looked down and breathed a sigh of relief. At least the person who had used it before she got there had had the decency to flush. The other girls were gone from the bathroom, so she had privacy after her blunder.
"Brittany, dammit!"
"Go away!"
"Fine! This isn't even worth it!"
She started to walk out of the bathroom, but thought back to her brother and wanting to mend fences. In the end, despite her inner struggle, Kaylee walked back to the open stall and hoisted herself up onto the toilet bowl again. She tightened her grip on the partition and slowly peered into the next stall.
Brittany sat sideways on the toilet, leaning her back against the partition opposite Kaylee, her head rolled to the side. Kaylee saw a rubber tie loosely hanging around her arm, along with a needle, spoon, and lighter sitting in her lap.
"Brittany! Are you okay?" she yelled and got no response. "Brittany!" she yelled louder. Brittany didn't flinch.
"Ah, damn!" She climbed from the toilet and an out into the hall, moving as fast as her stilettos would go on the marble floors.
"Someone call 911! There's been an overdose," she yelled out the door, then went back to be with Brittany.
Kaylee ran back to the stall and got on her knees. She tried reaching under the door to get to Brittany, but she was just out of her gasp. She knew what she had to do, but wasn't looking forward to it. She slid down on her back and wiggled her way under the door to the stall that Brittany was in. When she was far enough in, she sat up and unlatched the lock, swinging the door open.
Three women had just entered the restroom. They sized up the situation with one look. "Oh God...can we help?"
Kaylee didn't answer them. She stood in front of Brittany and slapped her face a couple of times, calling her name, and trying to get her to wake up. There wasn't a single movement on Brittany's part.
"This is bad," one of the women said.
Thankfully, the paramedics stormed into the restroom at that point. Kaylee turned to one of the women. "A man named Noah, in the VIP lounge...he needs to get here. Can you get him for me?"
The women were gone faster than Kaylee could blink. She heard Noah's name being called out. She watched the paramedics as if from a distance, as though she were completely detached from it all. She could barely believe this was happening.
"What the hell is going on?" Noah yelled, running through the doors. Kaylee knew he had to see this for himself.
"Your druggie girlfriend had an overdose," Kaylee explained. She pointed to where the paramedics were strapping Brittany to a gurney.
"She doesn't do drugs," Noah said. "There has to be some mistake."
"Does that look like a mistake to you?" Kaylee asked, pointing to the drug paraphernalia that the EMT's were packing up for the police. "She was shooting up in here, Noah. She's a drug addict."
Noah had confusion written all over his face. Nothing could mask the hurt, the anger, or the questions that were there. Instead of saying anything, he followed the paramedics when they took Brittany out.
Kaylee stayed behind, answering all the questions that the cops asked her. She said that she knew nothing of the drugs prior to this accident (mainly to keep the police from invading their house to search for a stash hidden somewhere by Brittany), and that she had just come to look for Brittany because her brother was worried. The police thanked her for her cooperation and left soon after.
After walking away from the cops, she collapsed into the waiting arms of Ashton. "Take me home?" she pleaded.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital to be there for Noah?" he asked.
"No, I think he needs some time alone to process what's going on," Kaylee told him. "Besides, maybe he needs to realize how much he's isolated himself lately because of her."
"If you're sure..." Ashton said, leading her out to his car. "Colton and Jayden had left already, and said they'd stop at the house in the morning."
Kaylee sat in Ashton's car on the way home, staring out the window. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing by not going to the hospital for Noah?" she finally asked.
"I'm not really one to say what you should or shouldn't do, but I do know that you should always trust your instincts," Ashton pointed out. "Your instincts are always