CARMEN“I don’t understand, doctor,” Terri said before I could. “What does that mean? She takes her prescribed drugs at the perfect time, and I make sure of that.”“We’ll need all of the drugs that she takes every day brought into the hospital to test and see. The one that seems to be a lot more in her system on an abnormal level might have some form of arsenic in it.”My eyes widened in shock, and Terri shook her head to deny what the doctor had just informed us about.“What do you mean, arsenic? There’s no such thing in her drugs. I’ll go over to my apartment and bring some of the ones I have over here,” Terri said, stepping away and heading out before she looked at me.“Wait here until Jasper comes, okay? I’ll be back in no time,” she told me and got out of the hospital, leaving me with the doctor who was starting to leave as well.“Wait, doctor. How much of the arsenic is in her system? Is it so much that it looks to have come from a powder of arsenic?” I asked.“We’re not sure. W
CARMEN“You’re not going to India, Carmen.”I looked at Jasper as if he had just popped another head out of his shoulder as he told me those words with a cool air of finality, as if I shouldn’t dare argue with him about it.“You can’t do that, Jasper. Not right now at least.” I shook my head at him. “I am going to talk to my mother today, and we can talk about this later. You can’t make that decision for me and just expect me to—”“You’re not going!” He raised his voice, drawing attention from everyone present and causing me to flinch.“You’re still hungover from the alcohol you took last night. I don’t want to believe that you want to argue about this right now, with your mother in there,” I raised a point, but he laughed about it right in my face.“If you have any respect for her, then you wouldn’t be thinking of taking a leisure trip to a whole different country while she lays in there and needs you now more than ever,” he accused.“This is not a leisure trip. A lot of things depen
CARMENWhen Jasper returned to the house, he refused to say a word to me – not when I asked him how his mother was, and certainly not when I zipped up my bag and was done with packing up for the trip to India.Even though he was doing it on purpose and not because he was okay with me going, I thought it was too good to be true that he wasn’t bringing it up anymore, but I still wanted to know how his mother was doing.“If you could just tell me if she’s doing fine and is out of surgery, then maybe I’ll find it easier to fall asleep tonight,” I mentioned as soon as he got out of the bathroom after his shower that evening.“Now you care about her?” he scoffed, and I raised my eyebrows at that.“What makes you think I don’t?” I asked, knowing fully well that that was not the point of the conversation, but I also knew that he would probably be acting different if his mother’s health had deteriorated.“Is it because of the entire thing about going to India? The flight is tomorrow, Jasper. I
CARMEN“DAD?!” I exclaimed, frozen at the doorway as my father sat on the bed in the room and looked over at me with a smile and a slightly surprised look on his face.“I had my doubts about you coming, but I know you as someone who does something when she sets her mind to it. Come on over here,” he said, his arms wide open for a hug, and I didn’t know how to run into his arms.I was afraid that if I ran into his arms and tried to hug him, I would swipe at the air that he would disappear into, so I settled for standing there and staring at him, taking everything in.“You look miles different from when you were sick in the hospital,” I said, finally finding the strength to walk forward.The closer I got to the bed, the faster my heart beat, almost as if it was going to burst and break through my chest at any moment.When I got to the side of the bed and looked down at him, he laughed at the look I had on my face as if he was reading my thoughts to know what I had in mind.“I am not a
CARMEN“Is that why I’m here, then? You want me to help Steve – to get him out of the mess he doesn’t even know he’s in with Mom?” I asked, and my father smiled at me, silently telling me that I was right in my guesses.“I know that you haven’t gotten yourself trapped in your mother’s hands. You being here is a perfect way for me to know that,” he said. “Knowing her, I would know that the last thing she would want is for you to come here.”“You know I’m married, don’t you?” I asked, and he froze as tension hit him.“I didn’t think we would be talking about that this soon. I am truly sorry that I didn’t get to see you walk down the aisle. How is your marriage to…” He stopped, not knowing what Jasper’s name was or not remembering it.“Jasper,” I said, and he nodded.“How is your marriage to Jasper?” he asked me, a hopeful smile on his face as he waited for me to say something dreamy with my head in my hands, but I watched his smile fade as he soon started to realize that it was not the
CARMENAs I accompanied my father to the hospital a few hours later for his very last shot of treatment that he had been getting to help him recover, the thought of my mother working with Jasper did not leave my mind for a second.That would explain why Jasper was quick to call my mother and find out about the aviation company lie that I had made up. Perhaps they had always been in contact.“Do you think it’s possible that she would be working with him? I mean, in the sense that he hits me. Do you seriously believe that she knows about it and is in full support of it?” I asked my father.“I can’t say for sure, but it’s not something I would put past her. She has surprised me a lot over the years that I just don’t think this would be the most outrageous thing she has done,” he replied.I saw the sense in what he was saying, especially after what had happened with the chef and the video she had recorded, but there was something holding me back from believing that my mother could be that
CARMEN“Steve Wilmer is investing in my father’s new company?!” I asked, standing up and looking down at the file in my hand with my mouth ajar while doctor Adrian signaled for me to keep my voice down and avoid waking my father up.“He gets headaches when his sleep is interrupted,” he told me, and I nodded in understanding, resuming my position on the seat opposite him.“I don’t—I don’t understand,” I stuttered, my eyes glazing over the name and the unmistakable signature of Steve Wilmer on the document. “Why hasn’t my father told me about this since I got here?”“He wanted to tell you after the last treatment at the hospital, but he made me give him my word to tell you about it in case he falls asleep before reaching here.” Doctor Adrian shrugged.“Have they met? I don’t imagine Steve Wilmer would invest so much money on something that he’s not entirely sure of,” I said, giving him a confused shake of my head as I waited for context.“We disguised it as something your father had bee
CAMRMEN My father stared at me after my confession with the most neutral expressions he had ever given me so far, and it didn’t make it better. I wanted him to have a reaction, good or bad, and not leave me with the thought of whether he still thought of me the same way.“Are you sure about this?” He interrogated after minutes of staring at me in silence, his tone of voice even more zen than his face.“I haven’t had the time to think about it to myself, but I’m very sure that even if I do, my answer is going to be the same – I do love him,” I confirmed.“And do you know if he feels the same way towards you?” he asked, not judging me and slightly surprising me with it.“He told me he loves me. I would like you to know that we didn’t start it after our parents got married. He was my date to prom, and in mere weeks, Mom was married to Steve Wilmer. We have tried to separate one too many times, but it hasn’t worked out so far.” I looked down at the bed.“Your wedding… We were told that y