Heart and Soul

Episode 75

Toxic

By Allan Craig

 

Standing around Leo’s hospital bed, Kendall, Shane and Lucy stood in silence, the steady bleep of the heart monitor providing the only deafening sound in the room. Kendall couldn’t help but feel guilt over her brother’s situation; thinking she should have taken time off from the office and spent a little time making sure Leo was okay after losing Grace, maybe he wouldn’t have taken enough cocaine to nearly kill him.

 

Shane tried to shrug off any notions of guilt that were going through his mind; so what if he was having sex with Kristen in a toilet cubicle when his son was snorting enough cocaine to keep a group of supermodels occupied for a week? As much as he was worried about his son, he couldn’t have prevented what happened, or so he told himself.

 

Lucy, on the other hand, didn’t even try to fight back the tears, she had only recently got to know her older brother and now she was close to losing him. That, combined with the loss of the niece she barely knew, was enough to make Lucy wish she had never set foot in Oakridge.

 

“I’m glad you’re all here.” Dr. Melissa Stafford said as she made her way into the room. “We’ve run some tests, and it appears that it might not have been an overdose that caused Leo to lose consciousness.”

 

“What do you mean?” Kendall asked the doctor.

 

“Well, our toxicology reports show that the cocaine that Leo inhaled contained a high level of ethanol, a mildly toxic chemical compound.” Melissa explained, provoking shocked reactions from Kendall, Shane and Lucy. “While we cannot be certain that Leo purposely inhaled the substance, the amount in his blood stream was at 0.3%, just below the level at which he could have died as a result of consumption.”

 

“So you’re saying Leo took some sort of poisoned drugs?” Lucy struggled to make sense of the fact that her brother took any drugs at all, let alone poisoned one. “So someone poisoned him?”

 

“We’ve contacted the police, and have been informed that they are already investigating a few cases similar to Leo’s.” Melissa continued. “However, it seems Leo isn’t responding to any treatment we’ve tried so far. We’ll have to continue monitoring him, but…”

 

“What are the odds of him recovering from this?” Shane interrupted the doctor.

 

“It seems fairly likely that, in time, Leo will make a full recovery…it all depends on how quickly the drugs pass through his system, we cant tell the full effects of his condition until the cocaine levels in his blood are lower.”

 

Lucy buried her head in her father’s chest, as Shane wrapped his arms around his teenage daughter, stroking her long blonde hair reassuringly. Kendall turned to the doctor, her face chalk white. “He’s going to be okay, right?”

 

“I certainly hope so.” Melissa reassured her. “The similar cases have all pulled through; it just depends on how Leo responds to the chemicals in his system.”

 

Kendall felt the colour drain from her face, Leo was her one true ally in the world, she couldn’t face losing him, she refused to even entertain the thought of it.

 

 

Jessica handed Carrie a cup of coffee as the pair sat down on her couch; life had gotten in the way of any time to catch up and chat in the last few days, so a rare moment to sit down and talk was eagerly taken up by both women.

 

“So how are things with you and Nate?” Jessica asked her friend, hoping that hearing about someone else’s relationship troubles would help take her mind off of her own.

 

“What can I say? I dunno, it just sort of feels like he’s not happy anymore.” Carrie sighed. “Like maybe I was his foray into normality and now he wants to go back to his old life, doing god knows what. I just feel like, maybe if he would confide in me about his past I’d be able to understand why he’s acting this way, but it’s like drawing blood from a stone.”

 

“Well maybe if you were to tell him how you were feeling…”

 

“What would be the point in that? Whenever I’ve tried to open up to him before, nothing’s happened.” Carrie explained. Not wanting to dwell on her own troubles, she quickly changed the subject. “Have you told Rex about the baby yet?”

 

“Yeah, right, because that’s a good idea.” Jessica snapped, instantly feeling bad about getting an attitude with her best friend. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to… I just feel like I can’t bring a child into the world right now. I mean, if by some miracle the baby is Rex’s then who’s to say he’s going to spend any less time on his job and put the kid first?”

 

“And if the baby is Shane’s?”

 

“Well I can’t see him being too happy about that, can you?” Jessica sighed, hating the predicament she had found herself in. “What we had was meant to be no strings, and you don’t get a much bigger string than a kid coming into the mix.”

