Don't Say A Word

Chapter 12

Campus Police Report #32465

October 27, 2003

Subject:Kaya Reed, 18

Victim:Ted Stratton, 20

Critical Event:Per multiple witness reports, Subject was traveling east on foot near 244 NE Maple Lane. Victim was traveling west on the same road. Subject and Victim collided on the sidewalk, knocking Subject to the ground, scattering her books. Victim reached down to assist the Subject with standing, and Subject accepted the assistance by taking his hand. Seconds later, Subject let go of Victim’s hand, and fell back to the ground. At that time, she screamed loudly, and began yelling at the victim, telling him to stay away from her. Subject then got herself to her feet, and ran at the victim, beating at him with her fists. Victim attempted to restrain the subject with his hands, at which time the Subject screamed again and yelled for help. Witnesses intervened at that time, and pulled the Subject away from the Victim. Victim sustained superficial scratches to his face and hands while trying to restrain Subject. Bystanders restrained Subject until Campus Police in the area responded and took control of Subject. It was necessary for two officers to subdue Subject with restraint and calming voices. Eventually, the officers were able to subdue Subject, at which time, Emergency Transport arrived at the scene. Officer Morris completed paperwork to have the Subject transported on police hold to Palmetto General Hospital for psychological evaluation. Charges are pending.

Signed: Officer Douglas Morris, Sergeant, Campus Police, Badge Number 1534

Graham looked up, shaking his head. “No. Something’s wrong here. This doesn’t sound like Kaya at all. She wouldn’t have done this. This guy, this Ted guy, he must have said something to her that upset her.”

Sergeant Morris shook his head. “No, Mr. Reed,” he said. “There were several witnesses at the scene. Many of them stopped to help after the collision, and they saw the whole scene. Mr. Stratton didn’t say a word besides offering to help Ms. Reed up. He just put out his hand, she took it, and then she started screaming.”

“Maybe he whispered something under his breath,” Graham insisted.

“No, Mr. Reed,” Sergeant Morris said. “There were two witnesses close enough to hear. They were bending down to help retrieve Ms. Reed’s scattered belongings. Mr. Reed, the report you read is totally accurate. Your sister was unprovoked. She attacked Mr. Stratton for no reason.”

“I don’t understand,” Graham said. “She’s never done anything like this before.”

“She has no history of mental illness?” Sergeant Morris asked, his pen poised over his notepad.

Graham hesitated. He had to tell the truth. “No, actually, Kaya does have a history of some mental health issues. Since she was fourteen, she’s heard voices in her head. But they’ve always been so benign. They’re just like thoughts that she thinks the other person was having. She’s never had any voices tell her to do anything, or insult her, or threaten her.”

He recalled when he found out that Kaya thought that Jill wanted her to die in cheerleading practice, the first time he had heard any sign of her voices, but he chose not to mention that now. Back then, Kaya hadn’t reacted anything like this officer was describing. She had been calm and collected.

“No, she’s been able to live her life with no problems at all. She’s a really popular girl, really smart and funny, and she’s on the University cheerleading team.”

Sergeant Morris shook his head. “Well, it seems like maybe something’s changed. Maybe she’s experiencing new symptoms. Do you know if she had her medication adjusted recently?”

“Kaya’s not taking medication,” Graham said. “She’s never needed it. Like I told you, the voices have never interfered with her life at all.”

“Well, you can’t say that anymore, Mr. Reed.” Sergeant Morris jotted a note on his pad. “She could be facing charges of assault. And some of the things she told us about Mr. Stratton . . .”

“What did she say?”

“Well, she made some accusations against him,” the officer stated. “She was calling him a predator, and a rapist. Pretty strong words. She tried to harm him. She said she needed to stop him.”

Graham had been pacing with the police report, but after hearing all of this, he fell into the chair next to Sergeant Morris’s desk.

“Oh my God,” he said, putting his hand to his forehead. “I have to get to her. She must be so scared.”

Sergeant Morris nodded. “I think that would be okay, but you should call over there first to make sure they’ll let you see her. It might take some time to get her admitted. Things move very slowly in the emergency department. And if they don’t have any beds there, they might have to transfer her to another facility.”

“Facility?” Graham asked.

“Yes, there are a couple of free-standing psychiatric facilities in the Tri-County area. They take the overflow from the hospital. They don’t have any medical treatment, so the whole place is focused on mental health. Most of them also have drug and alcohol treatment, which actually brings me to my next question. Does your sister typically drink alcohol, or use street drugs?”

