Taming the Storm

He overdosed?

Dex. Overdose.

No, that can’t be right. He wouldn’t hurt himself like that.

Then, I remember how he sounded that night in San Diego.

Desperate. In pain.

How my mom used to sound.

The last thing he said to me was…I’m sorry.

Oh no.

He tried to kill himself.

It’s my fault. I wouldn’t listen to him. I wouldn’t forgive him.

Guilt overwhelming me, I bury my face in my hands and begin to sob.

Forty Minutes Later—Waiting Area, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, LA

“You want anything to drink, honey?”

I look up into Shannon’s perfectly made-up face. I imagine that I look like a total mess. Not that looking good is really high on my list of priorities right now. I still rub my fingers under my eyes, trying to clean away the mascara I know is there, not wanting to scare people with my panda eyes.

“Hold on. I’ve got some wipes.” Shannon rummages in her bag and pulls out a pack of makeup wipes.

She’s always prepared. She takes one out and tilts my face up toward her. She starts to clear the makeup from underneath my eyes.

“You’ll give me a tic, rubbing at your eyes like that. I’m not having my superstar looking old before her time.” She gives me a gentle smile. “There. All done.” She throws the wipe in the trash.

“Thank you,” I say.

“Not needed. It’s my job to care about your appearance.”

“I didn’t mean just the face clean. I meant, you being here…I really appreciate it.”

She sits beside me and pats my hand. “The face clean is me doing my job. Me waiting here with you…this is me being your friend.”

“I’m glad you’re my friend,” I say, resting my head against her shoulder.

I really need a friend right now. I try not to think about the one person I wish were here.

At that thought, my best friends come bursting through the door.

I called Cale the moment I got off the phone with Aunt Steph. I knew he would want to be here. Sonny was going to be my next call, but after Cale got over the initial shock, he said he would call Sonny. To be honest, I was glad I didn’t have to make the call. The only other call I wanted to make was to Tom. I wanted to speak to him so badly that it hurt me not to.

“How is he?” Cale crouches down before me.

Sonny takes the seat on my right.

I shake my head. “I don’t know. The doctor came out when we got here. They’re treating him right now. He said he’d come back when he had more to tell us.”

Cale takes my hand in his and squeezes it.

I can’t stop the tears from starting again, them spilling down over my cheeks.

“Don’t, Ly…don’t you blame yourself for this,” Cale says.

I bite my lip, trying to stop the tears. “Cale…that night in the club, he was begging me to talk to him, and I wouldn’t listen.”

He cradles my face in his hands. “Listen to me. You had every good reason not to listen. You haven’t done anything wrong. Nothing. Do you hear me?”

“Cale’s right,” Sonny says in a gentle voice.

I meet Sonny’s eyes.

“Don’t put this on yourself,” he adds.

Nodding, I rub the tears from my cheeks.

“Let me get us some drinks since it looks like we’re gonna be here a while,” Shannon says, getting to her feet.

Two Hours Later—Waiting Area, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, LA

It’s been an incredibly long two hours.

The doctor finally appears. He’s a different doctor than the one who came to talk to me when I first arrived. This one is younger. He looks tired, harried.

Rubbing a hand through his curly brown hair, he says, “Dexter Henley’s family?”

Already on my feet, I say, “I’m Dex’s sister. How is he?”

“Miss Henley—”

I don’t bother to correct him. It would only confuse an already confusing situation even more.

“I’m Dr. Lowe. I’ve been treating Dexter. He’s going to be fine.”

I exhale in relief. Feeling Cale’s hand on my back, I smile at him.

“Dexter had taken a significant amount of pills. We were lucky that he’d been found when he had, as his body hadn’t had time to absorb the drug. I administered an activated charcoal, which binds the drug so that the body can’t absorb it, and he’s responding well to the treatment, which means he’ll make a full recovery and there will be no damage to any of his organs.”

“Can we see him?” I ask.

The doctor looks over the four of us. “Only family is allowed to see Dexter at this time.”

“We’ll wait here.” Cale squeezes my shoulder.

“Just tell him we’re here,” Sonny says.

I give Cale and Sonny a soft smile. “I’ll tell him.”

I fall into step beside Dr. Lowe. “Doctor, when my Au—” I falter and correct myself to avoid confusing the doctor. “When our mother called, she said that Dex had…tried to commit suicide. Is that true?”

He stops walking and turns to me. “The pills Dexter overdosed on were a prescribed anti-depressant. He took a lot of those pills and combined them with alcohol. He might not have meant to attempt suicide…but in my professional experience, when a patient combines the amount of pills Dexter had with alcohol then one would assume an attempt on life, yes.”