I drank the whisky.<\/a> I\u2019m finished with all that.\u201d<\/p>\nAnd the people you\u2019ve hurt in the process? What about them? Don\u2019t they get to say goodbye?
\n<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re being well-compensated.\u201d He frowned. \u201cWho are you? What are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the Waiting Room. Everyone here is waiting for something.<\/i><\/p>\n
It made a kind of sense. The lack of color, the bar. Had there been a bartender? But there wasn\u2019t anywhere to sit. \u201cEveryone? I only see me. I only hear you.\u201d Maybe he should –<\/p>\n
What are you waiting for?<\/i><\/p>\n
He had no idea. But his question hadn\u2019t been answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t say who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not important. I\u2019m not important. Just accept the disembodied voice and listen.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cTo what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Get on with it.<\/i><\/p>\n
Something tapped him on the forehead and the room went topsy-turvy. No one said that any more, either. Anyway.<\/p>\n
He tumbled over and over, all coherent thought went out the metaphorical window. His clothes fell away and underneath the white suit he wore a black suit – still no tie – and that became loose. He was glad he didn\u2019t have to pee because the way he twisted and turned over and over brought his stomach to the base of his throat.<\/p>\n
Throwing up was not an option. All he had in his stomach was the whisky, anyway. Plus, he hadn\u2019t vomited since he\u2019d been in his -what?- thirties?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cERIK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah, that was him. That was his name. He knew the voice, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoddamn you, Erik, don\u2019t you die like this.\u201d A woman\u2019s voice, sweet, contralto. Usually very sexy – especially when she answered the phones – though full of worry and anger. What was her name?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ambulance is on its way,\u201d she said over his face. He could feel her breath on his face. Pressure on his stomach kept forcing something up toward his throat. The floor was cool under his cheek. What was her name?<\/p>\n
Carrie? Carla? Karen?<\/p>\n
Intense pressure on his stomach now. He was going to throw up. She forced him on his side.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d she said, \u201ccome on you old bastard. Today\u2019s not your day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carly. The sweetest girl he\u2019d ever hired as a personal assistant. Carly Gage. The poison whisky rocketed out of his mouth.<\/p>\n
She gave a sigh and a laugh of relief. He vomited again, more this time. It burned his throat and his nostrils. Coughing made it worse and he groaned. Carly was behind him, her hand on his shoulder. She whispered in his ear. \u201cMedics are on their way. I\u2019ve got a rehab on your forehead. All you have to do is keep breathing until they get here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sputtered, coughed some more. Poison whisky dribbled from his mouth. He moved his mouth but no sound came out.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe still,\u201d Carly said. \u201cJust lay still and breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n
He swallowed. It hurt. \u201cTastes awful,\u201d he rasped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a good sign, then. Means you\u2019re going to live. And damn you for making me worry like that.\u201d She pinched his shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cOW.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heavy footsteps came quickly in to the room behind him. He passed out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis had better be the right hospital,\u201d he said without opening his eyes.<\/p>\n
A soft hand, female, covered his. He sniffed. \u201cCarly?\u201d He opened his eyes.<\/p>\n
Erik thought that when a pretty girl smiles at you like that you\u2019ve either done something awful and you\u2019re going to pay for it or you\u2019ve survived something. He supposed it was both and that made him happy and fearful of Carly\u2019s wrath at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nurse\u2019s on her way,\u201d she said sweetly. \u201cGlenn\u2019s here, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know you\u2019re a colossal dumbass,\u201d Glenn said. He stood at the foot of the bed. Erik turned to see him. \u201cGood thing Carly was just around the corner. Also good that I know you like to take your time to do things.\u201d Glenn was tall and always looked serious. He slouched a little, even now in his seventies, but he looked relieved, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate you both.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carly squeezed his hand. \u201cYour poison\u2019s all gone. As well as everything else you could have used to off yourself. Glenn helped me go through the office and your house and the car, too. Your sekrit stashes have all been found and destroyed. Understand?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate you both more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Honor be damned, he\u2019d never admit to them that he was grateful they\u2019d intervened. He was who he was but that had been a silly way to off himself. Too Roman.<\/p>\n
Honor be damned. \u201cThank you both.\u201d<\/p>\n
Glenn nodded. Carly leaned over and kissed him, making sure he got a good look down her blouse. Generous, the girl was. \u201cWe love you, stupid. Don\u2019t you ever doubt it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll try,\u201d Erik said.<\/p>\n
She stood up but didn\u2019t let go of his hand. \u201cYou\u2019ll have me to help you remember. I\u2019ve got all your passwords, now, too. I\u2019ll know if you change them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erik chuckled. \u201cI give. You win.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the right attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the situation?\u201d<\/p>\n
Glenn snorted a laugh. \u201cTold you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carly glared at Glenn. \u201cSh.\u201d She turned to Erik. \u201cEverything\u2019s as you left it. You still have everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, now they both knew where they stood with him. And starting over wouldn\u2019t be as complex as it had been in the past. Still, it was a kind of clean slate. Letting go of a hundred seventeen years of misadventure, bad decisions and questionable behavior hadn\u2019t been as easy as drinking the poison. He felt tears roll down both cheeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re the best friends and old bastard like me could have. Thank you both. I don\u2019t deserve you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Glenn shook his head and gave as much a smile as he was capable of. Carly kissed him again.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow when do I get out of here?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI\u2019m – \u201cI\u2019m Done,\u201d he said and set the glass down on the painfully white bar in the more painfully white and other wise featureless room. \u201cI\u2019m finally well and truly done.\u201d He turned the glass around completely twice. He couldn\u2019t recall having put on a white suit yet he wore one now. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[422,936,976],"class_list":["post-8839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","tag-flash-fiction","tag-revenge","tag-science-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8839\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}