stimulating bone growth.
“I don’t mind talking to the doctor myself,” Colin says, glancing from Vera to me, a look of solidarity radiating from his bright eyes. Vera clears her throat uncomfortably in the background, and Colin and I look away from each other, back at this evil nurse who I’m officially unwilling to let live any longer than necessary, her mouth pursing.
“It’s okay,” she assures us, probably hating the idea of us pursuing this because she was neverreallygoing to talk to the doctor in the first place. “She can miss one dose.”
22
Chloe
“Ilove her!” I squeal, skipping into the parking lot in the direction of Colin’s truck. “We should move her closer.”
He chuckles behind me, his steps slow and steady as he follows me. “She seems to love you as well,” he calls. I press my back to the cool steel of his truck when I make it there, and let him close in on me, his eyes sparkling with curiosity as he closes the distance between us, my chest one breath away from touching his. “Have you met before?” He tilts his head, his gaze bouncing between my eyes.
