Inertia (Gravity Series, 3.5) (The Gravity Series) Page 7
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“Talking about your mother is not going to bring her back, Harlow. And her death is no excuse for reckless behavior.”
It was weeks later, and Dr. Briggs’ daughter was causing him oceans of trouble. She’d seemed to do all right befriending Ford’s daughter, and had acquired his own skill for masking her true feelings. But at home, she’d fallen apart.
“She never had to die in the first place,” Harlow said, his large eyes watering. The same eyes as her mother. “I’ve asked you to explain it to me and you won’t. I watched her die in front of me and you don’t even care.” Those eyes blazed with the emotion she’d been stuffing in since Fiona took her final breath.
Briggs reached out and rested his hand on her cheek, but she shrugged him off, turning away with her arms twisted together.
“I told you, Fiona knew too much. I loved her just as much as you—”
“You’re incapable of loving anyone,” Harlow sneered.
“That’s not true. I love you more than anything. But she found out I was communicating with Thornhill. Don’t you understand what’s going to happen?”
He spun her around forcefully, gripping her arms too hard, his eyes gleaming. “We’re going to be like gods, Harlow!”
“How do you know that it’s true? A bunch of weirdos meeting in a room and getting hypnotized…what if it’s a bunch of garbage and you’re all crazy, have you thought about that?”
“I know more than he does,” Briggs insisted. “Rhodes doesn’t know about Luminos, but I do. He doesn’t realize all the power that lies beyond Dark, more than mere humans like us can fathom. But we could harness that power.”
“Don’t you see? I don’t want any part of it!” Harlow shouted, fresh tears falling from her eyes. She pushed him away and stumbled out of the room.
She would come around. If not by choice, than by force.
###
It took a while for him to get in close. First, he witnessed the Rhodes boy kissing the girl he was forbidden to see. But Phillip already knew about that from his spy, Roger, so it was a disappointing dead end.
When he was at the hospital, the police were sniffing around after Ariel was attacked. They visited her initially while he was standing by, but hours later they arrived again. He groaned when he saw them step into the ER.
“We need to ask her a few more questions,” the detective that had introduced himself as Mike said. “Before her memory gets stale.”
“She’s sleeping right now, gentlemen,” Briggs said calmly. “Come back in a little while. There are donuts and coffee in the break room. I’m sure you’ve had a long shift, help yourselves.”
The police lumbered away, but Briggs knew he was only buying time. They would insist on checking on Ariel themselves, and the frightened little pipsqueak would be only too eager to spill her guts.
It was simple enough to slip in to the pharmacy and take a strong dose of sedative. He chose one with amnesiac qualities to help him along. He almost took enough to kill her, but Phillip seemed wary about doing that yet. So, instead, he’d give her just enough to keep her down so the police would leave for the night. She might even have some good old nightmares. If she really did have the Sight, it might make her crazy.
McPherson had already gone down. It had only been a matter of time. Briggs was the best choice to step up into his place.
Looking blanched and defeated, unlike her usual spunky self, Ariel lay back on the pillow with her hair matted around her thin face. Completely trusting of him despite the fact that he was in allegiance with her enemies. Bedside manner one-oh-one.
“It’s not a big deal. I don’t need sleep.” He knew that her protest was because she was afraid of shutting her eyes.
“Yes, it is a big deal. Sleep will help you recover, help you heal.” Help you forget the details and think you were dreaming. “I’m going to get you a sedative, okay?”
He retrieved a needle, stabbed the cap of the medication and took it back in. The night nurse trailed in beside him, one he’d picked due to her being on the tail end of a double shift. He knew she had a sneaky pill habit and didn’t ask questions.
“Do you have to poke me?” Ariel asked. She was so frightened, yet still just so eager to trust someone.
“Nope. Right in the old IV.” He smiled as kindly as he could and watched the anxious lines on her face soften.
“What if I still can’t sleep? Even with the medication?”
“Don’t worry, it really won’t give you much of a choice.” At least he could give her the truth. He injected the syringe into her IV, watching the liquid dart inside, then sat down on the bed and watched her eyes begin to droop.
“Look, about the other night,” she said, fighting it. She clutched the sleeve of his lab coat, unaware she was doing it. “Please don’t tell Phillip about what you saw between Henry and me.”
She was slurring. If the nurse hadn’t been there, he could have easily taken a pillow and smothered her. Idiots like Phillip were just not tough enough. You had to get rid of your problems before they engulfed you, like a sneaky little bitch of a wife snooping in your email inbox and threatening to take your daughter and go to the cops. A bullet easily takes care of that.
“Why?” Briggs asked benignly.
“He’s not supposed to know.”
Briggs almost broke out laughing. So naive. Teenagers thinking they were actually good at keeping secrets. “
“But, honey…he already knows.”
Her features bunched up in confusion for a moment, before sleep smoothed the look away. He got off of the bed and threw the needle away in the sharps box.
The nurse followed him out of the room. “I don’t know what you gave her, and I don’t want to know,” she hissed. Not as complacent as he thought. He just smiled at her solemnly. “But she better wake up later.”
“She just needed to rest,” he said. Prepared for this issue, he transferred the bottle he’d sneaked out of the pharmacy into her hand. “Nothing unusual. Nothing that needs to go in the chart. She’ll wake up rested and refreshed. Understood?”
The woman’s eyes darted between the full bottle of her vice and the doctor’s face. Then she nodded, slipping it away. “Yes, doctor.”
###
“I just need something,” Claire Donovan said, grasping her purse on her lap like a lifeline. He could tell she was very uncomfortable being there. She was shaking like a leaf. “I’ve heard you’re the best doctor is town. I’ve been having these panic attacks and bad dreams. I missed a few doses of my medication and it scared me badly.”
“How long have you been taking the Valium?” Briggs asked, perusing her chart.
“Years.”
He flipped the chart shut and put it beneath his arm. “Then it’s simply a case of needing to up your dose. When you’re on benzodiazepines for an extended time, your body adjusts to them and you need a stronger dose to regain the desired effect.”
He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, maintaining eye contact. His old resident would have been proud that his bedside manner had improved so. Make the patient trust you, and your word becomes God. “I’ll just up the milligrams.”
“I don’t really want anyone to know about it…” Claire began.
“Don’t worry. I know we have some right in our pharmacy, and I can fill it for you myself. No one needs to know.”
She smiled at him like he’d solved all of her problems.
As he walked to the pharmacy, he couldn’t help the private smile on his lips. He could destroy one obstacle. As easy as switching a few little pills. Then it was only a matter of waiting. He had time.
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