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My mind was consumed by one horrifying fact:: Emily had intentionally given my mom shellfish butter to make her leave.
She knew my mom was severely allergic—even a trace could send her to the hospital—yet she did it anyway.
How was this any different from murder?
Ding. The operating room doors opened. The doctor walked out.
He removed his mask and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry. We did everything we could."
"You, as the family, knew the patient had a severe shellfish allergy. How could you let her consume so much of it? Was this intentional?"
Intentional?
Yeah, I could tell him it was.
I spoke into the phone, "Did you hear that?"
"Because of that spoonful of shellfish butter, Mom is gone!"
"Gone—do you understand? She died from an allergic reaction."
Emily fell silent. Then, the phone was snatched away. Jacob's voice came through.
"Dan, stop scaring Emily. She's sensitive, you know?"
"It's just an allergy. I've had allergies before—just some red hives. Take an antihistamine, and it'll be fine. Don't make it sound so serious."
"Today's my birthday. Emily's helping me celebrate. We'll bring you back some cake, so don't be jealous."
"If we weren't worried you'd ruin the mood, we would've invited you too."
"Alright, gotta go. We're still setting up."
He hung up.
The hospital said the body could only be kept in the hospital morgue for 24 hours without charge. But by noon the next day, Emily still hadn't shown.
I couldn't huld back any longer—I called again. Jacob answered.
"Hey, Dan, we partied pretty late last night. Emily's still asleep."
"If it's not urgent, I'll let her rest."
I forced down my anger. "Tell Emily her mom's body is in the hospital morgue. The hospital said they can only hold it for 24 hours."
"I'm giving her two more hours. If she doesn't come to identify the body, I'm having it cremated."
Jacob snorted. "Dan, you're too old for these cheap tricks."
"I know you're mad about the birthday party, but we're just friends—really. Don't overthink it."
"Also, mixing shellfish butter into the hot sauce was my idea. Don't blame Emily."
"I just didn't want to see her upset. Consider it a lesson for your mom, heh."
As soon as Jacob finished, I heard Emily's sleepy voice in the background. "Jacob, who is it? So annoying."
Then, I heard the distinct sound of a kiss, followed by Jacob's tender reply, "No one, sweetheart. Just a telemarketer."
Then, the call ended.
When I tried calling back, I was blocked.
Fine. I'd given Emily three chances. Since she didn't care, she'd made her choice.
