Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Seven

  When Lila woke up the next morning in Asher’s arms, her memory of last night came flooding back – including Asher’s suggestion to go again when they woke up. She glanced up at his face, seeing him smile back at her.

  “Good morning,” he murmured, taking the hair out of her face.

  “Good morning,” she replied, doing the same for him. “How’d you sleep?”

  “Brilliantly,” he responded earnestly. “Never better.”

  She relaxed into his arms even further. “Same here.”

  He pressed his lips together, his eyes darting between hers. “… So… now that you’ve slept on it… do you still want to-”

  “Yes,” she said immediately, sitting up.

  He chuckled before meeting her gaze. They started kissing, their desperation to feel each other clear in the rough way they did so, and the lid on her inhibition lifted entirely. Once they were done, he inspected her with a low hiss, his eyes once again mesmerised by the aftermath. “Maybe we should wait longer for the morning-after pill.”

  She was tempted to go along with this suggestion when she heard a slap – except he hadn’t hit her. She turned her head to face him, seeing that his hands were on his face as if he’d clapped them there.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, turning her whole body onto the bed, accepting the tissues he now passed her.

  “I’m being irresponsible,” he replied simply as he cleaned himself up. “Don’t mind me. The quicker you get it, the better, right?”

  “I assume so.”

  “Then let’s not waste too much time. Twice… is enough.”

  Though she wanted it again and again, he was exactly right. They shouldn’t waste too much time.

  After breakfast with Marlene, which consisted of bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes and toast, they let her know that they’d be out for lunch. She bid them farewell, checking whether they wanted a ride (they definitely did not) before disappearing into the butler’s pantry.

  They finished getting ready to go to the shops and got on the first available bus shortly after.

  “… My love, I think we do it too much,” Lila murmured, her voice mostly drowned out by the roar of the engine.

  “It’s because we ran out of a box of twenty in, like, a week, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  He put his arm around her shoulders. “We can slow it down. I… I don’t think you should be taking this thing that often, so it’d be safer to limit it a bit.”

  Lila pouted. “But I’m addicted.”

  “I know, my love. I am too, but… this isn’t good. Now that we’re on the way to the shops, I just… can’t believe that I did that to you. Twice, no less. It’s so irresponsible-”

  “I asked for it.”

  “Still,” Asher said firmly. “I mean, I promised your parents that we’d use protection, in a way. This… is not that.”

  She leaned into his shoulder with a sigh. “I promised them, too.”

  “Not that we’d ever tell them about this, but now I have more reasons not to look your Dad in the eyes.”

  “Sorry, my love.”

  He gently took her hand and caressed the back of it almost absent-mindedly. “I’m sorry too. I just hope this pill doesn’t hurt you.”

  She hadn’t considered whether it would or not, but she’d have a look at the side effects when she got the medicine. Either way, a little bit of discomfort trumped creating a whole new human far before she was ready.

  The bus slowed to a stop outside the shopping centre and they left, hand-in-hand, and took a brisk pace to the pharmacy. Except… now that they were here once again, it was apparent that the overwhelming nature of the pharmacy hadn’t dulled at all.

  “How do I get one?” she asked nervously.

  “I dunno,” Asher replied just as nervously. “I… guess you ask the pharmacist?”

  “I suddenly don’t want to ask,” Lila replied, her anxiety spiking. “What if they say they won’t give it to me?”

  “I can’t see why they wouldn’t.”

  Lila’s breath became shallow and she paused, trying to will herself to breathe deeply. It didn’t work until Asher squeezed her hand.

  “It’s okay, my love. I’m here. We’re here together. I’ll pay for it, so you don’t need to worry about that either.”

  “No, I’ll pay-”

  “No, you won’t,” he said sternly. “It’s my fault for not buying condoms. I need to pay for this.”

  She glanced at his expression, finding that it was resolute in this decision.

  “Okay… thank you.”