“Street drugs?” Graham sat up straight. “Not that I know of. She never has more than a glass of wine at dinner sometimes. She doesn’t like to drink because she’s worried that it might, well, that it might change the nature of her voices. But she was coming directly from campus. She had a class. She wouldn’t have had anything to drink.”

“I didn’t detect any odor of alcohol on her breath while we were restraining her. But they’ll test her for any substances in her system in the emergency room.”

“It will come out negative,” Graham said.

“Then we’ll have nothing to worry about,” Sergeant Morris said. He closed his notepad. “Why don’t you go out to the waiting area now. I’d like to have a word with Ms. Reed’s boyfriend, Mr. . . .”

“Grayson,” Graham said. “That’s his first name. You know, I’m not sure of his last name. I’ve always just known him as Grayson.”

Sergeant Morris nodded. “If you need to make any phone calls, you can use the phone in the waiting area. You need to dial nine for an outside call, and if you need to call long distance, you’ll need to call collect. Maybe you’d like to call your parents.”

Graham nodded and stood. He put his hand out and shook the officer’s hand. “Thank you so much for getting in touch with me,” he said. “I’m glad my number was in her school file for a local contact. Let me know if we need to get a lawyer or anything for Kaya.”

Sergeant Morris handed a card to Graham. “It’s been my pleasure, Mr. Reed. Call me if you have any other information, or any questions.”

Graham went out to the waiting area while Grayson went back with the police officer. He took a seat next to Gina. He put his elbows on his knees and rested his forehead in his hands.

“This is unbelievable.”

Gina put her hand on his back. “What happened?”

Graham told Gina everything. “And she might end up getting charged. Gina, something’s wrong here. Kaya must have felt really threatened by this guy to react like that. I feel like he must have said something to her, or she recognized him or something.”

“But she reached for his hand,” Gina said. “It wasn’t until then that she freaked out. She wasn’t feeling threatened until then.”

“But she got a good look at him,” Graham said. He shook his head. “At the beginning of the year, she told me that when she hears her voices, she thinks that they’re controlled by things she picks up from the person whose voice she’s hearing. Like, their facial expression, or their body language. It made so much sense to me. But this doesn’t. The guy was trying to help her get up after knocking her over. Why would that set her off like that? The things she was yelling about were harsh. She said she needed to stop him. From what?” He shook his head again. “Maybe Sergeant Morris is right. Maybe her mental illness has gotten worse. Maybe she’s seeing things going on where nothing is. Delusions. She’s never seemed to have them before, but she’s still young. And if she has delusions, that means that she has two symptoms of psychosis. That’s not good, Gina. That means that she could have more at some point. God. I’ll have to call my mother.”

Gina rubbed his back in circles. “I’m so sorry, Graham,” she said softly. “It’s hard for me to believe, too. She’s done so well for so long. Maybe your family just lucked out, and now some of that luck is gone. I really hope that the hospital can help her.”

Graham looked up. “As soon as Grayson’s done with the cop, I want to head over there. Morris said that they could end up sending her to another hospital if they don’t have room, and I want to be there if that happens. I’m worried that if I’m not, no one will tell us where she ends up.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

Graham shook his head. “It’s getting late. You can come if you want, but it will probably just be a lot of sitting around, waiting. I’m guessing Grayson will want to come. I don’t think there’ll be any talking him out of it.”

Gina nodded. “You can just drop me off at home,” she said. “I’ll clean up from all the dinner prep. You guys have to make sure to get something to eat. You’ll be no good to Kaya if you don’t.”

Ten minutes later, Grayson came out to the waiting area. “Let’s go,” he said, grabbing his jacket and walking toward the door. “We need to get to the hospital.”

They dropped Gina off, and then Graham pointed his car in the direction of Palmetto Hospital.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Grayson said, running his hand through his longish dark hair. “It’s like this is a nightmare. How can this be Kaya? I mean, you know Kaya. She’s . . . she’s not crazy!”

Graham looked quickly at Grayson. “Did she ever tell you—”

“She did,” Grayson said quickly. “She didn’t tell me the truth at first. She was too scared. But then about a month later, she came clean and she told me about the voices. It kind of made sense when she told me. I guess she got lucky when she assumed what I was thinking when I met her. I really was thinking that. But I also must have looked like I was thinking it. It was a lucky guess. But I’ve never seen her get really upset, ever. I mean, she does get mad sometimes, like when we have a fight, but it’s not irrational. She tells me, you know, when she hears them. Sometimes we laugh at them. But this . . . if she was hearing voices telling her things about this guy, she must have been terrified! She needs me. She needs us. They need to let us see her. But what if they don’t?”

