Falling Apart

Chapter 31 - What Have I Done?

"Jess... We need to talk, can you come over?" I tell her with the phone shaking uncontrollably in my hand which is also quavering violently.

"OH-EM-GEE, Amber! What happened? Are you alright?" She screams down the phone line; almost deafening me.

"I think so... Look it's nothing too bad, I just need to speak to you..." I tell her and just as I feel her about to speak again, I just reassure her that I haven't relapsed... Even if I wanted too, there's nothing here I could do it with. This place is practically 'self-harm' proof. There are no jagged edges on the walls on corners or anywhere, only one floor so it's not like you can jump out, they don't let you keep  wired binders... I mean I guess their job is to stop people from harming themselves and to help them get their mental stability back... I can't judge them, they're the ones that know what they're doing.

"I am allowed to visit today though, right?"

"Yeah, until 6. We need the whole of the 4 hours left so come quickly, it's almost 2."

"Leaving now, I'll be there as quick as I can."

"Bye, love you."

"Love you too." And at that, she hangs up so I hang the phone back up on the wall and drop my hands into the pockets of my hoodie as I ponder down the corridor. Huffing, I slouch onto one of the chairs in the corner of the foyer. Pulling my legs up to my chest, I close my eyes and rest my chin on my kneecaps as I repeatedly take deep breaths while the images of what happened earlier floods my mind. It all happened so fast even though it moved so slowly... If that even makes sense, I don't think it does... Never mind.

When I return back to reality, I hear the voice of a news reporter coming from the TV above the doorway.

"Young man, Jacob York has been proven guilty of many things... Just like his father, James York who was imprisoned a little while ago. It is hardly surprising how similar the crimes Jacob committed to his father's however from certain perspectives, they seem worse."

They're doing a news report on Jacob. I guess he still had to go to court after we managed to get him into jail. Looks like he's also been proven guilty which lifts some weight off of my chest... Even though I'm still worrying about what I have to tell Jess. Stopping my inner dialogues, I start to listen to the man in TV again.

"This seems like one of the most interesting cases of the year because it does not stop there."

What...

"We managed to get a quote from Police Officer Williams saying, "I personally heard Jacob tell me how crimes of domestic abuse but it turns out that when we read further into his status that he was smuggling drugs and alcohol to his father using a bank account owned by someone by the name of Daniel Barnes. As some might call it, Daniel was Jacob's partner in crime and we have proved him also as guilty. The two boys are now in jail.""

The clip wasn't the best of quality but I could definitely make out the deep voice of Kevin and see his tall stance on the TV screen. I mean... I hated Daniel for my own reasons and he was a bad person but I didn't know he was doing this. I also had no clue that Jacob was getting alcohol and drugs to James... Thinking about it, maybe Daniel was in town a lot sooner than I thought. Maybe the 'trip to a friend's house' was really Jacob doing the smuggling. Ugh, I should try not to think about it too much... I don't want to be even more stressed than I already am. The last words I hear from the TV are from Kevin leaning closer to the camera with a gentle look in his eyes.

"Don't worry Amber, you don't have I worry anymore. You're safe now..."

Taking a deep breath, I see Jess stroll quickly through the glass doors that I haven't stepped out of ever since I got here. It kind of makes me feel like a prisoner but I wouldn't have the guts to confront them about letting me out of here for at least a day. They're pretty intimidating...