I Didn't Jump

I Didn't Jump
“Hello,” Nina said, answering quickly.
“Nina? It’s Irene. Is everything okay?”
“Irene! I was hoping it was you. It just occurred to me that I don’t have your number.”
“Yeah… I saw you called Brenden’s phone. He is out this morning to fish with my dad.”
“Oh, wonderful! He always loved fishing when he was younger. So are they getting along alright?” There was no urgency in her voice, no warning that something was wrong.
“Yeah. My Dad seems to really like him.”
“That’s good, that’s good. Well, Irene, I was just calling because Vin was admitted to the hospital this morning.” Before Irene could make sense, Nina eased her worry. “I don’t think anything is seriously wrong, but he was feeling lightheaded this morning while getting ready for work. I made him go into the ER and his blood pressure was really low and he is anemic. He is being admitted for some workup. He’s okay right now, though.”
Irene breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, that’s good. I’m glad he’s okay. I’ll tell Brenden as soon as he gets back.”
“Thank you. I don’t want to worry him while you guys are away, but I don’t want him to come back and find out I didn’t tell him what was going on.”
“I understand. I’ll be sure to let him know.”
“Thanks. And I’ll call you if anything changes.”
“Okay.”
Brenden and her Dad were gone for two more hours. She wondered if Brenden was enjoying himself, being crammed in a tiny boat for so long with her father for company. Because she doubted Suzie woke up early enough to go.
Their return home was a shock. Suzie entered the house first, her clothes wet, her hair plastered to her skin. Her makeup was smeared around her eyes and she looked upset enough to commit a crime. Brenden followed next, equally wet, disgruntled, and Greg looked much too exhausted to have spent a relaxing day on the lake.
“This is why I don’t go fishing with you,” Suzie said hotly. She stomped past Irene, heading towards the stairs, presuming for the bathroom or a towel.
“Right. Because I told you to jump into the lake.”
“I didn’t jump!”
“I’m telling your mother what you did,” Greg said angrily but received no reply. Just the bathroom door slammed upstairs.
Brenden peeled off his wet jacket, looking paler than Suzie.
“What the hell happened?” Irene exclaimed, looking from him to Greg. There was no fish but it could be out in the truck.
“Suzie fell overboard,” Greg angrily exclaimed. “I told her not to lean over the side but she never listens to me. The water was freezing! Then she screamed like a banshee and pulled Brenden halfway into the water. If she hadn’t been wearing a life jacket, she would have drowned.”
She just fell into the water?
Irene smirked, thinking her premature brain likely wanted a demonstration of Brenden’s CPR skills. And looking at the guy all wet and flustered, Irene couldn’t blame the teenager.
She saw him getting blue around his lips and figured it was time to get him into a hot shower.
“Geez. Come on, Brenden,” she said, grabbing onto his hand. It was as cold as ice. “You’re freezing. You should probably take a shower and change.”
“He can use my shower if Suzie is in the bathroom,” her Dad offered, and she nodded before leading her frozen man up the stairs.
Her Dad’s bathroom was a little larger than the one down the hall. She ran the water from Brenden while he peeled off his wet clothes, and the bathroom began to steam almost immediately. Brenden was shivering, his pale skin erupting in gooseflesh as she ushered him beneath the hot spray.
“God, this feels good,” she heard him moan as she leaned against the counter.
“Sounds like you had an exciting morning.”
“If being simultaneously molested and dunked into a lake of ice is exciting, then yes, I guess I did.”
“Sounds exciting to me,” she teased.
“I can’t believe you let me go out alone with that girl. She was ten times worse than last night.”
“The fact she woke up that early is impressive. Apparently, I didn’t give her obsession enough credit.”
“Yeah, thanks,” he said dryly.
She shrugged in acquiescence, then said, “I talked to your mom today.”
“Oh yeah? About what?”
“She was trying to reach you. Your dad is anemic and had to be admitted to the hospital.”
His head poked out from around the shower curtain. A slight flush of color had returned to his cheeks. “Seriously? Is he alright?”
“She said he was fine. Going to have some work up and a blood transfusion. She wanted to let you know.”
He seemed to consider this, then nodded slowly and disappeared behind the curtain again. “He probably has an ulcer,” he said grimly. “He had one a couple of years ago.”
“Maybe,” she conceded. It would be surprising given how tightly that man was wound up. Plus, he was a drinker. “We can leave early if you want,” Irene offered.
“I hate to do that. We just got here.”
“Dad will understand. And we can always come back later.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true.”
She stayed in the bathroom a little longer. Brenden claimed he smelled weird, so she fetched him a fresh towel to clean up with. Then she walked down the hall to her bedroom for a dry set of clothes.
There was some unknown compulsion that caused her to check her phone while she was there. She had a text from Talia. A picture of the wall where she smashed her face. Except, now there was a lettering that read ‘Irene Nagel was here’ written above it with permanent marker in Andy’s terrible handwriting.
She decided she would have to kill them both.
Completely forgetting that Brenden was still in her dad’s bathroom, naked and abandoned, she dialed Talia’s number with every intention of talking her ear out. Except, she never got the chance.
“No, Irene. The picture isn’t important right now,” she immediately interrupted her, her tone alarmingly serious. “You will never guess what just happened.”
“What, Talia? Just tell me.”

“I found out who stole the drugs.”