AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gunny. It’s not his name, though. He was a gunnery sergeant in the Marines.”
“So you do know his story.”
“Some of it. You’re right, he’s not going to be around here long, will probably clean up his act pretty quick. If you want to go home, or take a break, I understand.”
I shook my head. “No. I want to do this.” I told him what Gina said about Fletch talking to his brother. “They’re almost ready.”
“I think I have a place for them. It’s a halfway house, a lot of rules, no drugs, but they can come and go as they please from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Good counseling program—I know the people who run it. It’s charity, not government. The best thing is they have a process to help them integrate back into society where they aren’t just thrown back to sink or swim. If Gina and Fletch can quit the fentanyl, they’ll make it. They are the perfect candidates.”
Six hours later, the city swapped out the disgusting porta-potties and replaced them with clean units. Will argued with the city employee that they needed to do this weekly, but the employee said to take it up with his boss, he was just the delivery guy. The three veterans had left, and I wondered where they had gone—if they were going to return here, or if they had a place. Legally, we couldn’t touch my mother’s tent without her permission, but I aired it out and removed the garbage and rotting food. Some people would argue that I couldn’t even do that, but the people in this park knew me and Jane, and left me alone.
Over the course of the morning, Will had talked to everyone one-on-one, helped with paperwork as needed, passed out lists of nearby shelters and when they opened. And he had a long, private talk with Gina and Fletch. I crossed my fingers that they would take the help.
Then Will drove me to the hospital.
My mom wasn’t there.
“We couldn’t force her to stay,” the nurse said, clearly annoyed that we pressed her for information. “We suggested she stay overnight, get fluids, have us run blood work, but she declined.”
Will said, “I was working on getting a 5150.”
“But you didn’t get it,” the nurse said bluntly. “They’re rarely approved, and unless Ms. Halliday was showing signs of suicide, we aren’t allowed to keep her.”
“Where did she go?” I asked.
“She walked out.”
“Can I talk to her doctor? I’m her daughter.”
“Not unless she signed a HIPAA statement allowing us to share her private medical information with you, which she didn’t.”
I wanted to pull my hair out. “You allowed a sick woman recovering from a drug overdose to just walk away?”
The nurse bristled at my tone, but I didn’t care. I knew her hands were tied, but that was always the problem. Everyone’s hands were tied. Everyone passed the buck.
“Do I need to call security?” the nurse said.
“No.” Will gripped my arm. “We’ll leave.”
“Can you at least tell me when you let her leave?” I asked, barely keeping the anger out of my voice.
“Please,” Will added. “It would be helpful.”
The nurse frowned, typed on her computer and said, “She left at 14:30 this afternoon.”
That was only an hour ago. I looked at Will.
He nodded, understanding what I wanted without me even saying it, and we left.
We drove in ever widening circles around the hospital, but didn’t see her. An hour later, we were back at the camp. Her tent was exactly as I had left it. Gina and Fletch said she hadn’t returned. We looked until the sun went down, then Will drove me to my car. “Let me take you to dinner.”
I shook my head. “I want to go home and take a hot shower.”
He reached out and touched me. Gently. Kindly. Rubbed my arm with understanding and compassion.
He said, “She’ll come back. She always does.”
I wanted to believe him, but deep inside I knew he was wrong.
