4: 4
4
George's footsteps stopped, and when he turned around, the look he gave me was one that could have swallowed me whole.
"Nanette! How long are you going to keep making a scene?"
"It's just one snake. Kate already took it away. What more could you possibly have to complain about?"
"You want to break up? Fine, fine, fine. Just don't come crawling back to me later!"
And with that, George didn't spare me another glance. He took Kate and walked out of the hospital room without looking back.
Only when the room went quiet again did the tears finally spill over, falling in fat drops I couldn't hold back.
George and I had loved each other once.
For the first two years, George always put how I felt above everything else.
The day we moved into our new place, he was so happy he swept me up and spun me around.
"Nanette, we finally have a home!"
"I, George Fox, finally brought Nanette Summers home!"
He truly had loved me once. And so had I.
But now, the man who once had eyes only for me had made room in his heart for someone else.
So be it. Then I didn't want it anymore.
For the whole next week, George didn't contact me once.
It wasn't until my condition stabilized and I could be discharged that I stepped out through the hospital doors and saw George and Kate.
The moment they spotted me, they came toward me.
"All right, it's been a week now. Surely you've cooled off by now?"
"Kate heard I was coming to pick you up today, so she came especially to apologize to you."
Kate quickly stepped forward too.
"Nanette, I'm so sorry. Even though Flower is my pet, she really did bite you, and I should have come to apologize sooner."
"George says Flower is just a pet, that I shouldn't have to take the blame for what she did, but I still wanted to say sorry to you."
"This time it was all my fault. Don't stay angry with George over it."
I couldn't be bothered to listen to the little digs buried in Kate's words.
I gave her a cold glance.
"I don't accept your apology."
"I'll go find a venomous snake to bite you, put you in the hospital for a week, and then breeze in and toss you a quick little sorry."
"You think that'd be fine?"
My words didn't spare her, and Kate bit down on her lip, her eyes going red in an instant.
George yanked Kate behind him.
"Nanette, that's enough! Kate came here in person to apologize to you, and look at the attitude you're giving her."
"Besides, Flower isn't even venomous. Why do you keep dragging this out?"
"Kate came to apologize today for our sake too. She's worried about what this is doing to us, so why are you being so aggressive?"
Seeing that another fight was about to break out, Kate hurried to cut in.
"Okay, okay, stop it. Today's a good day. Don't fight over something this small."
"Come on, George's car is parked right by the curb. Whatever needs saying, we can say it properly once we're home."
I almost refused outright.
But then it occurred to me that I had to go back to that place to pack my things anyway.
Since we were breaking up, better to make a clean break of it.
There was a free driver right here. It would be a waste not to use him.
I said nothing more and walked straight toward the car by the curb.
Just as I reached it, Kate had already pulled open the back door, about to get in.
"Nanette, you just got out of the hospital, so you take the front seat. It's more comfortable up front."
That gave me pause.
Before, whenever Kate was around, she always claimed she got carsick and had to sit up front.
What was different today?
But I couldn't be bothered to think about it, and I pulled open the passenger door.
The next second, a clear glass tank appeared right in front of me.
And inside that glass tank was the very krait that had bitten me.
The instant it saw me, the snake, which had been lying coiled, reared up and struck a posture ready to attack.
Exactly the same as that night.
I screamed and stumbled backward in terror.
In my panic, my eyes caught the smug look on Kate's face.
In that moment, what was there left for me not to understand?
Kate had done it on purpose.
She'd known everything.
I forced my breathing back under control, pulled out my phone, and dialed the police.
"Hello, I'd like to report a crime."
"Someone is illegally keeping a federally protected species in private. A krait."
