Bad Obsession (Guns N' Roses: Izzy Stradlin)

Chapter 63: Numb

"Bait."

I was in a daze.

"For rodents? Do you have any around the house?... Miss?"

"No, of course not. We were um," I managed to speak holding back my tears, "we were at a stadium today, and she ran under the stage and she was licking her lips when I found her and-"

"Kelly, I need you to get me the charcoal now." The vet interrupted my blubbering to speak to his assistant.

"I didn't see her eat anything- I saw her licking her lips- she seemed fine!" I sobbed.

"We are going to induce a forced vomit for Ripley." The vet continued as he shaved a section of hair off of Ripley's front leg, ready to insert an IV drip.

"Miss, can I take you outside? Inducing vomiting can be hard to watch." Kelly came to my side as she held both of my shoulders gently.

"Will she be okay?" I hiccupped as she ushered me out of the room.

"You came to us at the right time. Any later might have been fatal. There's a coffee machine near the front desk, you're welcome to use it while we help Ripley. She'll be okay, she's in safe hands. Brett is one of the best vets in this area of L.A." Kelly smiled sadly as she walked back into Ripley's room.

I tried to slip my coins into the coffee machine and press the correct buttons, but my shaking hands made it incredibly hard. I found a seat with my cheap, hot coffee and stared up at the clock on the wall; 10:30 PM. Izzy would have been well and truly in the middle of the concert. He's going to come home to an empty house, I didn't leave a note, he's going to see green vomit everywhere, and he's probably going to freak out. I guess I can call home and leave a message on the answering machine for him to listen to. What the fuck am I going to say? "Hey, Izzy, it's just me. Ripley might die. See you soon..."?

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a loud GHAACK come from Ripley's vet room. It sounded like the vet was successful with getting her to finally vomit properly, but I was still yet to find out to see if getting her to vomit would be enough to save her life. I was cursing myself for not investigating her mouth when we were under the stage, or even going over to see what she had her head buried in. Could she have just eaten the bait, or did she eat a dead rodent that had eaten bait? Why didn't you go over to her?! I kept replaying the images in my head from when we were under the stage and I could not feel more stupid. If I had no suspicion or concern to Ripley licking her lips when I knew deep down that she had gobbled something, how could I be a good mother?

"We need to keep her here tonight." Brett the vet said as he emerged from operating room.

"Is she okay?" I gripped my cheap coffee cup.

"We seem to have removed the poison from her stomach, she isn't vomiting solid matter anymore, but we'll need to keep a close eye on her overnight and keep her hydrated." He continued to speak as he dried his hands with paper towel. "We'll give you a ring early tomorrow morning to give you an update. Will you be alright to drive home tonight?"

I nodded as I looked down at my shoes.

"Will Ripley be okay?"

He looked hesitant to reply.

"I don't want to give you any false hope, but I don't want to bring your hopes down either. It's just best if I call you tomorrow for an update."

I skulled the rest of my coffee, which had turned cold, and rose from my chair. I wasn't sure if the caffeine had hit my body already as I could feel my hands start to shake. I didn't want to look Brett in the eyes, I just stared down at my feet before I left.