His Childhood Sweetheart Tried to Kill Me

1: 1

That night I was half asleep when something slick and sticky against my skin jolted me awake.

I opened my eyes to a huge snake head fixed on me, its forked tongue flicking at my face with a low hissing sound.

I screamed at the snake that had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the night, and with shaking hands I reached for my phone to call for help.

But George Fox, my boyfriend of three years, snatched the phone from me and glared, his whole face impatient.

"What are you screaming for? That's Kate's pet snake. Her name's Blossom. She's gentle, she never bites."

"Why are you dragging emergency services out here in the middle of the night? Go on, take Blossom back to the study."

Kate Butler. George's childhood neighbor.

When I stayed frozen where I was, his impatience only grew.

"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and carry Blossom back inside so she can rest."

But before I could even touch the thing, it sank its fangs into me.

George acted like he hadn't seen the wound at all.

"What did you do?! Blossom has never bitten anyone. Did you handle her clumsily and hurt her? Blossom is Kate's baby. What if you've scared her so badly she won't trust people anymore?"

"You've had a cold lately, haven't you? Your blood is bound to be dirty."

"Get Blossom to the vet right now for a proper checkup. If anything happens to her, how am I supposed to explain it to Kate?"

I sank down to the floor and quietly watched my boyfriend work himself into a panic over a snake.

In that moment, I suddenly wanted none of it anymore.

Including the man in front of me.

George didn't spare me a single glance. He was busy hunting for a cage so he could get the snake to a vet.

The snake still held its striking pose, staring me down like I was already its prey.

I've been afraid of soft, crawling things since I was a child. I can't even bring myself to touch an earthworm.

And now a living snake was locked eye to eye with me.

My back was already soaked through with cold sweat, but the sheer terror left my legs useless, and I stayed collapsed on the floor, unable to move.

I heard my own trembling voice.

"George, a snake bit me. Shouldn't your first thought be to get me to the hospital?"

George didn't even lift his head.

"Blossom isn't venomous. Can you stop making a scene?"

"And Blossom is usually so docile. Who knows what you did to provoke her?"

The more he talked, the angrier he got.

"You've had that cold for days now. If your blood is dirty and something happens to Blossom, I will not let you off!"

"Kate treasures this snake more than anything. She'll be heartbroken."

I couldn't believe my own ears.

Couldn't believe words this cold were coming from the mouth of the man I'd been with for three years.

"Can you guarantee this snake isn't venomous? Do you know anything about snakes?"

His impatience turned even more obvious.

"Kate told me Blossom isn't venomous. You think Kate would lie to me?"

"Nanette Summers, I've said it a hundred times. I only think of Kate as a little sister."

"Stop using these cheap little tricks to compete with Kate for attention. It's making me sick."

At that, something seemed to occur to George. He pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Kate, are you asleep? Blossom got out of her cage, and she just bit Nanette."

"Nanette's had a bit of a cold these past few days. I'm worried about the effect on Blossom, so I want to take her to the vet."

"Okay, don't worry, I'll wait for you here."

Kate arrived fast. In no more than five minutes she was at the house.

When she saw George standing there in his pajamas, she visibly froze.

"George? Why are you home, and in your pajamas?"

"Didn't you say you'd be working late at the office today? Why did you come back early?"

George looked confused.

"The work wrapped up early."

But I caught what was off in her words right away.

"What do you mean by that? Was George not supposed to be home today?"

"Much less in the bedroom?"

A flicker of panic crossed Kate's eyes.

"No, Nanette, don't get the wrong idea. I was just a little surprised, that's all, so I asked a couple of extra questions."

"All right, all right, we need to get Blossom to the vet. If we're too late I'm afraid something will happen to her."

Watching the two of them load the snake into the cage to leave, I spoke up again.

"George. I said, take me to the hospital."

Before George could get a word out, Kate cut in first.

"Nanette, don't worry. I had Blossom's venom glands removed. She isn't venomous, you'll be fine."

"But you've got a cold. Maybe your blood is more poisonous than Blossom."

George held the cage in one hand and took Kate's hand with the other.

"Enough, don't waste your breath on her. Blossom's what matters."

From start to finish, George never once looked at me.

"Slam!"

The door crashed shut, and the huge house fell silent again.

My head grew dizzier and dizzier, and a violent unease closed in around me.

With shaking hands I dialed emergency services.

"Hello, is this 911?"

2: 2

By the time the paramedics reached the apartment, I was still lying exactly where I'd fallen, not moving an inch.

Some instinct told me not to move after a snakebite, so the venom wouldn't spread any faster.

George and Kate had both insisted, over and over, that the snake wasn't venomous. But I wasn't willing to bet my life on it.

After the doctor asked me a few questions, his brow furrowed.

