Seeing Julia Read Online Free PDF Page A

sister. Her only family, now.”
    “Fine. Just please try not to upset her. We’ll engage psyche to further evaluate her.”
    “Psyche! Julia would never intentionally try to kill herself. She’s…she’s been through a lot, but she has all of us, Reid—”
    “I think what Kimberley is trying to say is Julia has a lot of support around her and this was just an accident. Too much alcohol mixed with some narcotic intended to help her get through the funeral.” I feel this jolting sensation at the unmistakable southern drawl of Jake Winston but don’t actually move. “That’s all, doctor. I was with her most of the evening and she was extremely grief-stricken, but getting more lethargic and that’s when we put it together she had overindulged in the pain killer. We were all unaware of how much she had taken or been drinking. Just a mistake in judgment. Nothing more.”
    “Well, thank you, Mr. Winston, is it? For all of that,” says the voice I don’t recognize. “We’ll see what psyche has to say. We take these kinds of situations very seriously.”
    “I’m sure you do. I’m the executor of the estate and her lawyer in charge of all her domestic affairs. The family would like to keep this quiet. Evan Hamilton was quite well known. His death has been publicized all over Manhattan and throughout the states of New York and Connecticut. We just want to ensure Mrs. Hamilton’s privacy and allow her to grieve in peace.
    “Of course.”
    “I’m staying,” Kimberley announces as her final answer. The sweet scent of her expensive French perfume drifts over me as she grips my hand. Desperate to see my best friend, I struggle to open my eyes, but they don’t move. The door clicks shut.
    I feel the weird high from drugs surf through my system and try to fight the inevitability of unconsciousness.
    “You just making it up as you go, Winston?” Kimberley hisses. “What the fuck happened?”
    “She took an overdose of pain killers. Did you even know that?” Jake asks. “You want her to lose custody of her baby?”
    “Jesus, you think they’ll try to take away Reid?”
    “If they don’t think she is capable of taking care of him. Yes. And, they will, if we’re not three steps ahead of them. As her family , we can show them how much support she has around her, while we try and get this situation under control. Get the checkbook out. Get a press release ready because we’re going to bury this whole thing so far under; it will be a faint reference in the footnotes of all that’s happened to Mr. and Mrs. Evan Hamilton.”
    “Where did she get the pills?” I hear Kimberley take a jagged breath. “Oh God. Julia, what have you done, baby?” Her hand brushes at my face. “How did you find her?”
    “I followed her up to her hotel suite. I…I upset her with some things I said and wanted to apologize. We let things get…She started to pass out and it was pretty clear she was in trouble.”
    “You need to just stay away from her, Jake.” I try to smile through the edges of my drugged state, as Kimberley takes her familiar protective stance over me. I attempt to follow her heated lecture about not getting involved with me. She’s been put through enough, I hear Kimberley warn. The man has no idea what he’s in for; being on Kimberley’s bad side was not a good thing. I want to hear more, but I lose the fight for consciousness with the remnants of the narcotic still running through me.
    ≈ ≈

    I open my eyes and take in the unfamiliar room and its pungent smell of antiseptic and rubber. I lie in a single bed that is slightly raised. The bedside stand holds a phone with a Lenox Hill Hospital label on the receiver. I look over at the window and note the vertical blinds are half open, providing a glimpse at a daylight world on the other side just as Stephanie comes in.
    Our blonde version of a living Barbie sails into the room as if she’s on ice skates. One minute she’s across the room and the next