23. It’s an Illness
Chapter 23
It’s an Illness
Bull
I ’m grateful for a lazy Saturday. Maya and I both needed to catch up on our sleep. After any case as intense as this one was, the Storm team takes a short break before jumping into something new. We’ll be taking extra time since Rebel’s going to be recovering for the next six weeks.
The bullet missed all the major organs, but having been shot myself, I know the pain he’s going through. Phoenix and I offered to go back to Falcon’s to help settle Rebel into the spare room he has, but Wire said he could help out and told us to get home to our women. Falcon made arrangements on the plane to have a nurse on duty from the time we landed until Rebel’s mobile again. Rebel protested for all of five minutes before the nurse told him to suck it up and deal.
I had to walk away to keep Rebel from seeing my smile. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a woman talk to Rebel that way, and the look of shock on his face was priceless.
“What are you smiling about?” Maya asks as she sets the platter of pancakes down in front of me. She’s still wearing my T-shirt, having added a pair of leggings, looking completely adorable with her hair piled up on the top of her head.
“I think Rebel’s met his match with the nurse Falcon hired. He’s used to pushing people around or using his charm and good looks to get his way, and she’s not having any of it,” I tell her. She gets cuter when she giggles. “I feel sorry for Falcon. He’s going to want to throttle Rebel if he continues to be a huge pain in the ass.”
Maya’s ready to sit down when the doorbell rings.
“Expecting someone?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Gertie, maybe?”
“Miss Randall. Miss Randall, are you there?” The voice sounds desperate. “It’s important.”
Maya moves to the door, but I beat her to it and find her student Josh on her stoop, looking anxious and worried. Maya pops her head around me. “Josh? What are you doing here? Do your parents know where you are?”
“Calvin’s in trouble. He calls me every night, and he didn’t last night. I’ve been calling and calling, and he’s not picking up,” he says in a rush. “We have a system. He calls, and I know he’s good. He didn’t call.”
I hook an arm around the kid’s shoulders and draw him inside. “Josh, what aren’t you telling us? Maya’s told me you’ve been dropping hints, and maybe it’s time to spill it. We can’t go barging into Calvin’s house without reason, and it’s not enough that he didn’t answer your call.”
“I promised,” Josh replies, completely distraught.
“I understand loyalty. I get it better than anyone. But we can’t confuse loyalty with doing right by your friend. I got my brothers, and I swear to God, if any of them need me, I’m there. But if they’re doing stupid shit, I call them on it.”
“Calvin’s the only one who takes care of her, and she’s batshit crazy,” Josh says.
“Who are you talking about?”
“His mother,” Josh sighs. “She goes off her meds and then gets violent. Last time, she almost killed herself and Calvin.”
“Where’s his dad?” Maya asks. She’s already pulling on her coat and handing me mine. Neither of us would be able to ignore what Josh is saying.
“Away, on business,” Josh replies with a sneer. “He doesn’t care. He’s gone all the time to get the hell away for her.”
“Don’t move, either of you,” I order and grab my phone. “Yeah, man. Sorry. I need your help. I’ll explain it on the way. Five minutes.”
Phoenix comes over immediately and rides in his own car behind us with Kailyn by his side. After being apart, she’s not going to let him out of her sight. Josh is riding along with me and Maya, directing us to Calvin’s house.
“You two stay put,” I demand, and get out of the truck. Phoenix and I walk up to the door. The closer we get, the louder the voices are inside.
“Mom, stop! Mom, please, you’re going to hurt yourself. Put down the knife. Please!” That’s Calvin’s voice, and he sounds frantic. There’s a thud like something being knocked to the floor. I try the door, only to find it locked. Phoenix kicks the door open, leaving it hanging on its hinges.
Calvin is on the ground over his mother, attempting in vain to wrest a knife out of her hands. There’s blood on her nightgown, and I can see that both are going to need stitches. Calvin’s hands are stained red with blood.
I step in without a second thought, squeezing her hand and forcing Calvin’s mother to release the knife. It clangs to the tile floor. Phoenix drags Calvin away while I assess the damage to his mother. She has marks on her wrists, thankfully not deep enough to cause her to bleed out, but I think that’s thanks in part to Calvin doing his part to keep her from committing suicide.
“Let me go!” she cries. “It’s time for me to go. I can’t be here anymore. It’s too hard, it’s just too hard.” She sags and begins to weep uncontrollably. She needs help. Help that none of us are qualified to give her.
“Call for an ambulance,” I shout. While Phoenix does that, Calvin inches closer to his mother and gathers her up in his arms.