 

Carrie had struggled to make sense of Jessica’s revelation about her affair with Shane, she had so many questions that she wanted to ask but it didn’t seem like the appropriate time considering how stressed her friend was. “But I don’t get it, didn’t you use protection?”

 

“We didn’t think we’d need it, I mean I’m on the pill…I just forgot to take it a few times.” Jessica explained, berating herself for not being more careful. “I just think, maybe it would be better for everyone involved if I just got rid of the baby.”

 

“You aren’t seriously considering having an abortion, are you?”

 

“I dunno, Car, it just seems like my only option.” Jessica took a sip of her coffee, wishing that the entire situation would just go away.

 

The door to the apartment opened and Rex walked inside, fresh from the gym. “Hey…oh hey, Carrie, how’s it going?”

 

“Yeah, good thanks.” Carrie couldn’t believe how close Rex was to overhearing their entire conversation.

 

“Do you want something to eat?” Jessica asked.

 

“Nah, I can’t really stick around, I’ve got to get changed and head into work.” Rex explained. “Something pretty major has just come up so I probably won’t be home until late tonight.”

 

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Jessica muttered as Rex made his way into the bedroom. Jessica shot her friend a surprised look, in shock at how close she was to having her secret exposed…she hated the feeling of being on edge like that, keeping secrets and not even knowing the truth herself…somehow the solution of a termination was seeming more and more like the only option.

                                                        

 

Megan flipped her cell phone shut and placed it on top of the coffee table before turning to face Greg, who sat with Adam on his knee.

 

“Kimberley not answering?” Greg asked his sister, while doing his best to keep his son occupied.

 

“Nope, straight to voicemail.” Megan explained, her frustration of being unable to reach her younger sister was driving her crazy. “Thankfully, Felicia has managed to keep any of this from leaking to the press, but I know Kimberley would want to be here for Greg right now, I just don’t see what leaving her yet another voicemail is going to do. She’s probably off having the time of her life somewhere, I can’t imagine how horrible she’s going to feel when she finds out everything that’s happened.”

 

“I’m sure she’s thinking of Leo.” Will reassured his half siblings, having stopped by the mansion upon hearing of Leo’s overdose. “Have you had any more word from Kendall at the hospital?”

 

“Nothing yet,” said Greg. “Although I doubt keeping everyone informed is top of her priority list.”

 

“Well I better get going.” Megan announced, standing up. “I said I’d meet Marc for lunch.”

 

“See you later,” said Greg and Will simultaneously as Megan kissed her young nephew before saying goodbye to her brothers and making her way out of the mansion.

 

“Megan tells me that you’re going to be working with Marc on the gym launch,” said Greg. “You don’t think that’s going to be even the slightest bit awkward?”

 

“What is it with people and thinking I’m going to find this awkward?” Will insisted. “Megan is my sister, nothing more, okay?”

 

“Yeah, I understand that.” Greg explained. “What I mean is aren’t you going to find it awkward working with Marc? I mean I’m not suggesting in any way that you still have feelings for Megan or anything, that would be…totally wrong… but isn’t it going to be a little bit hard for you to work with Marc given the fact that he’s always going to think of you as Megan’s ex, even though she’s your sister.”

 

“If Marc has a problem with this, then that’s his problem.” Will continued, the very thought of him having any sort of feelings for Megan was totally strange to him now that he had accepted her as his sister, it was just everyone around him that hadn’t.

 

 

Closing the door to Leo’s hospital room, Shane walked over and joined Lucy and Kendall on the sofas of the waiting area and took a seat next to them.

 

“So…” Shane began, hating the awkwardness of this type of situation. His arsenal of charm was useless when applied to life-or-death matters such as this, and he most certainly couldn’t try and change the subject when Leo’s predicament was all that Kendall and Lucy could think about.

 

“I just can’t believe it.” Kendall had struggled to process what had happened to Leo, the sight of her brother lying there, so numb, so cold, felt like some sort of nightmare, not to mention the idea that she could lose her only ally in the world. “Why would he try to kill himself like that?”

