Wedding Day of Murder by Vanessa Gray Bartal

think, being unconscious is that much less time you have to deal with
your mom,” he said.
    She laughed nervously. He kissed
her once more and they walked inside hand in hand.
    Jason stayed with Lacy during the
final prep, and then it was time for him to go. He gave her a peck and peered
into her mouth, saying a solemn goodbye to her wisdom teeth that made her
laugh, however shakily. It was hard to leave her when she was so frightened and
had already been through so much that day, but it had to be done. Once she was
out of sight, he began to relax. Of course she would be okay. Why was he being
such a mother hen? If he saw a guy acting like he was currently acting, he
would call him out for being whipped.
    In the waiting room, he read Sports Illustrated to pass the time.
Since becoming a detective and dating Lacy, he had lost touch with many of his
favorite players and teams. Now was the ideal time to catch up. He became so
engrossed that the time flew and he could hardly believe it when a nurse poked
her head through the door and called his name.
    He dropped the magazine and did a
double take when he realized half of the nurse’s head was dripping water. He
tried not to stare as he stood and went forward.
    “Lacy’s had an unexpected
complication,” she said, and his heart stopped, along with his feet. He came to
an abrupt halt in the hallway. “What sort of complication?” he heard himself
croak. Was she conscious? Was she breathing? “Has an ambulance been called?”
    “Oh no, it’s nothing like that,”
the nurse quickly assured. She laid her hand on his arm and urged him onward
with a hard tug. “It’s just that we had to use slightly more medication than
normal because of the red hair, and I’m afraid it’s had an, um, odd effect. We
need your help. You’ll see.” Her nails dug into his arm as she dragged him
forward.
    “Because of the red hair?” he
echoed.
    “Redheads don’t respond as well to
anesthetic and need more of it. I don’t know why. The doctor can explain if you
have questions. Anyway, she went through the procedure fine, but when she woke
up…um…well…” she opened the door to a room marked “Recovery” and shoved him
through, closing it hard behind him without escorting him inside. Jason didn’t
at first see Lacy. What he saw was a very wet nurse with her hands up in
surrender.   After his eyes adjusted
to the sight of the drenched dental assistant, they slowly drifted to Lacy,
blockaded behind a chair with something in her hands. On closer inspection she
was holding a squeeze trigger hose, probably used to rinse incisions. He was so
surprised to see his normally gentle girlfriend wielding a weapon that he
bypassed caution and blurted her name.
    She jumped and rounded on him and
now it was his turn to put his hands up. “Lacy, it’s me,” he said.
    “Yayshon?” Her mouth was either
swollen or stuffed with cotton. Possibly both.
    “It’s me,” he said, but she didn’t
put down the hose. Instead she clutched it tighter and drew a bead on his head.
    “How do I know it’sh the weal you?”
she asked.
    “She’s been hallucinating,” the
nurse explained, drawing a squirt from Lacy that she batted away with a wave of
her hand.
    “What if I told you something only
the real me would know?” he asked and used her distraction with the nurse to
draw a step closer.
    She whirled to face him and focused
the sprayer on his face again. “Wike what?”
    “Like you tell people you want to
go to England to see where Jane Austen lived, but the real reason is to eat
Banoffee pie.”
    Slowly, she lowered the weapon.
Jason used the opportunity to lunge forward and disarm her. “They were twying
to kiww me,” she said.
    “No, sweetheart, they weren’t. They
took out your wisdom teeth.”
    “Dey stole my teef?” She shot a
horrified glance at the soggy nurse and reached helplessly for the sprayer
again.
    Jason held it over her head. “You had
surgery. They removed your wisdom