Chapter 13| Sedation
Sometimes I forgot my age. I was only eighteen but felt like an old woman. I had rollers in my hair, which I had in for days and hot flashes every hour. If you would have told me two years ago, “Lily, you are going to marry a sociopath who wants your money and have his baby.” I would have laughed at you and walked away.
Two days after Paul and my conversation, I was able to leave the hospital. However, it was only under one condition. I would have to leave in the arms of the man who despised me most—Jason. He arrived back from New York as if nothing had happened between us. As if we were a perfect happily married couple. And me, I had to act as if everything was okay to avoid another hospital visit.
Jason yanked my hand to walk me downstairs as if he were a gentleman. “I will help you, Lily.”
“I can get around fine by myself!” I yelled and shoved him back. “Why would you want to help me?”
“Do you have to be so rude all the time?” Jason rolled his eyes. “I was just trying to help you down the stairs. I wouldn’t want you to fall,” he smirked.
I laughed; not wanting to believe his evil smile. “You wouldn’t, right?”
He dropped his smile and narrowed his eyes. “Want me to cook dinner? I have a killer new recipe I have been working on?”
“Actually nope, I’m doing something special tonight for us,” I grinned.
“And what is that?”
“Paul and I are going to cook tonight.”
“You shouldn’t be on your feet. The doctor said you shouldn’t be walking around. I insist; let me cook tonight.”
“It’s okay. I want to be useful…I’m tired of being in bed all day. I don’t want to get bed sores.”
“Fine, Lily, have it your way.” Jason went back into the room and ran the water in the shower.
I hurried downstairs, where Paul was stirring soup in the kitchen. “We better do it quick, Lily,” he said as he watched me run over to him.
“What should we put it in?” I said as I held the Ziploc of drugs. “We need to hurry before he gets out the shower.”
“Maybe wine?” he said as he stirred the soup. “And a little in the soup too.”
I poured nearly half the bag into the wine. “Yeah that seems good,” I paused. “I’m so excited I could just poop out glitter—”
“That’s so not strange at all,” Paul laughed.
“It’ll be—”
Paul cut me off by pushing me back because Jason was coming into the kitchen. “Hi, Jason,” he said.
“Smells good!” Jason said.
“That was a quick shower,” I said.
“A little too quick,” Paul said.
“I’m hungry,” Jason said.
“Why don’t you try this new wine Paul bought,” I snapped as I handed him a glass. “It’s very expensive.”
“Oh no, not now,” he said while pushing the cup away.
I shoved the glass in his face. “No, I insist, Jason. It’s so yummy! Drink some for me babe, since I'm pregnant with your baby.”
“Fine just a bit,” he smirked and drank down the whole glass in less than a second. “Whoa, that was good!”
“Yup, I told you and you said you didn’t want any,” I said. “Go wash your hands; dinner will be done in twenty minutes.”
“But I just showered—”
“Just go!”
“Okay,” Jason said and went back upstairs.
I waited for him to get to the room and whispered, “That was too easy. He probably thought the same thing when he did that to me. No wonder he was always happy—the feeling of accomplishment is powerful.”
“Yeah, but we have to wait a few hours—”
The sound of Jason collapsing to the floor cut Paul off. It sounded as if he had fallen off the bed or off something high. Paul stared at me in mystification and we both ran out the kitchen to upstairs.
“Was that Jason?” I said.
“I assume so,” Paul snapped as he went into the bedroom. “Oh my god!” he laughed and pointed at Jason lying across the bathroom floor.
“That stupid, stupid—” I kicked Jason in the ribs. “You were right, Paul. He was drugging me the whole time.”
“How much did you give him?” Paul asked.
“Like half the bag.”
“Whoa, that was way too much! You’re never supposed to give—”
“How would you know that—”
“Look!” Paul pointed at Jason as he began shaking on the floor as if he were having a seizure.
I ran to his side and put my hand over his forehead. “How do I stop him?”
“Just leave him,” Paul said.
“No, what if I killed him?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“No way! I don’t want to be a murderer.”
“Coward,” he muttered.
“I am not a coward,” I snapped. “Just because I don’t want to murder someone, I’m a coward?”
“Okay, I’m just kidding,” Paul laughed. “Calm down.”
“This is not a time to joke around!” I cried.
Jason stopped shaking and I turned him on his side so he wouldn’t choke. As he opened one eye, I jumped up in fear that he would attack me. I held my belly tight as he stared into space.
“What are you going to do,” Paul said. “You’re going to be in trouble.”
“This was your idea,” I said.
“Lily, don’t blame me. You’re the one who wanted to test it on him.”
“But, you planted the idea in my head.”
