Page 10

Tacy

“Declan, I know it seems benign, but I think that medicine is killing people.”

I finally pluck up the nerve to bring my concerns directly to him. So, I’m visiting him at his office downtown. Which, of course, happens to be the same office that Sol once occupied. I haven’t been back since…

But, I mean, Declan’s an old friend and the governor. Despite the recent awkward flirting, I know I can count on him to listen to me. So, I try not to let the memories of Solomon overwhelm me and deter me from my objective. Reggie, Sol’s assistant, no longer works for the Governor’s office. I don’t know where he went. We lost touch after Sol’s death. A young woman in tight tan pants and a pink low-cut sweater, who looks to be fresh out of college, now sits at Reggie’s old desk and assists the new Governor.

I saw another commercial advertising Duselizab, a medicine used for a wide range of diseases, and one that’s been on the market for two years. Recently, I’ve noticed a pattern with some of our repeat patients in the hospital. They’re all on this one medication. And twenty three out of the twenty-five have either miscarried or died this year. They were all under the age of forty. I put two and two together when my patient explained how the medicine made her feel “dizzy…like in a dream. Like turning into a ghost,” right before she coded in front of me. She was twenty-seven, pregnant, and a mother of two. The strange look in her eyes will haunt me until the day I die.

“Tacy, calm down,” Declan says and his eyes dart towards the open office door. “Please have a seat.”

I hate it when someone tells me to calm down. He rises to close the door. I notice he’s wearing a brand-new suit that’s been tailored to fit him perfectly. A pair of gold cuff links gleam when the sunlight from the window hits them. He runs a hand through his wavy blonde hair and returns to his seat.

“Declan. Please don’t tell me to calm down. You know women hate that,” I say through tight lips and perch at the edge of the chair. “It’s hard to calm down when people are dying in front of me.”

I can smell the Killian Black Phantom cologne seeping off him. Memento mori. This is the most buttoned up I’ve ever seen him. He’s dripping with fresh money. He sits behind his desk directly across from me. A smirk spreads across his face. He removes his suit jacket, showing off his bulging biceps that are so evident through his fitted shirt. This is a new Declan.

“People die every day, Tacy,” he says. “You work in a hospital. Obviously, you’re going to see people at their worst.”

“No shit, Declan. But this is different. This medicine is killing people. I’m seeing it with my own two eyes. They need to pull it from the market and do more testing on it,” I plead.

“The testing’s been done. Richardson and Company know what they’re doing,” he says and folds his hands on his desk. He leans forward. “Come on, you know this isn’t my forte.”

“It’s not your forte, yet I just saw you on their commercial, Declan. The governor on a commercial for medicine. Don’t you think that comes off as…odd?” I ask, nearly stopping myself from pointing out the obvious. That politicians shouldn’t be promoting pharmaceuticals.

He clears his throat and looks at me with hooded eyes. “I’m not sure what you’re implying, Tace. I mean, Good Lord, don’t you know me by now?”

I lean back in the chair and try to regain my composure. I can feel my face turning beet red, my pulse quickening. He knows exactly what I’m implying. I should choose my words carefully.

“That’s a nice new suit, Dee. Is it Kiton? Wool-cashmere blend?” I raise my brow.

He chuckles under his breath, rubs his chin, then answers with a subtle growl, “enough, Tacy. Did you come here to grill me on my wardrobe? Or do you have something else in mind?”

It takes all my might not to come across his desk and slap him. How dare he reprimand me?

“I came here to discuss the deaths I’m seeing that I believe are due to Duselizab. Like I said. There’s something not right with this medication, Governor . I wanted to inform you, because I trust you. I thought you could make some calls, do something to investigate this. Clearly, I was wrong,” I say and rise from the chair. I turn my back to him and glide towards the door. But halfway through the room, he closes the distance between us, grabs my wrist, and whips me around to face him.

“And if I get them to pull the med, what do I get in return?”

“Excuse me?” My nostrils flare. My face feels like it’s going to pop off my body. Who is he to demand something from me? The man I’ve known for a decade…Sol’s best friend? A man I’ve let into my house. Someone who’s played with my kids and sat at my dinner table during the holidays. This isn’t the same person. This is someone else. Someone’s taken his place. “What the fuck do you mean, what you get in return?” I try to wrench my wrist free from his grip, but he yanks it, and I stumble into him. He wraps his arms around me and cages me in. I grunt and try to tug free, but he clamps down. I can feel his cock harden against my stomach. I grimace.

“You know exactly what I mean, Tace,” he murmurs in my ear. The slime slides from his mouth and floods my nervous system. “Stop being such a tease.”

The new Declan releases me slightly, then grabs behind my ears and tilts my head up to face him. I can hardly move, think, or react. I’m frozen in a paralyzing concoction of disbelief, disgust, and rage.

“Sol’s dead, Tacy. I’m the new Sol,” he says as he stares directly into my eyes. “Look around you. I’m the Governor. I can take care of you now, and Cammy and Ben too.”

He releases me, and I rush for the door. I gasp for breath and put my hand on the handle, then turn to address him one last time.

“You sure like to remind me that Sol’s gone. I don’t need the reminder. I’m fucking aware. We were friends. That’s it. But you’ve destroyed our friendship in a matter of seconds. It doesn’t matter to me that you’re the fucking Governor. You’ll never be Sol. I don’t know what the fuck happened to you, Declan, but you’re not acting like yourself. Do something good and pull this medication from the market,” I walk out, heart pounding and lungs heaving. Before the door slams behind me, I utter one last word, “Please.”