Breaking Point

by Amy Bright

  ***

  The weekend was the worst. I stayed in bed, mostly crying. I felt like my heart was ripped in two. I kept thinking about what Tess had said. She told me when we were in Mexico I shouldn't trust Andi. Now, I didn't have Andi, and my friendship with Tess was severely damaged.

  Sunday morning, I decided I wanted to talk to Tess. I unblocked her number and sent her a text.

  Hi. I was wondering if we could meet for coffee? - Dawn

  I started getting dressed. It only took a moment before I heard the notification.

  Sure, I would love to get coffee. Second State in an hour? - T

  I sent a text back confirming and continued getting ready.

  An hour later I walked into Second State. Tess was sitting at a table waiting for me. She had already ordered a latte for me. I sat down across from her. "Hi," I said.

  "Hey," she replied, "I’m really glad to see you. How’ve you been doing?"

  "I’m okay," I said, "I wanted to talk about our friendship."

  "OK," she said, smiling at me.

  "I would like us to be friends again, but there have to be ground rules," I began. "Your behavior over Andi was completely unacceptable. Frankly, your behavior over everyone I have ever dated has been unacceptable. I need you to accept that you and I will never be anything other than friends, Tess. I just don’t have those feelings for you, and honestly, I never will. As much as I want you in my life as my friend, I will not allow it if you can’t respect me and the person I am dating." I could tell she didn't like what I was saying, but I also knew if we were going to rebuild anything resembling friendship, she would have to learn to respect my boundaries.

  "Dawn, I know you don't have feelings for me, but I don't think it's fair to rule out the possibility you might change your mind," she said.

  "No, Tess. That’s not how this works. If you want to be in my life, it has to be on my terms. If you can't do that, then we really have no friendship left," I said.

  Tess seemed to be mulling it over, and she finally said, "Okay, I’ll do what you want. I just want you back in my life." She paused for a moment, and then said, "How are things with Andi?"

  I swallowed and said, "We aren't seeing each other anymore, and I don't want to talk about it." Tess didn't smile, but there was something else there. It was the look in her eyes. She was happy I wasn't seeing Andi anymore. It bothered me, but I decided to let it go. We talked about our jobs and drank our coffee. As we were leaving the coffee shop, we made plans to have dinner the following Wednesday.

  Andi

  The sun was shining, at least it appeared to be. I could tell there was light, but I still couldn't open my eyes. I wasn’t sure how many days I had been in the hospital. One of the nurses would always talk to me when she was there. She said I had a pretty bad head injury. I guess that was why I was still in a coma. No one had come to visit me, I didn't think.

  I was worried. I hoped Tess hadn't hurt Dawn. We had both clearly underestimated how disturbed Tess truly was. I needed to be able to tell the police what happened. I needed to get to Dawn. I also needed to get home to Vader. The dog sitter was only expecting me to be gone for a few days.

  I heard what sounded like the door unlatching, and then I heard a voice I recognized, "Oh God, Andi." It was my assistant, Anna. When she spoke again, it sounded as if she were on the phone, "Hey, it's me. I finally got here." There was a pause, "I’m in the room with her. She's in bad shape. The doctor says she has been in a coma since she came in." There was another pause, "Yes, I’m going to stay for the time being. Hopefully, she’ll wake up soon." There was another brief pause, and she said, "Okay, I’ll keep in touch. Bye."

  I felt her grab my hand. "That was John. He is terribly worried about you. Everyone is. I would’ve been here sooner, but we had no idea what had happened to you. When you didn’t show up for work by Wednesday morning, John called the police. It took them a couple of days to find out you were here." John is the senior attorney at our company. I can imagine how out of sorts he was when I didn't call or show up for work. I was glad Anna was there. It was a relief to not be alone.

  ***

  Anna arrived early one morning. She said it was Wednesday. That meant I had been in the hospital for over a week. I had kept thinking about Dawn and wondering if she was alright. I wanted to open my eyes more than I had ever wanted anything in my life.

