Redemption Lake (22 page)
Authors: Monique Miller
At this, George nodded his head. It seemed George was actually learning something from Phillip.
“Last, but certainly not least, âL' stands for lying. Thou shalt not lie. Leviticus 18:22 states,
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
And likewise, lying can be an abomination in your marriage.
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
And likewise, lying can be an abomination in your marriage.
“What I'm talking about is something that's simple to doâdon't lie, as in not tell the truth. Believe me when I say that even the littlest of lies can grow and fester into an unrecognizable and uncontrollable monster. Don't lie, be open and honest. It can save you a great deal of heartache in the end.”
Phillip smiled. “Thou shat not lie. That sounds like it should be listed along with The Ten Commandments, doesn't it?”
Travis shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Beryl hoped Travis would take Phillip's advice to start telling the truth and to stop embellishing on the smallest of things. It wouldn't necessarily make life easy, but it would make it more bearable.
Phillip stopped looking at his watch. “Any questions?” he asked.
No one said anything.
“Okay then. Why don't we take a short break?”
Beryl was glad he called for a break, she didn't think her bladder could take much more. She stood, taking steps to head toward the bathroom, but had only gone a couple of steps when she heard a crash behind her. It sounded like something or someone hitting the table and floor.
She spun around to see Nina sprawled on the floor.
Chapter 26
Beryl Highgate
Thursday: 10:52
A.M.
Thursday: 10:52
A.M.
“Oh my God, is she okay?” Beryl asked.
“Nina, baby, are you okay?” George was frantic. He knelt next to her, shaking her shoulders. “Nina, baby, wake up. Talk to me. Are you okay?”
Shelby knelt down on the other side of Nina. “Phillip, honey, move this table out of the way.”
Phillip and Xavier pushed the table and chairs to the side. “Nina?” Shelby said, “Nina can you hear me?”
Everyone else crowded around, trying to see what was going on.
“Stand back please, so she can get some air,” Shelby said. “Nina, can you hear me?” Shelby felt Nina's neck for a pulse, and then checked to see if she were breathing. “She is breathing,” Shelby announced. She felt Nina's forehead. “She's burning up.”
George grabbed his notepad and began fanning Nina's face.
Beryl's bladder got the best of her. She turned and did a limping skip toward the bathroom to prevent another accident. She relieved her full bladder and washed her hands as quickly as possible, all the while wondering what she could do to help.
Upon returning to the room, she saw that Nina still remained unconscious. George held what looked like a cold cloth on Nina's forehead.
“Let's get her off this floor,” Shelby said.
Phillip assisted George in moving Nina out to the couch in the living room.
Shelby tried waking her by squeezing her shoulders and talking to her. “Phillip, grab the first aid kit for me,” Shelby said.
Phillip did as he was asked, leaving the room in search of the first aid kit.
Beryl stood motionless, watching at the edge of the living room. Except for Shelby, no one else was saying a word. Beryl felt like she was holding her breath as they waited for signs of life from Nina.
Charlotte, Xavier, and Travis stood stark still. George kneeled again on the floor next to Nina, his face stricken with worry. Kneeling there, Beryl saw a regular guyânot the well known television icon. He was a regular man lovingly trying to see what was wrong with his wife.
“Nina, wake up,” George pleaded.
“Nina, Nina, can you hear me?” Shelby continued to ask.
“Dear Lord ... Jesus, please let my wife be okay,” George pleaded looking up toward heaven.
“George, has Nina ever done this before?” Shelby asked.
George shook his head.
“What about medical conditions? Does she have any medical conditions? Is she diabetic? Does she take medications for anything?” Shelby asked question after question, trying to figure out what might be going on.
“No, she's healthy,” George said. His face contorted with perplexity.
“I don't know.” Shelby shook her head. “She doesn't have diabetes so it doesn't sound like it's low blood sugar. And she isn't on any medication, so it isn't like she's either taken too much or hasn't taken enough. Something's got to be wrong.”
