Just as I Begin to Fade

Forty One. Heaven

Lindsey opened the door when he heard somebody pull up outside the house, however, he was a little taken by the fact that Gwen was getting out of Bobby's sports sudan and he got up even though he hadn't heard her motorcycle; he just knew it was her.

Gwen hopped out of the car rather quickly and she clipped her hair up. "How's she doing?" as she romped forward, moving passed him.

"She's still asleep," he assured.

"She never took any sedatives, did she?"

"I'm..." he paused and shook his head. "I'm not sure."

Bobby came in behind and he lingered around Lindsey, following them only because things seened grave.

She said nothing and walked into the bedroom to see her. "Mom?" she grabbed a hold of her hand. "Mom, it's time to get up," she rubbed her forearm firmly and then reached over to pat the side of her face. "Mom?"

"What, what?" she jumped, very startled by the awakening. "What are you doing here?"

"Apparently the opposite of what you wanted. And I'm answering your four a.m. call. What do you need?" she swiped her bangs back, feeling her forehead.

"I don't know..." she shut her eyes.

"Did you take any pills?"

"One sleeping pill last night," she admitted. "I'm still so tired..." she pulled the covers higher over her bare arms and curled up. "I'm glad you're here, are you staying?"

"Yeah, I'm going to call the doctor... You need to be checked out. You could be feeling sluggish if you're still detoxing."

She nodded.

"Are you still clean?"

The woman then conveniently fell asleep, a deep sleep.

"Nice," Gwen got up and she moved passed both boys in order to get to the phone where she would call Dr. Marsters.

···

"So, what are you doing exactly?" Lindsey questioned as soon as he had the opportunity to corner the eighteen year old.

"What do you mean?" Bobby shrugged.

"It's like eight a.m. on a Saturday. I don't remember the last time I seen you not hungover on a Saturday morning. You must have crashed at Gwen's," he implied that they also must have slept together.

"So?" he shrugged again.

"She has a boyfriend."

"Not after last night, I don't think." He then crossed his arms, explaining with his expression that he wouldn't take advantage.

"Bobby, I swear, if you hurt that girl--"

"Why would I do something like that? She's a good kid, I really like her. She was all bummed out after last night---she got arrested in front of the whole school. She had no transportation and I brought her her purse."

"Why did you have her purse?"

"Because she handed it to me when the cops arresting her, handcuffed her last night. By the way, that was low, she was really freaking out that she did something wrong."

"She didn't show up to school for six days," he explained. "Technically, she did do something, but her mom cleared her absences due to what's been going on."

"Well, that's great, but that doesn't excuse the fear you inflicted on her. There was another way you could have gotten her to talk to her mom. I don't mean to sound prideful, but I think she's listening to me. The only reason she called you back this morning was because I told her to."