Just Breathe

Chapter Seventeen

"But she's not even prescribed Ritalin," Vanessa told the emergency room doctor.  "She's never taken it."

The doctor let out a small sigh, seeing the all-too-familiar sight of a set of disheveled parents, only now learning of a child's dependency on an upper drug like Ritalin.  It was heartbreaking to see, but had become much more common in today's climate of high stakes testing, AP classes and Ivy League dreams. She'd noticed a much higher occurrence of overdosing from kids at highly competitive schools.  Her current patient, Emilia Nadal Miranda, was no exception - Hunter College High School could be a gateway into the Ivy Leagues, but it could also mean sacrificing your mental and physical health.

"Some teenagers take methylphenidate drugs, such as Ritalin, as uppers to help them stay awake to study," she patiently explained in the hallway outside Lia's room.  The seventeen year old was stable after being pumped with drugs through an IV.  Her heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature were all now close to normal.  "Have you noticed her being up late at night?"

Lin and Vanessa locked eyes and they both knew it was true.  How had they missed all the signs?  They should have known she couldn't have been doing that all naturally.

Lin looked at the doctor and nodded.  "We've been trying to get her to ease up," he explained, rubbing the back of his head.  "She puts a lot of pressure on herself."

Dr. Cueva nodded in understanding, having heard similar stories.  At least Lia seemed to have a solid set of parents going for her.  She'd seen horror stories of parents driving their own kids into overdoses with unrealistic expectations and demands.  Lin and Vanessa seemed very level-headed, especially considering the circumstances.

"But where would she have gotten it if she didn't have a prescription?" Vanessa probed, still not completely understanding how this all had happened.

"We haven't been able to ask her yet, but our staff will when she's lucid.  I imagine it was a fellow student or a local dealer.  As I mentioned, it's fairly common among high-achieving students.  More than you'd think, unfortunately."

Vanessa rubbed at her forehead, on the verge of tears.  She'd never been the type of mom to helicopter-parent her daughter but right now she felt like there was a whole side to her daughter she didn't even know.

"We're going to keep her tonight just to be safe," she explained, scribbling a few notes on her clipboard.  "But I would recommend both one-on-one and group therapy."

"We already have her in therapy," Vanessa explained, feeling frustrated and completely helpless.  She thought they'd been doing all the right things.  They had a great kid who was a bit high-strung and a classic perfectionist.  At the first sign of trouble, they'd put her in therapy but even that hadn't stopped this from happening.

"Great," Dr. Cueva commented, handing over the piece of paper she'd been writing on.  "Here's some contact information for some good group therapy options.  If you'll excuse me, I have some other patients to check on, but a nurse should be in shortly to check on Lia."

They thanked her and both glanced at the hand-written paper.  Lin knew his wife would be on the phone first thing in the morning to start booking appointments.  In the meantime, she'd bury herself in research about Ritalin dependency.  Vanessa shoved the paper into her purse as they both stepped into Lia's room.

The stunned parents sat in the two worn chairs by the door as machines beeped around their daughter.  Lin couldn't keep the tears from brimming over his eyes, thinking of how overwhelmed and desperate Lia must have been feeling.  She'd been irritable lately for sure, but he'd chalked it up to being a regular stressed teenager, no more.  What teenager hadn't backtalked their parents every once in a while?