Graham shook his head. “I have no idea. The most important thing is that we know where she is so we don’t lose track. Oh, God. I forgot. I need to call my mother.”

He took his phone out of his jacket pocket.

“Can you call and put her on speaker? She’ll probably want to drive out here. I don’t want her driving in the middle of the night. She’s in my call list under Mommy Dearest.”

Grayson snickered then started to look through the phone. Graham heard it ringing, and then his mother answered.

“Mom,” he said. “I’m in the car. We’re all okay, but I have to tell you something. It’s Kaya.”

Mrs. Reed was already heading for her car by the time Graham and Grayson arrived at Palmetto Hospital. They rushed into the emergency room and headed right for the desk.

“I need to see my sister,” Graham told the clerk. “Her name is Kaya Reed. They brought her in an ambulance.”

The clerk checked his monitor and then his expression changed. “I’ll have to have you take a seat,” he said. “I’ll call the social worker. She’ll be out to see you in a few minutes.”

Grayson was about to protest, but Graham grabbed his arm to stop him. They both walked over to the waiting area and fell into the plastic chairs.

“The social worker,” Grayson said. “What if the social worker tells us to go away? Man, this is wild. We know her better than them. We should be in there with her, comforting her.”

“We don’t know what the social worker will say,” Graham said. “Maybe they need to supervise our visit. They don’t know us, or if we’re safe to be around her. I mean, what if this Ted Stratton guy showed up and said he was her brother?”

Grayson lowered his head. “You’re right.”

They sat in silence, glancing at the news on the TV in the lobby. After fifteen minutes, the social worker arrived.

“My name is Mindy,” she said. “I”m working with Kaya tonight. She’s given permission for me to talk to her brother and her boyfriend. Come on in. There’s a room for us to meet inside the main doors.” She started to walk away.

Grayson ran up to her side. “Is she okay?” he asked. “She’s not hurt or anything, is she? Has she been asking for me?”

Mindy looked at Grayson and smiled supportively. “We’ll be in the room in a minute.”

Grayson looked at Graham, his eyes pleading. Graham grabbed his arm again and directed him to keep following Mindy.

When they were seated and everyone was introduced, Mindy looked at them both with a kind expression. “Yes, Kaya has been asking for both of you since she got here. She’s anxious to see you. You’ll be allowed to see her in a while, but just briefly, and not alone. It’s a hospital policy for safety. She’s calm now, but still shaken up. She’s had quite an ordeal tonight. She’s exhausted, and the doctor ordered some medication to help to keep her calm. At least for a while. Right now, we’re waiting to hear back from our community partners to see if there is a bed available to admit her tonight.”

“Admit her?” Grayson asked. “Why? Why can’t we just take her home? We can take care of her. She’d feel better if she was home. Or if she went to stay with Graham and his girlfriend for a couple of days. They could keep an eye on her.”

Mindy shook her head. “At this point, there’s no chance that Kaya will be discharged tonight. Dr. Kerr met with her earlier, and Kaya was terribly upset. She was very delusional, making comments about this man she encountered on the street tonight. She was going on and on about how he has to be stopped, and that no one else understands. She’s going through a psychotic episode. She needs continued assessment and treatment. Kaya told me about her ongoing voices. They’ve obviously gotten worse. She needs to be kept safe until we can get them under control. Dr. Kerr has put her on a hospital hold for now.”

Graham looked at Grayson, whose tears streamed openly down his face. Graham was trying to stay in control himself.

“What else did she say?” he asked Mindy. “Did she say what made her think that this guy was dangerous?”

Mindy thought for a moment. “I can give you a rundown of what she told me. She said that everything was going fine. She was going to your apartment from her class when she literally ran into this man. She fell over, and she felt silly. Her books were everywhere. She was about to collect them when he offered her his hand. She said she even smiled at him as she reached out, but then as soon as she touched his hand, he started saying things to her that scared her.”

“What kinds of things?” Graham asked.

“I’m not going to tell you exactly what she said he said,” Mindy told him, “but it was along the lines of him wanting to do things to her that were violent, in a sexual nature, and against her will. She was terrified. She felt she was in danger. That’s when she started to scream. She said she tried to alert everyone else, to get them to grab him, but instead, they all ended up grabbing at her. She was confused, and kept trying to convince them.”

“What about after the incident was over?” Graham asked.

“She said that it was clear to her that it was the voices,” Mindy said, “but that it was different than anything she had ever experienced. She said that everything went from good to bad in just a split second. She felt that there was some kind of evil lingering around her. She told me that often she feels that her voices are based on real thoughts and observations. I’ve never heard of anything like that before. Graham, it’s possible that her thoughts and feelings prior to today were based on delusions as well. I wonder if perhaps, well, if perhaps Kaya has become very adept at covering her symptoms.”