“Is she allergic to any foods? Maybe something she ate this morning?” Shelby asked, still trying to figure out what might be going on.
“No, she isn't allergic to anything that I know of,” George said.
Phillip returned to the room with the first aid kit and joined the exchange, trying to offer his help. “How was she this morning?”
“She seemed fine enough at breakfast. But she did seem a little tired during the session,” George said.
Beryl couldn't keep quiet any longer. She wanted to offer anything she could if it would help Nina. “I noticed how sleepy she looked. She nodded off a couple of times.”
“Have you noticed anything different about her other than that?” Shelby asked.
“No. This morning was like most mornings. We got up, and she talked about getting some tea to drink. She was upset about some vitamins she lost yesterday. Then we came into the kitchenâ”
“Vitamins, what kind of vitamins?” Shelby cut in.
“Just some kind of vitamins that are supposed to give her energy. Nina has been taking them for a few months now,” George said.
“So she didn't take them this morning?” Shelby asked.
“No, she couldn't find them,” George said, his face downcast with the kind of guilt Beryl occasionally saw in her children's eyes when they were up to no good.
“What did the vitamins look like?” Shelby asked.
“I don't know. She never showed them to me. I noticed how much energy they gave her. I joked with her the other day, telling her I should take them for all the energy they gave her. She almost had a fit saying I needed to get my own vitamins. And I ...” George stopped.
“You what?” Shelby asked.
Beryl was in pure suspense. She had stopped breathing again, waiting for the response. She wasn't the only one in pure suspense. Whether she realized it or not, Charlotte was standing at the end of the couch, practically leaning on Xavier for support.
Travis sat on the edge of the loveseat, on the other side of the room, as if watching a made for television movie. All that seemed to be missing from his hands was the bag of popcorn and a jumbo soda.
George buried his head in his hand. “I took the bottle of vitamins from her.”
“You did? Where is it?” Shelby asked.
From the pocket of his jeans, George pulled out a small bottle. It didn't look like any kind of vitamin bottle Beryl had ever seen before, but she figured it was some kind of high class vitamin that wasn't sold at the stores she shopped in.
Shelby took the bottle from George and examined it. “Vitality vitamins? I've never heard of these.” Then she opened the bottle and looked inside.
From where Beryl was standing, she could see flat little round pills with a hollow shaped heart cut through the middle. But as she tried to look a little closer, she saw that the heart wasn't a heart shape at all, it was really in the shape of a V. It made sense. The V was for vitality.
Shelby's eyes widened, then her eyebrows furrowed. “Where did she get these from?”
“I don't know. I think one of her friends told her about them,” George said.
“Phillip, hand me that first aid kit,” Shelby said. After taking the kit from Phillip, she rummaged through it, tossing aside bandages, ointments and packets of medication. She finally stopped when she located a little packet that looked like the hand wipe packets Beryl sometimes got from KFC. Shelby tore the top off and ran the open packet under Nina's nose a few times. Upon whiffing the contents, Nina groggily came awake.
Beryl's body relaxed, and she let out a deep breath.
“Nina, baby, are you okay?” George asked again.
Nina moaned as she opened her eyes to slits, trying to focus. After opening and closing her eyes a few times, she finally opened her eyes fully. She looked directly into her husband's eyes. “George?”
“Yes, baby,” George said. He wiped her forehead with the damp cloth he was holding.
Nina felt around, patting the couch with her hand. She then looked around and saw Shelby hovering above. “Shelby?” Her eyebrows wrinkled. “What is going on?” Looking over toward the loveseat, Nina continued to focus in order to see who was sitting on the loveseat. Then she tried to sit up and immediately placed her hands on her stomach. “Ouch.”
“Hold on a second,” Shelby said. She placed her hand on Nina's shoulder. “Just lie back for a moment.”
“You fell out of your chair and hit the floor,” George said.
“I what?” Nina asked.
“You must have fallen asleep or passed out,” Shelby said.
Beryl watched as Shelby took the bottle of vitamins and placed them in her pocket.
“How are you feeling right now?” Shelby asked.
