Lost and Found in Lavender Bay (The Lavender Bay Chronicles #2)

9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

A llan wasn’t able to get back until late that evening, and it took him being flown to Chicago and then to New York City before the final stretch home to Lavender Bay. It was almost midnight by the time his plane landed. This time, Maureen left the car in the parking lot and went into the airport, waiting for his arrival. To think she’d dropped him off to catch his flight out only eighteen hours ago. It felt like years.

He looked like she felt: old, weary, and haggard. She was so tired she felt like her eyes were crossed. There were no words spoken between them as they embraced, holding on to each other for what seemed like a long time. When they finally pulled apart, they both spoke at once.

“How are you holding up?”

“You must be exhausted.”

There was nothing to do but go in for another quick hug.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” she whispered against his neck.

“Me too.”

They walked out together to the parking lot, Allan pulling his carry-on behind him. When they got to the car, he threw his bag in the trunk and they both moved toward the driver’s side door.

“I’ll drive,” he offered.

She shook her head. “No, you’ve spent the last eighteen hours in airports and have been on four planes. I’ll drive.”

No jokes or teasing, he went around to the passenger side and got in. They buckled up, and Maureen put the car in reverse. Allan looked behind him.

“All clear on this side.”

Exiting the airport, she headed toward the entrance ramp of the thruway.

Once she’d merged with traffic, Allan said, “All right. Tell me again what happened. I’m still trying to make sense of this.”

“You and me both.” Maureen sighed, then relayed the whole story about how she’d found Everett unconscious that morning. It had been an emotionally exhausting day. She’d remained at the hospital, sending Lance and Ashley home around dinnertime with money to order pizza and wings for themselves. The last she’d heard was that her mother had gone over to stay with the kids. They were old enough to be by themselves, of course, but she figured it would be a comfort to have their grandmother around. Another adult during this awful time.

“How long will he be in the hospital?” Allan asked.

“This afternoon, the doctor said he’d be in for a couple of days to be monitored medically.”

Allan nodded .

The sky was a velvety black and the moon a golden orb. Ahead of them, the darkness was punctuated by her headlights and the red bars of the taillights ahead of them. She went slightly over the speed limit, anxious to get home.

Allan looked out the window. “I can’t believe this. When you told me on the phone this morning that Everett had overdosed, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I still can’t believe it.” He shook his head.

“Neither can I.” She got stuck behind someone who was barely doing the speed limit. Putting on her indicator, she looked over her shoulder and moved into the passing lane, moving past the slower car and getting ahead. “How did we miss this?”

“I don’t know.” In his voice, she heard the guilt she felt. They’d been pretty involved parents since day one, but to miss something as big as this felt like an indictment. It made her wonder what else was going on with her kids that she had no knowledge of. Was she that clueless? Or had trouble been floating along just below the radar?

“I know it’s late, but I want to stop at the hospital. I want to see him,” Allan said.

“Are you sure?” She looked over at him. He looked as if he’d aged considerably since that morning. But almost losing your child to a drug overdose would age anyone.

She exited the closest ramp to the hospital. When they arrived, Allan said, “Park right out front. No need to come in. I’ll only pop in for a few minutes.”

She nodded. She dropped Allan off at the front entrance and pulled up and parked in a no-parking zone.

Allan was back within fifteen minutes. As he slid into the seat, he said, “He was asleep, so I didn’t wake him.”

Maureen pulled out of the hospital and into traffic, eager to get home to bed.

“Hard to believe that kid in the hospital bed is the same kid who couldn’t do anything without his blankie,” Allan said.

She smiled at the memory of it. “He must have carried that blanket around until he was seven years old.”

“It was pretty ratty by then.”

They drove in silence the rest of the way home. The house was dark when they arrived. Allan flipped on the kitchen light as they entered.

“Your carry-on, it’s still in the trunk.” She turned to retrieve it.

“Leave it. There’s nothing I need tonight, and it’s not like I’m going to unpack it now.”