“Covering?” Grayson asked. “You mean like lying about them?”

“Not really lying, no,” Mindy said. “More like, disguising them, and not necessarily consciously. She has learned that telling others about what she’s experiencing causes them distress and might lead to her being restricted from doing what she wants. So when she’s around others, especially people who know her very well, she puts on a face like everything’s fine. She appears to have convinced everyone around her that she’s okay, but today, she was unable to do that. It was too much for her. She was stimulated by the voices, and she broke down. I’m afraid that if she doesn’t get ongoing treatment, this type of thing will continue to happen, and every time it happens, it will become more real to her.”

Graham sat stone still. He tried to process what Mindy had just told him. It couldn’t be true. Was it possible that all of these years, Kaya had been pulling the wool over his eyes? His, and everyone else close to her? Could she have really been suffering in silence, not wanting anyone to know how deep it went? Now he felt his tears rising.

“I can’t believe this,” he said quietly. “I bought into it, hook, line, and sinker. All of this time, she could have been getting help. We could have been helping her, but she didn’t let us.”

“I don’t think it was deliberate, Graham,” Mindy said, placing a hand on his arm. “I think Kaya’s not only been protecting you and your family, but also herself. It was too scary for her to admit that she was sick. It would have meant that she had to make changes in her life, changes she didn’t want to make.”

She looked briefly down at a paper on a clipboard on the table.

“Graham, Kaya says that there’s no history of mental illness that she knows of in your family. Is there anything that you might know of?”

Graham thought about it. “Well, there’s my dad. Something happened to him five years ago. Just out of the blue, he up and left us. All of us. He said he needed to get away and be by himself. Totally alone is what he said. He said it didn’t have anything to do with my mother or us, and that he still loved us very much. He said it was just something he had to do. And then he left. He took almost nothing with him. He didn’t even take his car. He took a cab to the bus station. We haven’t heard a word from him since. It’s like he vanished off the face of the earth. My grandparents haven’t heard from him either. Do you think it’s possible that he had some mental health episode, too?”

Mindy shrugged. “It’s possible. Usually psychosis presents itself to men when they’re much younger, like Kaya’s age. It can happen to older adults, but it’s not as typical. But it is something to think about.” She looked at the clock. “I think it’s time to have you go in and talk to Kaya. I’m going to have you go one at a time, and security will be present. I do want to advise you both, though, not to try to challenge her beliefs too much. We’ll do that in time, but right now, it’s not the time. Just offer support to her, and love. Let her know that you accept her, no matter how she presents herself, mental health issues or none. And it’s okay to be upset, and to cry, but please try to keep as calm as possible when talking to her.” She glanced at Grayson. “She needs to know that the people she loves can help and protect her.” Grayson nodded.

Graham went first. The door to the hold room was closed. The security officer opened it. Graham looked around before going in. Kaya was in the corner. The room was very small, the size of a closet. There was a chair that was basically a cushion to sit on, but Kaya had bypassed it in favor of sitting on the floor. There was a TV hanging from the ceiling, but it was not on. The rest of the room was completely empty. No magazines or pictures on the wall. Just a tiny room painted in a dull blue tone. Graham quickly went to his sister and got down on the floor with her. She looked sleepy, but when she looked up at him, she began to cry. She let herself fall into his arms.

“Are you okay, Ky?” Graham asked softly.

Kaya looked up at him. “Okay?” she asked. “How could I be okay? Graham, nothing’s okay! It’s all wrong. Everything. No one believes me! I know what I heard, Graham. You know what he said to me? I’ll tell you. He said, ‘I want to drag you out behind this building, behind the dumpster, and I want to fuck your brains out from behind, whether you want me to or not. And you’ll love every minute of it, if you make it out of there alive.’ Graham, that guy’s a monster! No one did anything! They said I hurt him! He’s gonna hurt someone, Graham, if he hasn’t already.”

“Kaya,” he said, taking both of her hands, looking into her eyes.

Kaya’s eyes went wide. She pulled her hands away from his.

“You don’t believe me,” she said, her voice turning raspy. “You’re just like them! You think this is all mental illness! Graham! You of all people know that I don’t lie. I don’t make things up. I heard what I heard. And I told you before, yeah, they’re voices, but they’re based on what I see. I know it!”

She looked deeply into his eyes.

“I’m not hearing anything from you right now, Graham. You have to tell me.”

She shuffled closer to him. Her eyes were pleading.

“Graham, please, tell me you believe me. Please!”