Page 61 of As a Last Resort
I remember watching her pour vodka into her coffee in the morning when she thought I wasn’t looking.
I remember opening the refrigerator to find only string cheese and yogurt past its expiration date.
I remember getting into her car after the senior graduation pep rally, turning to wave goodbye to my friends, calling out to them that I’d see them later at the game.
I remember riding in the front seat, reaching down to get ChapStick out of my backpack, and not opening my eyes again until I heard the beeping of a heart monitor three days later.
LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR IN COMA AFTER MOTHER’S ACCIDENT SHAKES SMALL COMMUNITY
May 31, 2016—Rock Island, Florida—Rock Island citizen’s car crash puts daughter into ICU.
The small community of Rock Island is still shaken from the news of local Rock Island High School upcoming graduate Samantha Leigh in the hospital.Leigh remains in a medically induced coma after her mother, Bonnie Leigh, veered off the road and impacted a streetlight after traveling southbound on Main Street in her 1996 Honda Civic at a high rate of speed.Witnesses report the car was going far over the speed limit, although that has yet to be confirmed by the local authorities.
Dr.Neal Nguyen, head trauma surgeon at Tampa Medical Center, who is not treating Leigh, told us a medically induced coma is sometimes necessary to decrease swelling of the brain.“Inducing a coma allows the brain to rest and decreases the brain’s activity and metabolic rate,” Dr.Nguyen said.“Ultimately, this state helps decrease brain swelling and protects the brain from further damage.”
“Sam [Leigh] is the perfect student,” a close, personal friend of Leigh’s said, also a senior at Rock Island High School who has asked to remain anonymous.“But her mom’s had a problem for a while now.It was justa matter of time before she hurt herself or someone else.I just can’t believe it was Sam in the end.”
Bonnie Leigh’s toxicology report has yet to be confirmed.
I smoothed out the creases, laid it carefully on top of the desk, and walked out the front door without saying goodbye.
20
SAMANTHA
When it comes to the friendship communication tier, texting is considered the acceptable norm.Email is saved for when you know you’re going to piss someone off but want it to look like you’ve really thought about it and it typically includes bullet points.Actually calling someone is reserved for when something’s on fire or you’re being abducted.
So, when Ivy’s name flashed on my screen as a caller, either her apartment building was going up in flames or aliens were luring her into their mother ship and I’d be interviewed for the nextUnsolved Mysteriescase as the last person to speak with her.
“What’s wrong?”I answered.
“It’s about Robby.”
My stomach dropped.“Did you just call him Robby?Wow, this must be bad if you’re using his real—”
“The Oakstone contract came back around.”
I paused.“Isn’t that good news?”
“Glenn put Robby on it.”
I sunk into the wicker couch covered with stamped starfish.“I’m sorry, could you say that one more time?I could have sworn you just—”
“Glenn said you were already deep into the due diligence in Florida and he didn’t want to pull you.”
Warning bells went off.
“But that doesn’t make any sense.Oakstone is my project.Robby doesn’t do developed cities.He does blank slates.”My voice rose a little.“He doesn’t do local restaurants and breweries and city councils with art festivals and dog parades.”
“Not usually, no.”
Oakstone Springs was as high profile as we had run into.And I had been the lead on the project just the week before last.My history of city revitalizations was impeccable.My ideas were specific and unique to the groups of people I studied in these areas, not only the locals and what was important to them, but the transient traffic the city received.I knew how to capitalize on the wants and needs of both parties to elevate the whole.I was hired for that sole reason.
This didn’t make sense.
And now Robby was going to convince them of that instead?How could Glenn possibly think Robby could do a better job when I had made it my life’s mission to do exactly that for every project we’d run across?And had a successful track record of doing exactly that.This was just on a much bigger scale.
Robby should be the one stuck down here with wicker couches and spotty internet, and I should be on a plane to Oakstone Springs, meeting with the mayor, talking about the reconceptualization of the city.
