Lone Star Family Values

Chapter 11

Images

"If she's not attached to me then she's attached to Carlos, she sleeps next to if not in our bed, that is, if she sleeps at all, if we're not in her immediate sight line then she's a ball of nerves and anxiety until we are," TK said, leaning forward onto the counter at the fire station. "I found her sitting in the hallway outside of the bathroom this morning. She woke up and I was gone so she sat there until I got out of the shower."

            Owen took a long drought of his coffee and nodded.

"Has she tried to sleep in her room since it happened?" He asked.

            TK nodded.

"Once," He said remembering the night with a grimace. "She woke up screaming.  Carlos had to go through the whole thing again to calm her down. It took an hour to get her to stop crying."

            Owen's eyes widened.

"Are you serious? It was that bad?" He asked and TK nodded. Owen grimaced. "Where is she now?"

"Dozing on the couch in the garage," TK said, pointing to where Bailey was sitting, her eyes trailing from TK and Owen to the rest of the rest of the 126 and back again. "Carlos was called in really early this morning and the second he moved she was up and couldn't get back to sleep for a while. I think she fell asleep again about a half hour before my alarm went off."

"What time did Carlos leave?" Owen asked, curious as to how much sleep the teen hadn't gotten.

            TK looked up at his father and Owen knew that he wasn't going to like what he said.

"2:30." He muttered.

            Owen's eyebrows rocked upwards.

"TK it's 9:30, she's been up since 2:30 this morning? What time did she fall asleep the first time?" He asked.

"Last night?" TK asked. "I fell asleep around midnight and she was still tossing."

            Owen put down his coffee and leaned against the counter next to TK.

"TK this isn't good. She's running on fumes." Owen said.

"Trust me, I know. She fell asleep on the couch last night and I dropped a fry pan and she woke up in a panic. It took me almost two hours to calm her down," TK said. "Carlos has always been better at calming her down in the midst of a panic attack."

"You do just fine." Owen said, rubbing TK's back reassuringly.

"Yeah, well why do I feel like I'm failing her at every turn?" TK asked.

            Owen chuckled.

"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, son," He said, and TK looked up at him. "No parent, foster or otherwise, knows what they're doing."

            TK's eyes shifted away.

"It's never something that they want to admit. But Bailey will be in a situations that you can't get her out of. You will feel angry, scared, nervous, but most of all you will feel useless. No matter how hard you push you will never feel like you are doing enough." Owen said.

"If this is a pep talk then it sucks." TK deadpanned.

            Owen laughed.

"You can give her the tools, son. But it's up to her to use them." He said.

✵✵✵

"So why am I going with you?" Bailey asked following Carlos out to his squad car.