Chapter 20 #2
The sounds of heavy footfalls outside in the corridor and my mom’s voice end our conversation. I tense, preparing for my mother's wrath. There is nothing worse than facing my mom when she’s angry, and as sure as I am that the sun will rise, she is going to be livid at me.
My hospital room door opens, and my mom, Dad, and Julien walk inside, closely followed thirty seconds later by a doctor wearing a typical white lab coat and wrapping a stethoscope around the back of his neck.
My mom rushes over to my bedside and runs her hands all over my face and shoulders to ensure for herself that I’m in one piece. “Oh sweetheart. What happened?”
“Are you the family of Mr. Jameson?” the doctor asks, clipboard in hand.
My dad speaks up. “Yes, we are, and this is his brother, Julien.” My dad looks at Ryder. “Ryder, thank you for calling us. Can you please tell us what happened?”
The doctor gets our attention by clearing his throat. All eyes turn to him. “My name is Dr. Dukovny. I am the doctor assigned to your son’s case.
“Can they all stay in here with me?” I ask him. “I have no secrets from any of them. I’ll sign waivers if you need me to.”
“That’s fine. Your verbal agreement will do.
” He sets the clipboard down and bends over me with a flashlight to check my pupils, listens to my heart, and checks the IV drip line.
Once he’s satisfied, he sits down on a rolling stool and flips through papers on the clipboard.
“Your vitals look good. The lab work did find trace amounts of GHB in your system.” My mom’s hands fly over her mouth when she gasps.
“If you had waited to come in,” the doctor continued, “we wouldn’t have been able to find any trace of it.
From the timeline you both gave the medical staff and your symptoms, along with the blood results, it’s safe to say you didn’t ingest a large amount.
You should recover quickly. We’ll keep you on an IV drip overnight to continue to flush your system and provide rehydration just to make sure. Any questions?
“Shouldn’t my son report this to the police?” my mom asks. “Ryder said he didn’t willingly ingest this drug. It was put in his drink without his knowledge.”
“My responsibility is to provide your son with the best medical care and treatment I can and uphold doctor-patient confidentiality. The hospital is not required to report instances such as this. It’s up to your son if he would like to speak with the authorities regarding this matter.”
“No police.”
“Jayson! Why?”
“No police, Mom.”
“I’ll leave you all to discuss matters privately. Mr. Jameson, if you need anything, just press the call button. I’ll come back and check on you again before my shift is over.
As soon as Dr. Dukovny exits the room, four sets of eyes turn toward me.
“How did this happen, Jayson?” my father asks with a no disappointed tone to his voice.
“We went to a party, and apparently the beer I was handed had the stuff in it.”
“Jayson, you were drinking alcohol? You’re only seventeen years old!”
“Freda, honey, I don’t think yelling at him is going to help the situation.” Dad wraps his arm around Mom to hold her tight to his side. “Let’s let him explain.”
Julien walks over and stands by my bedside.
“Yes, Mom, we drink. We party, we have sex.” My parents’ eyes bug out like it’s the most shocking thing to hear that their two seventeen-year-old sons are having sex.
“I’m sorry if that comes as a shock to you both, but it is what it is.
We use protection, we don’t do drugs, we would never drink and drive, and we always have someone as a designated driver.
We try to be responsible and look after one another.
It’s not Jayson’s fault that someone slipped him something without him knowing.
What is his fault, however,” he turns to scowl at me, “is that you took an open drink from someone. You know better, Jay.”
He’s right. There is nothing I can say to refute that, so I just bow my head in shame, nodding to let him know he is absolutely correct.
“Wait a minute. You were with Elizabeth tonight. Where’s Elizabeth? Oh, dear, is she here too? Did anything happen to her?” Mom starts frantically rummaging through her purse to find her phone, more than likely to call Liz’s mom, Ann
Julien grabs Mom's arm. “She’s fine, Mom. Liz doesn’t drink. I drove her home and she’s fast asleep, safe in her bed. I saw Hailey when I dropped her off.”
“Thank goodness.” Mom exhales with relief.
I grab Ry’s attention. “Hey, man. Since Julien and my parents are here, would you mind checking on Liz for me?”
“I can do that.”
“Tell her that I love her. Tell her—”
“I know. I’ll take care of it.” He wraps his hand around the nape of my neck and gives it a hard squeeze. “Just rest, okay. I’ll see if she’ll come back with me before you’re discharged tomorrow.”
“Yeah, alright. Thanks, man.”
My mom launches herself at Ryder and hugs him fiercely.
“Thank you, Ryder. Thank you for bringing Jay here and thank you for looking out for him. I don’t know what we would do without you.
” She kisses his cheek. My dad is next and gives him a quick hug and a handshake, and then Ryder leaves. I hope he's able to get through to Liz.