Chapter 47
Eric
W e're all piled in the bathroom, the only room close enough to the living room in case we need to intervene. Ethan balled his fists up, gritted his teeth, and I could already see the force with which he's ready to put some damage in that wall. He's as easy-going as the rest of us. A little more serious, sure, but laid back.
He's also had a rough past, pretty similar to Lily's, except he was his mother's caregiver as a kid and has a lot of suppressed issues. It's one of the reasons he travels with us and will make sure we stay in luxury accommodations. Whenever his anger reaches a boiling high, and he wants to break something, leaving his immediate environment and booking somewhere nice reminds him that he's no longer that kid in that cramped apartment, trying to keep his mother calm and withholding his own feelings. It reminds him he's grown, and he's taken himself and his mother out of it, and that he can channel his emotions into other things.
I could imagine being here in this cramped house with Mrs. Thornbread, helpless in one room, and Lily, the woman he cares about, being disrespected by that waste of space, was triggering everything and taking him back to that place he managed to escape. We're all on the verge of popping a blood vessel.
"Hey!" I attempted to snap him out of his rage although I knew that's near to impossible. Lily's soothing words and gestures came close, but as long as that man is still in this house, breathing the same air as her, none of us are going to be able to keep from wanting to hurt him so bad, he never steps foot in her presence again.
"What?!" Ethan yelled.
"Don't punch the wall," I reminded him.
He paled when he realized the effect it would have on Lily and her mother. It's the reason they fixed the walls in the first place. Not only that, but the implications it would have, that he'd be comparable to her father. He looked around the cramped bathroom in desperation, stepping out into the hallway for some air. Sinking down against the wall onto the floor, he dropped his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry. I just wish we could..." He gritted his teeth.
"Kill him," Matt finished.
Ryan and I blanched, turning to look at each other. "Stop him," I said. "Not kill him. We wouldn't go that far." I gulped.
"Would we?" Ryan asked.
Shaking my head, I rose from my spot on the bathtub. "That's not who we are. What the fuck is wrong with you?" I asked, slapping Ryan and Matt upside the head.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I ignored it, but it continued to vibrate, so I pulled it out.
"Fuck! We're just desperate. That thing is a parasite," Ryan growled.
There's a message from a number I don't recognize.
' Hello Eric,
This is your father's nurse...' The first text message started.
Nurse? Since when has my father had a nurse? I wrestled with the conversation around me and scrolled through the message with my heart in my mouth.
"What if we pay him off? Couple million? That should get him out of the picture." Ethan perked up.
"I've thought about it, trust me, but..." Matt began.
"Those parasites don't know when to stop. If you give him, there's no guarantee it will keep him from harassing Lily. He'll just find a way to keep coming back for more," Ryan finished.
"Eric, what do you think?" Ethan asked. "Eric?"
"Huh?" I looked up from the message, my heart in shambles.
"I can't believe you'd rather be on your phone. What the fuck could be more important right now?" Ryan asked.
Clearing my throat, I shoved my phone back into my pocket. "Nothing. I agree with Ryan. Paying him off isn't a solution; it's a problem," I said, hiding the devastating news I'd just received.
My father had been diagnosed with PTSD, along with my mother. They found this out recently when he thought my mother was an enemy and pulled out a gun. She, realizing she was unarmed, ran for cover. They'd both been retired a little over a year and hadn't shown any signs of the condition. My parents hadn't been violent toward each other in the years I'd known them. They'd always treated each other with respect, which is why when their neighbor heard the commotion, they called the police.
He was held overnight and met with a mental health professional. My mother, who had to be coaxed out of the bathroom after having a nervous breakdown, was also admitted into psychiatric care until she could advocate for herself.
Guilt found a breeding ground inside me. All of this occurred over a series of weeks, and I had no clue. My mother accepted the hospital's offer of a live-in nurse since they could only be released into the care of someone who could keep an eye on them and monitor their recovery. The nurse thought it would be a good idea to come down and visit them.
I'm at a fork in the road, and I'm not sure which path to take. I haven't seen my parents in months, and the thought of having this all happen to them without my knowledge. What if the gun had been loaded and he'd shot my mother? What if he'd managed to break down the door? She could be dead right now, and he could be in jail. I've already not spent much time with them and haven't thought much of it until this moment.
But Lily. Her life could also be in danger, I can't leave her here to face this all by herself. She's not by herself, I'm reminded.
The bathroom grew hotter, and my stomach turned. I didn't want to leave her, but I knew she'd be in good hands with Ethan, Matt, and Ryan. A small flutter of relief made its way through the storm inside my body, and it dawned on me how grateful I was that I'm not the only man in her life. In moments like these, I appreciated that this could be a long-term dynamic for all of us. Not just a one-off.
Because the truth is, I had to visit my parents. And as long as the other guys didn't do something stupid like kill the guy, I'm sure everything would be okay, because just like me, they won't allow a single hair on her head to be harmed.
Still, I hesitated to respond to the text message. Not right now, not until we brainstormed a way to remove that man from her life, without committing a crime, of course. What the fuck were they thinking?