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Story: Shadowed Witness

“I’ve been calling for thirty minutes. Bryce and Corina too. He’s probably on the way here.”

“Sorry. I really didn’t hear anything.” And her mouth felt like cotton. Much as she liked the feel of his arms around her, she tugged away. “I need something to drink.” She motioned him tofollow her to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and stared blankly at the contents.

Eric’s voice sounded behind her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah.” She shook her head. The movement didn’t clear her mind. Why was her brain so foggy? She pulled out a pitcher of iced tea that she’d made yesterday. She removed two glasses from the cabinet. “Do you want some?”

“No, thanks.”

She poured herself a full glass and took a healthy gulp. She didn’t have the energy to press him. Or to return the extra glass to the cabinet.

“What are these?”

She turned to see what he was talking about. “What?”

He waved an orange vial at her. “Why do you have narcotics sitting on your table?” Accusation dripped from his words.

She blinked, the fog still hovering over her. What was his problem?

“How many did you take?”

Heat rushed to her face as the implication sank in. She reached for the bottle, but he held it away from her.

“Is that why you were so hard to wake up? You took too many pills?”

“Would you just stop?”

He shut his mouth, but his eyes shot daggers.

She tried to come up with an explanation that would calm him down. “They were prescribed when I broke my wrist back in the spring.”

He looked pointedly at her wrist. “It isn’t broken now.”

“Obviously, but—”

“Then why did you keep them?”

She threw her hands up. “I don’t know. I guess I forgot they were in my cabinet.”

He stepped back, lowering the bottle. “They’re clearly not in your cabinet, and you’re clearly under the influence of something.”

Her head started to hurt again. “It isn’t like that. I—”

“Are you taking them?”

She held up a finger. “I took one, okay? No,” she corrected herself. “I took half of one.”

He huffed. Clearly that wasn’t good enough for him. And that irritated her. It wasn’t any of his business anyway.

“I took it because I was having another migraine, and I’m out of my normal prescription. That’s the only thing I could find that might cut it.”

“These things are dangerous. You know how many people get hooked on painkillers every year?”

“Eric, I’m not—”

“You aren’t untouchable.”

The tea was helping, but her brain still struggled to keep up with his accusations. She slipped into a chair. “Eric, you need to calm down.”