Page 108 of The Killer Card

He opens his mouth, then closes it again, shaking his head. “I’m flying out tomorrow,” he sighs. “If you want to come, I can get you a ticket. You can come home, see your friends, get away from it all.”

My grip tightens on my champagne flute. God I wish I could say yes. “I have to finish up the project I started this week. Have a lot of paperwork to read—”

“Naomi—”

“Maybe next time.”

I force a smile, then back out of the kitchen, letting the door swing shut behind me. I finish my champagne before I make it back to my room, refilling the glass with the rest of the merlot.

Time for a new bottle, I guess.

Wiping the sweat from my brow I make myself finish the toast and pull out my make up bag from the cabinet. I take the eye pencil out and very carefully start applying the charcoal under my lids, pausing every now and then to clench the shakes away.

I don’t know how it got this far. I don’t know when I started to need the alcohol and not just want it. I don’t even really enjoy it, I just hate the feeling of being without it so much more.

At least the headache has stopped.

Swallowing bile, I raise the pencil back to my eye and resume getting ready for another night as the senator’s daughter.

✽✽✽

“Is she going to be okay?”

“All of her vitals have returned to normal. The surgery went well and we were able to stop the bleeding—”

“How bad was it?”

“It was… It was not the worst we’ve seen. But she’s very lucky to be alive.”

“She’ll be able to walk? Talk? Nothing is damaged?”

“There will be no lasting damage. She will need physical therapy for the leg and for her hand, and we do highly recommend rehabilitation following the blood-alcohol levels we got back from analysis.”

“It’ll be taken care of immediately.”

“Thank you, Doctor…. I’m going to start making the arrangements for her care.”

“I’ll stay with her. I’ll text you when she wakes up.”

“Did you know, Nathan? Did you know how bad it had become?”

“I… Yes. I knew.”

“And you said nothing?”

“I tried talking to her—”

“Why did you say nothing to me?! You should have come to me the moment you realized!”

“I’m sorry, Dad…”

“Honestly, between the two of you… I don’t know who has disappointed me more…”

✽✽✽

When I open my eyes it’s only to close them against the too bright fluorescent lights. There’s an incessant beeping coming from my right side, an uncomfortable pinch in my elbow when I try to reach for my phone. A sharp pain shoots through my fingers when I try to move them and I groan, taking a deep breath. That’s when I realize there’s something in my nose. Things do not belong in my nose.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” a strong, but gentle hand wraps around my wrist when I reach to pull the foreign object off my face. My vision is cloudy, but I recognize my brother’s voice when he murmurs, “Slow down there, Mimi. Everything’s alright.”