Chapter 3 - The Pills In My Bag
Charles moved before I did.
He put himself between Nathan and the doorway.
“Get out of her way.”
Nathan laughed once. “She doesn’t need a hospital. She needs to calm down.”
“I have a burn on my hand and I’m seven months pregnant.”
“You’re fine.”
The words came out flat.
Certain.
I looked at him.
“How do you know?”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Because you’re standing here arguing with me.”
Charles opened the door.
“I’m driving her.”
Nathan reached for my elbow.
I jerked back.
“Don’t touch me.”
Victoria stood so fast her chair scraped the floor.
“Emily, at least take your things.”
She grabbed my handbag.
The strap caught around the chair arm.
The bag flipped.
Everything spilled.
Phone charger.
Lip balm.
Wallet.
Keys.
A white bottle of prenatal vitamins struck the hardwood and rolled beneath the table.
Victoria lunged for it.
So did I.
Her knee knocked the bottle sideways.
The cap popped off.
Capsules scattered across the floor.
One cracked beneath Nathan’s shoe.
Powder spilled out.
White.
I stopped.
My vitamins were pale yellow inside.
I knew because morning sickness had once made me cut them open and mix them into yogurt.
I crouched carefully.
“What is that?”
Victoria’s fingers closed around the broken capsule.
Charles caught her wrist.
“Leave it.”
She snapped, “I’m cleaning up.”
“No.”
Nathan bent down.
Charles blocked him too.
Nathan’s voice sharpened.
“Give me that.”
Nobody moved.
The sentence hung there.
I looked at him.
“Why?”
He straightened.
“It’s medication. You’re pregnant. Dad shouldn’t be handling it.”
Charles held the capsule inside a clean dinner napkin.
Nathan’s nostrils flared.
“You don’t know what’s inside it.”
The room went silent.
I heard the refrigerator compressor click on in the kitchen.
Then off.
I stared at my husband.
“Then how do you?”
He blinked.
“I meant we don’t know.”
“No. You said Dad doesn’t know what’s inside it.”
“Emily, stop twisting my words.”
Victoria crouched and began gathering the other capsules with shaking fingers.
I slapped her hand away.
“Don’t.”
Her head snapped up.
For a second, I expected another slap.
Instead, she whispered, “You need to get checked.”
The anger vanished from her face so fast it scared me more than the anger.
I lowered my voice.
“What did you do?”
She looked toward Nathan.
He was watching her.
Not blinking.
Victoria swallowed.
“Nothing.”
Charles wrapped three capsules in separate napkins and put them in a clean serving bowl.
“We’re taking these with us.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“Dad, don’t be ridiculous.”
Charles lifted his phone.
“I’m calling the police too.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“You call the police and this becomes public.”
Charles stared at him.
“You forged your wife’s signature.”
“That isn’t proven.”
“You blocked a pregnant woman from going to the hospital.”
“I was trying to stop a scene.”
“You’re making one.”
My phone buzzed again on the floor.
Unknown number.
This time there was a text.
DON’T TAKE THE PILLS WITH YOU.
I stopped breathing for one beat.
Then another message.
YOU DON’T KNOW WHO YOU’RE HURTING.
I turned the screen toward Charles.
His face tightened.
Nathan tried to glance over my shoulder.
I locked the phone.
“Was that you?”
He laughed.
“My phone is right there.”
He pointed to the table.
It was.
Victoria’s wasn’t.
I looked at her.
She understood immediately.
“My phone is upstairs.”
“Convenient.”
She flinched at my tone.
Charles picked up my coat and bag.
“We’re leaving.”
Nathan stepped aside this time.
Too easily.
I hated that more.
As I walked past him, he said quietly, “You’re making a mistake.”
I stopped.
“So did I.”
He looked at my bare ring finger.
His mouth tightened.
Charles guided me toward the foyer.
Behind us, Victoria said my name.
I turned.
She stood beside the Thanksgiving table, one hand gripping the chair.
Her eyes were wet.
“Tell the doctor everything you’ve been feeling.”
Nathan swung toward her.
“What does that mean?”
She didn’t answer.
Charles opened the front door.
Cold air hit my burned hand like needles.
I stepped outside.
Nathan called after us.
“Emily.”
I kept walking.
He raised his voice.
“Those pills came from your pharmacy. Remember that.”
I stopped at the car.
Not because of the words.
May you like
Because he had never once picked up my prenatal prescription.
Victoria always did.
