Shadowed Instincts (11 page)

“Poison? What do you mean, poison?”

Melanie was pacing back and forth at the foot of Jeremy’s
bed. Her jerky movements betrayed her agitation. She didn’t know what she was
expecting, but it wasn’t this.

“Melanie, please calm down and stop pacing,” Elaine said
while sponging Jeremy’s chest with a cool water.

“Like I was saying,” Darren said with an exasperated look at
Melanie, “it looks like some kind of poisoning. He could have ingested
something bad. We’ll find out what he ate when he wakes back up. He could have
taken some medication. It could even be alcohol poisoning.”

“Jeremy wouldn’t…”

He held up a hand to cut Melanie off. “I know he wouldn’t,
sweetheart. Besides, I don’t smell alcohol in here.” He paused for a moment and
gave her a sympathetic look. “Just to be safe, I need you to run downstairs to
the kitchen. In the pantry, there is a shelf with medications on it. Get me the
activated charcoal.”

“Why do-”

“Melanie, please,” he cut her off. “Get what I asked for.
Oh, and some water. We need to rehydrate him as quickly as possible.”

“There’s a sports drink on the…” She trailed off as she
glanced at the nightstand. The bottle was gone. “Huh, that’s weird. There was a
drink there. Did he knock it onto the floor?”

Darren leaned over and looked under the bed. “There is
nothing here.” Straightening back up, he said, “Melanie, hurry.”

Melanie flew down the stairs and into the kitchen. She found
the shelf of medicines and searched for the activated charcoal.  She also
spotted a half-empty bottle of aspirin and grabbed that, too. She assumed
Jeremy would have a headache when he woke up. Grabbing two bottles of water
from the refrigerator, she rushed back up the stairs.

When she walked into the room, Jeremy was awake and leaning
against a tower of pillows. He still looked terrible and he was moaning in pain
while clutching his stomach. Melanie rushed to her dad and handed him the
supplies.

“What’s this?” he asked when she handed him the bottle of
pain relievers.

“Um, aspirin? I thought he might need it for pain.”

“Where did you get this, Melanie?”

“In the pantry,” she said, trying not to stutter. He was
making her nervous and she could feel his alpha power starting to emerge. It
felt like a warm buzzing in her stomach that slowly spread up into her chest.
“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Darren relaxed his features and softened his voice. “I’m
sorry, sweetheart. I’m not mad at you.”

He didn’t say another word to her while he coaxed Jeremy to
swallow the activated charcoal. Jeremy gagged and heaved, but managed to keep
it down. When he seemed to relax back into the pillows and drift back to sleep,
Darren pulled Melanie out the door and into the hallway.

“What’s going on, Dad?”

“I think I know what’s wrong with Jeremy.”

“What?” she asked anxiously.

“Aspirin poisoning.”

“What makes you think that?”

“That bottle you brought to me. I opened it yesterday and
took two. It’s over half empty now, which means someone used at least fifty
pills. His symptoms are also consistent with an aspirin overdose.”

“Overdose? We need to take him to the hospital!” She tried
to drag him back into the room, but he wouldn’t budge. “Why aren’t you moving?”

“Melanie, think about it. He’s delirious right now. What if
he shifted in front of the hospital staff?” He shuddered at the thought. “No,
we can’t take that chance. He
will
be fine. I know what to do. Go into
my bedroom and look in the nightstand drawer. Inside, there is a box of
Alka-Seltzer. Bring it to me.”

“Alka…What? Do you have heartburn or something? What the
hell do you need Alka-Seltzer for?” She was bordering on hysteria, waving her
arms around.

“Melanie.”

She froze as she felt the power imbued in his voice. Her
arms dropped and she stood still. The look on her face told him she was not
happy with his use of it. Not happy at all.

“I know,” he said, “and I’m sorry. I need you to calm down
and listen. Alka-Seltzer is sodium bicarbonate, like baking soda. Sodium
bicarbonate is an antidote for an aspirin overdose. It helps remove it from the
body. Now,” he said and she felt the power release her, “please go get it for
me. And hurry.”

Melanie turned and rushed to do what he asked. She hated
that Darren had exerted his control over her, but decided to let it drop. He
was helping Jeremy and that was all that mattered. She found the medicine and
ran back to Jeremy’s room. Darren stood by the bed with a glass of water.
Melanie ripped open the box and pulled out a foil pack. Tearing it open, she
dropped two tabs into the water and it immediately started to fizz.

As Darren put the glass to Jeremy’s lips, Melanie shouted,
“Wait!”

He looked at her questioningly. “What?”

“Doesn’t Alka-Seltzer have aspirin in it? Won’t that make
him worse?”

“I buy the aspirin-free kind,” he said.

Melanie looked down at the box she had dropped to the floor
and read the label.  After confirming that it was indeed aspirin-free, she
nodded and Darren called Jeremy’s name to pull him from his light slumber.
Placing the glass to his lips, Darren slowly poured the fizzy liquid into
Jeremy’s mouth. He coughed, but managed to get the whole glass down.

“We’ll have to give him some more in an hour. For now, let’s
let him sleep.”

