Fed up

thermometer out. “I don’t think anything’s going on with me. But”—I started to whisper—“I was with the woman, Francie, when she died. I found her on the bathroom floor, and I, uh, I watched her take her... well, her last breath.”
    The nurse squinted her eyes at me. “Her last breath?”
    “Yes. I think I’m just unnerved.” At normal volume, I said, “I’m upset by the experience. Anyone would be! It was not a peaceful death. She looked like she was in a lot of pain.” I looked up at the nurse. “She is dead, right? I mean... we heard that Francie was dead.” As if the statement were somehow unclear, I said, “We heard that she’d died, but...”
    The sour nurse stared at me before speaking. “Yes, the woman is dead.” She sat down on a stool with wheels and scooted next to me. “Tell me about this party you were at.”
    “It wasn’t a party. Although it did have a celebratory feel at one point, I guess.” I briefly explained the concept of the show and told her about the food that Josh had made. “The food was really good, though. Well, except for the lamb, which tasted fine at first. But then later it tasted really bitter and strange. And that dreadful arugula pesto. Ugh.”
    “So the lamb changed taste as the night went on?” She eyed me suspiciously
    “I guess you could put it like that.”
    “And what else did you people put into your bodies? You know, we can’t help you unless we know exactly what’s in your system, what it was that you took.”
    “What I took was gnocchi and a bit of the lamb, some vegetables.”
    “What substances ?” She didn’t bother hiding her exasperation.
    “I did not take any drugs! I don’t do drugs! I barely even drink anymore now that my best friend is pregnant. I’m supporting her by abstaining from alcohol during her pregnancy. And all the food was from Natural High.”
    “Natural High, my ass,” the wretched nurse mumbled.
    “The market called Natural High.”
    I eventually convinced the nurse that no one had snorted, injected, inhaled, or otherwise taken or used anything except food, and I was allowed to leave.
    Josh was in the waiting room. “Everything okay?” he asked.
    “Yeah. Either I didn’t eat enough of whatever is making us sick, or it’s just my nerves that were making me queasy. I’m fine. You look better, too.”
    “I am. I feel back to normal now. Well, as normal as I get,” he teased. He pulled me close for a tight hug. “I guess they’re keeping Marlee and Digger. I don’t know why exactly. It’s not clear if they are admitting them or not. They wanted to hook me up to an IV to rehydrate me, but I told them that was ridiculous. I’ll drink some water.”
    I sighed. “Are you sure? There’s no reason to be stubborn about this.”
    “Look, the last thing I feel like doing is lying down with a needle stuck in my arm all night. I just want to get out of here. I swear to you that I’m totally better.”
    I didn’t get another chance to try to coerce Josh back into the exam room, because Robin’s voice began echoing through the room.
    “I am not, I repeat, not a drug addict!” Robin stormed over to us. “Can you believe this crap? Some idiot back there kept insisting that I must have taken too many prescription pills. Like I was mixing uppers with downers instead of producing a TV show!” She breathed out heavily. “Sorry. I’m just strung out.” She turned around and yelled, “And not strung out in a drug-related way!”
    “So,” I said slowly, “I guess we’re ready to go?”
    “Yes. Where’s Nelson? Nelson!” Robin barked.
    “At your service.” Nelson’s tone was so cheerful and his expression so smug that the shine radiating from his damp face and scalp made him appear to be glowing with happiness.
    “You need to drive us back to the house so Chloe can get her car. Chloe, maybe you can clean up the kitchen?”
    Maybe you can, I wanted to say. Instead, having completed a full year of social work school, I said brightly, “Yes, we’ll all pitch in. Robin, what a great idea!”
     

 
    SO much for the benefits of a full year of social work school. During the drive back to Leo and Francie’s house, Robin increasingly complained about her exhaustion, and by the time Nelson pulled the TV van into the driveway, she’d managed to weasel out of doing her share of the cleanup while simultaneously arousing my sympathy for Leo.
    “We don’t want Leo coming home to that mess,”