  Later that morning they took me for yet another CT scan. Anna was still there when I returned, and a little while later I heard her talking to someone who had come in the room. "The CT scan looks good. A lot of the swelling has gone down," the man said.

  "Does that mean she’ll wake up soon, then?" Anna asked.

  "There's no way to predict how well she will recover, but I think there is a good chance. With head injuries like this, well, it's difficult to be sure what the outcome will be. If she doesn't wake up soon, we will probably do an MRI just to ensure there isn't something else going on."

  "Thank you," Anna said. I heard the door shut and assumed the doctor had left. "Andi, I need you to wake up." It sounded as if she were crying.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Dawn

  Wednesday came much faster than I expected it to. I still was checking my phone too often, hoping Andi would call with some explanation. As the minutes turned to hours and the hours to days, I began to accept I was hoping for something that was never going to happen. She was gone, and I was never going to see her again.

  I had gotten home from work a little early. I needed to get ready since I was meeting Tess for dinner. The doorbell rang, and I went to answer it. I opened the door and found Tess standing there with a giant grin on her face. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "We are supposed to meet at Santi’s in an hour."

  "I thought I would surprise you, and we could just ride together," she said. I’m sure my annoyance showed on my face. This was so typical Tess. She never considered what I wanted to do; she just forged ahead.

  "Tess, you could’ve at least called and asked before just showing up."

  The smile left her face and she said, "You would’ve said no, just to meet you there, and I wanted to spend a little extra time with you. Why is that wrong?"

  "It's not that it's wrong to want to spend time with me, but not giving me a choice is disrespectful.”

  "I'm sorry, you’re right. I’ll call next time," she said.

  I sighed, and then said, "Come in and have a seat. I’m going to get ready for dinner."

  Ten minutes later I was ready to go. I walked back to the living room and said to Tess, "We can ride together, but I’m going to drive."

  She smiled and said, "Okay."

  ***

  We had a nice dinner together. Tess seemed to be in a fantastic mood. When we arrived back at my house, she said, "Would it be okay if I come in for a little while?"

  I considered it for a moment. We were having a nice time, and she had been on her best behavior. "For a little while. I’m going to want to turn in early tonight. I have a showing early tomorrow."

  We made our way in the house and Tess said, "I’ll get us a drink. Do you want beer or wine?"

  "Beer is fine," I replied as I took my shoes off and curled up on the sofa.

  A few moments later Tess was back with two beers. She handed me one and sat down on the other end of the sofa. I took a drink of the beer and Tess said, "I wanted to tell you, Dawn, how glad I am things didn't work out between you and that bitch lawyer. She wasn’t right for you. You weren't yourself when she was around."

  I was taken aback by what she had just said. I took a larger gulp of the beer before saying, "Are you trying to piss me off? One, I have made clear to you I don't want to discuss Andi, and two, accusing me of acting differently isn’t going to score you any points. The only thing that was different was I decided to stop letting you interfere in my relationships. Nothing has changed in that respect. If I started seeing someone tomorrow, I would not tolerate you sabotaging things again." I took another sip of
the beer and tried to tamp down my anger.

  "Dawn, I need you to understand. You and I, we belong together."

  I couldn't believe my ears. I imagine I was staring at her with my mouth hanging open, because I was shocked. I really believed we had settled this. I went to stand up and almost fell over. I was dizzy, very dizzy.

  Suddenly, Tess was beside me. "Don't try to get up, honey. You might fall," I heard her say. Things were starting to lose focus and become blurry. The last thing I heard was Tess saying, "Don't fight it."

  Andi

  Something was different. I opened my eyes. I looked around the hospital room. I was alone. I looked around for the nurse call button. It took me a minute, but I finally was able to reach it, and I hit the button. A moment later a nurse came on the speaker, "Can I help you?"

  I started to speak, but my throat was very hoarse. I was able to croak out, "Help."

