“We’ve got an ambulance on its way to your location. It’s only a couple of minutes away. She’ll probably be okay, but stay with her and keep an eye on her breathing. Let me know if she stops.”
“Okay,” Roni said in a small voice, feeling a cramp in her gut. She settled down to carefully watch Madison breathe.
It seemed like an inordinately long period of time—but was probably only the few minutes the dispatcher had promised—until Roni heard a young man’s voice calling her name, “Roni Buchry?”
She turned. A young man in uniform was by the pool with a big box in one hand. “Over here,” she called out.
The man turned to trot her direction. The guy knelt beside Madison and picked up her wrist with one hand. With the other he swept a light over her. Dropping her wrist, he reached up and pulled back her eyelid to shine the light in her eye. A moment later he was speaking into a radio microphone at his shoulder, telling someone where they were.
Looking back over his shoulder, he looked at Roni and asked, “What’s her name?” When Roni told him, he leaned forward and shouted, “Madison! Talk to me!
Madison said nothing. He rubbed a knuckle on Madison’s breastbone. Madison didn’t respond, so he rubbed even harder at which point she moaned and rolled her head back and forth in agitation, but not very purposefully. He looked up at Roni, Adam, Indigo, and a small cluster of other people who’d gathered around to watch the excitement. “Any idea what she took or how much?”
Roni said, “I don’t…” But Indigo rode over her, “She didn’t take it! She’s been roofied and this asshole,” she used her free hand to smack Adam on the head hard enough to make him wince, “gave it to her.”
The paramedic focused on Adam, “Was it a roofie? Rohypnol?”
Adam shrugged the arm Indigo didn’t have trapped.
The paramedic said, “If she dies, murder’s an even worse charge than what you’re already facing.”
Adam shook his head, “She won’t die, she…” Evidently realizing he’d said too much, he cut himself off.
A policeman trotted up and the paramedic told him what he knew. A couple of guys came around the corner with a stretcher. Roni realized more and more people were filtering out of the party to see what was going on. She saw the guy who’d been asking for the donations looking on with wide eyes. He looked really worried.
Roni realized he probably thought somebody’d drunk so much they were having alcohol toxicity. He was probably worried the police would figure out he’d essentially been selling alcohol without a license.
And letting minors drink it to boot.
Then the paramedics were loading Madison onto the stretcher and the policeman was putting cuffs on Adam.
Roni sat beside Madison in a little room in the ER. The doctors and nurses examined her, drew blood, started an IV and hooked her up to monitors. They went through Madison’s phone and called her parents using the emergency call feature. Since Roni wasn’t a relative, the doctor said they were constrained from discussing Madison’s case with her, but he did tell Roni that Madison’s parents were on the way. Roni asked whether Madison was in danger. The doctor said he couldn’t tell her that, but then gave a minute shake of his head suggesting he thought Madison would be okay.
Indigo hung around for a while. Mainly she’d wanted to talk to the police. To Roni’s surprise, Indigo’d tapped on her phone’s recording app as soon as it looked like something bad had happened to Madison. The recording started with Roni saying, “I think you’ve been drugged…” and went on from there until the ambulance people took her away.
The police found the recording very interesting. Within Roni’s earshot they argued amongst themselves about whether such a recording—made without the subject’s permission—would be admissible in court, but eventually concluded that the DA could make that decision and took a copy.
Indigo said she had to go, but left Roni her phone number. Roni sat beside Madison listening to the reassuring beep of her heart monitor and feeling too wired to ever sleep. After a bit she installed a recording app on her phone and moved it to the main page so it’d be easily accessible if she ever needed it. She put it right next to the video recording app she’d used on the Castanos.
Despite her thoughts that she was too excited, Madison’s state seemed unchanging and it wasn’t long before Roni began to doze off.
She woke to the grating sound of a man’s anger, “What’re you doing here?! Get out!”
Roni rubbed at crusty eyes and opened them to see Madison’s father, a horrified looking blonde lady beside him. For a moment she thought about protesting that she’d been doing her best to take care of their daughter, but instead she stood and began silently gathering her things.
