Chapter 57

Logan set the glass of wine on the side table next to him. He doubled over, feeling sick to his stomach.

“Logan?” Natalie said, setting her glass down as well. She kneeled in front of him. “What’s wrong?”

“I feel…” he started, but was unable to finish his sentence. He was struggling to breathe. He grabbed the arm of the couch and closed his eyes. He felt so dizzy all of a sudden. He started to sway, unable to stay seated upright.

“Oh, god. Oh my god,” Natalie stood, frozen in place.

Logan collapsed backwards onto the couch.

Natalie screamed.

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I pulled up to the curb outside our house and parked. There was a car in the driveway that looked just like Logan’s. I stared at it confused as I walked to the door. Why would he be here?

I unlocked the door. “Nat?” I called out as I stepped inside. “Is Logan here?”

Natalie came running out from the living room. “Hazel, come quick!”

She grabbed my arm and dragged me into the living room. Logan was laying on the couch, and I noticed two wine glasses on either end table. I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah yeah, you’re married to my boss. Good for you for working it out, I guess,” I snapped.

“No, Hazel, I…I did something terrible,” Nat wrung her hands as she spoke.

Logan groaned.

“Oh my god,” I ran over to him and felt his forehead. He felt clammy. “What happened? What did you do?”

“I just wanted him to do what I wanted! I didn’t mean to hurt him!” Tears started to roll down her cheeks. She was shaking.

“What did you do??” I said more loudly, trying to snap her out of her panicked state.

“I just put a few of dad’s sleeping pills into his wine!” She started sobbing now.

“Natalie how could you!” I gasped and pulled out my phone. I dialed 911. “Hello, we need an ambulance quickly. My friend accidentally overdosed on sleeping pills and wine.”

I gave the 911 operator our address and she told me to stay on the line with them until the ambulance arrived. I started to hand the phone to Natalie so I could tend to Logan, but she just shook her head at me.

“Logan?” I said. “I have help coming, you’re going to be okay.” I hoped.

Logan slowly turned his eyes towards me, but he looked past me. He seemed really out of it. I grabbed his hand with my free one and squeezed.

The doorbell rang a few minutes later.

“They’re here,” I told the operator and hung up.

I turned to Natalie, who was still frozen in place, crying and wringing her hands together.

“Answer it!” I yelled at her.

She ran to the door and pointed the EMTs to the living room. I jumped away from Logan to give them room. I turned to look at Natalie, but she had disappeared.

I fumed. She had done some really shitty things over the years, but this was a new low. Thank God I got home when I did. He might have…

I shook my head. I couldn’t think about that right now.

The EMTs worked on him for several minutes, then they brought in a stretcher. One stopped to talk to me while the other two got Logan onto the stretcher. He looked so weak and pale. Tears stung my eyes.

“Miss, are you the spouse?” The EMT asked.

“Uh…no. I guess I’m technically his sister-in-law,” I shrugged.

“We think he’ll be okay, but we have to get him to the emergency room for a stomach pump. We’re taking him to St. Augustine’s, if you would like to alert his wife,” the EMT said.

“I’ll follow you guys there, I don’t think his wife is available at the moment,” I said bitterly.

He nodded, and I grabbed my keys and followed the four of them out the door. Logan turned to look at me. I ran to his side before they loaded him up in the ambulance and grabbed his hand.

“I’m coming with you. They said you’re going to be alright,” I tried to smile at him but my lips were shaky.

His eyes rolled up into his head. The EMTs loaded him into the ambulance. I ran to my car and put the key in the ignition. I waited until they closed the doors and pulled away from the curb, and I followed them for as long as I was able to before they sped out of sight.

I pulled out my phone. “Call Dylan,” I said into it.

The phone rang twice before he answered. “Hazel?” He asked, puzzled.

“Dylan, I’m so sorry to bother you. But Logan…” my lips started quivering and tears began falling down my cheeks.

“What did he do now?” Dylan said angrily.

“No…he…overdosed. He’s in an ambulance on his way to St. Augustine’s now,” I managed to get out before the tears started again.

“Oh, god,” Dylan said. “Shit. I’m on my way.”

I hung up. I thought for a moment, then said, “Call Natalie.”

The phone rang several times then went to voicemail. I tried again. It only rang a couple times before it went to voicemail that time.

“That bitch sent me to voicemail,” I muttered to myself. I waited for the beep to leave a message. “Natalie. You have done some shit things but this is a new low for you. You’re lucky he’s going to be okay. You could have killed him, do you realize that? All because you are a self-absorbed, stupid-ass…”

The voicemail beeped again, cutting me off. I thought about leaving a follow up voicemail, but decided she would get the gist from the first one.

“Call dad,” I said instead. That one also went to voicemail. “Hey dad. Ask your favorite daughter why some of your sleeping pills are missing. Here’s a hint: you can find them in the wine glass in the living room, what’s left of it anyway, since luckily her new husband didn’t drink the entire cocktail she made for him.”

The voicemail beeped and the call ended. I felt quite a bit better after that one.

I pulled into the hospital parking lot and followed the signs to the emergency room. I checked in with the front desk, and the clerk had me sit in the waiting room while Logan was back getting his stomach pumped.

The waiting room was only about half full, but I was too anxious to sit in one of the empty chairs. I walked over to a spot that was pretty empty and began pacing in front of those chairs.

“Oh, Hazel,” a male voice said. I turned to see Dylan walking swiftly towards me. I ran over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. He put his around my shoulders and I began to sob into the front of his t-shirt.

He rested his head on top of mine. “Hey, it’s okay. The clerk told me he’s going to be okay.”

He kissed the top of my head and my eyes grew wide. I looked up at him. His face was turning bright red.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I just…” his cheeks turned even darker. “…just…did it out of habit.”

I pulled one hand away from my waist and wiped my eyes. I let out a small chuckle. “It’s okay.”

He stared into my eyes. I thought about how horrible I must have looked, between the crying and the champagne I hadn’t been able to clean off of me yet. But if he thought so, he hid it well. He gave me a small smile. I gave him one in return. As gross as I felt, I couldn’t make myself look away. His eyes were a dark shade of green. I hadn’t noticed before.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” I said to break the awkwardness.

“Me too,” he said. He wiped away a tear that was dripping down my cheek, but he didn’t move his hand away when he was done. Instead, he placed his other hand on my other cheek and began to lean in close to me. I closed my eyes, and…

“Ms. Whitaker?” The clerk called from the front. “We’re ready to take you back now.”