Best Dating Rules by Tamie Dearen (story books to read .TXT) 📗

and no one seems to be able to talk sense into her.” What could she say to soothe his obviously raw feelings. “I hope you’ll give her a chance to explain... when she wakes up.”

He moved back to Emily’s side, gently lifting her hand while turning to face Steven. “If it wasn’t Denning, then who was it?”

“Denning swears she had a cup of coffee and a glass and a half of wine. He said she was perfectly fine until after she started drinking the second glass of wine.”

Anne said, “I can’t even believe she started a second glass. She usually has a strict limit of one, and that’s if she drinks anything at all.”

“She seems to have broken a number of her normal rules for this guy,” Spencer remarked sullenly.

Steven continued. “But the tests showed an extremely high level of this drug in her system. If it was all in the second drink, and she only drank half of it, someone must have spiked it with a huge amount of this Rohypnol. We’re lucky she only drank half of it. And the doctor said she probably won’t remember much—the drug gives you amnesia.”

“Spencer?” Anne pointed her chin at Grace, still sound asleep in her chair, with her head cocked at a strange angle. “Why don’t you go home and take Grace? You’ve done so much.”

“Yes, Spencer.” Steven moved to grasp his shoulder. “The doctor’s tell me you probably saved her life with the CPR in the taxi.”

He slumped into the chair beside Emily, shaking his head miserably. “No. I could barely remember what to do. I don’t even know if I got any air into her lungs, and I couldn’t get enough room to do the chest compressions the way I needed to.”

“You did the best you could, and she’s probably alive because of you.”

“But we won’t even know if she’s okay until she wakes up.” His eyes dropped to his lap. “I was so mad, I wanted to drop her off at her apartment. I thought she was drunk. It was Grace who said it might be something more. It was Grace who made me call you.”

Steven glanced at her contorted form. “Then we’re thankful to Grace as well. But you really should take her home and get some sleep.”

“No, thank you. I want to stay until Emily wakes up. I have to. I can’t leave until I see her awake.”

Steven opened his mouth to object, but Anne caught his eye and silently bid him to her side. She whispered in his ear, “Let him stay. He needs to stay. Let’s send Grace home.”

Nodding, he roused Grace and guided her half-sleeping form down the elevator to be driven home. Meanwhile Spencer kept his bedside vigil with his head on the bedrail and his hand firmly clasping Emily’s. Steven returned to the room and collapsed into the chair beside Anne. She reached out to grab his hand and squeeze it.

“Thank you. I’m glad I’m not doing this by myself. I’m glad we have you.” With a weak smile she added, “Welcome to fatherhood.”

He heaved a heavy breath. “I don’t much care for this hospital stuff. Between you and Emily, it’s becoming way too frequent for my taste.”

“Mine, too. When did they say she’d wake up?”

“They can’t be sure. It doesn’t usually progress all the way to cardiac arrest like hers did, so they have a hard time predicting.”

Anne felt fresh tears forming and blinked hard. “But she will wake up, right? And they don’t think her brain went without oxygen?” She saw Spencer raise his head, hanging on Steven’s reply.

He paused, obviously thinking carefully before he spoke. “The doctors refuse to make promises, but it’s very unlikely she’ll have any permanent damage from a single incident. On the other hand, she’ll likely be very confused, and she’ll probably have a really bad headache and nausea. And that can last up to forty-eight hours.”

Anne swallowed hard. She wanted assurances not probabilities.

He said, “Look, I know you don’t like that answer, but it’s the best one I’ve been able to get. At least she’s breathing on her own now. That’s a good sign, and she won’t be terrified, waking up on a ventilator.”

“You’re right. I need to be thankful for every positive thing instead of worrying about the things I can’t change.”

She felt his eyes looking her over. “I know you’re exhausted. We all are. You won’t be able to stay up here all day tomorrow. Not unless you want to end up in the hospital yourself.”

“But I have to be here for her.”

“You can stay until she wakes up. But then I’m sending you home so Connie can take care of you.” Squinting his eyes, he added, “And don’t think I’m unaware you’re already feeling sick. I should probably check you into your own room.”

As Anne was formulating a counterargument in her head, Spencer stood to lean across the bedrail. “She’s moving, and her eyes are blinking. I think she’s waking up.”*****

Emily had never felt so sick in her life. Her head pounded, and a blinding light assaulted her eyes. She struggled to open them, but it hurt too much. She could hear voices, vaguely familiar. Someone squeezed her hand. A heavy fog dragged her down. She willed herself to wake up. Her eyes squinted open slightly. Was that Spencer? Where was she? What was wrong with her? Why didn’t her body work right?

She blinked her eyes open again. Her mother’s face floated into her vision. Why was her mom here? Where was she? Turning her head to the side, millimeter by millimeter, she saw Steven and Spencer. Both wore frowns. Her mother’s voice was in her ear.

“—hurt anywhere? How do you feel?”

She drifted into oblivion.

Prying her eyes open, she felt a hand squeezing hers and gazed up into her mother’s eyes.

“What happened to me?” her voiced croaked. Her mother held a straw to her lips. Cool water soothed her parched throat. “Thanks. My head hurts.”

“You don’t remember anything?”

“No… Wait...” Her