Madison’s father turned to the woman beside him, “She would never have gone to a party with booze and drugs without that girl’s influence.” He turned back to Roni, “You’re lucky she didn’t die!”
They’re under a lot of stress, Roni reminded herself as she left the room without saying a word. Inside she felt so angry she wondered if she might start trembling. However, she hoped she managed to project a calm and placid exterior. Even though rationally they probably know it won’t help the situation to treat people badly, she thought, it’s hard not to lash out when you’re frightened.
Outside the emergency department she considered the darkness uncomfortably. In view of what’d just happened to Madison, it seemed crazy to think about walking home. She could, of course, just make herself invisible and the chances of anyone assaulting her would vanish. But it was a substantial walk and she was tired.
And… she had a lot of cash.
Roni called a Lyft.
Once the driver dropped her off in front of her dorm and drove away, Roni decided to vanish from sight. If, somehow, people at the dorm had heard what had happened, she didn’t want to spend a lot of time answering questions at this late hour. Probably nobody knew anything about it, and even if they did, this late at night they probably weren’t staying up waiting for her. No one really knew Roni that well yet. Nonetheless, making herself unnoticed would keep it from being an issue in the unlikely event that she did run into someone.
Roni stopped when she entered her own hallway. There was someone lying curled up in her doorway. Roni walked slowly down the hall to look at the person, wondering who they were. She thought that, even though the girl was lying right up against the door, she could probably open it and step over her without waking her.
Then she was at her door, looking down at Sabine. Even in sleep, the girl looked troubled. Letting her invisibility go, Roni squatted down and said, “Sabine?”
The girl’s eyes popped open. She looked quickly up and down the hallway. Horror crossed her face, “Where’s Madison?! Oh my God! Something bad’s happened, hasn’t it?”
“No, she’s okay,” Roni said standing up and swiping the lock. “Let’s get out of the hallway.”
Sabine didn’t stand up, just kicked with her feet to slide herself into the room then huddled up against the wall. Roni stepped inside and closed the door, then squatted beside Sabine. “She’s going to be okay, really. No need to be so upset.”
Sabine stared at Roni for a moment, then, voice breaking, she whispered, “Adam… Adam’s my brother.”
Roni stared back, mind whirling, not knowing what to say. Finally she said, “I’m so sorry.” She didn’t know whether she was saying; sorry your brother’s in trouble, or, sorry your brother’s a horrible person, or, sorry your family’s about to be ripped apart.
Tears were running down Sabine’s face and she was gasping as she sobbed uncontrollably. Roni wondered what she’d do if Sabine asked her to protect her brother. Her heart sank as Sabine choked out, “I’m so sorry.” Sabine put her hand over her mouth as if she thought she was about to heave, but still wanted to say something else so was trying to hold it back.
Roni feared Sabine’s next gasping words would be something to the effect of, But Adam’s rea
lly a great guy, this is just a bizarre aberration. You understand, don’t you?
Instead, Sabine gasped out, “He did the same thing to me… but I couldn’t remember… very well… I decided I must’ve dreamed it. But if I’d done something then…”
“Victims shouldn’t blame themselves,” Roni said resolutely, surprised her voice was calm and steady as she said words she wanted to scream. “Never…” She started, then realized she’d gone beyond emphatic into frighteningly forceful. Taking a breath to calm herself, she continued more quietly, “Never blame yourself.”
***
Roni woke to a demanding knock on the door of her dorm room. Blearily, she rubbed at her eyes and looked around. Her computer said it was 6:30 in the morning. Sabine stared wide-eyed at her from Madison’s bed. Roni’d talked Sabine into sleeping there the night before. Sabine, alternating between achingly distraught, sobbingly sad, and frantically hysterical, hadn’t seemed like she should be alone. In fact, Roni’d suggested that she take Sabine to the emergency room for a mental health assessment, but Sabine had refused. She’d agreed to go to the counseling services at the student Health Center this morning, a compromise Roni’d accepted. However, Roni didn’t think the girl should try to return to her own dorm with a roommate she not only didn’t know very well, but who had no idea what’d happened that night. So, she’d insisted Sabine stay in Roni’s room with her. Madison’s empty bed provided an obvious sleeping solution.
