“Lark, what do you want to do?”
“Get her to the bathroom.”
He lifted her rail-thin frame up and gently placed her in the tub.
“You stay here with her,” he said. He returned to the room to find the boys filing in.
“Shit’s going bad in here, brother,” Lefty said.
“I know, man. I think she’s OD-ing,” Pan replied.
“Fuck. What do you want to do?” Lefty asked.
“What can we do?”
The sound of retching drove home how quickly Robin was deteriorating.
“Well, we sure as fuck can’t call an ambulance. The only choice we have is to ride it out or get to a hospital,” Lefty suggested.
“I’ll ask Lark.” Pan jogged into the bathroom and stopped dead in his tracks in the doorway.
Robin’s body contorted as if she were possessed as her body shook. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. A thin line of blood ran from her nose.
Lark sobbed as she held her down. “P-please turn on the cold water. We need to—shock her system.”
He turned on the faucet.
Robin jerked, but never came to. Her body went limp. Her breathing became shallow.
“Lark. We need to make a decision. You know calling an ambulance down here is out,
right?”
“I—I know.”
“We can try to get her to a hospital somewhere near here—?”
Lark climbed into the tub with what appeared to be a lifeless body and held her close as she rocked back and forth.
The overpowering smell of released bowels hit him. I’m watching this woman die. Hell, if she’s still alive. Pan crept toward the tub and lifted her arm, searching for a pulse in her wrist.
“Jesus Christ.”
“I always knew deep down this day would come,” Lark whispered. She stroked her hair
back from her face. “It was never enough for her. Not the rock bottom moments, the damage she caused my heart, her body and every other relationship she ever had. The universe seemed hell bent on keeping her life revolving around drugs. I tried. I’m so sorry I failed you, Robin.” She trailed kisses across her forehead.
Pan’s mind went to his twin. He was taking his brother for granted. All this time he spent pushing him away, he never stopped to think about how little time together they might have left.
The thought was sobering.
“I don’t want her seen like this.”
He knelt beside the tub. “I understand. What do you want me to do?”
“I’ll clean her up and we-we’ll get her into some clothes and then we’ll take her home.”
“You want to smuggle her back?”