Wednesday, June 27th, 2018
Amanda woke up dazed and confused. Fully dressed, she lay in her bed. Big Danny, her neighbor, was sitting in the corner of her room, cross-legged on the carpet, his head resting where the walls met.
“B… Big Danny?” she called out.
He blinked a few times then looked up to her. “Hey! How you feeling?”
She tried to sit up, then decided against it. Her head felt like it was about to explode.
“What? … Why… Why are you here?”
“I had to keep an eye on you. You passed out in your vomit. Lucky I saw you and had the evening off so I could look after you.”
“What? What are you talking about?” But as she aired the words, she tasted bile in her mouth. She’d indeed been sick.
“Who was that man that came to visit you yesterday?” he asked, rubbing his hands up and down his face.
“What? What man?”
Big Danny got to his feet. “I’m gonna splash some water on my face. Want a glass?”
“Sure,” Amanda said.
“Be right back.”
In the few minutes that passed, she racked her brain as to what had actually happened. She tried to rewind her memories. Last night she…
Last evening she…
Her heart began beating faster, suddenly aware that several hours were unaccounted for.
Yesterday she… She took those edibles!
“Shit!” she yelled, folding her body up in bed, then suddenly hating herself for it.
Bringing a hand to her forehead, she forced her eyelids down, hiding daylight and hoping that it would decrease the intensity of her pounding headache.
Big Danny put one of his big-bear hands on her back. “Here, Amanda. Drink up.”
She opened her eyes, grabbed the glass and downed all of its contents.
“You said there was a man in here yesterday?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Who was he?”
“Are you okay?” he asked her. “You should remember who your guest was, shouldn’t you?” With his index finger and thumb, he forced one of her eyes to open some more, then the other. “Were you high on something yesterday?”
She winced, then realized Big Danny was a friend. He wouldn’t judge her.
“Well, yes. One of my friends gave me some edibles. Said it’d help me forget about what happened to Lori.”
“Shit, Amanda! You shouldn’t do drugs. And you most definitely shouldn’t do drugs alone! What if I hadn’t shown up?”
“Why did you show up? Why are you here?”
“You really don’t remember anything?”
She shook her head.
“That’s messed up.” He exhaled deeply then sat on the edge of her bed. “I heard you scream, then something crashed on the floor, so I ran up. I was knocking on your door when this young guy was about to leave.”
“Who was it?”
“Beats me. He said he was a friend from church.”
“A friend from church?”
Amanda frowned and rubbed her forehead, but it wasn’t a magical lamp. Nobody came to mind, and no memories came back.
“Well, the mystery man left, and I stayed. You had already begun vomiting, so I placed you in the recovery position and I kept an eye on you. Once the vomiting stopped, I moved you to your bed, but I wanted to stay to make sure you were going to be all right.”
“Thanks, Big Danny,” she said leaning forward to hug him.
“You should really get in the shower now. And I’ve got to get ready for work. Don’t do anymore of those edibles, okay? Promise me?” he asked as he got up.
“Yes, I swear. Thanks for taking care of me. I owe you, big time.”