With Malice

Copyright © 2016 by Eileen Cook

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
[email protected]
or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

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Cover photograph © 2016 by Preappy/Stocksy

Cover design by Erin Fitzsimmons

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA IS AVAILABLE.

ISBN 978-0-544-80509-5

eISBN 978-0-544-82930-5
v1.0616

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I
'm not a morning person. Understatement.

My hand couldn't seem to muster the energy to turn off the alarm. It picked at the covers. The blanket felt wrong. Scratchy. Thin.

This isn't my bed.

The realization made me uneasy. I must have crashed somewhere else. I hoped I'd remembered to call my mom. I felt a ripple of worry. If not, I was going to be in deep shit for not coming home. She was already mad about . . .

My brain was blank. I couldn't remember why she was ticked at me. I remembered fighting about it. I'd slammed my door, and Mom threatened if I did that again, she'd take it off the hinges, but the reason why we'd argued was gone.

It felt like the reason was right on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't pin it down. Every time I tried to concentrate, it slipped away.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Most annoying alarm ever. It sounded only half awake, a slow, quiet beeping, just loud enough to make it impossible to ignore. All I wanted was to go back to sleep.

I was exhausted. Even my skin was tired, like I was stretched too thin.

I swallowed and winced at how dry my throat was.
I don't remember partying last night. What the hell did I drink?
My stomach did a barrel roll. I made myself concentrate on not throwing up. Simone must have talked me into doing shots. She was the captain of bad decisions. I told myself I wasn't scared, but it was weird that I couldn't remember. What if someone had slipped me something? My mom had sent me an article on roofies, and I'd rolled my eyes, thinking she worried about stuff that was never going to happen, but now it didn't seem so stupid.

Don't freak out. You're fine. Just figure out where you are.

I forced my eyes open. They felt gritty, like I'd rolled them in sand before popping them into my skull. It was too bright in the room. It was hard to make anything out clearly. There was a window with the blinds up and bright sunshine blasting in. Like it was afternoon instead of early morning.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I turned my head to see the alarm, but as soon as I moved, there was a shot of pain, sharp, like a dental drill, driving into my brain. I moaned and my vision blurred.

I blinked and realized it wasn't a clock. It was some kind of machine. Plastic tubing connected it to me, pooling over the rail of the bed, leading to a needle that was stuck to the back of my hand with clear medical tape that made my skin look wrinkled and old.

I was in a hospital.

My heart skipped a few beats. Something bad had happened. Hospital bad.

“Are you going to stay with us this time?”

I turned very slowly, trying to avoid a repeat of the pain in my head. A woman leaned over. She was wearing bright yellow scrubs. A stethoscope draped around her neck. It looked almost like a . . . The word skipped out of my head. Gone. I tried to focus, it was like a . . . serpent. That wasn't the right word, but I couldn't think of it. Thinking about it was making my headache worse. I opened my mouth to ask her what the right word was, but nothing came out. My heart raced and I clenched my hands into fists over and over.

“Just relax,” she said. She pressed the back of her cool hand to my forehead. “You're okay.”

I could tell that nothing about this situation was okay, but I didn't want to be difficult. She seemed really nice. You could tell by her eyes. That's one of my abilities. To judge someone's character by their eyes. The window to the soul, as Big Bill Shakespeare would say. I wrote an essay on that quote last year and won a writing contest from the school district. It had only a fifty-buck award, along with a certificate “suitable for framing.” I acted like it was no big deal, but I was actually really proud.

“ . . . you are?”

I blinked. I'd missed what she said. She was going to think I was rude. She stared at me, waiting for an answer. I swallowed again. I would have sold my soul for one of those cold, sweaty bottles of Dasani from the vending machine by the gym.

“Okay, let's try something else. Do you know your name?” she asked.

Was she kidding? Did I know my name. Didn't she know who she was talking to? National Merit Scholar. Perfect score in Ms. Harmer's chemistry class, first time in school history. State debate champion
and
an almost certain shoo-in for our class valedictorian, as long as Eugene Choo didn't pull ahead. Not that I'm rooting for the guy to fail, but if he got an occasional 89 instead of 100 on a paper, I wouldn't weep a thousand tears.

Know my own name? This one I got.

“Jill,” I croaked. My voice sounded like I smoked a few packs a day and gargled with gravel.

She smiled widely and I felt the absurd rush of pride I always experienced when I got a question right. I really had to work on my need to be such a pleaser. You'd think I wouldn't always demand validation. Simone's always on me for that.

Simone was going to freak when she heard I was in the hospital. She'd bring me new PJs from Pink so I wouldn't have to wear this disgusting hospital gown that probably was last worn by some incontinent old man. Or someone who died in it.

Gross.

