Gin and Toxic (Swan Song) Read Online Free PDF

me know she’s gone. They’re colorless and empty, staring off into the distance blindly.
    “Shit.” I mutter. I can feel panic rising inside of me. I need to squash it down, to be smart. I need help. “Tommy.”
    I run out of the room, making a beeline for the window facing out over the street. I yank on the frame of the window, fighting against the frozen wood and cursing over and over again. Finally it gives way and I’m able to lean out just in time, just as I see Tommy stepping back into his car.
    “ Hey, handsome!” I cry, careful not to use his name. My voice sounds shaky, horrified. His head snaps up to the window immediately.
    “ Adrian?” he calls back, using a much more subdued tone than mine. “Are you alright?”
    “I—Yeah. I don’t know. I changed my mind. About the nightcap? Will you come back up?”
    I can’t see his face in the dark at this distance but I can tell he’s confused.
    “It’s late.” he argues, staring up at me.
    “It’s almost early.” I tease shakily. “Come back up. Please.”
    It’s the please that does it. He knows something’s up. He walks hurriedly back across the street, disappearing into the building entrance below me. I slam the window shut and hurry to the door. I have it open when he comes bounding up the stairs, his face a dark mask of concern.
    “What’s happened?” he asks immediately. When he walks in he takes one look at Rosaline and gets the idea. She’s started crying silently, her face glistening with tears and her hands twitching at her sides. “Where?” he asks me gruffly.
    “In the bedroom. Through there.” I whisper.
    “Shut the door and keep quiet.” he tells me as he disappears into the bedroom.
    When I shut the door Rosaline grabs onto me and buries her face in my shoulder, silent sobs racking her body. I don’t say a word and I don’t hug her back. I just stand there going numb, shutting down.
    I hear Tommy curse from inside the room then he reappears, his expression all business.
    “How long ago?” he asks sternly.
    Rosaline ignores him and continues to weep into my shoulder. I have to shake her to get her attention.
    “Rose. How long ago?”
    “Um,” She sniffs, standing up straight and wiping her eyes. “Not even half an hour. She was here with Lucy when I got home from the club a couple hours ago. She, um, she was weird. Acting looney.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Rosaline shakes her head faintly. “I don’t know. She was saying crazy things. Talking to people who weren’t there. Calling Luce and I by the wrong names. She called me by your name once, yelling at me about some number she didn’t want to do. It was like she thought she was still at the club.”
    “Mickey said she threw up in the car.” Tommy says. “And she threw up in there but is that it?”
    “Yeah. Yeah, just those two times.”
    “Alright, you girls go sit on the couch.” He glances around suddenly, looking alarmed. “Where’s the other one? There are four of you, right?”
    “Lucy.” I confirm. “Rose said she’s in the bathroom.”
    “I’ll get her and bring her in here. Stay together and stay quiet. I gotta find a phone and call the doctor.”
    “But she’s dead… isn’t she?” Rosaline asks weakly, sounding hopeful that maybe she’s wrong.
    Tommy looks her hard in the eyes. “She’s gone. But we need the doc to tell us why.”
    “Should we call the police?”
    “Are you simple?” he asks her harshly.
    I put my hand up and glare at him. “Easy. She’s upset, give her a break. I’ll talk to her. Just go get Lucy.”
    Tommy storms out of the room in search of the bathroom while I sit Rosaline down on the couch. She slumps down hard, the wind entirely out of her sails. I gently brush her brown hair out of her eyes as her tears start up again.
    “We can’t call the cops until we know what happened.” I tell her softly, hoping I won’t have to repeat this for Lucy. “We need to know if it has something to do with the