“Oh, Christ, Amelia! What did you do!” I cried, panicked.
My hands shook as I immediately called 911 and stayed on the line with them while we waited for the paramedics to arrive. My heart was beating frantically but I tried my best to stay calm. Tears were streaming down my face and my throat felt too tight to speak.
Amelia groaned, then turned just in time, vomit spewing over the wall and carpet. I rubbed her back in comfort, trying not to cringe at how much of the vomit ended up on my jeans.
The paramedics arrived within minutes and rushed to help. After a few minutes of examining her, they assured me that although her heart rate was elevated, it wasn’t at a dangerous level. Her pupils were not dilated either, which was a good sign. Amelia was becoming more and more lucid as time passed, which likely meant her body hadn’t swallowed enough to cause permanent damage, but I couldn’t shake my fear. Not when I’d seen her this way once before.
“It looks like she’ll be okay, but we still have to take her in,” one of the paramedics said.
As I watched them carry her away on a stretcher, I felt myself sway a little on my feet. Suddenly, it all felt like too much. Too goddamned much. In the space of twenty-four hours, I’d gone from making love to the only man I’d ever given my heart to, to having him go MIA, to discovering my best friend might have tried to kill herself… again. I couldn’t fucking handle it all.
Guilt plagued me as I walked to my house for my car. I hadn’t exactly been there for Amelia this last year, not as much as I should have been anyway. I’d been angry with her for going to Atlanta with Michael, even after my endless attempts to dissuade her. I selfishly didn’t call her to check in, so I had no idea how bad things had gotten with him until it was too late. Only after she’d nearly gotten herself arrested trying to get away from the asshole did I start to pay her any attention again. But even then, I’d been so wrapped up with Beckett being back in my life that I’d completely missed how withdrawn and depressed my best friend had become. Sure, we’d talked on the phone frequently, but I hadn’t made time toseeher. If I had, I probably would have seen the signs that she was spiraling out of control.Fuck!What a horrible friend I’ve been! No wonder she didn’t trust me!
Desperate to hear his voice, I tried calling Beckett, but again, it went to voicemail. I tried once more about an hour later as I sat in the hospital waiting room, but he didn’t answer then either. I tried a third time when I couldn’t take the stench of vomit on my clothes another second and needed a distraction so I wouldn’t rush out of there. Again, no answer.
A buzzing tickled my hip, reminding me I’d picked Amelia’s phone up while following the paramedics out of her house. I saw who was calling and drew my brows together. It was Brad Kolch, one of the local police officers.
“Hello?”
A brief pause, then, “Um, hi, is Amelia there?”
“Hi Brad, it’s Preston,” I said hesitantly.
“Preston?” he asked. “Is everything okay?”
No, no everything was most certainly not okay. The two people I care about most in the world were going through some serious shit and it’s making my world feel like it had been knocked off its axis. I didn’t know how to help Amelia and I still didn’t fully understand what was wrong with Beckett to know how to help him either. I just knew I needed to find him, which meant I was asking for a fucking miracle.
“Preston?” Brad asked again, more urgent this time.
“Um, no. Not really. Amelia’s sick.”
“What?”
I wasn’t sure how much I should be telling him but decided Brad was someone she needed in her corner. With all the shit going on in her life, maybe he could help her more than I could.
“She’s at the hospital. I think she tried to overdose on some pills.” I flinched. Even just saying she attempted suicide made me feel ill. “She’s okay. Well, maybe not completely okay, but she’s alive at least. She needs help, though.”
Dead silence.
“Brad?”
“She tried to kill herself?” His voice was distant, most likely because he couldn’t believe what I’d just told him.
“Yes. No… I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I just walked in on her and she was only semi-conscious with a half-empty pill bottle next to her. I don’t know how many she actually took. The doctors say she’s going to be fine, but she’s not okay, Brad. This stuff with Michael was…isreally hard on her.”
“I know,” he said after a beat. “We’ve been talking a lot lately.”
This surprised me, but I was relieved Amelia had someone she trusted, because clearly, she didn’t trust me anymore.I’m so sorry, Amelia.“I don’t know what to do for her.”
“You said she’s at the hospital?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Can you meet me there?”
“I’m already here.”
“I’ll be there in twenty. Don’t leave.”