Simone would also bring a stack of her favorite trashy magazines. She'd make me move over so she could sit on the edge of the bed, and we'd take a photo she could put online. Things would be better when she got here. Simone had that effect on people. She'd make this an adventure. My throat seized, and I was suddenly sure I was about to start crying. I wanted her there so badly my chest ached.

“I'm going to get the doctor,” the nurse said. “A lot of people are going to be glad to see you back with us.”

I started to nod, but the pain came again when I moved my head, so I stopped. I closed my eyes when she left the room. It was good to be back.

I just wished I knew where I'd been.

“Knock-knock.”

There was a sharp prick of pain in my foot. My eyes snapped open. A guy in a white lab coat stood at the end of my bed. Before I could say anything, he jabbed the arch of my foot with a large pin.

WTF?

“Do you feel that?” He reached for my foot, and I pulled it away.
Back off, Dr. Mengele.

He smiled and laughed. He was a happy sadist. “Looks like you felt it. Do you remember meeting me?” He moved closer so he was standing at the side of the bed. His hair was curly and stuck up like dandelion fluff. He looked a bit like a clown, or somebody's goofy uncle Dwight, who could be counted on to make lame jokes and wear one of those holiday sweaters with a reindeer on the front to Christmas dinner in a nonironic kind of way.

Creep alert. I shook my head slowly. I'd never seen this guy before in my life. The sheets tangled underneath me as I scootched to the far side of the bed.

“We've met a couple of times. I'm Dr. Ruckman.” He stared down at me.

“Hi,” I said. My voice still didn't sound like my own. “Where's my m-m-mom?” The words snagged in my throat, forcing me to push them out. I couldn't understand why she wasn't there. Normally my problem was getting rid of my mom. I'd never been in the hospital before. Well, once in second grade. I fell off the—
Dammit. Now I can't think of what they're called. The ladder thing, suspended above the playground. Lion bars? No. Elephant bars. That's not it either, but that's like it. You swing across them.
I'd had to get stitches, but I'd never
stayed
in the hospital before. Maybe she didn't even know I was here. She could be sitting up, waiting for me to come home, getting worried. Guilt bloomed in my chest. I didn't want her to worry.

“Your mom went down to get some coffee. She was here all night, hoping you'd wake back up,” he said.

All night? I'd only closed my eyes for a second. The light in the room was different. I turned; it was dark outside the window, the sky just starting to lighten to a deep purple bruise blue at the horizon. Sunrise. Where the hell had the rest of yesterday gone? Panic rippled through my stomach, threatening to take over.

“You think you're up for trying something to drink?” the doctor asked. He reached for the plastic pitcher on the table.

My mouth watered. I'd never wanted anything that badly. There were crack addicts who were less needy. I nodded.

The doctor pressed a button, and the bed cranked up a bit higher. I was barely sitting up and it still made me lightheaded. He guided the straw between my lips. I wanted to tell him I could do it, but I wasn't actually sure I could. I took a sip of the water and almost cried at how good it tasted. I tried to take another, but he pulled the glass away.

“Let's take it easy. See how that sits for a minute or two,” Dr. Ruckman said. “Can you do something else for me? Can you raise your right hand?”

I reached up with my right hand and wiped my mouth. I cringed. My lips had moved beyond chapped. It was like I'd run them through a cheese grater.
Jesus, when is the last time I used some lip balm?

“Where's the—” My brain scrambled to find the right word. “Health professional who was here? The, uh, caregiver.” That wasn't right. “RN!” I spat out, but that wasn't what I meant to say either.

“The nurse?” Dr. Ruckman suggested.

“Nurse,” I repeated. Nurse.

“Tish works evenings. She'll be back at three. She'll be glad to hear you're more alert.” The doctor was scribbling something on a chart.

I licked my disgusting mouth. I bet when Tish came on she'd find me some ChapStick. She looked like the kind of person who would have an extra tube in her bag, along with gum, Kleenex, or an Advil if you had a headache. I felt like crying, but I wasn't sure if it was because everything hurt, because I wanted more water so badly, or because I was scared and didn't know why.

“Do you know what day it is?” Dr. Ruckman asked.

I opened my mouth to answer and then closed it. What day was it? They must have given me some kind of painkiller that was messing with my head. “Tuesday?” I could tell from his look I'd gotten it wrong. “Wednesday?” A buzzing sound filled my ears, like my head was full of angry bees. I wanted to get out of the bed and run away, but I suspected my legs wouldn't carry me far.

“Take a deep breath. You're okay,” Dr. Ruckman said. He patted my shoulder like I was a puppy who was at risk of peeing on the rug because someone had set off a bunch of firecrackers.

I shrugged off his hand. Clearly I wasn't okay. I didn't even know what day it was. The door squeaked as it opened, and when I looked over, I knew I was in really bad shape. My parents were there.

Both of them.

I hadn't seen them together in same room in years. They hated each other. They didn't even try to pretend to get along “for the sake of the child.” Now they were standing side by side.