Rebounding by Shanna Clayton

sweat.
    Please open your eyes, kid.
    Her eyelids lift, but just barely. She looks confused at first, and it takes her a while to recognize me. “I think I’ve been poisoned,” she whispers, then closes her eyes again.
    I grab hold of her, pulling her off the floor. “Open your eyes for me, Charlotte. Did you take something or eat something?”
    She slowly blinks, nodding.
    I don’t think about what I’m doing. Lifting her into my arms, I carry her to the bathroom, then set her down in front of the toilet. She sways when I try to prop her up in front of it, and I have to lean her against my chest to keep her from falling over. Then, grabbing her by the jaw, I stick two fingers down her throat.
    She vomits right away.
    I hold her up as she grips the sides of the toilet. She empties her stomach, shaking, and heaving violently as I try to keep her still. As the last of it comes out, she coughs over and over again.
    What the fuck am I supposed to do now?
    If I call for an ambulance, they’ll think one of two things. Either she has a really bad case of food poisoning, or that she did this to herself. If they determine she did this to herself, they’ll Baker Act her. I don’t think Charlotte could handle that on top of everything else going on in her life.
    When she finally settles down, I hand her a tissue. She takes it from me, then wipes her mouth.
    “Feel better?”
    She nods. Her eyes meet mine, looking clearer than they had a few minutes ago. It seems like a good sign. I don’t think I’ll have to take her to a hospital.
    “I know what you’re thinking,” she says, leaning back against the side of the bathtub.
    “What am I thinking?”
    “That this is my fault, but I didn’t…” She pauses to take a breath. “I mean, yeah I guess I did, but I would never do…that.” She shivers as if it’s unthinkable.
    Looking at her like this, there’s only one thought on my mind.
    I never should’ve let her stay.
    It makes me feel like a selfish bastard, but I can’t help thinking it. She’d better be telling me the truth. Dealing with this kind of baggage is something I’m incapable of doing. I wouldn’t know how to save her—I can barely save myself.
    “Then what happened here?” I ask, my voice sharp. “Explain it to me.”
    “I’ll show you.”
    She stands up, swaying a little. I jump up, worried she might fall.
    Following her into her bedroom, I watch as she rifles through a brown paper bag sitting on the nightstand. She pulls out a small glass vial, then hands it to me. The label is in Spanish. It takes me a few seconds to translate the words.
    Elixir of Renewal.
    “What is this?”
    When I look at Charlotte, she shrugs. “Some guy sold it to me. He said to take it three times a day for a week.”
    “What’s it supposed to do? Are you sick?”
    I twist open the lid, sniffing the top. A tangy, sweet, metallic scent escapes.
    “Not exactly.”
    When I look at her, she looks away, wringing her hands together. It’s clear that whatever this is used for, she doesn’t want to tell me.
    “What the fuck is it supposed to do, Charlotte?”
    Her silence is pissing me off. After what I just went through with her, she owes me a better explanation. I’m determined to get one too.
    Sitting down on the edge of her bed, Charlotte closes her eyes and lets out a small breath. “It’s for a broken heart.”
    “A what?”
    “Broken heart,” she repeats, sounding defeated. “The clerk at the botánica told me it was the opposite of a love potion; it’s supposed to make you fall out of love. He said it would only take a week. Then I’d be my old self again.”
    “Botánica? Please, for the love of God, tell me you are not stupid enough to believe in that voodoo Santeria crazy shit.”
    She holds her stomach, wincing. “If you’re trying to make me feel worse than I already do, you’re succeeding.”
    “Forgive me, but you seem like a semi-intelligent girl. Why the hell would you buy into