"Do you know that snake? What species was it?"

Terrified as I was, I forced myself to picture the thing again.

"I don't know the snake, and I don't know if it's venomous."

"But it was black and white, kind of like a zebra, black and white bands, ring after ring"

I didn't get to finish before he cut me off, sharp.

"A krait!"

"This is insane. Who keeps a snake like that in their home?"

He waved the nurses over to lift me onto the stretcher, already dialing the hospital, his voice urgent.

"I've got a patient with a krait bite here, critical condition."

"Get the antivenom ready, we don't have time to waste!"

Once I was in the ambulance, I finally couldn't hold on any longer. My eyes shut and I lost consciousness completely.

When I opened them again, it was full daylight, nothing in front of me but an endless stretch of white.

Seeing me awake, the nurse hurried off to get the doctor.

He checked my vitals, then looked at me with something close to reproach.

"You young people, you've really got some nerve. That was a krait. Do you think that's something you keep as a pet?"

"The krait is the most venomous snake there is, deadlier than a king cobra."

"You're lucky you called for help when you did. Any later, or if we hadn't been able to get the antivenom, and you wouldn't have made it."

Even after he left the room, I sat there turning his words over, unable to shake them.

A krait?

I pulled out my phone and started looking up the basics on the snake.

"The most venomous land snake."

"Four fangs."

"Mostly nocturnal."

One chilling word after another jumped out at me.

And yet Kate and George had sworn, again and again, that it wasn't venomous.

A month ago, George had come home with a cage. Before I could even see what was inside, he'd already carried it into his study.

"Kate's been busy lately. This is her pet. We're fostering it here for a while."

"Don't go into my study for no reason. It's a nervous little thing, don't scare it."

"It won't get out anyway. The cage is locked, it's perfectly safe."

Since George had said all that, I never once set foot in his study.

Now that I thought about it, that snake had been in the apartment for a whole month.

But George had clearly said the cage was locked. So how had it gotten out?

I was still turning it over when my phone rang.

It was George.

"Where are you? Kate and I got back from the vet and there's not a soul in the apartment."

"You not coming home, is this you sulking at me? What gives you the right to throw a tantrum at me?"

"Do you have any idea, the vet said Blossom was traumatized, and it's all because of you. Kate's crying her heart out right now. Get back here and apologize, now!"

Kate's sobbing carried through the phone to my ear.

"George, don't say that. It's my fault, I never should have left Blossom with you."

"You should go and comfort Nanette instead. Don't let Blossom come between the two of you."

"I just feel awful for Blossom. You know she isn't only my pet, I've thought of her as family for a long time now. She's always been affectionate, and now she won't even come near me. I'm just so upset."

When I said nothing, an edge of anger crept into George's voice.

"Nanette! Did you not hear what I said to you?"

"I told you to get back here and apologize to Kate and Blossom"

This time, George didn't get to finish before I cut him off.

"George."

"I've been poisoned."

3: 3

On the other end, George went quiet for a second.

"That's impossible. Blossom isn't venomous. How could you be poisoned?"

"Don't give me that"

I couldn't be bothered to listen anymore. I hung up.

Half an hour later, George showed up at the hospital with Kate.

He walked into the room, and it was as though he couldn't even see the IV still in my hand. The first thing out of his mouth was an accusation.

"On the way here I already checked with Kate. Blossom is a non-venomous pet snake. How could you possibly be poisoned?"

"Nanette, drop the little games. Stop putting on a show in front of me."

Kate clung timidly to George's arm, her eyes rimmed red, the picture of a frightened little rabbit.

"Nanette, are you saying this on purpose because you can't stand me?"

"I never meant to get in the way of the two of you. Last month I just had so much going on, that's the only reason I asked George to help look after Blossom."

"I've already taken Blossom back. Nothing like this will happen again. You don't have to come to the hospital and put on an act for George's sake."

I looked at Kate, cold.

She dressed it up as an explanation, but every line was an accusation that I was faking it. Ha.

Sure enough, her words only made George angrier.

"What gives you the right to hate Kate? Get your dirty thoughts out of your head. Kate and I grew up together. We're practically brother and sister."

"If there were really anything between Kate and me, do you think it would ever have been your turn?"

"And now you've taken the act all the way to the hospital. Nanette, your tricks really are getting more impressive by the day."

My gaze settled on George.

In that moment, this man I'd loved for three years felt like a complete stranger.

George and Kate had been neighbors. From elementary school through middle school and into high school, the two of them were almost never apart.

It wasn't until college, when Kate went abroad to study, that they lost touch.

When George and I got together three years ago, I had no idea he had this childhood sweetheart from next door.

A year ago, Kate came back.

From that day on, George's attention landed entirely on Kate.

