Page 63 of Such a Good Wife

I’d forgotten it’s Saturday, and I dread the idea, but after my odd behavior last week, I feel like I should. I wonder if any of them have heard that I’m being questioned in the murder. I need to put out fires if any small-town gossip has spread.

“Oh right. Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, you sound over the moon about it.” He winks at me and I roll my eyes before going inside and placing the groceries on the counter.

That evening, I’m almost to Gillian’s house when my phone rings. A number I don’t recognize illuminates my screen, and I pick up, a tone of defensiveness in my voice, not knowing what to expect.

“Is this Melanie Hale?” a woman’s voice with a thick Southern drawl asks.

“Who’s this?” I try to keep my voice light.

“Well, ma’am. We have a patient here at Park Hospital. Her ID says she’s a Miss Lacy Dupre, but we can’t reach any family members, and—”

“Oh my God, is she okay?”

“So you do know her.”

“Yes. What happened?”

“Well, looks like she’s been in some sort of accident, a hit and run, and we found your name and number on a scrap of paper inside her purse. We were hoping you could help us reach her family. Are you her family?”

“Friend. But, yes, I—can I see her? Is she...?” I stop. The woman doesn’t offer any more details over the phone, but tells me to come down. I make a sharp U-turn and race to Park Hospital.

In the white, buzzing aesthetic of Lacy’s hospital room, I sit, holding Lacy’s hand, minding the oximeter clamped to her index finger. A fluid bolus is connected to a needle in the crease of her arm, where it looks like the nurse fought to find a vein. Her right eye is swollen completely closed with purple-and-black bruising, and stitches close a long contusion on her cheek. The ligature marks and bruises around her neck are obvious, even though the nurse has referred to the incident as a hit and run. Lacy’s left wrist is broken, bound with a small cast.

“I reached her sister, who promised to stay with her son for the night,” I tell the nurse, even though the sister sounded drunk and I didn’t feel good about leaving Ronny Lee with her. Of course I didn’t say that part. There really weren’t any alternatives. I was lucky to recall her sister’s name—Lacy had mentioned it one time—and reach her at all.

“Well, poor thing gained consciousness after she arrived at the hospital, so she’s just sleeping now,” the nurse assures me. “You might want to let her sleep through the night and come back tomorrow if you want to visit with her.”

“What did she say happened to her?”

“A motorist found her lyin’ on the side of the road out there by Adelia Grove and called it in.”

I know where that is, I think. It’s out near the strip club.

“She didn’t have much more to tell us,” the nurse continues. “Says she couldn’t remember really—that a car musta come out of nowhere. That’s about all I know.”

The portly women pushes some buttons on the machine Lacy’s connected to and then says, “Don’t look like no hit and run if you ask me.” She gives Lacy a pitying smile and shakes her head.

“I’ll stay just a while longer if that’s okay,” I say, and the nurse nods before dimming Lacy’s room lights and closing the door softly behind her.

After an hour, I decide to message Collin and tell him what happened. I attach a photo of the shape she’s in, seizing the opportunity for him to see that I am where I say I am even if the explanation sounds a bit far-fetched—an anchor of truth in my sea of lies.

Jesus Christ! Joe Brooks’s handywork? he texts back.

They say it was a hit and run. I’ll update you more when I get home. XXOO

I doze off in a vinyl chair next to her bed, and wake to Lacy, propped up with pillows, sipping a miniature box of orange juice.

“Hey.” I wipe a streak of mascara off my cheek and stand at her side.

“Hi. What are you doing here?” She talks with difficulty through her split lip.

“You had my number on you, so they called.”

“I’m so sorry you had to come all the way here and deal with this. So embarrassing. I’m fine.” Her words are quiet and strained.

“You’re not fine. I’m happy they called. Your sister is taking care of Ronny Lee. Is there anything you need? What the hell happened?”

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