In the movies, sneaking out of a hospital always seems like such an insurmountable task that involves dressing up in nurses’ uniforms and tiptoeing past security guards. But Lexi just removed the IV, threw on the bloodstained clothes she had arrived in, and walked out the front door of the hospital. “Piece of cake,” she said with a painful smile. The hardest part about her escape was not the challenge of making it out unnoticed, but making it out at all, considering how much pain she was in. Her ribs ached like crazy, and she felt like she was carrying a ninety-pound barbell on her neck. Every inch of her hurt, but there was no way she was staying in the hospital, not with Reggie right down the hall from her. Nurse Betty had reported he was in intensive care, but you never know about some people, and she didn’t want him waking up and trying to kill her again—not to mention the fact that strip clubs don’t offer insurance, and she did not want to endure any unpleasant discussions about the mounting medical bills she had undoubtedly racked up during her hospital stay.
Lying alone in that hospital bed, she had made the decision to get the hell out of this town. She wanted to get in her car and just drive away, leaving everything and everyone she’d met here behind. Nothing and nobody here mattered. There were only two people that mattered to her: Michael and Elijah Sinclair. And although they seemed to be worlds apart, in reality, they were only a three-hour plane ride away. What have I got to lose at this point? Lexi wondered.
Lexi had not been a part of Elijah’s life in nearly ten years, and she would not blame him if he never wanted to see or hear from her again. I hope the airplane I sent didn’t hurt him worse, she thought, thinking of how she’d impulsively mailed it out days ago.
I hope it wasn’t a mistake.
Lexi was so deep in thought that it took her a minute to realize everyone around her was staring. She was standing outside the hospital emergency room entrance. She remembered the blood on her clothes, and oh God…how could she forget about her busted up face? She grabbed a pair of sunglasses from her satchel. Not only did they help conceal her face, but they also kept the sun from glaring into her eyes. That was a blessing considering the fact that she could barely hold her eyes open at all due to the massive swelling.
Lexi was grateful to see a sandwich shop and small department store across the street from the hospital. She was so hungry her stomach felt like it was eating itself, but she opted for the department store first. She grabbed the first t-shirt that she saw and grabbed a pair of jeans off a table by the cash register. The cashier was not fooled by the sunglasses and looked mildly alarmed by Lexi’s appearance. For a moment, Lexi worried she might call the cops. But she just rang up the items, took her money, and placed her items in a small paper bag.
“Have a great day!” Lexi half-shouted sarcastically, picking up her bag from the counter. The girl looked scared to death, and Lexi gave her a small wave as she headed out. Lexi changed into her new clothes in the sandwich shop bathroom; then she ordered the biggest, greasiest burger on the menu. The meal came with fries and a soft drink, and she had all but finished off the fries and Coke by the time her sandwich was done. I guess my eyes were larger than my belly, she thought. She asked for a doggie bag and tucked the burger inside it.
The pain in her face and ribs was getting more and more intense, and she felt as though she might pass out when she stepped out of the sandwich shop and back into the sunlight. She wandered two more blocks until she saw the park, and she perched on a concrete bench and lit up a cigarette. The nicotine felt good, and now all she needed was a big dose of Tylenol and a nap.
Lexi dozed for nearly an hour on the concrete bench. Unsurprisingly, she felt even worse when she awoke, and she regretted sleeping on such an awkward, hard surface. She gathered up her satchel and doggie bag and headed out in search of a pharmacy. Tylenol was a must-have. Her head was pounding. There was a time in her life when she would have craved something stronger not only to ease her physical discomfort but also to numb the deep-seated emotional pain that she felt on a daily basis. But those days were long gone thanks to an extended stint in rehab and her ever-growing desire to punish herself for leaving the only man she would ever love and her darling son. Lexi hated herself. No amount of drugs or mind-numbing activities could ever change that.
Lexi would never forget the day she left them. It was a dreary day, cloud-filled and stormy as she paid the babysitter to keep Elijah until Michael returned home. She had crammed as many clothes as possible into a grimy, old duffel bag she kept in her closet. That day, when she left, she did not leave a note for her husband, and she did not kiss her small son goodbye. The intense withdrawals had overtaken her body and mind, and her yearning for heroin outweighed her love that day. Michael had given her an ultimatum; now that they had children, she had to either give up the drugs voluntarily, or he was determined to take her to some sort of rehab facility. Her craving for the drug and relentless ignorance of how bad her addiction had truly become had driven her away from them. She went off on her own with her own truth at the time, which was a needle and a small brown bag tucked beneath her trousers.
Years went by, and she lived that way: the life of a junkie, the life of a whore. Looking back, she did not know that person: that strung out girl who did not weigh ninety pounds soaking wet and who loved getting high more than she loved her own family. That girl was a stranger to her now. She was saved by an elderly gentleman, a former addict himself, who took her into his very own home and fed her Suboxone strips until she no longer felt the aches and chills of withdrawal. That man died shortly after her recovery, and she wept at his funeral. He was the closest thing to a real father Lexi had ever known.
As Lexi started to cross the street, she froze at the sight of Gabriel Calcutta, one of Reggie’s cronies. Actually, he was more like a dealer than a friend. Lexi turned around and ducked behind the nearest building. She waited for several minutes before working up the nerve to venture back around the building. Gabriel appeared to be gone, and she highly doubted he could have recognized her with the baggy new clothes and enormous nose. She tried to laugh, but it only hurt worse.
Fuck the Tylenol. She had to get the hell out of this city. It would only be a matter of time before one of Reggie’s buddies found out about what had happened, and she did not put it past them to finish her off for good on Reggie’s behalf.
Lexi didn’t care where she went as long as it was far away from here. As eager as she was to get away, she couldn’t leave just yet. She needed to gather a few of her meager belongings from the apartment and fish out a small roll of emergency money that she had sealed in a sandwich baggy hidden in the tank of her toilet. There was another piece of unfinished business to resolve, and she wasn’t looking forward to it one little bit.