Standing guard when she ran a fever in the middle of the night. Driving her to and from work, rain or shine. Little surprises on holidays. Small gifts from every business trip.

The moment I showed even a flicker of unhappiness, this was what waited for me:

"Can you stop reading into things? If there were really anything between her and me, do you think it would ever have been your turn?"

This time I'd been bitten by that snake and nearly died. I'd just come back from the brink, still lying in a hospital bed.

And George still chose to stand on Kate's side.

All at once, I couldn't be bothered to keep arguing with George over who was right and who was wrong.

"The doctor is right outside. If you won't believe me, you should at least believe him, shouldn't you?"

"Whether that snake is venomous or not, are you more of an authority than a doctor?"

The moment I said it, a flicker of hesitation crossed George's eyes.

Kate grabbed his arm.

"George, I'm worried Blossom will be scared home alone. I want to go back and check on it."

"And Blossom has always been so gentle. It really is just a harmless pet snake. You still don't believe me?"

The second he heard that, the flicker of hesitation vanished, and he turned to leave the room with Kate.

In that moment, my disappointment in George hit its peak.

I was done with this man.

I gripped the sheets and forced the words out.

"George, let's break up."

4: 4

George's footsteps stopped, and when he turned around, the look he gave me was one that could have swallowed me whole.

"Nanette! How long are you going to keep making a scene?"

"It's just one snake. Kate already took it away. What more could you possibly have to complain about?"

"You want to break up? Fine, fine, fine. Just don't come crawling back to me later!"

And with that, George didn't spare me another glance. He took Kate and walked out of the hospital room without looking back.

Only when the room went quiet again did the tears finally spill over, falling in fat drops I couldn't hold back.

George and I had loved each other once.

For the first two years, George always put how I felt above everything else.

The day we moved into our new place, he was so happy he swept me up and spun me around.

"Nanette, we finally have a home!"

"I, George Fox, finally brought Nanette Summers home!"

He truly had loved me once. And so had I.

But now, the man who once had eyes only for me had made room in his heart for someone else.

So be it. Then I didn't want it anymore.

For the whole next week, George didn't contact me once.

It wasn't until my condition stabilized and I could be discharged that I stepped out through the hospital doors and saw George and Kate.

The moment they spotted me, they came toward me.

"All right, it's been a week now. Surely you've cooled off by now?"

"Kate heard I was coming to pick you up today, so she came especially to apologize to you."

Kate quickly stepped forward too.

"Nanette, I'm so sorry. Even though Flower is my pet, she really did bite you, and I should have come to apologize sooner."

"George says Flower is just a pet, that I shouldn't have to take the blame for what she did, but I still wanted to say sorry to you."

"This time it was all my fault. Don't stay angry with George over it."

I couldn't be bothered to listen to the little digs buried in Kate's words.

I gave her a cold glance.

"I don't accept your apology."

"I'll go find a venomous snake to bite you, put you in the hospital for a week, and then breeze in and toss you a quick little sorry."

"You think that'd be fine?"

My words didn't spare her, and Kate bit down on her lip, her eyes going red in an instant.

George yanked Kate behind him.

"Nanette, that's enough! Kate came here in person to apologize to you, and look at the attitude you're giving her."

"Besides, Flower isn't even venomous. Why do you keep dragging this out?"

"Kate came to apologize today for our sake too. She's worried about what this is doing to us, so why are you being so aggressive?"

Seeing that another fight was about to break out, Kate hurried to cut in.

"Okay, okay, stop it. Today's a good day. Don't fight over something this small."

"Come on, George's car is parked right by the curb. Whatever needs saying, we can say it properly once we're home."

I almost refused outright.

But then it occurred to me that I had to go back to that place to pack my things anyway.

Since we were breaking up, better to make a clean break of it.

There was a free driver right here. It would be a waste not to use him.

I said nothing more and walked straight toward the car by the curb.

Just as I reached it, Kate had already pulled open the back door, about to get in.

"Nanette, you just got out of the hospital, so you take the front seat. It's more comfortable up front."

That gave me pause.

Before, whenever Kate was around, she always claimed she got carsick and had to sit up front.

What was different today?

But I couldn't be bothered to think about it, and I pulled open the passenger door.

The next second, a clear glass tank appeared right in front of me.

And inside that glass tank was the very krait that had bitten me.

The instant it saw me, the snake, which had been lying coiled, reared up and struck a posture ready to attack.

Exactly the same as that night.

I screamed and stumbled backward in terror.

In my panic, my eyes caught the smug look on Kate's face.

In that moment, what was there left for me not to understand?

Kate had done it on purpose.

She'd known everything.

I forced my breathing back under control, pulled out my phone, and dialed the police.

"Hello, I'd like to report a crime."

"Someone is illegally keeping a federally protected species in private. A krait."