57

I woke at 11 a.m., having lain down in bed to ride out the migraine, then blacked out.

When I called Dr. Binchy, he said he could fit me in within the next few hours. “I was planning to contact you in any case,” he said ominously. “Come in at three—I’ll make sure we’re set up for a scan.”

My head was clear again, and I decided to keep it that way, ignoring all the meds I’d been given and eating a giant omelet with a side of toast.

No more fucking Coke.

After I’d eaten, showered, and cleared emails from my agent and editor, it was time to leave. Since Mia had sent through her aunt’s email address, I also shot Sarah a message. I hesitated for a second before getting into my car, but I didn’t think I was in danger of passing out mid-drive. I always knew when a migraine was coming on.

Getting in, I started up the engine.

Trixi and Lexi walked up to my window just as I pulled out of our drive. “Aarav, darling!”

I wound down the window. “Doctor’s appointment. Can’t be late.”

“Oh, of course. Hope your leg’s doing better,” the elder of the two said, her top a screaming orange today, and her eyes vivid with excitement. “Did you hear the commotion last night?”

“Out like a light.”

Trixi lowered her voice. “Police were over at those new people’s house. Isaac saw the car, but he said it went away pretty fast, so it can’t have been that bad.” She sounded disappointed at this last bit.

“You mean Anastasia and Leonid?” I had the weirdest feeling I was forgetting something, but I couldn’t imagine what.

“Uh-huh.” Trixi nodded. “And what about Cora! Margaret says she was trying to get on a plane to Canada but the instant they scanned her passport, it set off an alarm in the airport computers! Police must’ve put her on a no-fly list or something.”

No wonder the women were hotfooting it around. So much gossip to spread.

“I suppose it’s what women put up with to live in these nice houses,” commented Lexi. “Poor Alice getting beaten up, Diana having to deal with Calvin’s philan—”

“Yoohoo!” Trixi trilled. “Come on Lexi, there’s Veda. She must be home today. Have a good appointment, Aarav.”

I frowned over Lexi’s words as I drove away. What had she been about to say?

“Philan” was a relatively uncommon pair of syllables. Not many words began that way. In the context of bitchy gossip about what women “put up with” to live in the Cul-de-Sac, I could think of only one: “philandering.”

Except I just couldn’t see it.

When the hell would Calvin have the time? Unless he hooked up with fellow hospital and clinic staff. Trouble was, I couldn’t imagine staid and stiff Calvin doing the wild thing with anyone—I figured he barely did it with Diana.

Trixi and Lexi also weren’t exactly the most trustworthy sources of information.

An image popped into my mind in the wake of that thought. That photo Alice had taken of my mother seated on a sofa with Calvin. Her looking up at him, him looking down, both of them laughing, with Diana in the background, a faint smile on her face.

It struck me that I’d never before seen Calvin laugh like that.

What I’d taken as a moment of humor between two good friends suddenly took on a different meaning. “No fucking way in hell.” My mother would’ve never done that to Diana.

“Loyalty is a gift, Ari beta.” Her nails brushed my jaw as she smiled. “Don’t squander it. Ek sachcha dost to heere se bhi keemti hai.”

One true friend is worth more than diamonds.

Diana was the most loyal friend Nina Rai had ever had. My mother would’ve chopped off her fingers before laying them on Calvin.

But the photo continued to haunt me as I walked into the neurological clinic.

Once inside, however, I didn’t have time to think. The well-oiled system spun into action. Soon, a machine was looking into my skull.

Afterward, I was shown into Dr. Binchy’s office. “You have the results yet?” I asked after taking my seat.

“No, a specialist is going over them now.” He steepled his fingers on his desk. “I’m more worried about the results from the extra blood tests I ordered before you left the hospital. I had to be out of the clinic on personal business yesterday, so I only saw the report this morning.”

I thought of those extra pinpricks on the inside of my left elbow, the slight residual soreness that had only been noticeable for an hour or so. “Why the extra tests in the first place?”

“Because during the initial round of tests, I was looking only for the levels of prescribed medications in your blood. It wasn’t until our discussion that I realized we might be dealing with more than carelessness in sticking to your medical regime.”

“What’re you saying?”

“Aarav, I was very careful not to prescribe you any opioids. Not only can they be addictive, I’m of the camp of physicians who believe they make migraines worse and can even trigger them.”

“I’m not doing drugs, Doc.”

He pushed across a sheet of lab results. “Your blood says otherwise. The levels are significant enough that I’m not surprised you’ve been passing out from the pain of the migraines. Add in your other meds and the results are apt to be highly unpredictable—and at this point, I’m not even sure I’ve thought to test for everything you might be taking. Regardless, your body can’t deal with this kind of cocktail.”

The results made no sense to me. I’d been a drunk, but these days, a bottle of Coke paired with handfuls of candy was my drug of choice. “Could someone have made a mistake and given me the wrong meds? I’ve just been taking them without really looking at them.”