“I’m not leaving,” said Mel obstinately.

“Okay,” Darren replied, “but make sure you’re quiet and let
him rest. When I come back, we’ll have to give him more of the sodium
bicarbonate, as well as a laxative to push the activated charcoal and poison
from his system.”

He turned to leave, but Melanie stopped him. “Dad? Who did
this to him?” She sounded like a frightened child.

Turning back, he said, “I don’t know, but I promise you, I
will find out.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Melanie said quietly, giving him a small
smile.

“You don’t have to thank me, darlin’. I’ll be here for you,
always, no matter what.”

He turned and quietly left the room. Melanie pulled a chair
to Jeremy’s bedside and held his hand while he dozed fitfully. Every so often,
his face would contort with pain and he would moan in his sleep.

“Don’t worry, Jeremy,” she whispered, a tear rolling down
her face. “You are going to be right as rain and whoever did this to you is
going to pay. I promise you that.”

“What do you mean, he was poisoned?”

Tara stood in Melanie’s bedroom, staring at her best friend
with her mouth hanging open. Melanie took the towel off her head and ran a wide
toothed comb through her hair. After Jeremy’s second dose of Alka-Seltzer, he’d
fallen peacefully asleep and Melanie had slipped out to take a shower.

“He was in pain and throwing up, so my dad sent me to get
some medicine and I grabbed the aspirin. When Dad saw it, he knew. Half the
bottle was empty and he said it was full yesterday. Somehow, someone managed to
give him at least fifty pills.”

“Oh my God, Mel,” Tara said, pulling Melanie in for a tight
hug. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I think so. Dad has been taking care of him and he seems to
know what he’s doing.”

Tara released her and held her at arm’s length. “God, why
didn’t someone call an ambulance?”

Melanie flinched at her words. She couldn’t tell the truth;
that Jeremy could possibly expose them by involuntarily shifting. Though she
was getting better at hiding her feelings, she knew she couldn’t lie to Tara,
not successfully anyway. She decided half-truths were the way to go in this
situation.

“Dad said it wasn’t necessary,” Melanie hedged. “Besides,
the closest hospital is forty miles away and it would take forever for an
ambulance to get here. We needed to act fast, and Dad knew what to do.”

“Okay, well, I’m glad he’s doing better.”

“Thanks. Me, too.” Deciding to change the subject before
Tara could delve any further, Melanie asked, “Hey, have you been out front today?”

“No. Why?”

“Well…”

“Well, what?”

Melanie smiled. “My birthday present is parked in the
driveway!”

“What?!?” Tara squealed.

“Yep,” Melanie said, grinning. “A brand new black and purple
Jeep Wrangler!”

“No fricking way!”

“It’s so sweet, Tara. I was going to wake up Jeremy to show
him when…”

“Mel, you said it yourself, he’s going to be fine. Now get
yourself dressed so you can show me your new ride.”

“Yes, sir,” Melanie said, mock saluting. “Right away, sir.”

*~*~*

After a quick lunch with Tara and Chris, Melanie went
upstairs to check on Jeremy. As she neared his door, it opened and Declan
backed out, quietly closing the door behind him. Melanie’s face furrowed as she
frowned.

“What were you doing in Jeremy’s room?”

Declan jumped at the sound of her voice and spun around to
face her. “Jeez, Mel, you scared the hell out of me.”

“Answer the question, Declan. What are you doing, sneaking
out of Jeremy’s room?”

Declan jerked his head back in surprise. “Why are you angry?
I just wanted to check on him, but he was sleeping. I didn’t want to wake him
up, so I was trying not to make any noise.” After a brief pause, during which
Melanie said nothing, he continued, “What did you think I was doing in there?”

“I don’t know. I’m sorry, I guess I’m just anxious.”

He shrugged off her apology. “Do you know what happened? Was
it food poisoning, or something?”

Obviously, Dad hasn’t told anyone about the aspirin. I’ll
have to tell Tara to keep her mouth shut,
Melanie thought. Aloud, she said,
“Maybe. We’re not really sure, but that’s what it’s looking like.”

“Well,” Declan said, edging around her and backing toward
the stairs, “I hope he’s okay. I’d hate for anything…bad…to happen to him.”

Melanie watched his back as he descended the stairs, not
waiting for a reply. Something ugly and vicious reared up inside her. She had a
bad feeling about Declan. Jeremy had never trusted him. Maybe she should have
followed his instincts, rather than depending on her own, which were sketchy,
at best.

“I’ll be keeping my eye on you,” she whispered when she was
sure he was out of earshot. “You have my word on that.”

She shook off the negative feelings and opened Jeremy’s
door. Taking a step inside, the hinge squeaked as the door moved inward. He
must have heard the sound, because he lifted his head and smiled at her weakly.

“Hey,” he croaked.

“Hey,” she said back, walking in and gently closing the door
behind her.

She walked over to the bed and placed her hand on his brow. It
felt warm and dry. She let out a sigh of relief that he no longer felt cold and
clammy, like a corpse. Leaning over, she kissed his forehead tenderly.