  With one deep breath, Lila joined the line to talk to the pharmacist. From Lila’s place in line, the pharmacist looked to be a motherly person and squarely middle-aged, her large, round glasses giving her an owl-like effect. Her ashen-brown hair pulled back into a bun only helped deepen this impression. To be served by someone like this was fortunate for Lila – she felt at ease.

  “Next, thanks,” the pharmacist called, readjusting her glasses. Lila glanced at Asher, who nodded encouragingly.

  “Do you want me to talk to her with you?” he asked, his expression embarrassed. Lila gave him a sympathetic look.

  “It’s okay. You can wait just there,” Lila said, pointing to a space just next to them. He kissed her on the side of her head and sidled that way. She stepped up to the counter, her palms incredibly sweaty.

  “Hello, how may I help you?” the pharmacist asked pleasantly.

  “U-Uh… um.” Lila looked nervously at Asher, who smiled in return. She took another deep breath. “I-uh, I think I need the morning-after pill?” she whispered.

  “Alright,” the pharmacist nodded. “I just have a few questions for you to see if it’s suitable for you to take.”

  Lila’s posture deflated. So there were criteria that could rule her out.

  “When did it happen?” the pharmacist questioned, her eyes flickering to Lila’s face as she hunted for something behind the perspex barrier.

  “Um, last night.”

  “Okay. Are you currently using contraceptives?”

  “Yes,” Lila replied, “the Pill.”

  “Have you been taking it every day? Any alcohol?”

  “I’m too young to drink.”

  The pharmacist gave Lila a hard stare, the effect seeming magnified by her glasses. “That never stopped me when I was your age.”

  “U-Uh, no alcohol. And, yes, I take it every day at the same time.”

  “Have you been taking antibiotics?”

  “No.”

  “Alright, here’s a fact sheet for you, as well as a form to fill out. If you’ve been taking the Pill correctly, I would say that you don’t need this – especially as there are likely to be side effects. But if you’ve read through the side effects, and you’re still sure you’d like it, just fill out this form and come back to me. I’ll prepare it for you, and then you take it over to the cashier counter to pay.” She gave Lila a motherly smile. “Since you’re old enough to have sex, you’re old enough to make a decision regarding the risks for you if you take this.”

  “T-Thank you,” Lila replied quietly, accepting the clipboard and pen that the pharmacist slid through the gap in the perspex.

  “There’re a few chairs over there that you can sit in while you look through this paperwork,” the pharmacist added, gesturing to a cluster of chairs towards the left-hand side of the prescriptions counter. Asher rejoined Lila’s side and it was at this point when Lila’s heart stopped. Sitting in the furthest chair, with her very own clipboard and looking incredibly deep in thought, was Elise.

  Asher seemed to notice this at the same time, his face instantly blossoming into a deep red. Lila glanced at the pharmacist, who smiled and gestured once again.

  Lila stumbled that way, Asher close behind, his hands in his pockets. His head looked like it was on a swivel, which made Lila feel more anxious. Maybe she could pass off her clipboard as… something else. Something… less embarrassing than her lack of inhibition in the form of begging Asher to do exactly what they shouldn’t. Or… maybe Elise wouldn’t notice-

  “Oh, hey guys,” Elise said upon looking up at them both. “You too, huh?” She waved her clipboard nonchalantly, the heading of her fact sheet clear as day – she was also here for the morning-after pill.

  “Yeah,” Lila replied, feeling far more embarrassed now that she’d been called out in a matter of seconds.

  “Isaac should be floating around,” Elise said casually, turning her eyes back to her clipboard.

  “I-Isaac?” Asher’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. Elise glanced up at him with a furrowed brow.

  “Well, yeah. He insisted on being with me, since… well, he’s kinda the reason we’re here. You guys are acting real weird. Are you embarrassed?”

  “N-No,” Asher stammered.

  Elise snorted. Lila tentatively sat down next to Elise and saw, out of the corner of her eye, Isaac duck into a nearby aisle.

  “Is Isaac embarrassed?” Lila asked Elise in a low voice.