 

“The doctor explained that it might not have been intentional.” Shane reassured Leo’s panicked sister. “For all we know, he might have just been using to take the edge off, not realizing what he was actually inhaling.”

 

“Why would he be taking drugs in the first place?” For Lucy, her sheltered upbringing had meant she didn’t really know much about the real world.

 

“I’m going to go get some coffee.” Kendall stood up, eager to escape the awkward father-daughter moment between Shane and Lucy. “Anyone want?”

 

“I’m good, thanks.” Shane responded, followed by a shake of Lucy’s head. Kendall stood up and walked down the corridor to the coffee machine, fumbling inside her purse for some change.

 

She felt the presence of someone behind her, “I’m sorry, go ahead, I need to go get change.”

 

“I’ve got plenty,” a man’s voice offered, “What do you need?”

 

“I think I’ve got a five dollar note in here somewhere.” Kendall continued to rummage in her purse, retrieving the note and turning to face the strikingly familiar man. “Um, I don’t mean to be rude, but have we met?”

 

“Theatre,” the man reminded Kendall. “I think…a few weeks ago. Although I don’t think we got the chance to be properly introduced. I’m Cal, Cal Ryan.”

 

“I remember.” Kendall insisted, gazing into the handsome doctor’s eyes.

 

“So what brings you by Oakridge General…business or pleasure?” Cal attempted to flirt, unaware of the severity of the circumstances that had brought Kendall to the premises.

 

“My brother…you know, that guy you nearly beat up that night?” Kendall snapped, instantly remembering the exact occasion she first met Cal. “Well he’s in a coma and might die.”

 

“Um, I’m sorry…you must be so worried.” Cal attempted to take the edge off the situation. “I know you barely know me, but if you need someone to talk to…”

 

“I’ll be fine, thanks.” Kendall didn’t mean to take an attitude with Cal, but she couldn’t help it; the way she was feeling was only worsened by her memories of Cal and Leo’s encounter at the nightclub. She grabbed her plastic cup of coffee and brushed past Cal, leaving the doctor at the coffee machine. Despite her rudeness, there was something about Kendall that Cal found insanely attractive…maybe it was her rudeness, but he knew he wanted to know more about her.

 

 

“Okay, thanks for calling.” Josh hung the phone up and turned to Natalie, unsure of how his fragile sister would take another bout of bad news. “That was Greg, Leo’s in hospital.”

 

“What?” Natalie couldn’t believe what was coming out of her brother’s mouth. “Are you serious?”

 

“Apparently Kendall found him last night; he had taken a whole lot of coke and was unconscious.” Josh explained. “They ran some tests, and it turns out the drugs he took contained something else that poisoned him.”

 

“My god, that’s awful. Is he gonna be alright?”

 

“Greg said he’d keep us posted.” Josh continued, taking a seat next to his little sister, another blow like this was the last thing she needed. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” Natalie insisted, although the truth of the matter was she was falling apart inside, and the one other person who knew what she was going through was now in hospital, close to death. “I mean why wouldn’t I be? It’s not like I haven’t just lost my daughter and now her father’s took so many drugs that he could well have killed himself. Oh wait, that’s exactly what’s happened.”

 

“It’s gonna be okay, Nat.” Josh reassured his sister, comfortingly placing his hand on her shoulder.

 

“How, exactly?” Natalie yelled, having had enough of being quiet about her situation. “How is any of this going to be okay? I mean really, ever since I came here it’s just been one bad thing after another…I just need to get away from this place.”

 

“You don’t mean that…”

 

“Don’t I? Come on, Josh, the only good things that happened to me in Oakridge were Kyle and Grace, and now I don’t have either of them…what’s left for me here?”

 

“I’ll tell you what’s left, me!” Josh assured his sister, determined that she wouldn’t let losing her daughter drive her out of town. “And I am not going to let you run away from all your problems, you’re going to get over this, it’s just going to take some time, and I’ll be right here with you, every step of the way.”

 

Natalie sighed; her brother’s reassurance meant the world to her, but she couldn’t help but think about what happened with Leo; if only she had opened up to him about what she was going through, maybe they could have connected, maybe he wouldn’t have taken enough drugs to put himself in the hospital.