Maureen locked the door. With a quick glance, she looked around the kitchen, relieved that no one had left her a mess to deal with. But then, her mother had been there. There were no dirty dishes in the sink, no empty pizza boxes on the counter, and not a crumb on the table or the countertops. Even the dishcloth was folded in half and lying over the side of the sink, just how she liked it.

She went to turn off the light, but Allan said, “Don’t turn it off. I’m going to have a quick drink.”

“Okay.”

“Care to join me?” He pulled off his jacket and threw it over the arm of a kitchen chair, unbuttoning the top button on his shirt.

She shook her head. “I’m beat, I’m going up.”

“I won’t be long. ”

“Sure.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and he pulled her into an embrace. His warmth and solidness were reassuring.

Maureen didn’t bother washing her face. She peeled off her clothes, slipped on her nightgown, collapsed in a heap on the bed, and passed out from fatigue. But she awoke from a deep sleep an hour later, feeling as if she’d slept all night. Allan was not beside her in the bed. Getting up, she felt around the floor for her slippers and made her way back downstairs to make sure Allan hadn’t fallen asleep on the couch. His back would be bothering him in the morning if he slept there all night.

He was right where she’d left him, sitting in his seat at the head of the kitchen table. In front of him was a tumbler half full of scotch.

Maureen frowned. “Have you been drinking all this time?”

“No. I poured it with good intentions but can’t seem to get it down.”

As she stepped closer, she realized her husband of almost twenty-five years had been crying.

Immediately, she went to him, standing behind him and wrapping her arms around him. “Oh, Allan,” she whispered.

He placed a hand on her arm. “I can’t believe this! Drugs. Drugs!”

Allan rarely cried. And when he did, you knew it was about something that had touched his core.

Maureen kissed the top of his head. “We’ll get through this like we’ve gotten through everything else.”

“Will we?” He sounded despondent .

“Of course.” He was having a bit of a wobble; it was her turn to be strong and positive. It would do Everett no good for both his parents to give up hope that things could turn around.

“Come on, come to bed. Things will look better in the morning,” she said, not sure she believed it herself.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn,” he said.

“Yes.” Allan loved all those old cliché sayings and corny dad jokes, as his father had.

He stood and emptied his glass in one gulp. Maureen held out her hand, took the empty tumbler, and loaded it into the dishwasher.

The following day, Maureen and Allan met with the substance use counselor, a young woman named Naomi. She went over the various options for treatment for drug addiction: inpatient, outpatient, and residential rehab.

“Did you want a referral?” Naomi asked.

In unison, they said yes. They’d discussed it on the way to the hospital. They had no idea how long Everett had been using drugs. But they would have a conversation with him today about entering rehab.

She gave them a couple of brochures, and Maureen tucked them into her purse.

“Of course, it will depend on your insurance coverage and which facilities have a bed available,” Naomi said.

Allan folded his arms across his chest, rocking back and forth on his heels. “If we have to, we’ll pay out of pocket. Privately.”

“That can get pricey. ”

He nodded his acknowledgment.

They headed up to Everett’s room a short while later, stopping in the lobby to get coffee and donuts. In the back of her mind, Maureen remembered that both boys were due to return to college over the weekend. Everett would not be going anywhere. She’d have to make some phone calls the following day once she knew what the plan was. He might have to take a leave of absence. It didn’t matter; college would always be there. The first priority was getting him off the drugs. And keeping him off of them.

Everett was awake, with a barely touched tray of scrambled eggs, toast, oatmeal, and yogurt in front of him.

Maureen held up the bag. “We brought donuts.”

Everett replied with a nod. She set the bag down on his over-the-bed table and pushed the coffee cup toward him. Allan set the take-out tray on the table as well, and Maureen picked up her coffee and set it on the windowsill. She peered inside the donut bag and helped herself to a glazed one.

She took the one chair in the room and pulled it out from the back wall so she could see Everett better. She parked it next to the windowsill and sat down.

Allan stood on the other side of the bed, arms across his chest.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Fine,” Everett said.

“Everett, what’s happening here? Have you taken drugs before this?” Allan asked.