  “Of course he is,” Elise replied, seeming disgruntled by this by the way she readjusted her posture, pressing the clipboard to her chest. “He’s always embarrassed about this stuff, you both know that. He disappeared as soon as you guys approached the counter.” Elise sighed, giving Lila a look of misery. “But we’re the ones who have to sit down and take this seriously.” She then narrowed her eyes at Asher, whose antsy behaviour was becoming increasingly obvious.

  “Asher, if you’re gonna act like this, you should really finish elsewhere,” Elise huffed.

  Asher looked at her with wide, aghast eyes. “S-Sorry?”

  “You heard what I said.”

  “Actually, Elise, I asked him to-”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Doesn’t matter. He can still take responsibility,” Elise replied, her tone far more severe. Asher looked as though Elise had punched him in the stomach and he took a step back. Neither Lila nor Asher could dispute this, it seemed, so Lila changed the topic.

  “Well, what happened with you guys?” she asked softly.

  “It broke. He was being rough. I think he was still excited about yesterday’s win. He’s really sorry about, well, the fact that it meant I have to take this, though. We’re going on a date after to make it up to me.”

  “Uh, should he have been rough-”

  Now Elise looked flustered for the first time since the start of their conversation. “I… like it that way. It’s just so different to how he normally is, and it makes me feel like I’m getting a private show… a side of him no one but me gets to see.”

  Lila’s eyes flickered to Asher, who looked ready to bolt. It was a far cry from the confident side that showed itself whenever they were intimate, and the things he said and did that made her self-control weaken. She smiled, looking back at Elise. “Yeah. I get what you mean.”

  “Anyway, Asher, you’re absolutely killing my vibe,” Elise frowned, her face having returned to its normal colour. “Go find Isaac, or hide from him, or whatever. Just not here.”

  “Y-Yes, ma’am.” Asher obediently disappeared down a different aisle to the one Lila had seen Isaac escape to.

  “Do you take the Pill?” Lila asked after a beat passed, settling more in her seat.

  Elise shook her head. “I still haven’t found the time or money to see a doctor for it. Man, it would be nice if I did, though. Have you seen the side effects of this thing?” She flicked her clipboard for emphasis. “Why, do you?”

  “… Yeah.”

  “Then you should be fine,” Elise said frankly, as though that was that. “Unless you forgot to take it?”

  “No, I remembered. It’s just… it was the first time he, uh,” Lila paused, feeling the most awkward that she had all day – more so than talking to the pharmacist.

  “Okay, but you’re taking the Pill, so it should be fine.”

  “When… it happened… uh, we might’ve decided to do it again afterwards since we were going to get this anyway.”

  “Ah,” Elise nodded sympathetically. “I mean, still though. But it’s up to you, of course. I have to take this since we don’t use anything besides condoms.”

  Lila sighed, looking down at the fact sheet. “I think I should take it, just in case.”

  “Alright. Guess we’ll sign our lives away.”

  The fact sheet included a notice about taking the morning-after pill while also using the Pill. It really did seem as though… it’d be fine. And… if it was fine, then… she really could feel Asher do it again-

  She gulped. She’d come all this way, and it was better to be safe than sorry. They’d really gone for it this morning, after all.

  Looking at this fact sheet, it said that she should take her Pill as usual, but also use a barrier for the next seven days. So… she’d have to wait for that sensation again. But after that… if they kept it to a minimum and she made sure to take her Pill… perhaps…

  “Well, I’m all done,” Elise said, standing up. “Did you want me to wait for you?”

  Lila frantically looked down the page. She’d filled everything in, except for her signature. Once she did that, she stood as well.

  “I’m done. Let’s go.”

  They returned their clipboards to the pharmacist, who said she’d prepare the medicine right away, before heading back to their seats. Lila caught sight of Asher and Isaac ducking between aisles, either to avoid each other or play hide and seek. Considering both Asher and Isaac’s current pattern of behaviour whenever sex was brought up, Lila was pretty certain it was the former.

  “Idiots,” Elise sighed, evidently catching sight of their antics too, “but we sure love them.”

  Lila chuckled. “We do.”