“What, no I didn’t,” he laughed. “Do I look like Leonardo Dicaprio in Inception?”
I sighed. “Let’s just go.”
Paul snatched his arm from my grip. “Where are we going?”
“Just downstairs…calm down.” I pulled Paul again, but this time he shoved me back.
“You don’t have to tug on me!” he snapped. “I can walk downstairs by myself.”
“Okay, Paul.” I ran downstairs and sat at the table, waiting for Paul, who was still in the room with Jason.
“Lily, we should call 911,” Paul said as he finally walked downstairs. “He looks pale.”
“Are you crazy? I cannot go to jail.”
“Prison, Lily. You would go to prison,” he said in a calm tone.
“It seems like you don’t really care about me anymore,” I snapped. “What's your fucking deal?”
“Okay, let’s stop arguing.”
“What do we do, now that we know he’s been drugging me? We can’t let him get away with this.”
Paul sat next to me and ate some bread. “Like I said, Lily…we deal with it…for now,” he paused, “if this is the same stuff he was giving you, he should be out for a few days.”
“We have enough time to look through his things,” I smiled.
“For what?” Paul snapped as he choked on his bread.
“Anything suspicious and we can give it to Mike—”
“Mike wants nothing to do with you. Do you not get it?” he snapped.
I ran back upstairs, gesturing for Paul to follow. “We should start now,” I yelled.
“But...” Paul tiptoed back upstairs, eating some chips. “But, I bet we won’t find anything.”
“Don’t be so negative.”
Jason was out on the floor while Paul and I looked through his things for any information. We could not find anything. His computer was locked and no matter how many different passwords we tried, it didn’t unlock. Then, I checked his closet and there was nothing. He didn’t have much room for his stuff, so I couldn’t imagine where it would be.
“I give up—”
“Come here,” Paul said from the closet. “Is this your money?” Paul pulled out a plastic bag full of dollar bills from Jason’s dresser.
“Where else would he get that money from? Not even a stripper can make this much cash in a lifetime!” I grabbed the bag of dollar bills. “He cashed all my money. He lied
and told me he put it in a shared account,” I said.
“Not only is he a murderer but a theft too,” Paul said.
“I’m so happy you found this.”
“It just adds more drama.”
“No, I’m so happy. This means I was right.”
“About what?”
“Everything,” I beamed as I hugged the bag of money. “I’m so happy. Paul, you have no idea how happy I am.”
Paul went back downstairs and sat on the couch. I grabbed the bag of money and skipped downstairs in joy. No words could explain how satisfied I was at that moment. I spread the cash across the coffee table. With a smile, Paul sniffed the cash.
“There is more to him than we know,” Paul said as he rubbed the money on his face. “I don’t know what, but there is.”
“Of course there is.”
“Any ideas?” he said quickly.
“Not yet—” Light bulb! “Hey, do you have your camera with you?” I said as I put the money down.
“I should have it with me.” Paul dug in his empty pocket.
“Do they still have all the photos on them from when I first bought this home—that Ana took?”
“Um…yeah, I should have them on there. Why?” Paul grabbed his messenger bag and held it close to him.
I tugged on his bag in his firm grip and he wouldn’t let go. “Can I see the camera?” I dug into Paul’s bag and pulled out the camera myself.
“What is it you need to see at a time like this?”
I flipped through the photos, searching for the pictures Ana had taken the day I moved in. The photo of a worker modeling on the front steps was the first one. Next, a photo of Ana in my window, then…
“Busted!”
“What is it?” Paul said as sweat slid down his cheek.
“The carpet…it’s golden-brown on the photo,” I smiled. “Golden-brown, Paul!”
“It’s always been golden—what the heck?” Paul touched the carpet. “Why is your carpet white now?”
“Jason changed it. He tried to make me seem like I was crazy.”
“Why would he do that?” he said as he snatched the camera from me.
“Cause he wants something from me.”
I got up, walked to the corner of the living room, and dug up the side of the carpet. I pulled the white carpet up and under it was the golden-brown I remembered. “Busted again.”
“What are you doing now?” Paul said.
“He’s been playing games with my mind. He is a genius in his own right.”
“Maybe you—”
“Maybe what? I changed the carpet? Is that what you’re trying to say?” I said.
“No,” Paul snapped.
“Then, maybe what? Are you accusing me of really being insane?”
“Lily, no! I was just going to say, maybe—”
“If you’re turning on me now, Paul, you can just leave. You are really confusing me today.”
Paul ignored me and pushed aside the piano that was in the dining room. “Wow, look at this!” With no effort, he removed a gigantic picture on the wall of Audrey Hepburn and exposed a door. Behind the picture was a key—he unlocked the door with it. “Just follow me.”
