"Maybe we will be best friends." I followed the pair into the kitchen, and my mom and her dad were sitting at a table designed for no more than three people comfortably. "Hi, Mom."
"Oh, Laurie! Carl! Wonderful— we have some great news!" My mom was practically bursting at the seams with excitement, and I blinked hard. She smiled so wide, her eyes glistening so brightly, and the dread in my gut intensified. "We got married last week!"
"Ex-fucking-scuse me!" My sister screeched like a banshee, and I trembled under the weight of my mom's smile falling off her face. "You did not! You did not! Mom!"
"You got married to this scumbag?" Disgust thickened my words, and I scanned Augustus through narrowed eyes. "I beg your pardon? Is that why you went to Vegas? To get hitched? Like trailer trash trying to escape the disapproval of your family?"
"Trailer trash!" My mom gasped in affront, and I tore my eyes off Augustus as my mom stomped her foot like a child. "I'll have you know that I was the one who suggested we get married. Auggie wanted to get engaged first, but—"
"You don't think it's a huge red flag to want to get engaged after two months!" Frowning as Laurie took the words right out of my mouth, I crossed my arms over my chest tightly. Discomfort and disbelief crowded my heart and coated my ribs like tar, and my gaze eventually wandered to Melissa. She leaned against the kitchen counter, her head bobbing dangerously, and my sister's budding screaming match with my mom drowned out from concern.
Wandering over to her, I nudged Mel gingerly with my elbow, and her head snapped up some as she inhaled sharply in surprise. Who I could only think was Terry was gulping down wine, hiding behind the refrigerator and watching the drama. He didn't so much as glance at me, but I could hear him furiously typing away as everything played out.
"How much medication are you on, Mel?" Glossy, green eyes found mine briefly, and I cupped her face gently to press on either side of her small nose with my thumbs. She hissed but really didn't react much, and I held my breath and closed my eyes to lean in. Even dosed up, she was wheezing, her lungs a little crackly when I leaned to press my ear against her chest where her dress didn't quit cover her.
"Melissa?" Shit. I tapped her cheek softly, but her eyelids didn't so much as flutter in reaction. Allergy medication wasn't supposed to do this, and alarm restricted my pupils. "Mel! Hey!"
"Is she okay?" Glancing over at the guy as he jumped off the counter, I licked my dry lips as cotton stuffed my mouth.
"What did she take before we got here? How much alcohol has she had? How many times did she use her inhaler?"
"Ah— she took a bunch of Benadryl about half an hour ago, and... I don't know, maybe two glasses? She's never had wine before— I brought it over. I don't know if she's used her inhaler, either, since I've been cooking y'all's food."
"Fuck— shit— call 9-1-1—" I swept Mel off her feet and turned around only to find my sister still yelling at my mom. Her dad just sat there underneath it all, looking bored as all Hell, and my heart nearly fucking exploded. "Laurie! Shut the fuck up!"
My sister whirled around, her mouth open, face red, really ready to lay into me until she saw Melissa limp in my arms. Horror contorted her pretty face, and I inhaled deeply before my narrowed eyes flickered to my mom.
"I'll deal with you later. And you—" Next to me, the nameless man fumbled a little with his phone, and he jumped with a squeak. "Tell them I work there— my name is Carl Northrop, and Mel is presenting with severe respiratory suppression and lethargy— a suspected overdose on Benadryl. Let's go— repeat everything I say exactly as I say it."
Chapter 18
Melissa
"... Well... at least it couldn't get much worse." I was mortified at the story Carl weaved me, and I pushed my palms deep into my eye sockets. "I don't even know what to say. I'm sorry I called your mom all those names."
Blinking away the colorful spots to see his confused, knit brows and thin frown, I shook my head a little. Carl reached to grab my hand and squeeze, the lines around his mouth deepening as he scooted a little closer to the side of my bed.
"You're okay, though, Mel. You know better than to take that much Benadryl, though. Why'd you even allow your dad to do this to you?"
My cheeks warmed in shame, and I covered my face and turned my head away at Carl's probing. We ignored the pink elephant in the room— that my dad had married his mom in secret, and everyone but that poor old woman knew he was a scammer. Gingerly taking my wrists in his warm, dry hands, he pried my palms away to dig into me with worry shining in his eyes.
"What happened, Mel?"
"He said that if I let him use my apartment, he'd get out of my life and never contact me again. He showed up at, like, three in the afternoon, dropped that bomb, and I— I don't know. I just wanted to get through it, and I didn't want to make a bad impression, and... I don't know what happened. I was so overwhelmed. Terry's been getting my groceries, and I can't sleep, and I can't do anything, and he just... sprung it on me." Grimacing at my own, confused explanation, I ducked my head, but there wasn't any twinkle of judgment in Carl's dark eyes. "I took some Benadryl before my shower, and then I got out, I felt a little better, so I took some more... and then I had some wine, and I've never had wine before. I'm not really a drinker. And then my dad and your mom showed up, and I felt like I was gonna die because of her perfume, and..."
"Hey, this isn't your fault. It's your dad's fault." Pursing my lips thinly, I closed my eyes and took as deep a breath as my mangled lungs could manage. No matter how many times I told myself that same thing, it didn't make me feel any better. Shuffling to sit on the edge of the bed, Carl cupped the back of my head to press his ear against my sternum before I exhaled slowly. "You sound much better, at least."
"I don't think we should date anymore." That terrible, terrible sentence rolled off my tongue thickly, and Carl pulled back with a jerk. Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth to gnaw harshly, I twiddled my thumbs in my lap as he practically glared at me from under tightly knit brows. "Th— this is so... so complicated... and I— I mean, I don't want... I don't want my dad—"
My rasp tied on my tongue when Carl cupped my cheek, brushing my lips with his thumb. His gaze softened, the crease between his brows easing some, and my heart beat furiously as he sat back.
"I don't think disappointing you in the passenger seat of my car constitutes a date, Melissa. At least let me take you on a proper date before you break up with me." He smiled slightly, and I sniffled hard through my clogged nose. "As for your dad... well, I didn't like him, anyway. He's inconsequential. I know you never wanted to get to this point, Mel, but it's best if we stop worrying about our parents' bad decisions and let it go. My mom is absolutely convinced that your dad loves her, and your dad has admitted to you that he's just in it for the money. Regardless of what happens next, it doesn't involve us."