I told him like shit. He said that would happen when you huff propane in for several hours instead of oxygen. He told me we’d been lucky, me more so than Dad. My oxygen levels were good, and so far the tests they’d run had all come back negative for any alarming damage.
Dad was a little different story.
He’d actually stopped breathing. The tests for his heart had come back inconclusive, and they were going to need to do more of them when he was in better shape. For the meantime, though, he was stable.
“You’ll probably be able to go home this afternoon or evening,” Dr. Johnson said. “But we’ll need to keep your dad here for a few days under observation.” Kel and I thanked him after a couple more questions, and on his way out he turned back and said, “There’s a Detective Spanner outside waiting to speak with you. Are you feeling up to talking, or should I ask him to come back later?”
Kel and I shared a look. “Send him in,” I said.
Spanner looked tired and was wearing too much cologne. I guessed he hadn’t slept the night before, judging by the rumpled look of his clothes. A thirteen-o’clock shadow crept across his jawline, and he grunted when he sat down beside my bed.
“I just checked on your father. He couldn’t tell me much, so you’ll need to fill in the gaps.” Spanner took his phone out of his pocket. “Mind if I record your statement?”
“No.”
“Can you tell me what happened at your father’s residence last night?”
I ran him through the evening. How Dad had gone to bed and I’d fallen asleep later on the couch. How I’d woken unable to breathe, with the sound of gas hissing in the kitchen.
“Then you managed to go down the hallway and get your father out of his bedroom through the window?”
“Yeah,” I said, searching for the little button they sometimes give you to administer your own pain meds through the IV. I couldn’t find one.
“So given your father’s condition, I’m going to go out on a limb and say he got up to cook himself something in the middle of the night and forgot to shut the gas all the way off.”
“No.”
“No? Enlighten me.”
My tongue felt lead lined, heavy from all the things I wanted to say. Tell Spanner everything? Spill my little conspiracy theory to the one person least likely to believe me, or keep it locked up? Spanner watched me, thick eyebrows raised almost to his hairline.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know. Well, what’s the alternative? Someone else broke in and did it?”
“I don’t know. Did anyone dust for prints?”
Spanner turned his phone off and put it away. “Listen, I’m sure all this has been tough. My pop had that shit, too, before he passed. Wasn’t pretty. But denying it ain’t gonna make it go away.”
“We’re not in denial,” Kel said. She’d crossed her arms over her chest and sat forward. I could hear the definitive edge in her voice normally reserved for her hours at the DMV. “We know what’s happening to our father. All Andy’s saying is we don’t know for sure what happened last night.”
Spanner glanced from her to me. “Okay. Fair enough. I’m writing it up as an accident. Feel free to stop by the precinct if you have anything further to add.”
When the door shut behind him, Kel said, “I’ve got something further to add. You’re an asshole.”
She glanced at me, and we burst out laughing. Gradually my laughter became coughing. Kel got me more water, and a nurse came by to check my vitals. When we were alone again, Kel said, “Don’t look at me like you did earlier.”
“Like what?”
“Like when you asked if I thought Dad turned the gas on. I’m not saying he did, it’s just the most likely.”
“It’s definitely a great cover story, that’s for sure.”
“What, you mean if someone were trying to kill both of you?”
“Not both of us, just me. Dad would’ve been collateral damage.”
Kel looked around as if to make sure we were alone. “I thought you said the guy at Rachel and David’s place didn’t see who you were.”
“I don’t think he did, but . . .” I trailed off, stopped again at the wall I’d met talking to Spanner. I could tell Kel anything, but should I? I pictured her house late at night, the girls sound asleep, Kel watching TV or getting ready for bed. She hears a sound and goes down to the kitchen, and the Visitor is standing there. All because I wouldn’t quit pushing, because I wouldn’t give up.