CHAPTER SIXTEEN

She woke up to her brother yelling at Liz and she was shocked. She stood up because they were just fine the night before. Why were they arguing so loudly? She put on her robe and walked out to the living room. Her brother was about to hit Liz when she stepped in

"What the hell is going on?" she asked her brother

"Stay out of it Ivy!" Adam yelled at her

"Uhm, no! Why would you want to hit a woman?" Ivy asked him

"I wasn't going to hit her!" he yelled

"You were and can you stop yelling? You only look stupid. Why on earth are you at each other's throats so early in the morning?" Ivy asked him

Adam scoffed and he shook his head before pointing to the bouquet of flowers on the table. Ivy walked up to it and picked the note.

"So Liz got flowers, what the hell is the problem?" Ivy asked her brother

"The flowers are not from me. There is a written note. You should take a look at it" he said

Ivy dug her hands into the flowers and brought out the note. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands before reading the note

"From my heart to yours. I hope I would have the chance to be with you today and every other day of our lives. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I would keep dropping off flowers and buying you gifts until you are finally mine, Caleb"

Ivy smiled and looked at Liz, then back at Adam and her countenance changed

"So she got flowers and what? You're upset? I mean, it is pretty obvious that the guy is into her and she can't control that. I don't see why you should be mad. She didn't ask for the flowers. Liz is a beautiful woman that would attract attention from anywhere. If you are pissed that other guys are attracted to her then you should really work on yourself" Ivy sad

"Her boss sent her those flowers" Adam said, getting more upset

"So what? Why are you making it seem like it is her fault? I mean, if you are opened to the conversation, you would know about all of this because I do and that was because she told me right from the very beginning and not because I caught her cheating. Adam, you are unbelievable!" Ivy said to him

Adam scoffed and turned. He went to his room and when he came back out, he was dressed. He headed out of the door without saying anything to the both of them. He came back really late in the night and Ivy was in the living room, on her laptop. He didn't say anything to her and he went to his bedroom. He came down almost some minutes later

"Where is Liz?" he asked Ivy

"Oh, what? Now I am visible to you?" Ivy said

"Just answer the question" he said to her

"She left. She said she needed space and she packed her things and she left" Ivy said, not taking her eyes off her laptop

"And you didn't stop her?" Adam asked her

"Stop her? Why would I do that?" Ivy said to him

"Because I wasn't around to do it! What the hell, Ivy? You are supposed to be my sister. Whose side are you in exactly?" He asked her

"I can't be on your side when you're wrong! You are going to lose her if you're not careful and I hope you don't regret that" she said to him

"Regret?" Adam asked her

"Yes, you heard me. Regret. Look, Liz is wanted by so many people and you are not exactly married to her. You are in a relationship with her, yes, I understand that but c'mon Adam! She is a woman. She is independent, hardworking and beautiful. It is only normal for somebody to be attracted to her but you reacting and making a big deal off a bunch of flowers that has no meaning to her was way out of line and you don't need me to tell you this!" Ivy said as she got up from the sofa

She turned off the TV and headed up to her room. Adam sighed. He took the space that was formerly occupied by his sister and he pulled out his phone. He dialed her number and it went to voicemail. He knew that it was her way of saying she didn't want to talk to anybody. He decided to leave a text

"I am sorry about today. Can we talk things out and you don't have to leave the house everytime we have an argument. This is your house too" he texted

He sighed and hit the send button before tossing his phone aside and walking into the kitchen to get something to eat. The weekend came and he still hadn't gotten a reply to her text. He knew she was upset but she had never ignored him before. This was the first time. He told Ivy that he was going for a drive and he drove to her apartment. He rang the doorbell a couple of times and got no reply. He went back to his car and looked for the key he had to her apartment. He found it and kissed it before heading back to her apartment. He opened the door and walked into the apartment. Everywhere was scattered and dark. It was unusual of her to leave her house this way.

"Elizabeth? Are you in here?" he asked

He heard a soft moan and he walked to her bedroom. he saw her on her bed, sick! He pulled out his phone and dialed 911 immediately.

"Stay with me" he said to her

The ambulance came and they took her to the hospital. He called Ivy and she was there within the hour. They both stayed in the waiting room together for the doctor. The doctor eventually came out and he looked at Adam

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked the doctor

"She would be okay. Apparently, she was poisoned by something she ate. We are still trying to run some tests to find out what it was but she is very lucky to be alive. If you had brought her in one hour later than you did, she would be dead" the doctor said to him

Ivy looked at him and he nodded to the doctor. The doctor walked out and he walked back to Ivy.

"What are you thinking?" Adam asked her

"Liz is a health freak. It would be stupid for her to poison herself in anyway and she is also not suicidal. There is more to this than we don't know" Ivy said

"You are saying someone poisoned her?" Adam asked his sister

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. I mean, your relationship is public now and it could have made her a possible target considering the fact that she is dating you" Ivy said

"That makes sense" Adam said as he stood up

"Where are you going?" she asked him

"Back to her place. Her mom already called and I need to give her something, anything to justify why her daughter is lying there sick so just stay here and keep an eye on Liz for me while I'm gone" he said to his sister

Ivy rolled her eyes but she knew that she had no choice so she waited behind while he left. He headed into his car and went back to Liz's apartment. He didn't know where to start from because it was a total mess and he knew that he couldn't find his answers there so he decided to do a little cleaning and he started to put things in order. From her clothes to her shoes to the dead flowers and her books. When he was done, he was going to take the trash out when he saw a half eaten pie on the kitchen counter. It looked bad now and he was going to toss it into the trash when he saw a paper towel next to it. He picked it up and saw dried up blood patches on the paper towel. He knew that it must have had something to do with her present condition. He threw out the lie before heading back to the hospital. When he got there, Liz's Mom, Cathy was already there, waiting for any news about her daughter

"Cathy, I wish the circumstances were better. I am so sorry that you had to fly down to the states on sort short notice but I don't think it was important for you to come here" Adam said as he gave her a hug

He had always had a great relationship with Liz's Mom.

"Of course I had to come. I need to know how she is. she should have moved upstate with me" Cathy said

"She is fine here. She probably ate something back at her place. I am just glad that I got to her on time" Adam said to her