Page 15 of Alik

The petals on the orchid remind me of the deep pink dress my sister made me wear for her wedding.

I hated it. God, I hated it. My hair didn’t match the color, and even if it did, pink is ill-fitting for everything else about me. I asked her to pick something else, something white or black or gray,muted, and I regret it.

Now, years later, I miss that dress. I wish I’d kept it, if only to remind me that I once had a sister who wanted me in her wedding.

I brush the petals with the back of my hand while blocking out the sound of conversation outside my hospital room. It really is a pretty flower.

A knock sounds on the open door before someone enters the room.

“Time to go, honey,” the nurse says in a kind voice. She’s chipper and sweet, and I’m pretty sure she’s the one who paid for this plant. I’ve been pretending it’s from my mother, but she likes to send carnations.

I close my eyes and allow a single tear to slide past my closed lid before I wipe it away and grab the pity plant off the bedside table.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been in a hospital bed, and it certainly isn’t the longest stay. A day is nothing. But this is the first time none of my family have come to visit, so it’s felt the most brutal. The most shameful. Even without heroin being found in my system. Even without me breaking my sobriety.

They hate me. No matter how much time passes, they’ll never forgive me.

The nurse wheels me downstairs where a car is waiting for me, paid for by my father. He can’t visit me when I’m weak, but he’ll still pay for the treatment. He hasn’t abandoned me fully.

On the way to my apartment building, we pass the turnoff for Creeper’s neighborhood, and my teeth clench so hard that I have to look away.

I don’t know what happened last night, but I know he’s responsible for it. My memory is hazy, but I have no trouble remembering all the times that piece of shit manipulated me. All the things he’s done. The lives he’s ruined, including mine.

This is his fault.

A year ago was his fault.

Damian’s death was his fault.

Everything has been his fault.

I hate him.Hatehim.

By the time we pull up to my building, I’m seething. I carry the plant inside and speed walk down to my apartment to avoid Alik on the off chance that he’s around. First thing tomorrow, I’m looking for a new apartment.

I fumble with my keys but find the door already unlocked. I’m not surprised. Like I said, I don’t remember much about last night, but it isn’t shocking that in my haste to ruin my life, I didn’t think to protect myself against a home invasion.

Sighing, I throw open the door and step inside, halting when I spot my father seething in my living room.

“Daddy,” I say, dropping my keys to the floor as my eyes water. I hurry to close the door before going to him, my arms stretching.

He holds his hand up to block the hug. “I’m going to ask you thisonce, Olive. Have you?—”

“There was no heroin in my system.” I shake my head. “No alcohol. No nothing. Call the hospital. They?—”

“Do you think I didn’t already do that?” he snaps, making me flinch. A vein throbs on his forehead as he leans to tower over me, and when I look down, his fists are clenched. He would never hit me. Ever. But he’s angry, and it’s enough to make me cower.

He stomps to the table and jerks up a wine bottle. “What is this?! Do you expect me to believe you’ve been perfect?”

“No, I…” I dart my eyes over the wine bottle while searching through the haze. Where did it come from?

Alik brought it. Alik, my neighbor. Notthe man in 3B.

He came over.

He kissed me.

I blacked out.

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