  The girls then waited in silence for the pharmacist to call them. Elise was called first, and she waited with Lila once more before Lila was called.

  “Okay, Lila,” the pharmacist said kindly, “best to take it as soon as possible. You don’t need to take it with food, but you can if you wish. If you throw up within two hours of taking this, please come straight back and get another one. For the next seven days, you should use a barrier method as well as continuing the Pill. Do you have any questions?"

  Lila shook her head.

  “Alright, just take this box to the cashier at the front. Have a great day.”

  “Thank you. Um, have a great day too.”

  Lila turned, surprised that Asher wasn’t around. She’d assumed that he’d find her as soon as she was done, but perhaps he hadn’t realised she was in line. Isaac wasn’t around either, so she lined up with Elise again in silence. Just as Elise was about to pay for her medication, Isaac emerged out of nowhere and quickly tapped his card on the EFTPOS reader.

  ‘So, they were watching us,’ Lila thought, looking around for Asher. She couldn’t see him-

  “Next, please.”

  Lila stepped forwards to the cashier who’d spoken, the box of medication trembling in her hands.

  “Would you like a bag?” the cashier asked, hardly looking up at Lila.

  “No-”

  “Yes, please,” Asher’s voice said, causing Lila to look up at him. He’d appeared right next to her and he placed two boxes of twenty Skyn condoms next to her box of medication with a slap. The cashier blinked at him, as did Lila.

  ‘What kind of power move is this?’ Lila thought, her face overwhelmed with a blush, as the cashier looked between them both.

  “Paying together?”

  “Yes, thanks,” Asher replied, pulling out his card.

  “Just tap the machine when you’re ready.”

  The cashier placed the items in a bag and handed it over to Asher as the EFTPOS machine beeped its approval of his payment.

  “Have a great day,” the cashier said, though it was said in a customer service tone rather than one with any genuine feeling.

  “You too,” Asher replied, taking Lila’s hand with his free one.

  They made their way to the exit, seeing Elise and Isaac standing just beyond the row of cashier desks.

  “Jesus, guys,” Elise said, pointing at Asher’s bag. “The heck are you planning with all of them?”

  “The heck do you think?” Asher replied as the group continued out of the pharmacy, his voice strained with mortification. “I didn’t realise you guys could see what I was buying.”

  “There wasn’t anything else to see,” Elise responded matter-of-factly.

  “Look, we’re just here ‘cause we ran out,” Asher explained awkwardly.

  “We have got to pick different pharmacies to go to,” Isaac lamented. “I can’t keep doing this.”

  “Sounds like a great idea,” Asher agreed a little too eagerly.

  The four stood a little ways outside the pharmacy, each of their faces varying degrees of red.

  “We’re gonna go on a date this way,” Isaac announced, pointing towards the arcade. “Don’t follow us.”

  “Gladly,” Asher replied. “We’re going this way.” He pointed in the opposite direction, towards the upper food court.

  “Good.”

  “Good.”

  They continued to stand for a few moments, looking at one another, before Elise said, “See you guys tomorrow.”

  “Yup, see you then,” Asher said, taking Lila’s hand and turning on his heel.

  The group then dispersed without another word.

  Gradually, Asher’s pace slowed, his face still reddened. He looked down at Lila, who curiously returned his gaze, before sighing.

  “There’s no use being so embarrassed about this with them, is there?”

  Lila chewed her bottom lip as she considered this. “It’s easier said than done, not feeling embarrassed about it with them… but… it’s not like they’re not doing it.”

  “Yeah. It’s not…” he sighed again. “Maybe one day I’ll stop feeling so embarrassed about it with Isaac.”

  “Maybe.”

  He cast a glance around before gently tugging Lila in the direction of the board game store. “I don’t want to think about the fact that we saw each other getting the morning-after pill. Let’s go on that date I promised you.”

  The rest of their time at the shops was spent idyllically. Though Lila was incredibly aware of what was in the bag around Asher’s wrist, she was able to focus on other things, like the variety of silly knock-off plushies in their favourite discount store, new releases of games they could play together, and the Chinese food they shared for lunch. Now that exams were long over, Asher’s bright mood with Lila shone, inviting her to bask in it which she did with pleasure, her face aching from how wide her smiles were.