 

 

“So what have you got for me?” Rex asked as Bobby entered his office, carrying yet another file and placing it on top of the mountain of paperwork Rex had yet to get through.

 

“I take it you know that Leo Sterling is in hospital after being exposed to cocaine with a potent amount of ethanol in the compound.” Bobby explained, perching on the arm of a vacant armchair in Rex’s office. “The same thing that’s been found in the blood streams of every victim so far. While nobody has died yet, all it takes is for some stupid kid to take a little too much and we’re looking at manslaughter charges.”

 

“And still no breakthrough on where these drugs are coming from?”

 

“We’re chasing up a few leads, but it needs to be faster, these drugs are making their way through the city at an alarming rate, and if we don’t stop it soon then someone is going to be dead.”

 

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

 

“How about you read it for yourself.” Bobby flipped open the latest folder and pointed to a spot on the page. Rex glanced at what was written down in black and white, and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, was this finally the breakthrough he needed to crack the case before it was too late?

 

 

Stepping back inside the hospital following a call on her cellphone, Kendall pushed the button to summon the elevator and waited for it to arrive.

 

“We meet again,” came Cal’s voice from behind her.

 

“Do you have some sort of weird fetish for sneaking up on people?” Kendall rolled her eyes, another encounter with Cal was at the bottom of her list of priorities and the last thing she needed when her brother was god knows how close to death.

 

“Only you.” Cal teased as they both stepped inside the elevator. “So how’s your brother?”

 

“Well I haven’t heard anything new, but I suppose no news is good news, right?” Kendall suddenly realized she was talking to a practical stranger, and quickly silenced herself.

 

“That’s what they say.” Cal joked as they reached Kendall’s floor. “Like I said, if you ever need to talk…”

 

“I’ll phone a friend.” Kendall insisted as she made her way out of the elevator, not looking back as the doors closed behind her. She made her way across the reception area to where Shane and Lucy sat, but before she could reach them she was accosted by a familiar figure.

 

“I came as soon as I heard.” Kimberley shrieked; for the first time in her life, Kendall caught sight of her cousin without all the gloss and glitter that usually surrounded Kimberley wherever she went; her blonde hair was piled high on top of her head in a messy ponytail, while her slim figure was hidden by an oversized hooded sweatshirt, leggings and Ugg boots, with the prerequisite oversized sunglasses perched on top of her head. “How is he?”

 

“Kimberley, thank god.” Kendall pulled her cousin in for a hug. “I tried calling you, but it kept going straight to voicemail.”

 

“As soon as I read about Leo on Perez Hilton I booked the first flight I could.” Kimberley insisted, clearly a nervous wreck about her beloved cousin’s predicament. The only makeup on her face was the smudged mascara she had hastily applied on the flight over, and the lack of concealer showed huge bags under her eyes; whether it was due to crying over Leo or too much partying was a decision Kendall chose not to make.

 

“So much for Felicia keeping press to a minimum.” Kendall rolled her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re here. Come on, I’ll take you to see Leo.”

 

“Are you kidding? I cant see him looking like this, it will tip him over the edge.” Kimberley gasped upon catching sight of her reflection in the glass pane of a door. “Let me go freshen myself up and I’ll be right through.”

 

“He’s unconscious, he’s not going to care what you look like.” Kendall reassured her cousin.

 

“It’s a risk I’m not willing to take. What if he wakes up, sees me and slips away again? I’d never forgive myself.” Kimberley continued, catching the attention of a passing nurse. “Excuse me, could you tell me where the restrooms are?”

 

The nurse directed Kimberley down the corridor before leaving the cousins alone. Kendall folded her arms; she couldn’t help but laugh at Kimberley’s behaviour, while it may have appeared selfish and vain to an outsider, she knew that this was simply Kimberley’s way of coping with the situation.

 

As Kimberley disappeared down the corridor to beautify herself, Kendall took a seat on one of the not-so-comfortable sofas that were dotted around the reception area and sighed, hoping for any sort of positive news on her brother’s situation.

 

 

Greg never felt so awkward as when he stopped by Nate and Carrie’s house to drop Adam off after their day together; there was a tension that could be cut by a knife, and Greg didn’t want to stick around any longer than necessary.