  A moment later the door opened, and a nurse came barreling in. She was an older woman in black scrubs with short gray hair. "You're awake!" she exclaimed, as she started checking my vitals. "The doctor is on his way, and I’m going to step out to call your friend who has been here. Be right back."

  A few minutes passed and a tall man in a white lab coat came in. He had short, brown hair, and his coat had 'Curtis Johnson, MD' and 'Neurology' embroidered on it. He walked over to the bed and said, "Hello Ms. Morris. I’m glad to see you’re awake." He started to examine me, and then said, "How are you feeling?"

  "It feels as if I slammed into a tree," I said in an almost whisper.

  The doctor chuckled, "I guess you remember what happened to bring you here."

  "I need to talk to the police," I said, "as soon as possible."

  The smile on his face, left instantly, and he asked, "Why?"

  "I was deliberately ran off the road. It wasn't an accident, and I’m afraid my girlfriend might be in danger."

  "I’ll contact the police and ask them to come talk to you," he said, "You should rest until then."

  Anna walked in the room and ran over to the bed, "Andi, you're awake!" I smiled at her and nodded.

  The doctor walked to the door, "You two visit, and I’ll make that call," and he was gone.

  "How are you feeling?" Anna asked.

  "Shitty," I said. "Where’s my cell phone?"

  "I haven't seen it."

  "Can you get me some water? Also, can you call the dog sitter and make sure she has been takin’ care of Vader, and then will you ask at the nurse’s station where my things are?" I asked.

  "Vader is fine, I already took care of that when I found out you were here. I will get your water and then go see about your personal items. Oh, and Andi," she said, "I’m really glad you are awake, I was worried."

  "Me too," I replied. She poured some water in a cup for me and then walked out the door.

  ***

  I dozed off while Anna was checking on my belongings. I woke up to a hand on my shoulder. "Ms. Morris, do you remember me? We met a couple of weeks ago?" It was the police officer who had come to Dawn's house the night of the Tess debacle. She was sitting beside me.

  "Yes, I remember," I said, "Sgt. Daniels, right?"

  "Yes," she said, "when the hospital called, dispatch ran your name, and found the report I filed. Can you tell me what happened?"

  "It was her, Tess. She ran me off the road."

  "Are you sure?" she asked.

  "Yes, I’m sure," I was agitated, "I saw her as I started goin’ over the embankment. You need to check on Dawn."

  "Calm down, Ms. Morris. I’ll have someone do a welfare check on her." She got up and walked out of the room. She returned a few minutes later and sat back down. "I have someone going by her house. Now, let's start from the beginning. Tell me everything that happened the day of the accident."

  I told her all the details I could remember, and she took lots of notes. As I finished talking, her phone rang. "Excuse me," she said, then, "Daniels." She listened to the caller and said, "You are saying you didn't actually see her?" She listened again, then, "I see, hold on." She looked at me and asked, "Do you have a picture of Tess?"

  Before I could answer, Anna came in and said, "I’ve got your phone and your weekend bag, but the phone is dead." She saw Sgt. Daniels and said softly, "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

  "Get the charger out of the bag and plug the phone up, please." Something was wrong, I could tell. I looked at Sgt. Daniels, "I don't have a picture of Tess, but as soon as I can get into my phone, I should be able to find one on Dawn's Facebook."

  Sgt. Daniels went back to her phone call, "I should be able to send you a picture soon. Let me know if you recognize anyone." She paused and then said, "Ok, thanks," and ended the call.

  Anna handed me my phone. I turned it on and waited for it to boot up. The phone went crazy with notifications. I went to Dawn's Facebook page and found a picture of Tess. Sgt. Daniels typed her number in, and I sent the picture to her. "Can you please tell me what is goin’ on," I asked.

  Sgt. Daniels said, "I’m not sure, yet." Her phone rang again. "Daniels," she said. She listened to the caller, and then said, “I’m going to head over there. Send back-up, but no lights or sirens." She ended the call and looked at me. "I have to go, but I’ll be back when I can." She started to leave.

