Billy & The Beast (Ever After, New York #3) - Eli Easton Page 0,49
a car engine, coming fast. And I knew.
Too late, too late.
I jerked to my feet, screamed. Dad, watch out!
I woke up. My pulse raced, and I was slicked with sweat. The soft sound of Billy’s breath next to me was a relief, bringing me back to the here and now. I’d had similar nightmares about my father’s death many times over the past year. And they were always horrible. At least I’d woken up quickly from this one.
A strange noise sounded in the dark—a crack like something breaking, the squeak of plastic. The noise must have wakened me from my dream. Alarmed, I sat up and turned on the bedside lamp.
Jack was lying on the carpet at the side of the bed. There was something between his paws, something he was chewing on. For a moment I thought it was a toy, maybe a chew stick. Then the white cap poked out of the side of his jaw.
Oh shit. Oh no.
I saw, with horror, that it was a prescription bottle.
I gave a shout and flew out of bed, landing on my knees beside Jack, ignoring the pain in my hip. I got the bottle away from him without much resistance on his part, just a look of doggy guilt. But the damage had been done. The bottle had been cracked open and the end of it lay on the rug. No sign of the pills.
Which meant he’d eaten them.
Fuck. Fuck! The label on the bottle was destroyed, but I knew what it had to be. Vicodin. I’d left them on the top of the nightstand instead of safely inside the drawer. Careless. Idiot. Asshole.
“Billy!” I shouted, panic seizing me. “Oh God, Jack.”
Billy scrambled off the bed, still half-asleep. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
I held up the partially destroyed bottle. “Jack got into this. It was at least half-full. Oh God. It’s Vicodin.”
I’d been so proud of myself for barely touching it. Yeah, great news that the bottle was still nearly full. I cursed.
Billy came around and knelt by me. I gripped either side of Jack’s head helplessly while Jack stared up at me, wondering what all the fuss was about.
“Aaron, it’s going to be okay. Let me see him.”
I let go and Billy examined Jack’s mouth, running a finger thoroughly around his gumline and under his tongue. He pulled out one small white pill and dropped it into my palm.
“There were a lot more,” I said, feeling sick. “Enough to kill him, I bet.”
Billy’s eyes met mine. He looked determined. “This one isn’t dissolved yet, so he had to have just recently broken into the bottle.”
“But he swallowed a bunch! What do we do? Do we take him to the animal hospital? We have to get him to the vet!”
My mind raced ahead. Billy had ridden his bike, so we didn’t have his car. The only vehicle on the property was an old pickup truck used for hauling wood and the like. The key was in the barn. It ran well enough to get us down into town. But where was there a twenty-four-hour animal hospital? And why didn’t I already know that? I should have been prepared for an emergency. Jack depended on me!
I couldn’t lose him. It couldn’t be my fault he died. Not again. Not Jack. I couldn’t breathe.
“Aaron.” Billy squeezed my arm hard, making me look at him. “Driving him to the emergency clinic in Kingston will take too much time. And that’s not going to be helpful. Okay? We need to get him to vomit up those pills.”
“What? How?”
“I’ve got this. Stay with Jack.” He hopped up. “Got any hydrogen peroxide?”
“Um. There’s a bunch of first aid stuff in the bathroom.”
He nodded and took off. I heard cabinet doors slamming and drawers rolling. Jack looked up at me with his golden eyes, mouth open and panting harder than he should. Was he just anxious because I was freaking out? Or was he feeling the effects of the drugs?
Billy rushed back in carrying a small ceramic bowl from the kitchen. It was filled with water. He put it on the nightstand along with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide he must have found in the cupboard, and a spoon. He measured out spoonfuls of the hydrogen peroxide and stirred them into the bowl.
“Are you sure that’s safe?” I asked.
“Yup. This is what you’re supposed to use to make a dog throw up.” He knelt and put the bowl in front of Jack.