  They were fortunate enough to have avoided encountering Elise and Isaac throughout the rest of their date. When it was time to go, they took the bus back to Asher’s, a new board game and some snacks joining Asher’s collection of bags.

  “Marlene, we’re back,” Asher called as Lila took her shoes off by the front doors. She glanced at the slippers laid out for her and put them on, shuffling behind Asher.

  “Welcome back,” Marlene replied pleasantly, folding an assortment of tea towels on the kitchen counter. “I trust you’re going upstairs?”

  “Actually,” Asher exchanged a look with Lila before continuing, “we’re going to be in the library.”

  Marlene ceased folding, intrigue passing through her face for a split second. “The library? That’s rare.”

  “Yeah. Uh, we’re going to play some board games,” Asher explained, leading Lila that way by the hand.

  “Enjoy,” Marlene called simply as the door to the library swung shut.

  Lila and Asher immediately began setting themselves up at the table they’d used last time they played Jenga – with Lila enjoying a private smile as she remembered said last time – and sat across from each other, both displaying immense determination as they stared at the Jenga tower they’d built.

  “Ladies first,” Asher said, his eyes narrowed.

  “Is that a handicap for you or me?”

  “We’ll see when you pick a piece.”

  Lila lightly tested a centre piece, finding that it easily slipped out.

  “Handicap’s for you, my love,” he said as he inspected the tower.

  “You wish.”

  He snorted, tugging another centre piece out. They continued in this fashion, complete with playful jabs at the other, alongside hearty jokes, until Lila laughed hard enough to break the tower when she braced herself against the table.

  “Yes!” Asher grinned, picking up pieces off the floor.

  “I don’t think that’s a win,” Lila replied, doing the same. “Besides, you cheated! You can’t just pull out the pincer-grab like that while making pretend crab noises.”

  “Nope, definitely a win. You toppled the tower. End of story. Don’t mind my technique.” He pressed his thumb and forefinger together a couple of times for emphasis.

  She pursed her lips petulantly at him. “Rematch. Now.”

  He snickered, setting up the base immediately. “Yes, my love.”

  They played a couple more rounds before Lila took a piece, her mind wandering back to Elise’s Mum. They’d been distracted plenty from this conversation, but the way these pieces were falling – it almost felt like how pieces were falling in her mind regarding the morphine ring.

  “Asher,” she said softly as he stood up and peered at the remnants of the tower. She twirled the block she still held in her hands as she waited for him to respond. He teased out a block and looked at her with a satisfied grin before blinking in surprise.

  “Yes, my love? You look serious, and not like you seriously want to win this thing.”

  She halted her twirling and placed the block on the table next to her pile. “Yeah. Um. I’ve really wanted to talk about this for a while, but we’ve been so busy with exams, and… other things, that we haven’t had an opportunity to.”

  He slowly placed his block next to his pile. “What about?”

  “Elise’s Mum.”

  “Ah.” His eyes flickered to the tower before he turned to look at the library door. It was still closed, which seemed to satisfy him enough to add, “Right.”

  She hesitated. “What’re the chances that Elise’s Mum’s general doctor was that Hunter guy?”

  Asher folded his arms against his chest, his eyes now on the table. “Hard to say, but… well, she’s being treated at Dad’s hospital, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Not that Dad ever really talks about this with me, but he hasn’t mentioned anything about a whole bunch of doctors leaving. No mass exodus where Hunter was just one of many who left.” He paused before saying, “The fact that Elise’s parents went to the hospital to talk to her doctor and he wasn’t there makes me think they tried for a walk-in appointment and that’s when they were told that he quit. Which, considering how often it sounded that Elise’s Mum visited the doctor to get more morphine, is a bit weird. You’d think that if you see a doctor that often and they’ve decided to move on, they’d tell you – and especially tell you where, so you could follow them to their new place if you wanted to.”