“I’m here, Mom. I’ve got you,” Calvin says, rocking her back and forth soothingly.
“No, no. Let me go,” she murmurs, but she’s stopped fighting him and isn’t thrashing about, which is a good sign.
At the sight of the ambulance, Josh, Maya, and Kailyn rush through the door. Josh breaks down in tears next to Calvin, who also begins to weep, while the EMTs give Colleen, his mother, a sedative and strap her onto the stretcher to take her to the hospital.
Maya and Kailyn huddle around them like mother hens, and Phoenix and I decide what to do next. We move them out of the room and into the den.
“Now what?” Phoenix says.
“We take pictures. I want his father to see what he left his son to deal with,” I say angrily.
“What’s that going to do?” Phoenix raises his brows, his hands on his hips.
“Maybe nothing, but I think we need to be thorough.”
“Never a dull fucking moment,” Phoenix mutters. “I’ll do this while you talk to the boys. We need the full story, and they’re the ones with the answers.”
I let out a heavy breath. I hate this part. For one, no kid should be put in this position, trying to deal with a mentally unstable mother. And secondly, it brings back horrible memories of my past. When I walk into the room, I catch Maya’s eye, then nod toward the door, silently asking for her to leave me alone with the boys.
I wait for the three of us to be alone before pulling up a chair and sitting in front of them. Josh jumps in to protect his friend before I can get a word out. “This isn’t Calvin’s fault. He shouldn’t get in trouble. He did what any kid would do to take care of his mother.”
“Hold up, Josh. I’m not playing the blame game.” Josh relaxes and sinks back into the seat cushion. I look from one to the other. “How long have you been keeping this secret?”
Neither responds, dropping their gazes to their laps.
“Okay, I’ll piece this together myself. Let me know how I do. When you were away from school for that month, it was because your mother had an episode, and I’m going to guess that you were injured because of it. Your dad is hiding the truth because he doesn’t want to face the fact that his wife is mentally ill and doesn’t want to see that his perfect life isn’t perfect.” Both raise their heads. Calvin’s clearly desperately trying not to cry. “How am I doing?”
“Dad doesn’t know how to handle Mom. I’m the only one who can get her to stop crying,” he says, adding, “Most of the time.”
“But not always,” I point out. “Your mother isn’t your responsibility. You’re a kid. A smart kid with the right intentions, but you’re in over your head with this. Your mother needs help. It’s not the kind of help you can give her. She needs professional medical treatment. That also isn’t your responsibility.”
“But—”
“No buts. Your father is being called, and he needs to step up and be the husband he needs to be for his wife. In the meantime, you should be with people who care about you,” I say.
“He’s coming home with me,” Josh jumps in.
“Your dad might not like that very much. He doesn’t even want us hanging around together,” Calvin says sadly.
“That’s because you wouldn’t let me tell him the truth,” Josh counters.
“Your parents won’t want you hanging around a fucked-up family. What if I have what Mom has? You think your parents will want me around, then?” Calvin asks.
“That’s bullshit,” I tell them. “Your mother is sick and isn’t getting the help she needs. If she were, this wouldn’t be an issue. Colleen is sick, not crazy. Mental health issues are an illness, just like cancer or any other illness. The treatment might be different, but that doesn’t mean we stick people in a room and forget about them. We search and find the right treatment and give them a chance to lead a happy life.”
* * *
Later that day…
“Calvin’s coming home with us,” Josh’s father says. “We have an extra room, and we’ve spoken to his father.”
So far, Calvin has a place to stay indefinitely, and his father’s coming home to handle the situation with Colleen. He’s taking a leave of absence from his job and focusing his attention on the family he’s ignored to the point that his son is suffering the ill effects of knife wounds on his hands and arms to stop his mother from slitting her wrists. They’ll all be going to counseling, and maybe, in time, they’ll be able to pull their family back together.
All this happens after I called Calvin’s father and tore a strip off him.
We come back to our place and find a moving van in front with Ken standing beside it giving orders to the driver. He ignores us, but I don’t give a damn. Ken leaving is a reason to rejoice.
Phoenix and Kailyn go back to their place, while Maya and I go back to our place.
* * *
A week later…
I place the wrapped gift box in front of Maya.
“What’s this?” she asks with a confused expression.
“Open it.”
Maya tears at the paper and takes out the frame with the broken key encased in it. I had the caption engraved in the dark gray wood frame: Our beginning… She hugs the frame to her chest and fists her hand in my shirt to pull me down to her level. “Our forever.” She gives me a kiss filled with love.