Fidelity (Infidelity #5)

Oren nodded. “I received the same text. I was wondering something else.”

Talking to Oren Demetri put me on edge. Each phrase, each word made me feel as if I were constantly trying to make sense of a riddle. At three in the morning, I didn’t have the energy. “Mr. Demetri, I’d like to see my mother.”

“Call me Oren, Alexandria. The doctor is asleep, but there’s a nurse monitoring Adelaide. She’ll have around-the-clock care.”

“Why?”

“She needs it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Before we go upstairs, I think we should talk about what happened on the plane.”

I took a deep breath. “Can’t we talk in her room?”

“I’d rather not.”

“I’m sorry. This is rude, but I’ve had a long day. My mother is upstairs. I left Nox in Savannah to get to her. I’m going to go find her.”

He motioned toward the sitting room. “Hear me out. Please, this won’t take long. They say that patients can’t hear what is said around them while they’re unconscious, but I’d rather not take the chance. My house, my rules.”

My feet stopped. “Lennox’s house.”

Oren nodded. “Demetri.”

I took a deep breath and held my lips together.

“I’m not insisting on much,” he said. “Positivity. What happened today needs to be discussed, but not in your mother’s presence.”

I swallowed my resistance and tried to hear his intent. Something in his tone tugged at my heart. “You care about what is said around her? I’m going to ask again, why?”

He sat on the edge of the long sofa and leaned forward. It wasn’t the confident stance of the man I’d last met in this house months ago.

“First…” He gestured toward the sofa. “…please sit. You need to know about the flight.”

I didn’t argue as I settled at the far end of the plush couch. “Nox?”

Oren’s gaze met mine. “What about him?”

“You wanted to know something about him, what?”

He waved his hand. “It’s rather obvious.” Taking a deep breath, he sat taller. “As you should know, your mother has been given what some might consider an inappropriate amount of tranquilizers.”

Tranquilizers was a broad term. I assumed he was referring to the Versed or midazolam that Dr. Miller prescribed. “They said it was to help her withstand the DTs.”

“That’s what they said. The doctor who’s been with her tonight and I both believe that it was to keep her from talking.”

I narrowed my sleepy eyes. “Talking about what?”

He shook his head. “Alexandria, I think we need to get further into the whats and whys tomorrow. Tonight, as you said, has been very long. The point I want to make is that the excessive use of that medication has affected her body.”

My neck straightened as tears I couldn’t fight filled my eyes.

“I wanted to get your mother out of that poor excuse of a hospital as much as you.”

“Why—”

“Please,” he implored, “let me speak.”

I nodded.

“Our doctors couldn’t examine her until we had her safely out of there. They scanned her records. They made their assessments, but their assumptions were based on the information we could obtain. Unfortunately that isn’t as accurate as having the patient in their grasp.”

The dread that had filled me at his text message was back. “What happened?”

“Your mother went into shock after we were in the air.”

I bolted to my feet. “I need to see her.”

Oren stood too, blocking my way. “She’s fine, as fine as she can be, but she wasn’t. I take full responsibility for forcing her removal. Another twenty-four hours. Hell…” His volume rose. “…another two hours… that fucking excuse for a nurse.” His lips shut tight. “Pardon my language.”

“What happened?”

“We got her out of Magnolia Woods. We got her to the plane. She was mumbling when we first got to her, but then her vitals began to weaken.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Her heart stopped.”

I gasped as my knees loss tension and stomach fell. Giving way to gravity, I slid back to the sofa. “Stopped?”

“There was a doctor, Dr. Eva Rossi, on board. She’s the one who’s still here. She was monitoring her. She must have anticipated… there was an AED.”

“AED?”

“Defibrillator.”

“My mother’s heart was shocked?”

He nodded. “It didn’t work at first. We had to perform CPR. She has multiple broken ribs. I’m sorry.”

“She’s alive.”

He nodded again.

“Her ribs will heal. They wouldn’t if she weren’t alive.”

“Dr. Rossi has numerous concerns, her greatest being your mother’s brain.”

“Why?”

“The medication they used can affect the oxygen level to the brain. For some reason, despite the constant use, they didn’t have her on additional oxygen.”

“She is now?” I asked.

“Yes. But that isn’t all. Her heart stopped. I can’t tell you for how long. It seemed like hours, but it wasn’t. Nevertheless, during that time, before the CPR, her brain and organs were deprived of oxygen.”