But I’m too drugged to worry, too far under to care.
Claire keeps talking to me, shaking me, pulling the covers back, doing anything she can to wake me up. She jostles my body around, and it takes me a minute to realize she’s putting trousers on me. Right. I’m still naked. Cold water splashes my face, doing nothing to rouse me.
I think she’s crying. I hear a door slam and then her talking to someone, words all jumbled. I think of Haley’s soft lips pressing to mine. I don’t understand why she’s not here with me. I want to call to her, tell her to come here and hold me until the dizziness passes and I’m good enough to get up.
I have no sense of time. Claire was just in here, shaking me, and now she’s doing it again. I groan when something tightens around my arm. Voices surround me, male voices. What the fuck? I use everything inside of me to open my eyes.
“Aiden?” someone asks, their face so close I can feel their breath on my skin. “Aiden, can you hear me. Open your eyes if you can hear me.”
“He’s unresponsive,” someone else says. “Get the Narcan.”
“No, I’m not,” I say. Or at least I think that’s what I say. Really, my voice dies in my throat and only a gurgle leaves my lips.
Someone grabs my other arm and a needle pierces my skin. Cold liquid flows through my veins. Within seconds I’m able to open my eyes. There are three people crowded around the bed. One holds an IV bag while the other two assess me. Claire’s at the foot of the bed, her hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes.
“What the fuck?” I spit as I try to sit up. I’ve come to, but I’m weak. I push the IV guy back.
“Sir, you need to calm down.”
“Don’t call me sir,” I say, pushing him away again. I hate being called sir. I think. I don’t know, and I don’t care. All I know is he’s pissing me the fuck off just by being here next to me.
“Aiden,” Claire calls. “Calm down.”
“Blood pressure is still low,” another EMT says. “Let’s take him in.”
“No!” I yell, and I start pulling at the IV in my arm. All three EMTs swarm me, holding me down. “Get the fuck off me!” Why are they here? I’m fine. I need to go…somewhere. I can’t recall where, but I know I have shit to do. “Get off me!” I struggle against their arms.
“It’s okay,” I hear Claire say over my struggle. “Aiden, calm down. We just want to take care of you!”
“I’m fucking fine!” Don’t they see that? What the fuck? Everything is annoying me, getting under my skin. My stomach twists, and I stop fighting, only to turn my head and throw up. Hardly anything comes up, but my body retches two more times. And now I’m shaking, gasping for air.
“Did you check his sugar?” one EMT says. I’m too busy dry-heaving to hear the response, but I feel a sharp prick in my finger.
“Sixty-one.”
“Aiden,” another EMT says slowly. “When was the last time you ate?”
What the fuck does that matter? And I have no clue. I still don’t know what they are doing here, why I’m being harassed for no reason. I’m fine. They need to get the fuck out of here.
“I’ll call it in,” a female EMT says. “We need to get him out of here.”
“No,” I protest when I see them bring the gurney over. “I’m not going to the fucking hospital.”
“I really think you should go,” an EMT says, and his persisting patience annoys me even more. “Just to get checked out. It’ll be a quick trip.”
I’m not a fucking child. I’m not falling for that shit. “No, I’m not going,” I say between retching. I’m shaking and cold, and my mouth is so dry and my throat is burning. Claire pushes through the EMTs and bends over. Tears fall from her eyes. I’ve never seen her look at me with that much fear before.
“Please, Aiden. Let them take you. You’re not well.”
“I’m fine,” I grumble, leaning back and reaching for the line in my arm. I want to tear it out.
“Aiden,” she says again as she pushes my hair back. It’s stuck in my mouth and covered with frothy vomit. I jerk away.
“Give him a minute,” one of the EMTs says. “It’s normal for patients to be angry and agitated.”
“He’s not okay.” She shakes her head and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’ve seen him bad before, but never like this. What did you take, Aiden?”
I let my head fall back and take a deep breath. I feel like shit. Complete and total shit. Everything aches, my head pounds, and I can’t stop shaking. I want another pain pill to make me pass out and not wake until my fucking body feels better.
My phone rings, and despite the hazy shitstorm going on in my mind, I know only one person is calling me this early.
Haley.
I reach out for the phone. I have no idea where it is. I keep my phone in my pocket, and I’m not wearing the jeans I had on last night. When did I take them off?
“Get that,” I say to Claire.
She takes a few steps and picks up my clothes off the floor. “I’ll take a message,” she says.
“No, give it to me!”
“You really want Haley to talk to you when you’re like this?”
I don’t care how I am. I need to hear her voice. I need to know she’s okay, that those horrible things I thought of really didn’t happen. I need to know she still loves me, even though my life is a fucking mess and I’m lying in my bed, covered in my own vomit.
I need her.
Claire just shakes her head and silences the call. “You don’t want her to witness this, not even over the phone. You’re not well, Aiden. You have a problem.”
“I’m fine,” I say for the millionth time. When will she get it? What the hell kind of problem did I have? I. Am. Fine. “I’m not going to the hospital. I refuse to let you take me.”
The EMTs look at each other, and I know they can’t force me to do anything against my will. I need a shower, water, and a protein bar and I’ll be fine. My normal hangover cure. It’s worked before; it’ll work now. And I need it fast. There is a reason I’m here in L.A. and not with Haley. Ah, fuck. I’ll remember it later.
“Aiden,” the female EMT says, kneeling down. “You overdosed on something. We gave you medication to counteract the overdose, but until we know what and how much is in your system, you’re still in danger. Your blood pressure and sugar levels are low. It would really be in your best interest to go to the hospital and get checked out, okay?”
“No,” I say shortly. “I’m bloody fine, dammit.”
“Can’t you just take him?” Claire asks, and they say something I can’t hear. Claire relaxes and looks down at me. “Aiden, you’re going to the hospital. I know you don’t want to, but please, cooperate. Do it for Haley.”
Haley.
My eyes flutter closed and I see her face before me. We’re on the horses again, running through the woods. Wind blows her hair, and she turns around, her eyes locking with mine for a second before turning back.
Haley.
I left her because I have to work. The sooner I work, the sooner I can get back to her. “No,” I say.
The EMTs meet eyes again, nonverbally deciding what to do. They’re going to leave, that’s what, because I’m fucking fine. Then I hear one of them say something about restraints.
Another chill rolls through me and exhaustion hits. Suddenly I’m scared. What the hell did I take last night? I don’t want to be sick. I nod my head just as an EMT lowers the gurney. They’re taking me after all and had always planned to. The hesitation wasn’t because I was refusing. It was in hopes I’d come to my senses and not be a pain in the arse.
“I can walk,” I say, knowing the spectacle it will be if I’m taken away on a bed, loaded into the back of the ambulance. I’m sure a small crowd has already gathered.
“That’s not a good idea,” Claire says, like she’s afraid they might let me. Of course they don’t, and soon I’m strapped in and being wheeled outside the house. I don’t look to see who’s watching.