AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The more she talked, the more her words began to run together and I figured the bottle and a half of wine she’d had tonight was finally catching up with her. It was only a matter of time before she either passed out or made a run for the bathroom. Selfishly, I was hoping it would be the former, but knowing her as well as I did, I had a feeling I would be holding hair back before the night was done.
“Asked you if you did what?”
She clicked her tongue. “You know what I’m talkin’ about. You never asked me if I wrote those prescriptions.” Her head turned back toward me, but her eyes were squeezed shut. “You just stormed in and took over and said you were going to fix the problem. No hesitation. No questions. Jusss blind faith in me.” Her lids slowly lifted, revealing her sky blue eyes that were swimming with tears. “And I love you for that.” A droplet spilled over, rolling down her cheek to her pillow. Her voice cracked as she said, “Why are you so good to me?”
The question hung in the air for a moment before I said gently, “Because you’ve never thrown up on me.”
She made a noise in the back of her throat and shoved at my shoulder. “Very funny.”
I lifted a shoulder. “You want me to keep being good to you, how about you turn over if you feel like that wine’s going to make a reappearance.”
She rolled her eyes and tucked her hands under her cheek. “I’m serious.”
I studied her mouth, the way her full lips were parted as she took quiet breaths in through them. I followed the curve of her cheeks to her eyes, noticed the way her eyes were wide, waiting for my answer, and despite being intoxicated, they were bright and clear. I noticed her slender fingers that were linked together and tucked under her perfect chin, thinking of all the times those fingers had been on my skin. Her blond hair was fanned out behind her on the pillow, wisps of it falling across the slender cord of her throat, and remembered the first time I’d felt it on my chest as her head rested over my heart. I’d known what she looked like since she was a baby, and yet, I didn’t think I would ever tire of looking at her.
My throat thick with emotion, I asked, “What was the question?”
Her voice was low, so quiet it was mostly just a breath of air as she answered, “Why are you so good to me?”
Without hesitation, I answered, “Because you’ve always been it for me.”
Her bottom lip, the one I loved to run my tongue across, quivered and she let out a squeak. “Good answer, Lawson Reed.” With one smooth move, she was atop me, her hair falling around my face. “Really fucking good answer.”
37
Piper
“Miss Kelley, you’re here today because you’ve been accused of improperly prescribing narcotics.” The man in the center of the table paused to look at the paper in front of him. His eyes roamed over whatever was written and he frowned before looking back at me. “This is a formal hearing, so anything you say will be recorded as evidence. Do you understand the allegations that have been brought against you?”
No, I did not understand. Not at all.
But that was not the response they expected from me. My mouth was dry, my tongue so thick all I could do was nod my acknowledgement. Mr. Wheeler was seated beside me and gave my knee a quick pat before he launched into my defense.
I’d been instructed not to speak, instead to let him do all the talking, but as the proceedings went on, it became harder and harder to bite my tongue.
It was alleged that I had written prescriptions for multiple people, giving them all insane amounts of drugs they had filled at pharmacies all over the state. It was those pharmacies that had noticed the problem first and given my name over to the DEA.
My stomach turned as they rattled off the names the scripts were written to. I’d never even heard of those people before. And I knew there were countless patients I had treated in the emergency room whose names I couldn’t remember. But I was pretty positive I would know the names of the people I’d been basically dealing drugs to.
And that was what it boiled down to.
The amount of pills that ha
d been dispensed under my name was essentially nothing more than a legal drug deal. And I’d been the supplier.
The board droned on about something, but I couldn’t hear what was being said. My mind raced as I tried to figure out how the hell this had happened.
Had I lost a prescription pad somewhere that some lucky drug addict had stumbled across?
Had I treated someone in the ER who’d stolen my pad?
I didn’t know.
But what I did know was that the case against me was solid. My attorney’s exact words. The scripts were legitimate and had my actual signature on them. Even I couldn’t deny that the handwriting was a dead match for mine. I’d been horrified when I’d seen copies of them. I knew I didn’t write a single one of them, yet I couldn’t prove it.
I’d been discouraged coming in to this hearing, but Lawson had assured me it was going to work out. I’d hung all my hope on his words, needing to believe I would be cleared. But with the way the proceedings were going, my confidence was fading.
Then one of the board members said something that caught my attention. I leaned over to my attorney and whispered, “What did he just say?”
