Lillian and I wind up seated on her couch, both of us with ice packs on our heads as Daisy quietly makes us breakfast and some coffee. We try not to look at each other. After a few minutes alone on the couch, Lillian says, “I will literally pay to never repeat what happened last night to anyone.”

I groan painfully, squinting and wishing that their apartment was just a little bit dimmer, “I will pay you if you can tell me exactly what happened. I can only remember bits and pieces.”

“I can’t believe I chugged half a bottle of wine.” Lillian grumbles, “I can’t believe I had sex with you.”

Daisy is walking on air. She prances out of the kitchen on her tiptoes, trying to be as quiet as possible for us, and places a plate of homemade pancakes in front of us. “Thanks,” I grumble.

“Maybe next time you two will try it sober,” Daisy giggles and Lillian and I simultaneously flick her off with the hands not holding onto ice packs.

“There is so not going to be a next time.” Lillian says, “I’m through with your stupid fantasy games.”

Daisy just giggles; she is clearly walking on a sexual satisfaction high right now. Suddenly I hear a phone going off, and both Lillian and I moan loudly. “Find it.” I say sternly, “Dear God, shut it off!”

Daisy scrambles to find a cell phone. I’m wearing a fucking pink robe because they failed to put my clothes in the dryer last night, so I’m waiting around for my pants. “It’s James’s. We put a pile of his stuff over on the counter in the kitchen,” Lillian says weakly.

Daisy answers my phone for me. “Hello? I’m sorry, no, this is not Eddie… this is his brother’s phone…. You don’t have his brother’s number? Are you sure, because-”

Shit. I wave Daisy over, “I forgot I had Eddie’s phone with me. Bring it here.”

Daisy hurries over. She has a concerned look on her face, “He sounds messed up.” She hands me the phone.

“Hello?” I question.

“I’mma at the, uh, the summer house…” it sounds like a young man, and he sounds high or stoned or something. “I c-can’t go back to jail, man.”

I sit upright, “Who the hell is this?”

“Eddie, it’s me. It’s Nick. Please, Eddie, I need you.” The guy sounds like he is on a bad trip or something.

“Listen,” I say firmly, “This is Eddie’s brother James. Who are you? Are you okay?”

There is a long pause. “I’mma at the, uh, the summer house…”

Shit. This is the drug addict. Eddie has actually told me a little about this one. He is homeless, so he stays in Eddie’s summer house all the time. I know what Eddie would want me to do. I’m so hungover that I might still be drunk, but I can’t just pretend I didn’t get this phone call. “Listen to me.” I say firmly, “Do you need me to call an ambulance?”

“No!” the guy practically screams, “I need Eddie!”

I am definitely not telling him that Eddie is hurt; he’s obviously not in a condition to hear about him, and the summer house is a good distance away. “Okay, okay,” I say, “Listen, I’m on my way. Do me a favor and go sit on the couch in the den, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I can get there, okay?”

“Thank you, Eddie, thank you.” He says and hangs up the phone.

He is so messed up. “I got to go.” I tell the two women, and Lillian just groans a response.

“You shouldn’t drive.” Daisy says.

“I’m going to call my driver,” I say as I go fetch my partially dried clothes out of the dryer, “But I have to go.”

I’m sure I’m going to regret going to see what this guy is freaking out about, but I go anyways. He’s probably having a bad trip or something. I have my driver pick me up, and we head out of state lines. It’s a long drive to Eddie’s summer house. It takes hours, and I can tell my driver is annoyed. Lucky for him, though, I did manage to get paychecks sent out to my employees finally.

By the time we finally arrive at the summer home it’s almost three in the afternoon, and thankfully my borderline demonic hangover is finally letting up. I tell the driver to circle around; a part of me doubt the guy is even still here. The front door is unlocked, so I don’t have to search for the little fake rock in the cobblestone next to the porch that Eddie keeps a key hidden in. A terrible idea, really. Even though this place floods all the time, it’s still full of valuables that Eddie practically just leaves out in the open for people to steal. And having a crack head for a brother stay there all the time just adds to the chances of something getting stolen.

I enter inside, and I immediately spot someone lying on the couch. As I come closer, my stomach drops in horror. It’s a kid.

I should have called an ambulance. I dart over next to him and try to wake him up, but he’s not moving. “Nick, hey! Nick, can you hear me?” I shake him, but he is unresponsive. I take a second to dart out into the yard and wave down my driver; I tell him to call 911 to tell them that there is a kid who’s overdosed at the cabin. While Leo is on the phone, I dart back inside to where the kid is still lying passed out on the couch. From the heavy bags under his eyes and the bright red streaks on his arms, I can tell he is a heavy user.

My heart is racing. I wind up pulling the kid down onto the floor after realizing he does not have a pulse. Eddie made me take a CPR class in preparation for our gym opening as a sort of PR stunt, so I’m thanking him now. By what could only be divine intervention, I somehow manage to get a pulse out of the kid. He’s still unconscious, and he’s just barely breathing by the time paramedics arrive. I can’t believe I didn’t call an ambulance the moment I talked to this kid on the phone. It takes some convincing, but the paramedics let me ride with Nick to the hospital. Seeing as how every single guy in that ambulance knows this kids name, I am guessing he’s lived through something like this before. I’m hoping he can do it again.