Page 78 of Anthem of Love and Loathing

Crap. When did he come into the room? I push myself up and away from Riot.

Oh my God, what am I doing?

28

Riot

Kelsey scrambles off me before I have time to catch my breath. Damn it, Doc. I latch onto her wrist. “Don’t go anywhere.”

We have too much unfinished business. Her mouth against mine definitely did not feel like the end of anything.

“Sam?” She turns to him, while she tucks stray strands of her brunette hair behind her ears.

I can’t keep my eyes open. I start to drift.

“You can play nurse,” the doctor flirts with her.

He’s still the same old charmer, with his eighties rock band T-shirt, his white hair and a mustache that belongs at home in an old Western, but it’s those very things that make people at ease around him.

I struggle back to the surface. It’s like I have a head full of syrup and tiny creatures with beady eyes and big hammers. “What happened?”

“You overdosed you stupid, selfish jerk.” Her posture is rigid. “I can’t believe you would do that after Neil.”

“No.” That’s not... It’s not possible. Is it? My head is throbbing and it’s hard to concentrate. Sure, I drank and I smoked and I took a couple of pills. But I’m not addicted like Neil was. And I didn’t take that much. I groan as my eyes slip closed again.

“Could have been a bad batch,” Doc says.

I sink into the darkness again. Come back up to the weirdest conversation.

“Grab me one of those pregnancy tests, Kelsey,” Doc says. “We better make sure he’s not pregnant while we’re checking vitals.”

She bursts into strangled laughter.

I pry my eyes open. I almost need matchsticks to keep them from sliding shut again straight away.

She tries to contain her hysteria with her hand, but her watery gaze shines brighter.

A single tear escapes her lashes. The urge to swipe it from her skin and taste it is almost impossible to ignore. Is that a real tear because I scared her? They look real. Does she care that I’m still here?

“What are you playing at?” I grumble, the pregnancy test joke a reminder that she moved on after me.

Doc pulls out his blood pressure monitor and fits it to my bicep. It starts to squeeze. After he takes my vitals he collects a blood sample and asks me details about what I’ve taken. The amounts. Strange reactions I’ve had prior to collapsing in Kelsey’s bed.

“This doesn’t make any sense. I didn’t even have a chance to get as fucked up as I planned to. I didn’t partake of any party favors since I had my own supply.” And I’d left the party the first chance I had and headed back to the hotel with the sole purpose of having it out with Kelsey. After that... “It’s mostly a blur. Probably a bad trip. Something in the pills that shouldn’t have been.”

“You have any left?” he asks.

“Yeah.” I reach into my pocket and hand the drugs over. “I got them from the same source as usual.”

“I’m going to have these tested,” he says. “How are you feeling now?”

“Like I want to die.” My throat is dry and my muscles are achy like I have the flu, plus my head is hurting like hell. “How long until I feel better?”

“Maybe by morning. There’s a bit of withdrawal to go through I’m afraid,” Doc says. “And we have to worry about the Narcan wearing off too quickly. I’m going to stay to monitor you overnight.”

“Kelsey can do it.” I’m not ready to let her go.

“Kelsey?” Doc watches her carefully. It’s weird. It’s like he’s concerned for her when I’m the one feeling like death.