Two
He felt better after the good club sandwich, and full glass of milk. Susan had gulped down the chocolate eclairs, but hadn't touched the sandwich or the milk or the bread. She hadn't said a word for the last hour, just stared at him. She had started rubbing her thighs, nervously, and had been pacing for the last ten minutes. There was a new, edgy look in her eyes.
Suddenly, she hurried over to the little bar, and pulled at the door. When it didn't open, she stared at it, then looked at him. "Danny, open it, will you. I need a drink." He told her to eat something. She answered "Fuck that, little brother. I need a drink." She shivered again, and her eyes softened. She stood, and cupped her braless breasts through the tank. "You like 'em, huh Danny. You always have, honey. C'mon, get me a drink, baby, and let's get it on. We always wanted to, didn't we? I remember your little cock getting so hard when we'd cuddle. It isn't so little anymore, Danny." She giggled, a strained, choked sort of sound. "Maybe I oughta call you big brother, from now on. C'mon, baby. It'll be great. Remember how you used to peek at me when I showered? You thought I didn't know. Fucking Bradley. I used to watch you beat off too, honey. I remember trying to get Ma to send you to the local school, so you could get laid. You never thought girls liked you. Fucking Bradley. Fucking private school."
His anger fired again. He could feel himself charging up, wanting to strike out. He closed his eyes. "Susan, sit down. Sit down."
She waited for a moment, then pleaded "C'mon, Danny, open it, please? I really need something, I mean, just a taste, that's all honey." He pushed the chair back, and as he rose, caught the edge of his knee on something under the table. He felt a surge of anger, and reached her with two long steps, grabbing her wrist, and throwing her to the bed. He stood over her, breathing hard, and her eyes were wide as she stared back at him. "Go ahead, Danny. Beat on me, then fuck me, baby. I like it rough, honey." His stomach did something strange, and he exhaled noisily, the anger leaving him as quickly as it had come.
Through his confusion, he heard a soft knock on the door. He had to change gears. Oh. The Doctor. His mind whirling, he pushed the table with the silver and food into a corner, and hurried to open the door. The lightskinned, heavy set black man standing there with a satchel in his hands stared at him. "Mr. Harcourt?"
He just nodded.
"Josh Newcome, Mr. Harcourt. Can I come in?"
He realized he must look strange, standing there, breathing hard, and mumbled "Dan Harcourt, Dr. Newcome. Forgive me for being rude. Please do come in."
The man took three long, ponderous steps, then stared at Susan, spread eagled on the bed, rubbing her thighs again, at the table littered with food in the corner, and the clothes strewn around. His gaze returned to Susan. He seemed lost in thought for a moment. Then he said "Mr. Harcourt, she probably ought to go to a hospital. She has to detox. Get the various poisons, god knows what they might be, out of her system, then some behavioral stuff. About all I can do is give her a sedative to keep her calm. She's starting to come down, now. It's always hard to tell what they'll do when this happens, but it's almost always awful."
He took a deep breath. Calm, calm. "Dr. Newcome, I want to be completely candid with you. We have a complex family situation, which unfortunately spills over to our monetary situation. Neither Susan nor I could pay for the first hour of a hospital. But your fee here will go on a credit card that has a nice high limit. She has gotten to this point quickly, she was reasonably normal a year and a half ago, and this is the first hint of problems we've had. Without imposing on your medical judgement, I would beg you to help me try to do this myself, without involving anyone else. I have good reasons for wanting to do it that way."
At that moment, Susan groaned. "Danny, Danny, I need some help, honey. Just a little help. Can this man do it, honey? Come on, honey. Be nice to Susan, okay?"
Newcome looked at him, then sighed, sat down beside the blonde, who wiggled a little, and held her arm out to him. He began examining her, seeming to pay particular attention to those red marks, and pushed up the pants to look behind her knees. It took about ten minutes, then he sat straight, and looked at Dan. Again, he seemed to be thinking. Appearing to come to a decision, he rose, picked up his bag, put it on the table beside Susan, and opened it. As he puttered around, he said "The tracks are new, relatively recent. I can't see any other signs of her using. When you found her, was she high, excited, or comatose, dreamy? Right, well, that does sound like heroin. You may be very lucky, Dan. Can I call you Dan? Here's what we can do. I'll take some blood, and get the tests run. May I assume I should take some vaginal samples too? Right, thought so. Not as rare as you might think, Dan. I'll give her a sedative, it'll last about ten hours. Help me get her undressed, Dan. You're in for a rather exciting twenty four hours."