 

“I’ve given him dinner so he wont need anything else,” Greg explained to his ex wife. “But if he does get hungry he’s already had enough eggs and dairy today.”

 

Carrie bit her lip as Greg told her how to raise the child she’d managed to bring up single handed until recently. “Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind. Remember Adam has a playdate with Parker next week so you wont be able to see him on Wednesday, unless you want to collect him but I thought that might be a little awkward.”

 

“No, that should be fine.” Greg insisted. “I’ll take him to get something to eat afterwards and then maybe he could stay at my place?”

 

“I dunno, Greg, is that really such a good idea, what with everything that’s going on?” Carrie didn’t like the thought of her son spending a night at the Sterling mansion considering what everyone was going through. “I mean, I don’t exactly want Adam spending the night somewhere where there could be drugs lying around.”

 

“It will be fine, trust me.” Greg wasn’t about to take no for an answer just because Carrie didn’t want Adam to be away overnight, but he was determined to stick to the agreement. “Although if you’d rather, we could always stay at my mom’s place.”

 

“The mansion will be fine.” Carrie decided; anything to keep Adam away from Diane. “Just make sure that the place is checked for anything that could be lying around. How is Leo, by the way?”

 

“Apparently he’s stable, but they don’t know whether he’s going to pull through.” Greg explained, not exactly sure about how news of his cousin’s overdose had spread around town when the family had specifically instructed Felicia to stop it from leaking to the press, putting it down to competing publications who wanted to take the family down a peg or two for their own gain. “I’m going to head over to the hospital now and see how Kendall’s holding up.”

 

“Tell her I’m thinking of her.” Carrie had always liked Kendall, she seemed like the only one in the family who wasn’t up to something all the time.

 

“Will do.” Greg nodded as he made his way towards the door of Carrie’s house. “See you later.”

 

“Bye.” Carrie waved as Greg made his way out, closing the door behind him. She carried Adam through to the kitchen and sat him in his stroller before pouring herself a coffee just as Nate emerged down the stairs.

 

“Is Greg away?” Nate asked, opening the fridge and taking out a beer.

 

“Yeah. Are you hungry? I’m about to put on some pasta if you want it?”

 

“I’m good, I grabbed something when I was out.” Nate mumbled as he opened the bottle.

 

“Where were you today, anyway?”

 

“Nowhere special.” Nate took a swig of his beer as he tore open a packet of potato chips.

 

Carrie sighed; it was like running into a brick wall with Nate…he told her nothing, she felt like she was living with a complete stranger. While she loved him, she didn’t know how much longer they could last on love alone.

 

 

“Thanks for coming over so fast.” Josh said as he stood aside to let Kyle into his apartment. “I know you and Natalie are over, but I really think she needs to talk to someone to put it all into perspective for her.”

 

“It’s no problem, really.” Kyle explained, feeling slightly awkward as he entered the apartment. “I really wanted to call when I heard what happened with Grace, but I didn’t know if it was too soon.”

 

“She’s not been herself since she lost Grace,” meddling in Natalie’s personal life was the last thing Josh wanted to do, but he was willing to try anything in order to get his sister back to her old self. He knew it wouldn’t be an instant thing, but he was determined not to let what happened ruin Natalie’s life. “I was hoping that maybe you could talk to her, you know, make her see that she’s got people who love and care about her.”

 

“I’ll do my best, but I honestly don’t know if she’ll want to see me.” Kyle insisted, although the look on Josh’s face made it clear to him that Josh was really desperate, so he couldn’t help but feel a little worried about Natalie. He made his way over to her bedroom door and knocked gently.

 

“Just go in.” Josh urged Kyle, who made his way into the room and took a seat on the edge of the bed next to Natalie.

 

“How are you holding up?” Kyle asked, trying his best not to let how awkward he found the situation show, fearing that any more tension would simply upset Natalie more.

 

“I take it Josh asked you to come over here.” Natalie’s gaze remained fixed on the window, but whether or not she was actually looking at anything was a different matter. In the days that had passed since she lost Grace, she felt numb, like nothing was real, but her brother’s constant attempts to ‘help’ her only served at making her more and more angry.

