Parents Talk- Chapter 24-February 10th 9 PM

After a third attempt at suicide, Kyle now lays in hospital bed fighting for life once again, is this his wake-up call?

            “Is he unconscious?” A nurse asks.

            “Yes. He is in shock still and all the questions that we are asking him probably isn’t helping him at the moment.” One of the doctors tell her.

            “Should we try to wake him?

            “No, he is too unstable at the moment.”

            “Dr. Samson, his oxygen levels are dropping,” another nurse tells him.

            “Hook him up to a ventilator. I don’t know why he is acting badly towards the taser shot?”

            “The shot might have messed up the electric current in his neuro system which could have paralyzed him.” The nurse says.

            “Do you really think is that what happen?” Dr. Samson asks skeptically.

            “Yes, I do. I’ve seen it before in a few other cases where the victim is shot in the back with a taser gun and their electric current is messed up because of it.”

            “So is there a possibility of paralysis?” Harry asks.

            “There very well could be. That is temporary because his body needs to gain control back over his body, or if the taser completely messed up his neuro system permanently.”

            “I didn’t think that trying to save my own nephew from trying to commit suicide a second time would end in paralysis.” Harry’s head droops down.

            “You did what you had to do, Harry. At least he isn’t dead,” A voice from behind said.

            “Heather?” Harry turns around and notices that Kyle’s mom, Heather, is standing behind him.

            “I rushed down here as soon as I heard he was back,” another voice trails behind Heather.

            “Dr. Kanes, he is unconscious at the moment, and was shot in the back with a taser,” the nurse tells him.

            “So what exactly happened, Harry?”

            “When I got your call about Kyle’s mental state and his impulsive behavior, I rushed down to his house. From there, my crew and I waited for a few minutes and Kyle arrived. He wanted to be shot, but I wouldn’t let that happen. He was resistant, but he let me take him back here. He told me what happened about Brad today, which I am devastated to hear about, Heather,”

            “It’s okay, Harry,” Heather tells him as a few tears run down her face. “It’s just been an extremely stressful day for all of us.”

            “Anyways, from some point during the car ride he decided he was going to make a run for it to jump off the cliff just beyond the road across from the hospital here. He slips through my hands because I had him in handcuffs because that is our policy. He is a fast runner let me tell you, but I had no choice to taser him when he got close to the cliff.”

            “Heather is right, Harry. You did what you had to do to prevent Kyle from doing what he was going to do.”

            “I just hope I didn’t cause any significant damage to him.” There was a few glances swapped between everybody until someone broke the silence.

            “Heather, I left a room open for you, and Tim to meet me at. It’s the first one on your right just passed the waiting room outside.” Dr. Kanes tells her.

            “Okay, thank you.” Heather says slowly leaving the room. “I love you, Kyle,” she tells him. A few more tears ran down her face as she walked away quickly.

            “How has he been doing, Dr. Samson?” Dr. Kanes asks him.

            “Well, we are going to let him rest for the night, and then try to wake him up in the morning, but in the meantime I ordered a CAT scan of his back to see if damage was done to his back.” Dr. Samson tells him.

            “That sounds like a good plan, but just before you wake him up his hands and his feet need to be tied down so he won’t go anywhere.”

            “Okay.”

            “So I will be back tomorrow morning for Kyle’s release because he isn’t going home.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Well, the last time he tried to commit suicide, I told him he didn’t have to go to the mental hospital because he wanted to prove to himself, the doctors, and his family that he would overcome his ordeal on his own, but if he attempted or thought about it again, he would end up in the mental hospital for further evaluations.”

            “Did you have suspicions that you would see him again for another attempt?”

            “You know, I really didn’t know because he sounded determined the overcome it, and everything has seemed to be going well, but all the events of today must’ve triggered something again. You know, I realized something.”

            “What’s that?”

            “Kyle seems to regret everything he does after he did it. It’s like he does everything on impulse.”

            “So he has impulsive behavior?”

            “Usually something triggers it, and then he can’t control his impulsive behavior.”

            “Has he ever been diagnosed with any mental disease?”

            “Not that I see on his records, but I never took any consideration of a mental disease. I just put him on a strong dose of antidepressants.”

            “But it wouldn’t control his impulsive behaviors. That’s probably why he attempted again. His brother being dead most likely triggered his impulsive behavior, and he couldn’t control himself. In his mindset he needed a way out, and in his mind the only way out was suicide.”

            “Oh my god, Dr. Samson! Why didn’t I notice this before?”

            “If I were you, I would suggest getting a test done to see if he has panic disorder because that is the disease that is most linked to his signs.”

            “Okay, thank you for your input, Dr. Samson.”

            “You’re most welcome.”

            Heather slowly makes her way down the hall adjacent to the waiting room to a private room. She scrolls just pass the door and sees her ex-husband. His face buried into his arms, sobbing loudly. She brushes her feet along the carpet into the room, and manages to make her way over to her husband. She lays her gentle hand on his shoulder as a gesture to let him know that she was there. He looked up at her. Tears running down his red face. Time is moving slowly, almost like a movie emphasizes a dramatic moment, but this isn’t staged. Nothing can be staged here, and as time as almost instantaneously fast forwarded, they embraced in a tight, squeezing hug. Their love may have been diminished a long while ago, but the things that have brought them together in the first place has brought them together once again, their children. All their crying and tears were slowed when Heather broke the silence.

            “Where have we gone wrong, Tim?”

            “It’s nothing we can control,” Tim tells her in between gasps for air.

            “We are their parents, we had every control to protect them, and we failed!” Heather wailed.

            “We had no control what that drunk driver did. He hit Brad�"he was an innocent victim taken in a terrible way. I will find out who killed him, and I will kill him myself!”

            “Tim! Don’t be crazy! We have other problems to deal with other than that. We will get justice. What about Kyle?”

            “We’ve got no other choice right now, Heather. We gave him a chance to heal, but the medication isn’t working.” 

            “So, what are you thinking?” Heather asks.

            “He needs to go into the mental hospital. They need to work with him one-on-one.”

            “Do you think that’s best?”

            “Yes, but we have to see what Dr. Kanes has to say when he comes in.”

            “You’re right, you’re right.”

            “I’m sure he will agree with us because remember what he told Kyle the last time he was in the hospital. If he ever tried any life threatening action like that again, he would have no choice to put him in the mental hospital.”

            “That’s right, I remember that now.”

            Heather and Tim were left waiting about twenty more minutes, and they still heard no word on when Dr. Kanes was going to meet with them.

            “You know what breaks my heart?” Tim asks Heather. Heather gives him a glance of acknowledgement. “We were so focused on getting Kyle back here that we never got the chance to say goodbye to Brad.” A sudden tear appears on Heather’s face�"a couple more follow suit. She wipes away the rest of the tears and brushes her nose with her sleeve.

            “I think it’s best to go home after we talk to Dr. Kanes. It has been an absolutely terrible day. Everything is still processing…nothing seems real right now.

            “I know, I know, it is getting late,” Tim checks his watch. “Wow. It’s almost nine.”

            “We still need to arrange the funeral for Brad.”

            “We will worry about that in the coming days.” Just as soon as Tim finished that very sentence, the door is being knocked on. It slowly creeks open.

            “Mom? Dad?” A weak and frail voice said.