I’m coming begging for money, or some kind of Hallmark Channel reconciliation. I just want to find him.”
“I know,” was all Aaron said. They looked at each other for a long moment, and Janie would have reached over and kissed him if there weren’t two teenagers in the next room. They were startled by the roaring bark of a heretofore unseen black lab coming from the backyard, followed by the sound of a door opening. Linda was home.
CHAPTER 12
AARON
An hour later, Janie was still staring at Linda with a look of disbelief on her face. Aaron could tell that she was overwhelmed, but he wasn’t sure whether he should intervene or butt out. So he sat back and waited.
“I still don’t understand. I mean, where is he now?”
Linda, a middle-aged woman with short, frosted-blonde hair, gave Janie a look of sympathy. “He’s in a facility back in Alabama. Birmingham. He’s been there for over ten years now.”
“Does anyone ever go and see him?”
“I go once or twice a year. Last year I took Christina with me.” Janie’s face was pained. Linda signed. “I know it sounds cruel, but he doesn’t want or need visitors. It upsets him. He’s convinced that we are all out to kill him. His doctors say that it takes him weeks to calm down after we come to visit.”
“Isn’t there medicine or something that will help?”
“They’ve tried a lot of different things. Schizophrenics react differently to different meds. Ken’s been on several different experimental drugs, but the effective doses are usually so high that they cause all kinds of horrible side effects.”
“Like what?”
“Well, a few years back the doctors thought they’d found a new drug with some real promise, but within a week he was having involuntary muscle spasms. They got increasingly worse, and then he started having seizures, so they discontinued it.”
“It’s just so sad,” Janie whispered. “I don’t understand why they can’t find some way to help him.”
“He’s not miserable, honey,” Linda said, reaching out to cover Janie’s hand with hers. “They have him on anti-psychotics and tranquilizers. For the most part, he’s calm. He reads books and watches some TV. He’s in group therapy and individual therapy. They teach him how to cope when he’s feeling overwhelmed or frustrated.”
“But he’s not well enough to see me? Does he even want to?” Janie’s voice broke, and Aaron wanted to take her away from this house, these people. He knew it was going to be bad news. Why didn’t he do more digging before bringing her here to be ambushed?
Linda’s frowned. “I think at some level he does. But you have to understand, he has demons. Voices that feed him lies. He was convinced for decades that your mother wanted to kill him. Just the mention of her name would send him into a panicked rage.”
“Does he know she’s dead?”
“No. I called the hospital, but they thought it’d be best to wait for a while to tell him. He’s been having trouble with his latest medication, and they don’t think he’s stable enough to handle it.”
“Do you think he’d agree to see me if he knew mom was gone?”
“I don’t know.” Linda looked contemplative. “You looks so much like her. I’m not sure he’d be able to handle it. And I’m not sure they’d allow you to see him anyway. For your own safety.”
“But it can’t hurt to try. If he gets agitated, I could always leave.”
“Janie, listen.” Linda took one of Janie’s hands and held it between her palms. “Your mother never told you anything about why she left your dad?”
“No, I told you. She always said he was a one-night stand, and that she didn’t know his name.”
“Okay.” Linda took a deep breath, then cleared her throat. “Okay. The truth is, Ken got it in his head that Elaine was cheating on him. She wasn’t, of course, but he was convinced
“I know,” was all Aaron said. They looked at each other for a long moment, and Janie would have reached over and kissed him if there weren’t two teenagers in the next room. They were startled by the roaring bark of a heretofore unseen black lab coming from the backyard, followed by the sound of a door opening. Linda was home.
CHAPTER 12
AARON
An hour later, Janie was still staring at Linda with a look of disbelief on her face. Aaron could tell that she was overwhelmed, but he wasn’t sure whether he should intervene or butt out. So he sat back and waited.
“I still don’t understand. I mean, where is he now?”
Linda, a middle-aged woman with short, frosted-blonde hair, gave Janie a look of sympathy. “He’s in a facility back in Alabama. Birmingham. He’s been there for over ten years now.”
“Does anyone ever go and see him?”
“I go once or twice a year. Last year I took Christina with me.” Janie’s face was pained. Linda signed. “I know it sounds cruel, but he doesn’t want or need visitors. It upsets him. He’s convinced that we are all out to kill him. His doctors say that it takes him weeks to calm down after we come to visit.”
“Isn’t there medicine or something that will help?”
“They’ve tried a lot of different things. Schizophrenics react differently to different meds. Ken’s been on several different experimental drugs, but the effective doses are usually so high that they cause all kinds of horrible side effects.”
“Like what?”
“Well, a few years back the doctors thought they’d found a new drug with some real promise, but within a week he was having involuntary muscle spasms. They got increasingly worse, and then he started having seizures, so they discontinued it.”
“It’s just so sad,” Janie whispered. “I don’t understand why they can’t find some way to help him.”
“He’s not miserable, honey,” Linda said, reaching out to cover Janie’s hand with hers. “They have him on anti-psychotics and tranquilizers. For the most part, he’s calm. He reads books and watches some TV. He’s in group therapy and individual therapy. They teach him how to cope when he’s feeling overwhelmed or frustrated.”
“But he’s not well enough to see me? Does he even want to?” Janie’s voice broke, and Aaron wanted to take her away from this house, these people. He knew it was going to be bad news. Why didn’t he do more digging before bringing her here to be ambushed?
Linda’s frowned. “I think at some level he does. But you have to understand, he has demons. Voices that feed him lies. He was convinced for decades that your mother wanted to kill him. Just the mention of her name would send him into a panicked rage.”
“Does he know she’s dead?”
“No. I called the hospital, but they thought it’d be best to wait for a while to tell him. He’s been having trouble with his latest medication, and they don’t think he’s stable enough to handle it.”
“Do you think he’d agree to see me if he knew mom was gone?”
“I don’t know.” Linda looked contemplative. “You looks so much like her. I’m not sure he’d be able to handle it. And I’m not sure they’d allow you to see him anyway. For your own safety.”
“But it can’t hurt to try. If he gets agitated, I could always leave.”
“Janie, listen.” Linda took one of Janie’s hands and held it between her palms. “Your mother never told you anything about why she left your dad?”
“No, I told you. She always said he was a one-night stand, and that she didn’t know his name.”
“Okay.” Linda took a deep breath, then cleared her throat. “Okay. The truth is, Ken got it in his head that Elaine was cheating on him. She wasn’t, of course, but he was convinced
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