 

“I wanted to know how you were doing.” Kyle continued, skirting over the question of whether or not Josh was the one responsible for him being there. “I know we haven’t really talked in a while, but losing Grace must have been really hard for you. I just wanted you to know…”

 

“Why is everyone treating me like I’m an idiot?” Natalie couldn’t contain her frustration anymore; she wanted to scream but even that wouldn’t make a difference. “Doesn’t anybody realize that just want to be left alone?” Natalie marched over to her bedroom door and opened it, knowing that her brother would be standing on the other side. “You cant help yourself, can you? When are you going to learn to just keep out of my life?”

 

“Natalie, I was just trying to…”

 

“To what, Josh? To help me? Because the only thing that will help me is being left alone to grieve for my daughter in peace.” Natalie felt the knots in her stomach tighten. “Why is it so hard for you to understand? Leo had the right idea, taking all those drugs, at least then he wouldn’t have to listen to everyone ‘helping’ and ‘being there’ when all I want to do is be left alone to figure out what the hell I’m going to do now.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Kyle explained, making his way out of the bedroom. “I shouldn’t have come.”

 

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have.” Natalie snapped. “And will everybody just stop apologizing? What’s done is done and it cant be changed. I don’t need to hear everyone saying how sorry they are about what happened, because the truth of the matter is, none of you know what I’m going through, none of you know how much I’m hurting right now, so none of you have any right to come in here and tell me what I should do with my life.”

 

“I should go.” Kyle decided, already halfway out the apartment. He closed the door behind him, leaving the siblings alone.

 

“Look, Natalie, all I’m trying to do is…” Josh began, although his sister soon cut him off.

 

“I know what you’re trying to do, Josh, but why cant you just understand that I want to be left alone? I just want…to be left…alone.” Natalie crumbled, the tears flowing down her cheeks in rapid succession as she finally let it out, collapsing in her brother’s arms as he did his best to comfort her while she yelled out in pain, the true realization of what had happened to her finally setting in; Grace was gone, and Natalie was never going to get her back.

 

 

Having dropped Lucy off at the penthouse, Shane returned to the hospital to find Kendall and Kimberley sitting in the reception area, eagerly awaiting news of Leo’s condition.

 

“How’s Lucy?” Kendall asked as Shane approached.

 

“Shattered.” Shane explained. “She’s just worn out by everything that’s happened. Nothing a good night’s sleep wont cure. Kimberley, when did you get here?”

 

“Not so long ago,” by the time Shane returned to the hospital, Kimberley’s hair was now pulled back into a sleek ponytail and her makeup more expertly applied, while her oversized sweatshirt had been removed in favour of a simple vest top; while she didn’t exactly look fashion forward, she told herself that at least with a fresh coat of makeup she wouldn’t scare Leo back into his coma should he wake up.

 

“Dr. Stafford came by a little while ago, she told us that Leo’s condition is stabilizing.” Kendall had tried to reach Shane’s cell phone to fill him in, but she didn’t want to be too far away from Leo’s room for too long.

 

“Well that’s good news, isn’t it?” Shane supposed.

 

“I hope so.” Kendall felt like she’d been hoping for things the entire day, but with everything that had happened to Leo, hope was all she had. “But she also said he doesn’t show any sign of regaining consciousness yet, so that cant be good, can it?”

 

“You never know, I saw this documentary on how this guy was in a coma for, like, twenty five years and he woke up just fine.” Kimberley’s attempt at being positive didn’t go down like she’d hoped, considering that Kendall hoped Leo’s coma wouldn’t even last twenty five hours, let alone years.

 

“I think all we can really do now is pray.” Shane had never been the religious type, but his lack of expertise at dealing with this type of situation caused him to whip out the only cliché he knew of.

 

“Yeah, pray that whatever scumbag is dealing the drugs that got Leo into this mess gets what’s coming to them.” Kendall hissed, eager to point the blame at someone else; the fact that her brother was a frequent and heavy user of cocaine didn’t register to her at that moment in time.

 

Shane sighed and glanced towards Leo’s room, hoping that he’d make a full recovery sooner rather than later. It was clear to him that Kendall was out for blood, and if she was anything like her mother, whoever was responsible for supplying the poisoned drugs to Leo was about to wish they’d never been born.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…