Nina rubbed her stomach with her hand. “I've got sharp pains in my stomach, and I feel like I'm going to throw up.”
“Can you see me okay?” Shelby asked.
“Right now I can, but a moment ago I couldn't,” Nina replied.
Shelby kneeled down, moving closer to Nina. “Nina, when was the last time you took aâuhâvitamin?”
Shelby sounded as if she were trying to find the right words, and even though she was speaking to Nina, Shelby's eyes often darted around the room as if trying to gauge exactly what she should say.
Something wasn't right; Beryl could feel it in the pit of her own stomach.
Nina's face was perplexed as she looked back and forth from Shelby to George. She remained speechless.
“Nina, it's very important that you tell me the last time you took a
vitamin
.” Shelby stressed the last word.
vitamin
.” Shelby stressed the last word.
With a visible squirming discomfort, Nina looked into George's eyes again. Tears began welling in her eyes. In a hoarse whisper she said, “George, I didn't want you to find out.”
George placed his hands on Nina's cheeks. “Baby, what is it? Don't cry.”
Nina tried to speak again, but the words got choked in her throat.
Shelby spoke. “Phillip, help George get Nina to the bedroom, then you can talk in there.”
A brief moment of relief appeared on Nina's face, until she tried to sit up again. With a grimace she hollered out in pain. “Oh my Lord.”
“We'll take it easy,” George said, “Don't try to rush. If it takes all afternoon, we'll get you moved.”
Nina attempted a smile. “Don't joke. It just may take all afternoon.”
“Let me know if there is anything I can do to help,” Charlotte said.
“Yeah, me too,” Xavier said.
They both continued to stand out of the way, at the end of the couch.
Beryl moved one of the chairs from the dining room table and placed it along the path heading toward George and Nina's bedroom. “Here's a chair just in case you need to sit down and take a rest.”
A few moments later, Nina had to use it. And with gratefulness, she smiled at Beryl mouthing, “Thank you.”
With painstaking effort, Nina continued until she reached the bedroom. Beryl wished there was more she could do to help out. So while Phillip and Shelby joined George and Nina in their room, Beryl took it upon herself to look around for food to prepare lunch for the group.
She figured they'd all need something to eat after the morning they'd just had. Beryl was pleasantly surprised when Charlotte joined her in the kitchen and offered a helping hand. They didn't say much to each other while working together, but Beryl was thankful to have the woman there with her.
Just as she found herself lost in the preparation of cold cut sandwiches and chips, Beryl felt a tap on her shoulder. Travis was standing behind her.
He whispered in her ear, “Man, can you believe that? It was like an episode of that show on Discovery Health called
Mystery Diagnoses
.” Travis paused, looking conspiratorially to see if anyone else was listening or watching them. “I wonder what's going on with Nina?”
Mystery Diagnoses
.” Travis paused, looking conspiratorially to see if anyone else was listening or watching them. “I wonder what's going on with Nina?”
Again, for the umpteenth time, Beryl found herself rolling her eyes. “Travis,” Beryl whispered louder than she intended, “why don't you find something constructive to do?”
“There isn't anything to do,” Travis replied.
Beryl could think of quite a few things Travis could be doing, like reading over the notes they'd been given over the past few daysâstarting with examining his own life and paying attention to the needs of his own wife instead of someone else's. But obviously, self-improvement wasn't an appealing enough subject for him.
“There's a lake out there,” Beryl offered.
“What am I going to do on the lake? I don't have a boat or any fishing supplies.”
“I was thinking more like what you could do in the lake.”
“In the lake?” Travis asked.
“Yeah. Why don't you just jump in?”
“Funny, Beryl ... real funny.”
Even though she knew it was wrong, she wasn't being funny. She really did wish he'd just jump in the lake or find some other method to disappear. Sometimes she wished they'd never even met, but then she wouldn't have her two beautiful little boys. So for now, she hoped they wouldn't find themselves standing along the side of the lake, alone in the darkness. Because given the opportunity, she just might push him in.
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