“What the heck is that place?” I said.
Paul shoved open the smaller than normal door and walked in. “Come on.”
“Is this a panic room?” I said. “What is this room for?”
“I don't know,” he said as he turned on the flickering lights. “Look at this!”
I grabbed the box Paul held up. “What is this stuff?”
“Looks like old medication boxes,” Paul said as he shuffled through five boxes.
“What the hell?” I opened one of the boxes and it looked like the melted M&Ms.
“What is wrong?”
“These are the drugs,” I snapped.
“What about the powder?” Paul said.
“No, these are the ones he was replacing my prescription with.”
“Are you sure?”
“I'm positive. They look exactly like the ones I was taking. But, these aren't the same as the ones I'm supposed to take. He hides them here.”
Paul sighed.
“I didn’t even know this room existed. How did you know about this room?” I said.
“I just noticed it right before...”
“Let's look for more of the white powder.”
“So, not only had he been drugging you but he hadn’t been giving you your medication; which, made you a total nut ball. And to add to that he would mess with your mind too.”
“So, what are you trying to say? He was trying to make me kill myself?”
“Yeah, exactly…he was trying to make you to the point that if you were to die today, it wouldn’t be a shock since you have been in and out of nut homes and hospital stays. Think like the movie Heathers, how the couple set up all those fake suicides.”
I paused and thought of a new theory. “So, I am crazy, but he used that to his advantage so I would commit suicide to make his hands look clean?”
“Well, sort of…but stop calling yourself ‘crazy’. You are not crazy. That is the reason we didn’t want to tell you about your mental disorder.”
“Okay, so I have a mental disorder, which he used to his advantage?”
“Exactly.”
“I can’t believe it—to have someone take advantage of me because of my disorder.”
“Man, he is too good. He knew exactly what he was doing from beginning to end. Something like this would make you want to kill yourself. I know I would have by now.”
“End? I’m not dead yet, Paul.”
“You know what I mean.”
“You think Ana knows what Jason is up too?” I said.
“She would never let Jason get away with a crime like this.”
“So, you think she doesn’t know?”
“Of course not.”
“Did you know?” I said.
“Me? No way!”
“You know my friend Madison knew him. I wondered how, but I didn’t ask much.”
“How did you know?”
“Well, at my party, he knew her. Well, at the time I wasn’t too worried about Jason.”
“What do you mean you weren’t worried? You had me call Mike, remember?”
“Well, I was just worried a little. However, I didn’t think he was trying to kill me! He had quit his job with Ana and didn’t tell me so I wanted to know about his past.”
Paul grabbed my hand to walk outside the “panic room.” He shut the door exactly how it was before we entered. Our eyes grew large as Jason tumbled down the stairs. Paul tugged on my hand to leave but I let go of his grip.
“Jason?” we both said in fear.
“So, what’s for dinner? Drug soup?” Jason snapped as he threw a spoon across the kitchen at us.
“I’m sorry, Paul, for bringing you into this,” I said.
Paul didn’t answer he just stared at Jason with his jaw to the floor—probably just as shocked as I was that he was up. “How’d he wake up? That was such a large dose.”
“Yes, Lily I have a son. His name is Brandon…he lives in Arizona with other family. And yeah I’m thirty, but age is just a number. And if I remember correctly, you never asked my age…you just assumed. I’ve been to jail a few times…big deal…that’s all you Hollywood starlets do these days. If you wanted to know more about me, you should have asked me,” Jason said.
“You’re a liar!” I said.
“I haven’t done a thing to you.”
“Yes! You hit me, drug me, and stole my money!”
“Prove it,” he smirked. “What, is Paul going to help you?” he laughed.
“No, I don’t need Paul’s help. You won’t walk the streets if it’s the last thing I do!”
“I don’t know what is going on, but I am not trying to kill you. Okay, yes I’m sorry I attacked you a few times, but I have never drugged you or stole your money. I told you what happened.?
??
“What happened to it then?”
“Jerry—”
“Your brother you never told me about—”
“Yes, he scammed me. He called me and told me he worked with the bank. He had all the papers to prove it. He said he could fix our accounts but he lied to me.”
“Then, why was my money found in the room in a bag?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“All the money that was missing was in the room.”
“Well, I don’t know how it got there. It’s not your money.”
“I’m on to you.”
“And what are you going to do?” he laughed. “Drug me again?”
“No, I won’t drug you if you promise not to drug me.”
Jason laughed. “Lily, the only person drugging you is yourself.”
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, you are drugging yourself with insanity.”
I looked at Paul, waiting for him to say something. He just stood there. And then it came...he threw up all over the kitchen floor.
***
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