“She’s okay, but she’s in the hospital,” I said and lowered my voice. “We think she was poisoned.”
“What?” he shouted. “Okay, we’re on our way. Tell her we’re on our way. Wait. If she’s okay, why are you the one calling me?”
“She just fell asleep. She’s been throwing up nonstop, so I wanted to let her be.”
“Get in the truck, slowpoke. I’ll drive,” I heard Buck say through the phone.
“Okay, we’ll be there soon,” Walter said. “You’ll be there with her?”
“I won’t let her out of my sight,” I promised.
“Good. Call me if anything changes.”
“I will.”
I ended the call and leaned back against the wall, tilting my head toward the ceiling. Seeing Daphne so sick did something to me. It hurt me in a way I never imagined. Divorced or not, she was mine, and I was going to make sure everyone knew it.
A hand landed on my shoulder and brought me out of my thoughts. “You okay?” Gabby asked quietly.
“Yeah, I’m just worried about her. If it is that mushroom poisoning, what should we expect?”
Gabby frowned. “I’m not very familiar with it, but from what I’ve read, she’ll experience nausea and vomiting for twelve to twenty-four hours. If left untreated, she’ll appear to get better for a day or two before things go downhill when the liver and kidneys start shutting down. With early treatment andsupportive care, we can hopefully keep her organs from shutting down and minimize, if not prevent, permanent damage.”
“You can’t live without a liver, right?”
“No, you can’t. But don’t go there yet. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. Regardless, you got her here within the first few hours. That makes a huge difference in the outcome no matter what toxin has been ingested.”
A light knock on the door had us both turning to see who it was. I was surprised to see Ink. “Dude,” he said quietly. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“I haven’t had a chance to,” I admitted. “How’d you find out?”
Ink pointed to Gabby.
Gabby shrugged. “You looked like you needed a friend.”
“How is she?” Ink asked.
“She’s fucking sick, man. She could barely walk and couldn’t stop throwing up. I can’t believe someone would do this to her.”
“Wait. What?”
“You didn’t tell him?” I asked Gabby.
“Legally, I couldn’t tell him. Privacy laws and all.”
“We think she was poisoned.”
“What? How?”
“Someone sent cookies to her office today. We think they contained a lethally toxic mushroom. They’re running tests now to find out,” I explained.
“Holy shit. She’s going to be okay, right?”
“We’re doing everything we can,” Gabby said. “She’s stable for right now, though.”
“What can I do?” Ink asked.
“You can get me a Coke,” Daphne mumbled.