“You gave us quite a scare, mister,” she said, pulling her
chair forward and sitting down. She took his hand in hers and asked, “How are
you feeling?”

“Like I got hit by a train. What happened to me? I mean, I
remember feeling awful and puking all night, but everything else is pretty much
a blur. Was your dad here?”

“Yeah,” Melanie replied lamely. She wasn’t sure how much she
should tell him.

“I thought so. I vaguely remember him making me take
something. What was it?”

“Alka-Seltzer.” She looked down at their joined hands and
refused to meet his eyes.

“Mel,” he said softly. “Tell me everything. Please.”

At his pleading tone, Melanie broke down into sobs. “I
came,” she paused to sniff loudly, “to wake you up.” She took a deep breath and
tried to get herself under control. “You were…you were s-so sick. I thought you
were d-d-dead.”

He squeezed her hand in comfort. “Melanie, look at me. I’m
fine. What happened next?”

“I r-ran and got my mom and d-dad. He figured it out.”

“Figured out what?”

Melanie took a deep breath and blurted it out on whine.
“That s-someone p-p-poisoned you!”

Jeremy’s eyes widened in surprise. He kept his emotions
under control and tried to calm Melanie down. He reached for a box of tissues
on the nightstand and handed them to her. He waited quietly for her pull
herself together.

When she stopped crying, he said, “Okay, why does he think
someone poisoned me? I could have eaten something bad, or I could have a virus
or something. How does he know it was intentional?”

Melanie swallowed thickly, determined not to cry again. “I
went downstairs to get activated charcoal. He said it would absorb anything
poisonous in your system and flush it out. I saw the aspirin and grabbed it,
thinking you might need it for pain. Dad had just opened the bottle yesterday
to take two and it was half empty. The bottle held a hundred pills, Jeremy.
Someone wanted you dead.”

Jeremy laid his head back and stared at the ceiling in stunned
silence. Melanie’s last words ran through his head over and over, causing the
pain there to spike to an almost unbearable degree. He tried to smile, but it
came across as more of a grimace.

“My head is killing me. Grab me a couple of aspirin, will
ya?”

“
So
not funny, Jeremy.”

“Too soon?” At her raised eyebrow, he said, “Sorry. Couldn’t
help it.”

Melanie ran her hand over his forehead and gently massaged
one temple, then the other with her fingertips. “I need you to tell me what
happened last night. Who were you with? What did you do?”

Jeremy’s eyes had closed with her gentle ministrations, but
they popped open again when she asked the questions. His brow furrowed as he
thought. 

“Well, I was hanging out with Chris. We were in the
entertainment room, shooting pool and goofing around.”

“Did you eat or drink anything?”

“Sure. We had some nachos. Chris had soda and I had a sports
drink I found in the fridge behind the bar.”

Melanie’s eyes widened. “There was a bottle on your
nightstand this morning. I tried to give you some, but you choked on it. I ran
to get my parents, and when we got back here, it was gone.”

She hopped up off the chair and dragged it away from the
bed. Getting down on her hands and knees, she lifted the bed skirt and peered
underneath. She stood back up and looked behind the nightstand.

“It’s not here, Jeremy. Someone came into your room and took
it after I ran out screaming for my parents. That
has
to be it. Whoever
did this put the aspirin in your drink.”

Melanie pulled the chair back to its spot beside the bed and
plopped back down into it. They sat in silence for a few seconds, mulling over
everything they had discovered. Finally, Melanie broke the silence.

“Was the seal broken on the drink when you took it from the
fridge?”

“No,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “It was brand new.”

“Okay. Did you and Chris ever leave the room?”

Jeremy gasped and looked at Melanie with wide eyes. “Yes. I
left to go to the bathroom. When I got back, Chris was gone- he had gone to
find another bathroom to use- but someone else was there, alone.”

“Who?”

“It was Declan.”

“Declan? What was he doing there?”

Jeremy shrugged. “He said he was bored and wanted to hang
out. Chris walked back in a minute after me and the three of us played pool for
a while. It was actually fun. Declan and I were making progress. I thought
maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy, after all.”

Melanie stiffened. “Jeremy, he was just here. I caught him
sneaking out of here when I got to your door.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he was just checking on you, but you were sleeping.
He seemed totally clueless about the aspirin, so I didn’t say anything. My dad
could be trying to keep that under wraps for now.”

“It could be an act. He could have gotten the aspirin from
the pantry before he went to the entertainment room. That’s means. He, very
obviously, wants you for himself. That’s motive. He was alone in the room with
my drink. That’s opportunity.”

Melanie let his words sink in for a moment before she
responded. “If what you’re saying is true, then we have to be careful. Don’t
let anything you eat or drink out of your sight, for even a moment. It’s
doubtful he’d try again so soon and risk getting caught, but I’d rather be safe
than sorry.”

“Will you go to your dad with this?” Jeremy asked, placing
his hand on hers.

“Not yet. Declan is the son of the beta. I can’t go throwing
around accusations without solid proof. I may not understand everything about
pack politics, but I do know that. We just have to keep our eyes on him and
hope he slips up.”