Free Freeing Her by A. M. Hargrove

drugs. Will you give me that?”
    “ Oh, I’m so sick right
now. I need something.”
    “ We can help you. We can
ease those withdrawal symptoms. But I’m not going to lie and tell
you it will be easy. It’ll be a hell of a lot easier than this
though.”
    “ Okay,” she
nodded.
    Gabby grabbed her phone and called Case.
“Hey, Juliana is here. In my office. Can you come? She wants to
commit to withdraw. In the clinic.”
    Gabby pulled a chair over in front of
Juliana. She went and grabbed some paper towels and dampened them
with cold water and then placed them on her forehead. “I know this
isn’t much, but it’s the best I can do for now. How old are
you?”
    “ Twenty-three,” she
moaned.
    “ How long have you been
using?”
    “ Since I was twenty. I
never thought I’d get addicted.”
    “ No one ever does. They
always think they can stop whenever they want. That’s how heroin
is.”
    “ My boyfriend says he’ll
kill me if I leave. I think I’m going to be sick.” Fear punched
Gabby in the face. She understood how this girl felt and knew what
it was like to be scared to death of someone.
    Gabby showed her where the bathroom was and
could hear her gagging. She was curious if she even had anything in
her stomach to throw up.
    Juliana came out and her skin was waxy
looking. “I’m so weak.”
    “ It’s the withdrawal and
they’ll help with that at the clinic. Case will be here
soon.”
    “ Oh, God, I feel so
awful.”
    Gabby walked to the window to look outside
and that’s when she saw him. Danny was standing across the street,
looking at her office building.
    Shit! What if he comes in here? What will I
do?
    She prayed that Case would get here
soon.
    “ Gabby, my stomach really
hurts. How long will this go on?”
    “ As soon as you get to the
clinic, they’ll give you something for it. I’m going to call them
now and let them know you’ll be coming in. What’s your last name
and when was the last time you used?”
    “ My last name is Gibson
and I used yesterday afternoon.”
    Gabby got on the phone and called the clinic
to let them know Case would be bringing her in.
    Case finally arrived.
    “ The clinic knows she’s
coming in with you. Here are some bags just in case she gets sick
on the way. I don’t think there’s anything in her stomach, but you
never know,” Gabby said.
    “ Hey thanks. You know how
important this is to me.” He squeezed her hand.
    “ It’s important to me too,
you know.” She walked them to the door and when they left, she
checked outside and didn’t see Danny anywhere, but she did see Sam.
That provided her with the comfort she needed. She couldn’t shake
the thought of Danny being outside of her office,
though.
    For as crazy as her morning began, it turned
out to be quite a good one. When her twelve o’clock appointment
left, it was after one, and she had about twenty minutes until her
next patient was due. She looked through her kitchen in search of
something to nibble but only found saltines. That would have to
do—she was not going to spend fifteen dollars she didn’t have on a
pricey lunch. She heard her door buzz and was disappointed that her
next patient was early.
    When she went out to greet him, she was
surprised to see Sam instead.
    “ Hello, Dr. M. I’ve
brought you lunch.”
    “ Hi, Sam. You didn’t have
to do that.”
    “ I know, but Mr. Hart
asked me to. He said he doubted you had time to eat breakfast this
morning and so, lunch.” He held up a white paper bag and a
drink.
    Gabby’s stomach gurgled loudly in
appreciation. “Ooh, sorry. I guess someone’s happy to see you.”
    Laughing, Sam replied, “I’m glad to make
your stomach happy, then, Dr. M. Here.”
    She took the bag and drink from him, not
knowing what else to do. “Um, Sam?”
    “ Yes, ma’am?”
    “ Are you still watching
me?”
    Sam shuffled his feet a bit.
    “ It’s okay if you
are.”
    “ Then, yes, ma’am, I
am.”
    “ Thank you. I’m glad