“You ran?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want you to be alone.”
Her breath is shaky as she tries to control her sobs, and as I reach out to brush her hair away from her face, we hear sirens outside the apartment.
“She’s going to be okay, Avalon, alright?”
She nods her head as paramedics raid the apartment, pulling her mom out of the tub like it’s nothing and placing her onto a backboard. Avalon’s eyes stay glued to her mom as they attend to her.
“She’s responding.”
Avalon’s shoulders drop. They don’t know how much of a relief those two words are.
“We’re going to transport your mom to St. Peters Hospital to help get her stable,” one of the paramedics says, looking at Avalon. “Would you like to ride with her?”
Avalon doesn’t reply. Her eyes look empty like she’s completely checked out.
“We’ll meet you at the hospital,” I respond, and he gives me a small nod before leaving to catch up with the other paramedics.
I don’t know how we’ll get there since neither of us has a car, but I felt like Avalon needed a second away from that situation.
“Stewart,” I reach out and grab her hand, “hey, you with me?” She blinks up at me, her tears mixing with the water from the shower. “She’s awake. She’s responsive, right? That’s a good thing.”
She doesn’t say anything; she just stares at the bathroom wall. As if this is just some nightmare she’ll eventually wake up from.
I hop into the tub next to her, letting the water run down my body as I pull her into my arms.
She melts into me, and her breathing slows down, returning to normal. I rub circles on her back to try and comfort her. I don’t know what to do in this situation; how do I help someone I care about when they just witnessed one of the worst things possible? So, I do the only logical thing I can think of.
I just sit with her under the water and hold her while she cries.
Thanks for coming with me,” Avalon whispers as we walk through the hospital halls. “I don’t know if I could’ve come alone.”
“Am I just chopped liver or something?” Jay wonders, causing us to look at him.
Jay seems like a great guy. He definitely cares about Avalon as if she were his own. He stayed with us at Avalon’s last night; we slept in the living room like little kids having a sleepover.
I guess the paramedics were from his fire station, so he knew something was wrong when he saw the address. Not exactly how I thought I’d meet him for the first time, and I’m sure he probablyfelt the same way, but it worked out since he was able to drive us to the hospital so Avalon could see her mom.
They moved her mom to Westlake Memorial early this morning. I guess Jay called them and wanted her to move because Westlake is the best hospital in Illinois, even though it’s kind of a drive.
“Obviously not.” She smiles. “My mom wouldn’t be getting this kind of help if it wasn’t for you.”
“The doctors told me she’ll be in here for at least a week. Her kidneys are failing, probably because of the drugs, and they’re hoping to get her healthy before—”
“Before she goes out and starts doing drugs again?” Avalon stops, turning towards Jay.
“Maybe this will be a wake-up call,” I begin.
“It’s never been a wake-up call,” she responds. “It’s only a matter of time before she returns to her old ways.”
“Maybe she’ll agree to that six-month program,” Jay adds, “the one I was trying to get her into before she met that asshole in AA. If she agrees, it’d be a leap in the right direction.”
“If she agrees to that, then maybe I’ll have hope that something like this won’t happen again.”
We reach her mom’s room, and Avalon peeks through the small glass square. Her mom’s up and watching television like this whole situation is normal.
I guess for her mom, it might be.