  “That’s kinda what I thought, too. I mean, the whole thing’s been bugging me, but that bit stood out.”

  Asher pressed his lips together before shaking his head. “Maybe her doctor was just really lax with the prescription guidelines.”

  Lila bit her lower lip, hesitant to say something like this but there was a feeling, a hunch if she could be so liberal, that she needed to express. “I think it’s connected to the morphine ring.”

  “The ring was just at schools, wasn’t it?”

  “That’s all that we found, yeah. But Jason was getting his stock from Hunter, who was a doctor at your Dad’s hospital. Who’s to say that Hunter wasn’t running and operating his own circle on the side? Or maybe his circle was the main one and Jason’s was just a small offshoot?”

  Asher tapped his fingers against his elbows in contemplation. “But there’s no ‘Doctor Hunter’ in Australia. How’s a fake doctor getting clients? I mean, it’d probably be easy enough to fool Evelyn. From how she’s been with Alice, it sounds like she’s a bit too generous – maybe even blind to it, so he probably could’ve just told her he worked at the hospital and she’d believe him without a second thought. But Elise’s Mum would’ve needed to make appointments and stuff, right? I mean, they asked the hospital and they said he quit – rather than asking who she was talking about.”

  “I’m sure Elise’s Mum would’ve questioned it if it didn’t seem legit,” Lila replied thoughtfully. “Maybe your Dad’s hospital’s just not stringent with these kinds of things.”

  “What, you mean doctor certification? I bloody well hope they are.”

  “Realistically, if someone says they’re a doctor and they present, like, fake certificates, for example, why would people dig further?”

  “Surely it’s on their onboarding or whatever. The registration number.”

  Lila shrugged. “Could’ve faked one.”

  “And the hospital just didn’t check?”

  “Probably not the first dodgy doctor to be employed at a hospital.”

  This dark statement lingered in the air between them for slightly too long.

  “If… we say that Elise’s Mum’s doctor was Hunter, where does that get us?” Asher asked quietly.

  “I think it gives us a bigger motive for Hunter to kill Jason. If Hunter’s ring was bigger, or the main ring at least, then Jason blowing the lid on it had far more stakes than anyone thought.”

  “If Hunter killed Jason, why’d he kill Piper? Presuming there isn’t a copycat, of course.”

  Lila pursed her lips, deeply considering this. “She was nosy. Stalkerish. Maybe she saw a deal go down?”

  “Why’d she be stalking anyone connected to the morphine ring?”

  Lila thought for a moment longer before slowly saying, “She stalked you for ages, then me. But… she probably had a whole ass file on Holly. Piper wanted to be your girlfriend, remember? So… she’d want to know everything about Holly. I-” Lila stopped herself, unsure of how to proceed.

  “You?”

  She sighed. “I… learned from Dylan’s cousin that Dylan is definitely the father of Holly’s baby. His parents paid for a test and everything. Jason said during his police interview that Dylan was a part of the ring. If Piper connected the dots and figured out that Dylan’s the father of Holly’s baby, then she could’ve dug into Dylan and found the ring on that end. Then, she could’ve followed it all the way to Hunter.”

  Asher looked pensive, his eyes meeting hers. “That’s not a bad theory, particularly since it’s similar to one we thought of before – except… your Dad hadn’t figured it out until ages after she died. Why would Piper know more than your Dad?”

  “Why did we?”

  “Fair play.”

  Asher tapped the table, his eyes looking distant. “What if Hunter’s the copycat? Trying to blame Jason’s death on a serial killer since it wasn’t exactly the same as the other killing. Plus, it’d confuse the whole investigation if it was linked to a serial killer instead of the morphine ring.”

  “That’s a good theory,” Lila replied. “I mean, there’s the fact that the body was found on the same bench in the same park. Like, what kind of serial killer puts a body on the same bench? That’s asking to get caught.”

  “Definitely.”

  They were silent for a few seconds more until the abrupt sound of a knock at the door towards the bottom startled them both. They exchanged an apprehensive look before Asher stood up and opened it.