Toxic Affections Read Free

by the police.”
    “The hell I can’t! Now outta my way!” Royston pummeled through the guards, elbowing one of them in the face. He banged open the double doors only to slam into a pair of police officers. Each of them took hold of one of Royston’s arms.
    “Let me go!” He writhed against their hold, yelled and pushed trying to free himself. “She needs Trivalent. I just need to get to my lab. Please!”
    The security guards came through the doors, one gripping his busted nose. The cops took one look at them and shuffled Royston out the lobby doors and into their awaiting cruiser. Meanwhile, Larson pulled aside one of the doctors who’d been working on Kerri.
    “I know you guys have procedure and protocol, but could you test her for Botulism? I think she was exposed.”
    “Sir, we can’t just test her at random because you think she was exposed to something. We—”
    “And I can’t just lose her because you won’t. Run the fucking test!” Larson’s lips were pressed tightly together.
    The doctor inhaled to respond, no doubt to reprimand Larson for his language as a preface, but the other doctor who’d been dealing with Mr. Young ran in. The two whispered amongst themselves, pausing intermittently to glance in Kerri’s direction.
    “Just a moment,” one of them said.
    Both the doctors left the room, closing the door behind them. Larson sat on the stool the doctor had been using next to Kerri’s bed. He grabbed her hand and watched her chest move with the artificial breaths that tethered her to life.
    “I’m so sorry,” he kissed her fingers. “I should’ve kept the big steak and made you keep the little one.” He laughed, almost mirthlessly. He sat there as the hours ticked by just staring at her.
    Larson didn’t look up when one of the doctors entered the room. He assumed it was one of the nurses who’d been coming in rotated shifts.
    “It’s botulism. We’re contacting the CDC for an antitoxin now,” he announced.
    “And what makes you so sure?” the other doctor—the skeptic who’d refused to run the test—countered, arriving on the man’s heels.
    “Doctor Helm had the test run as soon as he heard the father mention it. Test came back positive.” The doctor nodded and stepped around Larson.
    “We’ll let you know as soon as it gets here, Mr?”
    “Bales. Larson Bales.”
    “Mr. Bales.”
     
    * * *
     
    Kerri, in an effort to get her father and Larson to bond she convinced them both to have dinner at her father’s house. She hoped her father would finally see the many reasons she loved Larson so much. It was supposed to be a getting-to-know-you dinner, an ‘oh, by the way we’re going to Europe together for a few months’ meal. It didn’t go over well.
    Larson remembered how insistent Royston had been about Larson having the larger steak, despite his objections. Kerri frequently ate more than Larson; her small frame and huge appetite was often the subject of jokes between them. Kerri easily out-ate Larson. While Royston turned to pour himself and Larson a glass of bourbon, ignoring his refusal of the drink, Kerri and he switched plates. They giggled like elementary school kids passing notes behind the teachers back. Throughout dinner, they made small talk and Kerri highlighted Larson’s best qualities. Despite her efforts, Royston didn’t warm to Larson, but smiled satisfactorily at his empty plate.
    In the days that followed, Kerri’s appetite was non-existent. She equated it with nervousness. She was about to disobey her father for the first time in her life and leave the country without him. The day before she and Larson were due to leave, however, her father threatened Larson’s life. It wasn’t a traditional kill threat, but she knew what her father was capable of. Kerri had dated a boy when she was in high school, but when Royston felt it was getting too serious and had the potential to derail Kerri’s education, the boy suddenly stopped attending the