  I called out to her, "Wait, please tell me what’s goin’ on." I knew it had something to do with Tess, and I had a feeling, Dawn too.

  Sgt. Daniels looked back at me, "I have to go, now," and she was gone.

  Anna looked at me and said, "What the hell is going on?"

  I sighed, "It's a long story, and I’ll be happy to tell it to you at some point, but right now, I need to try to get in touch with Dawn." I called her cell phone, but it went to voice mail. "Fuck," I said.

  I started going through my texts. There were so many from Dawn. The first, from the night I left, telling me she loved me. Then several where she expressed concern about not being able to get in touch with me. I read each of them and watched the concern morph into anger. The last one was the Friday after the accident.

  Damnit, Andi, where are you? I don’t know why you are avoiding me, but can we please be adults about this and talk? - Dawn

  I saw she had left several voice mails. I listened to them. The first one was the night I left. It was the same pattern as the texts: concern, hurt, anger. By the time I reached the last message, I was crying. She believed I had abandoned her. I wiped my eyes, and looked at Anna, "I need to get out of here. Now."

  "You can't," Anna said. "You literally just woke up from being in a coma for over a week."

  "I don't care. Find the doctor and tell him I’m gonna sign myself out."

  "No way, Andi," Anna shook her head. "You need to calm your ass down and tell me what's going on."

  Dawn

  I woke up tied to my bed. The last thing I remembered was Tess and I coming back from dinner. I started yelling for help, and the door opened. Tess came in, "Stop yelling," she demanded.

  "What is going on, Tess? Untie me," I demanded.

  "I can't do that," she said, "at least not right now. Once I convince you we belong together, and you really are in love with me, then I’ll be able to let you go."

  I was definitely in trouble. "Tess, you don't want to do this," I said, "let me go, and I won't tell anyone. I promise."

  She laughed, "I don't trust you, Dawn. I used to, and I might again, eventually, but not right now. You are mine. You will eventually accept it, and then we’ll be together. I’m making you something to eat. Do not yell again. I’ll be back soon." She walked out the door.

  Clearly, I didn’t realize just how fucked up Tess was. I needed to figure a way out of this. I heard the doorbell ring. I decided I might as well chance it. I started screaming as loud as I could. Tess ran through the door and put her hand over my mouth. "Shut the fuck up, or I swear to God I will break your fucking neck." She went over to the drawer and pulled out a tee shirt. She ripped it and used it to
gag me. The doorbell rang again, and this time it was accompanied by loud banging. "Not a single sound from you, or else," she said, as she walked out the door.

  I heard her at the front door, and I could hear voices, but I couldn't hear what was being said. All the sudden I heard what sounded like a stampede coming through my house. I was terrified. I had no idea what Tess was going to do to me. The door flew open, but it wasn't Tess. It was a police officer. He yelled, "Found her!" He walked over to the bed and took the gag off and started to untie me.

  Just then, Sgt. Daniels walked in. "Ms. Williams, are you hurt?" she asked.

  "I don't think so," I said, "I think she drugged me, though."

  "I have an ambulance on the way. They’ll transport you to the hospital to be checked out, then I’ll need a statement from you at some point."

  I was grateful the police were here, but I couldn't figure out how they knew. I hadn't mentioned to anyone I was going to dinner with Tess. "How did you know to come here today?"

  "Ms. Morris was concerned you were in danger. We sent an officer by earlier, and he called me to say your girlfriend told him you weren’t home. Since I was with Ms. Morris, I knew whoever he had spoken with wasn't your girlfriend."

  "What are you talking about? You were with Andi? She's here?" I asked.

  "Yes, she's been in the hospital here for over 10 days."

  Andi was here, in the hospital. "I need to be with her."

  "You can see her after they check you out at the hospital and I’ve gotten your statement."

  Andi

  The shocked look on Anna's face would’ve been amusing in another situation. I had told her the whole sordid story. "Now, do you understand why I need to get the hell out of here?"