Page 43 of Forbidden Whispers

“Be serious, Noah!”

He let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know, Maggie. I’m just bad at it. I’ve always been bad at it. Like I said, even back in high school.”

“I always thought you were this hot guy who just liked playing the field.”

“You thought I was hot?” His smirk returned.

“Gimme a break, Noah. You know you are!” Maggie said, hoping the heat flooding her cheeks wasn’t too obvious. “But that’s not the point. Was I wrong about you being a bit of a player back in the day?”

“Dead wrong,” Noah said. “That was more my brother Jake, not me. I actually just wanted...” He hesitated.

“Wanted what?”

His gaze was fixated on his hands once more. “I just wanted to find one special girl who I could truly care for,” he admitted softly, then added, “But for some reason, I can’t seem to find her.”

“Noah Riley?” a woman in dark pink scrubs stood in the open doorway beside the reception desk. “Dr. McCaughan can see you now.”

The woman led Noah and Maggie down a hallway lined with hospital beds separated into makeshift rooms by curtains. Some rooms were completely enclosed by the curtains, others were empty and open, and she led them into one of them. Maggie sat in the chair beside the bed while Noah paced anxiously in the small space.

A middle-aged man with short salt-and-pepper hair rolled a small cart into their room. He wore blue scrubs under a white coat.

“Hang on just a second,” he said as he stood and typed quickly into the small laptop computer perched on top of the cart. Then he looked up at Noah and Maggie and smiled. “Sorry about that. Just trying to keep up with the paperwork. I’m Dr. McCaughan.”

Noah nodded and introduced himself. “And this is my friend Maggie,” he said, turning to look at her.

“Nice to meet you, Maggie,” Dr. McCaughan said. “And nice to see you looking so much better than you did on Friday night, Noah. How’s your cheekbone feeling?”

“Better, thanks.”

“I understand you have some questions for me?” Dr. McCaughan said.

“Yes, uh...” Noah cleared his throat. “Dr. McCaughan, for some reason I have no memory of what happened to me on Friday night.”

Dr. McCaughan frowned. “That’s strange; let me pull up your chart.” He began typing into his laptop, and his frown deepened. “That doesn’t make any sense. My examination didn’t reveal any damage to your head.” He looked up at Noah. “Can you get on the bed here, please?”

Noah did as instructed and Maggie watched as the doctor performed an examination, flicking a small light between each of Noah’s eyes and gently probing his head and neck area. “Any tenderness?”

“No,” Noah responded.

Dr. McCaughan stood back looking puzzled. “Hmmm...let me check one more thing.”

He moved back to his computer and began typing. Then his frown cleared. “Ah, I see what the problem might be.”

“What is it?”

“We drew some blood for testing when you were here, and I have the results. We found a large amount of alprazolam in your system.”

“Alpra-what?” Noah said.

The doctor looked up from the computer screen. “Alprazolam, it belongs to the class of medications called benzodiazepines, otherwise known as Xanax.”

“Xanax!” Noah looked shocked. “But I’ve never taken Xanax in my life!”

“Apparently, you did on Friday night,” Dr. McCaughan said. “And at the level you were at, I’m not surprised that you don’t remember anything. But don’t worry. Alprazolam is a short-acting medication, and overall, it’s generally safe. However, overdose side effects can include drowsiness, poor coordination, confusion, slurred speech, and temporary amnesia.”

“Noah!” Maggie cried. “This makes total sense! Remember how some of the people we spoke with thought you seemed drunk?

“But how could I have that drug in my system when I don’t even own any?”

---