Roni got up out of her bed and started toward the door, but then it swung open, obviously swiped by someone who had a key. Madison stood there, looking like she felt sick. Roni’d looked up roofies and so she assumed Madison was hung over if that had been the drug. Over her shoulder, Roni saw Madison’s angry looking father. I so don’t want to deal with him this morning, she thought. Out loud, she said, “Hey Madison, you okay?”
Madison lifted a hand to her head and squinted, “No… I feel like shit.” She lifted her eyes to Roni’s, “I can’t believe you took me to that kind of party.” Her eyes dropped, though not as far as Roni’s stomach fell. Madison continued, “I’ve just come to get my toothbrush and a few clothes. We’ll be back to get the rest of my stuff once I’ve found another place.”
She doesn’t remember what happened last night! Roni thought, sinking back to perch forlornly on the edge of her bed. Roni knew that memory loss was one of the things that roofies were supposed to cause. So, of course she’s going to believe whatever her dad imagines happened. “Okay,” she said to Madison, her voice breaking.
Madison quickly crossed the floor and entered the bathroom. Sabine hissed at Roni, “Aren’t you going to tell her what actually happened?!”
Roni lifted her shoulders microscopically and let them fall back to their previous slumped position. She whispered back, “Why would she believe me over her dad?”
Sabine suddenly got out of Madison’s bed and padded into the bathroom too. She closed the door behind herself so Roni had no idea what might be going on between Madison and Sabine in there. With her memory loss, Madison would think Sabine was a complete stranger. In view of what her father’d been telling her she probably thought Sabine was some druggie friend of Roni’s.
The hall door to the room creaked open. Roni wiped her moist eyes with a wrist and turned to look. Madison’s dad stood in the doorway glaring impatiently. “Where is she?”
Roni only said, “Bathroom…” not trusting herself to say more.
“How long does it take to get a goddamned toothbrush?!” Mr. Coulter said with acid impatience. Raising his voice, he called out, “Madison! Come on! Let’s go!”
The bathroom door opened and Madison slowly came out. Ignoring her dad, she grabbed the rolling chair from her desk and pulled it over close to Roni, then sat in it. “I remember inviting you out to a party last night. Did we leave there and go to a different one… or did everything happen at the one I took you to?”
Dully, Roni said, “No. Just the one party.”
Impatiently, Mr. Coulter said, “Madison…”
Madison put up a hand to halt whatever her father had been about to say. “And Adam, the guy that invited me, he’s the one that drugged me?”
Roni nodded, thinking that perhaps Madison would believe her, but that her father never would.
Roni was about to suggest that Madison ask the police who’d done it, but at that moment Mr. Coulter practically exploded, “Madison! Let’s go! Now!”
Madison leaned forward and gave Roni a hug, whispering in Roni’s ear, “I’d better go… But,” she said emphatically, “I’ll be back.” She stood, walked to her closet and pulled out a dress. On her way out of the room she stopped at a drawer to get some underwear.
Madison vanished from the room, leaving Roni wondering whether Madison still blamed Roni for what happened. Or did she accept that Roni might be innocent? Roni looked around, Where’s Sabine?
Roni got up and went over to knock on the bathroom door. There was no immediate answer, so Roni pushed the door open. Just as she did Sabine blubbered, “Just a sec…”
Though Roni’s impulse at this request was to step back and close the door, she could already see Sabine huddled, sobbing on the floor in the corner of the bathroom. Sabine obviously didn’t need privacy so Roni ignored her request and stepped forward to settle herself beside Sabine in the corner. “Hey, what’s getting to you now?”
Sabine gasped a breath, “I told Madison what happened to her last night. But… I couldn’t make myself tell her that Adam’s my brother.”
“Oh…” Roni said, the sad ramifications becoming evident. “You’re embarrassed?”
