Dawn pulled over to the curb and looked at the address she’d written on the piece of paper. This must be the place. From first glance, it even looked like the kind of home where she’d expect Paige to live. A nice brick one-story on a couple of neatly trimmed acres, with nothing but trees for neighbors in the back. It all looked so nurturing, so welcoming.
Well, she wouldn’t be welcomed, she knew that. Desperation may have caused her to drive here, but common sense wouldn’t let her get out of the car. No way. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
A knock on the passenger side window jarred her. She turned to see Paige standing by the door, leaning forward, looking at her. “Dawn?”
Dawn started the car without rolling down the window. This was a mistake, and it was time to get out of here.
Before she had a chance to pull away from the curb, Paige jerked open the car door and jumped into the passenger seat. “What happened?”
Dawn didn’t have to wonder why Paige asked the question. She touched her puffy lower lip. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here. This is not your problem. If you’ll get out, I’ll be on my way.”
“Not until you tell me what happened.”
“Why would you even care?”
“I care because you’re obviously hurt. You’re also obviously pretty desperate if you’re showing up here. Now, what happened, and how can I help?”
“Jack happened, and there’s nothing you can do.” Dawn turned to look at Paige then. “Does it make you feel better to know that the person who could have helped you but didn’t is getting what’s coming to her?”
“Dawn, this”—Paige touched a sore spot on Dawn’s cheek— “was not ‘coming to you.’ Regardless of what you did or didn’t say, no one deserves this. Now, pull your car into my driveway, and let’s go inside and talk.”
“Just get out, okay? I made a mistake in coming here.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Dawn whipped around to her then. “All right. You want it, you’ll get it. You see these bruises? Jack put them there. You want to know why? He found the money I’ve been hiding so that I can get away from him. It was a lot of money. Three thousand dollars to be exact. You want to know where I got it? You’re going to really love this part of the story, because I got it from Clarissa. She gave it to me to keep quiet about what’s really been going on in the pharmacy.”
Paige covered her mouth with her hand. “You what?”
“You heard me. Now you found out what you wanted to know. Get out.”
“But . . . Jack hurt you. You can’t go back there.”
Her anger spent, Dawn felt herself deflate. It was all she could do to keep her head up. “You’re right. Even if I wanted to. His ex-wife moved in today.”
“Wow.” Paige leaned forward as if her stomach suddenly hurt. She rubbed her temples with the thumb and middle finger of her left hand. “I guess I’m not the only one with trouble around here.”
“You can say that again.”
Paige reached over, pulled on the handle, and turned to climb from the car. She stood halfway, then dropped back into her seat, her head shaking slowly from side to side. “You know, this is my parents’ house. They’re out of town for a couple more months, and I’m staying here all alone. You’re welcome to the guest room.”
Dawn looked at her, waiting for the laughter. “Yeah, right. I’ll just bet.”
“No, I mean it.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I’m standing my ground and waiting for daybreak.”
“Huh?”
She shook her head. “Let’s just say I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do. And it doesn’t seem to me like you have a lot of other choices.”
She was right about that. “You’re just doing this because you want me to back up your story to the inspector guy.”
Paige shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s impossible for me to ever get a job in pharmacy again, so that part doesn’t matter, and I told him everything I know, so my hands are clean. Whether or not anybody ever believes me is not my problem.”
“You can’t get another job, really? What will you do?”
Paige sighed. “I don’t know. Once my parents get back, I’m going to try looking for a job in another part of the state, maybe. For now, I start work as a cashier at Long’s Hardware next week— I’ve got to do something to pay some bills.”
“Maybe I could just stay for the night. Until I find another place.”
“You’re welcome for as long as you need to stay. Do you need me to go with you to get your stuff?”
“Nah, what little I got is in this car.”
285
“Well, pull this car into the driveway and come on in. I’ll show you to your room.”
Clarissa straightened her lab coat, smiled at the volunteer manning the desk, and pushed through the double doors to the CCU. She’d done part of her post-graduate internship in this hospital; she knew her way around. As long as she looked like she knew what she was doing, no one was likely to stop her. Of course, the ID badge helped, too. She just hoped that no one looked close enough to notice it was expired.
She rounded the corner into Ora’s room, prepared to face her mistakes head on. Her frustrations with Paige and her grandfather and everything had turned her into a person she didn’t even want to look at in the mirror. But that had to change. She had to be an adult and accept what had happened. Until she saw the woman in the bed. Then it was all she could do to hold her ground.
Breathe, breathe, stay calm, and breathe. Clarissa took a step closer and looked hard, trying to find something about the woman that was familiar. Her skin was so pale it almost had a bluish cast, her body still. There was a little mole on the left side of her chin that offered the only hint of flesh color at all.
In this moment, the situation reached full reality in Clarissa’s mind. A woman’s life was at stake—and probably ruined even if she did live, because of something Clarissa had done. She dropped into the seat beside the bed and gasped for air. She had done this to someone. Another real, live, breathing person. Not just an insurance number or prescription record.
“Can I help you?” A heavyset brunette nurse stood at the doorway to the cubicle.
Clarissa looked at her. “I . . . no . . .” She stood and walked toward the double doors of the unit. “Nobody can.”