Claimed Darker by Em Brown

Chapter 43

BRIDGET

Past

The rest of the day is a complete blur. I remember being interviewed by a police officer. Was I at the apartment last night? What time did I leave? Did I experience any light-headedness, nausea, or headaches yesterday? Were there ever issues with the apartment?

After answering her questions, I ask if I can see my roommates and am told they were taken to the emergency room at Alta Bates Medical Center. Kat asks when we can go back into the building. The police officer says when it’s been deemed safe enough to return.

Kat’s boyfriend drives us over to the hospital, where Simone is undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy for carbon monoxide poisoning. The attending nurse told us that Simone is definitely responding to the treatment.

Amy, however, isn’t so lucky. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

“I can’t believe this,” Kat moans as we sit in the visitors’ area. “If we hadn’t spent the night at our boyfriends’, it could have been us, too.”

It’s a crazy thought, but I’m still reeling from the fact that Amy is gone. Just like that. Just last night we were talking about…I can’t remember. Something about the bouncers at Darren’s club. Less than twenty-four hours later, she’s no longer with us, having succumbed sometime during the night. Simone happened to have her window partially opened, enough to save her from Amy’s fate.

Sometime in the afternoon, Amy’s parents arrive.

“I told her to use the carbon monoxide detector!” Mrs. Liu sobs to her husband after speaking with the doctor. “I told her this is an old building!”

Mr. Liu is completely ashen and stone-faced. I give them a few minutes before walking over.

“I am so sorry,” I say. Had I been there last night…I don’t know what I could have done, but I might have been able to do something. Somehow I feel partially responsible. If I hadn’t left my notes at Darren’s place, maybe, who knows?

“If there’s anything I can do,” I offer.

Mr. Liu nods.

I return to sitting next to Kat.

“Simone’s parents are flying in from Oregon and should be here in about three hours,” Kat says. “Also, we’re cleared to go back into the apartment. Will you come? I don’t want to go back by myself.”

Her boyfriend picks us up and drops us off. There’s a part of me that’s still in shock that such a thing has happened. It seems strange that a heater that hasn’t been problematic before is suddenly deadly. I know that equipment does break down, but one never expects something like this to happen.

I sit down on my bed and look over at Amy’s bed. She’s not going to be there tonight. I’m not going to get to hear her snore. Or have her show me a dozen different things on Instagram when I’m in the middle of studying. I’d give anything right now for the chance to experience all that again.

I look over at the outlet where I remember Amy plugging in the carbon monoxide detector once. I wonder where it could have gone? Maybe it had stopped working, and Amy just hadn’t gotten around to getting a new one. Of all the horrible luck…

Kat pops her head in. “I’m not staying here tonight. I can’t. If you want, you can crash with me and Brad.”

I think about it. I doubt I want to spend the night in the apartment.

“Sure,” I say.

I pack my suitcase. When I’m done, I realize I haven’t eaten all day so far. I go into the kitchen and find bagels in the refrigerator. Amy probably put them in there. She puts everything in the refrigerator, including medicine.

On the way out, Kat and I bump into Jordan and Kiera, not my favorite neighbors or fellow Cal students. They mumble a “hi,” which is about the friendliest they’ve been to me in a while, and pass awkwardly.

Brad shares an apartment with another guy. It’s a small place, but there’s a coach in the living room, and they give me a sleeping bag.

I think about going over to the hospital, but I don’t want to bug Brad for a ride again. I’ll go tomorrow after my stats final.

Brad makes Ramen noodles for dinner. He and his roommate have a giant box of the stuff in the living room. I’m not that hungry and still have the bagels in my backpack. I feel drained, too tired to even cry.

My cellphone rings. At first I think it’s Darren, but it turns out to be Felipe. He sounds agitated.

“Hey, um,” he begins. “We really need to talk.”

“Sure,” I reply. “What is it?”

“Not now. I’m supposed to be working the bar. But where are you right now? Are you at your place?”

“No. Something terrible—”

“Good. Don’t go back there. At all.”

Felipe knows what happened today? I wonder how he found out.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” he asks.

“In the morning, I have my finals in stats class, then I go to my internship in the afternoon.”

“I think I can meet you around noon. I’ll let you know exactly where and when in the morning.”

Okay. This is kind of weird.

“And after you hang up with me, don’t answer any more calls. From anyone.”

“But I’m expecting a call from Darren tonight.”

“Don’t answer it. Trust me on this.”

“Felipe, you’re kind of scaring me. What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow. Stay safe.”

He hangs up, leaving me confused and a little bewildered. Is this some kind of practical joke? I recall when Darren thought I was pulling one my first time at The Lotus. One of his friends and family members is apparently a regular prankster. There was definitely an edge to Felipe’s tone. He came across nervous. Why would he tell me not to go back to my apartment unless he knows what happened? Maybe it was in the news.

But why doesn’t want me to take Darren’s call? Is he worried that Darren will tell JD what happened to Amy? That doesn’t make much sense, though. JDs going to find out at some point.

Putting aside my phone, I try to review my class notes, but it’s a fruitless endeavor. I should just let the professor know that I’ll have to take the final another day. He’d understand, given what happened. But I was looking forward to being done with everything after tomorrow. My boss at my internship is hosting drinks for all the office staff as a farewell event for me. I start my fellowship in Sacramento next week. It would be nice not to have the stats final hanging over my head.

Talking about Darren reminds me of the text I accidentally received from him.

My phone rings again. It’s Darren this time.

Felipe’s advice seems silly. Now’s my opportunity to clear things up with Darren. If he’s cheating on me, he should come out and admit it. But I also don’t want to talk to him. I’m angry and depressed. There’s a hole in my chest, and it hurts.

Plus, for some inexplicable reason, I believe there’s something behind what Felipe is telling me, that it’s not a prank he’s pulling. Because he never struck me as the mischievous type.

I believe there are moments of serendipity, unexplained urges from the cosmos. My grandmother, who almost never buys lottery tickets, felt compelled to do so when walking by 7-Eleven one day. So she went in, picked up her numbers, and ended up winning five hundred dollars.

I sigh with relief when the phone stops ringing. A few minutes later, however, Darren calls again.

Maybe I should pick it up. Or maybe I should ghost him. If he was with some other woman last night, he doesn’t get to have me, too.

I wonder if I should try to reach Felipe at the club and get him to explain his cryptic call, but I don’t want to pull him away from his job.

I don’t know what to do.

Frustrated, I put my phone on silent and pick up my notes. But I might as well try to avoid drinking an ice-cold glass of lemonade after a day’s trek through Death Valley.

Giving up on studying, I lie down and curl up on the sofa. Twenty minutes later, the phone rings again, but I let it go to voicemail.