Everett’s voice was so low they barely heard him. “Yes.”

Allan drew in a long, sharp breath. Maureen recognized this mode of her husband’s. It was the “I’m going to get to the bottom of things so I can fix them” mode. If he hadn’t been a dentist, he would have made a great detective, something she’d told him more than once over the course of their marriage. She sat back, sipped her coffee, and set it back down on the windowsill. She pulled off a piece of her glazed donut and stuffed it into her mouth. It was sticky and sweet.

“How long has this been going on?” Allan asked.

Everett shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Allan raised his eyebrows and his voice. “You don’t know?”

Everett finally lifted his head to look at his father. “Dad, come on.”

Maureen closed her eyes. These were trigger words for Allan.

“No, you come on,” Allan said. “We almost lost you yesterday.”

“You’re blowing this out of proportion.” There was a flash of anger in Everett’s eyes.

Maureen didn’t know why, but she’d assumed Everett would be contrite. She hadn’t expected anger. This worried her.

Allan looked over at her. “Tell him what the doctor told you.”

Everett did not look at his mother.

“The doctor said if we didn’t find you until later, it would have been a different outcome,” Maureen said. “You probably would have died.” Those words sounded so surreal to her.

“They’re trying to scare you,” Everett said.

“We’re already afraid,” Maureen said. Her appetite had disappeared, and she tossed the other half of her donut into the plastic trash can beneath the television mounted high on the wall.

“And if you’re not scared,” Allan said, “you should be.”

Everett did the smart thing and kept his mouth closed.

“The doctors said you’re taking oxycodone,” Allan continued. “Where are you getting that from? That’s a prescription-only medication. Doctors don’t give that out for the fun of it.”

Everett avoided meeting his father’s eyes as he spoke. “From a friend of a friend.”

“Does this friend of a friend go to Michigan?” Allan asked.

Everett shook his head. “No, I met him at an off-campus house party.”

“And he just handed you drugs, and you took them.”

Everett made a tsk noise as if he was annoyed. “I tried it. I wanted to see what it was like. I wanted to experience it.”

Maureen spoke up. “But you kept doing it.”

Their son looked down at his hands in his lap. “Yes.”

“Anyway, we’ve spoken to the discharge planner about rehab,” Maureen continued.

Everett snorted. “I don’t need rehab. It’s not like I have a problem .”

They stared at their oldest son, stunned.

“What do you suggest, hotshot?” Allan asked. Beneath his calm exterior, Maureen sensed anger duking it out with disbelief. She knew how he felt. “You’ve been taking this stuff for what, a year?”

“I don’t know. Less than a year.”

“More than six months?”

Everett hesitated. “Yes. ”

This was disheartening to Maureen. Again, how had they missed this? Granted, he’d been away from home, but he’d been back as recently as Christmas.

“Why?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Everett shook his head. His attitude suggested he was fed up with all the questions.

“Your mother and I only want to help you, Everett,” Allan said quietly. “We’re concerned.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dad,” Everett said. “I can quit anytime.”

“That’s great to hear. You can quit today.”

“I already have,” Everett lifted his chin and stared at his father, his attitude defiant.

“Is everything all right at school?” Maureen asked.

He was about to answer, but Allan interjected. “Tell us the truth.”

“It’s not going too good,” Everett said.

“Are you failing?”

“Yes.”

“All right, we’ll deal with the issue of school later,” Allan said. “Right now, I think our best bet is to get you into rehab. The discharge planner has given us a couple of names of treatment facilities for addiction issues.”

Maureen pulled the brochures out of her purse and set them on the table in front of her son. “There are some nice places. They even have an inpatient program here at the hospital if you’d prefer that.”

Allan spoke. “Look them over and think about where you want to go. All these places have beds available, but you’ll have to decide today, because you’ll probably be discharged soon. ”

Everett didn’t even glance at the brochures. He looked at his parents and shook his head. “No, I’m not going to rehab. I don’t need it. I can handle this myself, without anyone’s help.”