Storms 01 - Family Storms

on through the night, I felt guilty, too.
    I had wished hard for something like this. I had wanted it so much that I had almost tasted it. Was I going along with her now to gloat or to give her comfort?
    Was I Alena, or was I Sasha Porter?
    It wouldn’t be long before I knew.

32
Hospital
    T hey were all there in the emergency room. Every one of them looked frightened, but when they saw me with Mrs. March, their looks of fear changed to surprise. Ricky looked up last. He was sitting, holding his head in his hands. Mrs. March didn’t ask any of them anything, nor did she say anything to any of them. She went directly to the nurses’ station and introduced herself. At almost the same moment, a doctor was at her side. He said something to her and then led her down a corridor.
    Deidre was the first to speak to me. She approached me slowly. The shock of seeing me was replaced by confusion. “Why are you here?” she asked, loudly enough for the others to hear.
    “Mrs. March needed someone with her,” I said. After I said it, I realized I should have said “my aunt.” “My uncle is on his way back from San Francisco and is on an airplane.”
    She lost her look of confusion, but then, in the tone of a confession, she said, “He’s not your uncle. Everyone hereknows the truth now. Kiera lost control of her tongue before anything else.”
    I looked at the others, all sitting there, their gazes now fixed on me.
    To my surprise, Deidre added, “It was still very nice of you to come along with her. You can sit and wait with us,” she said, indicating a chair next to her.
    “Thanks. I’ll sit here,” I said, and sat.
    She didn’t look upset. She nodded, understanding, and returned to her seat. I looked at them all. I really hated them for what they had done to me, but they looked pathetic, more like terrified little children now, especially Ricky. In fact, he looked as if he had been crying. He turned away to avoid my gaze.
    Two uniformed policemen arrived and went to the nurses’ desk. She spoke to them for a while, and while she did, Kiera’s friends were all like stone. The policemen turned and looked at them, and then the nurse nodded in the direction of the corridor and they walked down it.
    Deidre stared at me thoughtfully. Finally, she got up again and walked over to Ricky. She spoke to him, and they both looked at me. He nodded and got up. I felt my body tighten as he walked toward me.
    “Can I talk to you?” he asked.
    “What do you want?”
    “Let’s just go outside for a minute. Please,” he added when I didn’t move. The others all stared at us.
    I got up and walked out to the parking area. He followed, and then I stopped and turned abruptly to him.
    “What?” I said.
    “I don’t expect you to accept any apologies. I just wanted to tell you something about the pills Kiera gave you. She asked me to get them.”
    “So?”
    “She wanted fertility pills. You know, pills for women who have trouble getting pregnant.”
    “I know what fertility pills are, Ricky.”
    “I got her pills and told her they were fertility pills, but they were only what we call placebos. There was nothing in them to make it easier for you to get pregnant.”
    “But thanks to you, I can still get pregnant, right?”
    “I hope not. I don’t expect it,” he said.
    “Why not?”
    “Right afterward, without Kiera knowing, I had you drink some water and take another pill. It’s called the morning-after pill. I wasn’t going to be the father of anyone’s baby at my age. Anyway,” he said, looking back again and then at me, “whatever happens here, it’s a wake-up call, at least for me. I’m probably going to be in a great deal of trouble.”
    “What happened to her?”
    “She took something called G. I got it through someone I know. It’s like the flavor of the week these days, you know? Everyone’s always looking for a new kick. Kiera keeps up with this stuff more than anyone else. I didn’t know what dosage people should take. This guy told me you take a shot like whiskey, but she took three. I warned her to go slowly, but it was pretty clear she had gone too far when she collapsed. She fell into a coma. We couldn’t revive her, so we had to call for an ambulance. I had to tell them what it was. The police will be out here soon looking for me.”
    “How could you give her something like that? I guess I shouldn’t ask. Look what you gave me.”
    “You’re right. It was a terrible thing to