Sabine’s head made a tiny nodding motion, leaving Roni to wonder just what Adam had done—to his own sister.
Roni thought about protesting that Sabine shouldn’t feel embarrassed about or responsible for what her brother’d done, but, after all, Roni’d felt inordinately proud of Hax’s ability as a pitcher this past spring. She could remember being embarrassed by how clumsy he’d been when he was younger. Those feelings were as nothing compared to how she’d feel if Adam was her brother. She reached out an arm and pulled Sabine to her, hugging her and thinking how small and frail she seemed to be. Roni didn’t say anything for a long time as she sat, wondering what she could say. Finally, she murmured, “What Adam did; it isn’t what you did. Adam probably did worse things to you than he did to Madison, right?”
Roni was wondering what else she could say to comfort the girl when Sabine said in a tiny voice, “How am I going to tell my parents?”
A rock formed in Roni’s gut as she realized she hadn’t even considered that problem. Will Sabine be able to bring herself to tell the police, then testify against her brother, or will that be too much? What can I say to her that might help rather than hurt?
Roni was saved from answering those questions when a phone chirped in the other room. Sabine moaned and threw her head back, “That’s my mom’s ring tone. She’s probably calling to tell me that Adam’s in trouble. What am I going to say?”
Roni wasn’t sure whether Sabine was actually asking her, or just casting that question rhetorically out into the world, but she said quietly, “I’d advise telling the truth… As gently as you can.”
Sabine rose to her feet and shuffled out toward the other room. Roni sat wondering what she should do for a moment. She didn’t want to hide in the bathroom but didn’t want Sabine feeling like she was out there trying to listen to every word of what she might consider an extremely private conversation with her parents. Roni didn’t even feel like she could brush her teeth without seeming callously indifferent to Sabine’s personal tragedy.
Roni blinked and shook her head as the obvious solution presented itself to her. She made herself invisible and unnoticeable, then stood and went to the sink. She brushed her teeth and then walked out into her dorm room. Sabine was huddled on Madison’s bed, knees up and head hanging between them, her dark hair falling forward to make a curtain that hid her delicate featur
es from the world. It was evident she was holding her phone to her ear and listening. Roni could hear the warbling little tones of a woman’s brisk voice coming from the phone. Sabine said, “Mom…” but Roni heard the woman’s voice continue uninterrupted. Most of what Roni heard was unintelligible, but then she heard the woman say, “don’t worry” several times. Sabine again tried to interject, saying, “Mom?” but this still didn’t stem the tide of her mother’s one-sided oration. A few seconds later, Sabine barked, “Mom! Shut up for a second!” Sabine paused briefly, evidently to see if her mother was actually listening, then she quietly said, “I was there. He did do it. He did the same thing to me last year. He needs help… or something.”
Sabine listened for a second then raised her head to look desperately toward the bathroom. Roni realized Sabine might be looking for comfort or advice from her. Before Sabine looked back in her direction, she let herself become visible and began walking toward her new friend. Sabine looked up and appeared startled to see Roni in front of her. She covered the microphone on her cell to say, “I told my mom Adam’s guilty.” Sabine’s face crumpled, “She’s sobbing. What do I do?”
Thinking, I have no idea what you should do! Roni sat, again putting her arm around Sabine’s thin shoulders. Unable to think of anything else, she leaned close to Sabine’s ear so Sabine’s mother wouldn’t hear and said, “Tell her you love her… and that you’re sorry to have to be the one to break the news.”
Sabine did so. With their heads so close to together, Roni could hear Sabine’s mother. She was more than sobbing, she sounded frenzied.
The sound of the crying mother faded from the phone and a moment later a man’s voice came on, sounding angry. Roni could hear him say, “What’d you say to your mother?! She’s practically hysterical!”
Sabine didn’t answer.
Her father said, “Sabine?”
Quietly, Sabine said, “Dad, I told her Adam’s guilty.” She paused for a moment, then said, “And that he’s done the same thing to me.”
The Boy Who Couldn’t Miss Page 5