Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 86857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
“Why is she unconscious in our storage unit?” Izzy asks like she’s on the verge of losing it.
“Shh …” I cringe again. “Can you keep it down?” I say while checking Josie’s vitals, her IV, feeding tube, and catheters. Over the next fifteen minutes, I proceed with the whole story, as unbelievable as it is. Then I show her Josie’s video because I need her to believe that I’m not a true killer.
“Felix …” Izzy whispers my name, dazed as she shuffles a few steps away from the bed.
Is she distancing herself from Josie or me?
Her fingertips touch her parted lips, gaze on Josie between slow blinks. “You c-can’t kill her t-tomorrow,” she stammers.
“That was her wish. It’s been two weeks. We are, in fact, in a storage unit. It’s winter. I have a full-time job. Her chances of waking up are slim. Her chances of waking up without neurological deficiencies are nearly zilch. I will follow her instructions. Return the equipment. And go on with my life. With our life.”
Izzy’s gaze flits to me. “We can’t let her die. No. It’s only been two weeks. She could wake up. You know this. And she might have minimal or no neurological deficiencies. It’s not impossible.”
Izzy’s experience as an ICU nurse isn’t helping this situation. I need her to feel helpless and reliant on me, not like a superhero.
“She has family … a fiancé looking for her. What if we can save her? What if she doesn’t remember her past life? Felix, what if we can do this?” She laughs. It’s a shaky laugh before she releases a long breath.
I’m glad she’s hopeful or relieved, but it’s not realistic.
“I’m following her wishes. The way I’d follow a living will. It’s the legal and ethical thing to do.”
“Legal and ethical? Are you joking? We are in a storage unit. You have a former medical examiner in a coma because you tied a bag over her head. Her fiancé is a homicide detective. You stole thousands of dollars’ worth of medical equipment, and now I’m either a witness who is going to report you or I’m an accessory.”
I unbutton the top of my shirt with my sweaty hands. Her assessment has my heart quickening. Reality fills the room, stealing all the oxygen.
“I’m proud of you,” Izzy says, donning a pair of blue gloves and rechecking everything I just checked, except she’s also checking for bed sores. She’s focusing more on the contents of the catheter bags. She’s assessing Josie like a nurse would do if she were caring for someone’s loved one … to return them to their family—alive. “Most people don’t seek the truth because it’s too messy. Most people don’t stretch their minds to make room for things they haven’t experienced and can’t see. I’m proud of you for listening to her. I’m proud of you for believing her.”
“Who said I believed her?”
Izzy glances over at me while holding Josie’s wrist, feeling her pulse. She traded in nursing to become an acupuncturist. “She’s in our storage unit. You tied a bag over her head. You believed her.”
“I owed her.”
Izzy chuckles, resting Josie’s wrist at her side. “Not this. Nobody owes anyone this.”
She’s right. I believed Josie.
“It could be months,” I say just above a whisper. “We have to let her die.”
Izzy doesn’t look at me. She messes with Josie and her bedding, sliding her one way and then the other way. “The bed doesn’t adjust.”
“It’s not plugged in.”
She unplugs the crash cart and plugs in the bed to adjust Josie. “How did you get all of this here?”
“The janitor helped me load it into a moving van.”
“Without question?” She glances over her shoulder.
I shrug. “I said it was going to one of the clinics.”
“And how did you get it in here by yourself?”
“The bed? I paid Jonah to help me. I told him there was some renovation happening at the hospital, and we had to store some things until it was done.”
She snorts. “The neighbor kid? And he believed you?”
“He’s seventeen.”
Crossing her arms, she stares at Josie. “You tied her hands behind her back … that’s why you had issues the night I came home, when I asked you to tie me to the bed.”
When I don’t answer, she glances over her shoulder at me.
I nod once.
“We’re going to take care of her, Felix. We’re not going to give up on her.” Her head dips into a resolute nod.
“That’s not what she wanted.”
“She didn’t want to inconvenience you any longer than possible.”
“She asked me to kill her. I think fear of inconveniencing me went out the window at that point.”
Izzy turns and wraps her arms around my neck. “I’m going to work on her tomorrow. Acupuncture. I’m going to get some essential oils, objects with different textures. She needs to be moved, adjusted, bathed, talked to like she’s not in a coma. Maybe a little music from time to time. Let’s bring her back.”