Grown (Lumax) COMPLETE

Murder Investigation

They made it through the day, but the suffering had only began. It was night now, and they were still waiting for the police to call.

Lukas was kneeled beside the toilet, while Max threw up into it. It wasn't a pleasant activity, but he wasn't going to let her be miserable alone. "It's okay, I'm right here..." He tried to soothe her by rubbing her shoulders.

Sue stood in the doorway, watching with a pained expression. She had never seen someone terrified to the point of nausea before.

Max's nausea was brought on while they were trying to watch a movie. The movie was mostly harmless, except one scene. Where a man makes a joke about organ trafficking. Of course, Max's mind ran wild.

"Is she still throwing up?" Charles came by the bathroom.

"I think she's done." Lukas helped her stand up. She was trembling, there wasn't even a drop of water in her system anymore.

"I'll warm up the car, let's take care to the hospital." Charles suggested, he could tell Max needed professional assistance.

"Okay... I'll help her get ready." Lukas offered her some mouth wash, to get the nasty taste of vomit out of her mouth.

Max rinsed her mouth out and looked into the mirror. She looked a lot like her mom, and even that was triggering. "I'm never going to see her again..." Was the first sentence Max spoke that day.

"Shh, yes you will...the police are doing their best..." Lukas actually thought the police were slacking, but he wanted to force himself to be positive for Max. "We're going to get you some help, you're sick."

"Mn, no...no hospital." Max rubbed her face, most of it felt numb from sheer panic.

"You're really sick, darling...you need some help, okay?" Lukas fixed the ponytail that he had sloppily put her hair into earlier, just as she was starting to throw up.

"No, just want to stay home...in case they call." Max coughed to clear her throat. She was starting to feel nauseous again. "I'll go tomorrow morning, but not now."

Lukas sighed and pulled her in close to his chest. "Okay, but you have to get to bed now and stay down. Drink some water too, okay?"

"M'kay...can I have some Advil?" Max had a headache that made her feel like she was shot in the head. Probably from all the crying, then the vomiting.

"Of course, I'll get you some after you lay down."

"I need to pee, give me a second." Max moved away from him.

"Okay, I'll just be outside..." Lukas left the bathroom but stayed close by.

Max eyed the mouthwash, before picking up the bottle. She noticed it burning when she rinsed her mouth. That meant it definitely contained alcohol. Her mom used to drink mouthwash during her severe alcohol addiction. Usually when there was no proper alcohol in the house, and Neil was being his usual self. Surely it wouldn't be enough to get her fully drunk, but it might be able to take the edge off of her mental pain.

Max turned away from the mirror so she didn't have to look at herself becoming her mother. She took a few large gulps of the mouthwash, trying not to immediately vomit. It burned on the way down, and left her stomach feeling radioactive. Once she was done she added water to the bottle so they wouldn't notice a large portion of it missing.

Max left the bathroom and met Lukas in front of his bedroom. "Can I have water?"

"Yes, darling." Lukas brought her into his room and let her lay down. He wrapped a comforter over her, and tucked her in. He ran downstairs and started getting her a glass of water. Then, the house phone rang. For whatever reason, that's the number the police kept using.

"I'll get it!" Sue ran to the phone and answered. If it was the police, she didn't want her son learning the news first.

Everyone, including Erica, except Max, was stood around waiting for Sue to reveal something.

The phone hit the floor and Sue became a tearful mess. "They found blood in the car, no sign of where she is...They want to consider this a potential murder investigation. They are waiting for the results to get back from the lab, to see if it's Susan's." Sue managed to explain before being consumed by her fear.

Lukas quietly took a seat on the couch and stared at the TV, there was nothing on. It was like his brain was too full to process this new trauma.

Charles comforted his wife, then sat on the couch to comfort his son. He knew they couldn't tell Max, it might kill her. "Are we still taking Max to the hospital?"

"No..." Lukas said simply and stood up. Then the room started to spin. Now that he was up, he realized how irregular his heart was beating. He was having a panic attack. Before he could faint, his dad wrapped his arms around him.

-

Both teenagers ended up in the hospital that night. Charles stayed with Lukas, and Sue stayed with Max. They were okay, physically. Though both of them were given medication to help them calm down.

"Dad, go check on Max." Lukas requested while he was falling asleep.

"I checked on her an hour ago, I'll text your mom." Charles took out his phone and sent his wife a text. Asking for an update on Max. "Mom says she's asleep now."

"M'kay..." Lukas finally started to let himself fall asleep.

About only 30 minutes after, Charles was asked to meet Sue out in the hallway. Of course he got up and snuck out of the room. Sue had told the police to call her cellphone for any important information going forward, so Charles knew this had to be something about Susan.

"What's going on?" Charles could see the confusing expression on his wife's face.

"So, the blood in the car wasn't Susan's..." Sue started, trying not to lose her last marble in the hallway. "Um...they are trying to find out who's it is...they want to question Max tomorrow, ask if her mom had any hatred towards anyone..."

Charles looked wide eyed, then shook his head. "Can't be...how much blood are we talking anyway?"

"They think whoever's blood it is, is either dead or severely injured." Sue ran a hand through her hair. "I can't do this..."

Charles wrapped an arm around Sue. "Take deep breaths honey...Is this still a murder investigation?"

"I believe so...and we had this woman in our house." Sue couldn't help but feel betrayed, and scared.

"She seems like a kind, harmless woman...I'm sure it was self defense..." Charles was skeptical, but wanted to take Susan's side. "We better get back with the kids, in case they wake up."

"Yeah..." Sue put her feelings aside and went back to Max's bedside.

-

The next morning Sue was asleep in a chair, sitting up. Her cellphone ringing violently woke her up. She answered, "hello?"

Within minutes of getting the new information, Sue sprinted to meet her husband in the hallway. "Someone called in with information, the police think they have a lead."

"Did they give details?" Charles asked frantically.

"Well, the person wanted their identity kept private. All I know is Susan allegedly went to Nancy Wheeler's apartment last night, After leaving Robin's place."

Charles thought about all the other details that they knew. "So, only Robin would know that?"

"Yeah, she's not the brightest I guess. I know where Robin lives, let's go get some answers." Sue was tired of waiting on the police.

"Sue- We don't know this girl. It seems like a bad idea to show up and demand answers." Charles tried to argue but his wife was already set on the idea.

"You stay with the kids then, I'm going to get answers." Sue declared.