Water Ch. 126 - Better Think Twice

 

Pacing the hospital halls, he couldn't believe he was there, and for what he was there for.  He can't believe that she did it with his children in the house and even more, he couldn't believe that she was that depressed.  Why didn't she talk to him, why didn't she call when she was at her lowest of lows.  WHY did she let Stephanie find her.  His poor Stephanie. 

 

Her stomach has been pumped and she is slowly coming around.  Opening her eyes, the light is bright and it hurts.  She sees a figure over by the window and can't make out who it was, but the figure moved when she did.  She was then able to see that it was Jon.

 

"Hey."  He turns to look at her.  It's then that she can see the unhappiness on his face.  "What are you doing here?" she asks him.

 

He can't shake the thought of how his daughter felt, it's sitting in his stomach and he really wants to puke.  "Who else did you want here?" 

 

"Anyone but you!" she barks at him.  He can hear that she's still groggy and he chalks it up to the drugs that she's being such a bitch.  He takes a mental picture of her with activated charcoal on the edge of her lips.

 

"How are you feeling?"

 

She can't look at him anymore, she can't look at the man that broke her heart and her family.  Turning her head towards the door, she asks, "Where are the kids?"

 

"With Beth."

 

"Where, with Beth?" she demands.

 

Jon hasn't the patience right now, and there are a million other places he would rather be than right here.  "They are at your house now.  She's getting them ready to take them home."

 

"They are home.  Leave them there and call my parents.  They will go stay with them until I get released this afternoon."

 

"No.  They are going to my house and they'll be be there for a while." Looking her in the eye, and he's hoping that she can see how displeased that he is right now.  He knows this was a cry for attention, and he's not falling for it.

 

She sits up in bed and finally realizes how bad she really feels.  "Jon, I took a little more sleeping medicine than I should have.  That's all.  I'll be out of here today."

 

"How in the fuck are 40 pills a little too much, Dorothea?  Explain that to me!!"  He's loud and rather animated, knowing how Dorothea can be.

 

"Go.  Just go.  I don't want you here." she tells him and she motions toward the door.  Jon feels that he's at an impasse, he wants to go, he wants to be with his kids at this time - but he has an obligation to Dorothea. 

 

He takes a deep breath, knowing the answer before he even asks, "Why did you do it?  Why didn't you call me?"

 

She's looking at him with tears running down her cheeks, "I did call you, you didn't answer."

 

"When, my phone never rang until my mom called and told me that you were here."

 

Her crying gets harder and the tears really flow, "It was about 8:30."

 

Jon takes a minute to think about what he was doing at 8:30 and why he didn't hear his phone.  He remembers.  "I'm sorry I didn't get the call Dot. Did you call anyone else?"

 

She shakes her head no.  "Who else would I call?  Everyone is on your side, they all talk about me behind my back and laugh at me."

 

He has to sit down, he's getting tired and he's mentally fried.  While he waited for her to wake up, he went over everything in his head, trying to see if there was a sign - did he miss something? 

 

"You have a ton of friends and your family, any of them would have come to help you.  You could have called 911.  What is so bad that you felt this was the only way out, Dot?"  He questions her and he wants an answer.

"Jon, you'll never understand. I don't even want to talk to you about it"

"Well, you're going to have to talk to someone about it, might as well be me." He tries to sound compassionate, but what he feels right now is very pissed off. How selfish of her.  "You do know that Stephanie found you face down, unresponsive in the bathroom?"

"Stop Jon, really, just stop!" She covers her face and begins to cry.  "Will you please leave, I really don't think you're helping me right now."

He moves close to her hospital bed and puts a hand on her leg, "I'm not leaving, what do you need me to do? Do you want me to call anyone?"  

He never even looked at his cell phone when they were called out on the middle of the night. His mom called the house land line and when they left, they just grabbed their phones as they flew out of the house.

Jon walks over and grabs his cell phone to check it. He had 19 missed calls and one text message.  He seen the text message was from Beth, and opened that.

'We love you! Call me if you need to talk." Was all the text said. That's all it needed to say.  He looked over his missed calls and seen that 5 were from Stephanie, 1 from his mom, 1 from Paul, 1 from Richie and the other 21 were from Dorothea. All between 8:00 and 8:30.  He looked to her and said, "I am so sorry I missed your calls, why didn't you call the house phone? My cell phone was in the kitchen." And as soon as he said that, he wished he could take it back.

"And where were you?" Was exactly what he knew she would ask, but she added, "Your cell phone is always on you, always!"  She got loud, she was feeling like he let her down. 

"Where my phone was isn't important, it's important that we get you well and out of here." He couldn't tell her that he was fucking Beth, not only was that not her business, but it wasn't something you tell someone that had just attempted suicide, especially when it's over you and what you have done to them.

 

She's still crying and she manages to get the words out, "I feel very abandoned by you and your family.  Your mom doesn't return my calls, unless I have the kids.  Your brothers are assholes and it seems like its me against the world.  I feel alone, overwhelmed and abandoned.  I miss you Jon.  I miss us."

 

"Dorothea, there has been no us for a long time.  And you know that - but now is not the time for this, okay.  I'm going to go get the doctor to see what the plan is.  I'll be right back."  And he left her alone in the hospital room and went out in the hall to find Dot's doctor. 

 

Pausing on the way to text Beth back.  'You have no idea what you mean to me.  What are you and the kids going to do?'  SEND

 

He look around to see anyone that looks like an MD, and when he finds one, he learns that it is in fact Dorothea's doctor.  The doctor tells Jon that she should, by all rights, be dead.  Stephanie found her just in time and her fast reaction saved her life.  Jon smiled, knowing that Stephanie has been taught well and she acts well under pressure.  The doctor tells Jon that Dorothea will be on a 7 day hold and then she will be required to go to a mental hospital and deal with the issues that caused her attempt and to give her coping skills the next time that she feels that way.  He thanks the doctor, as he feels his phone vibrating in his pocket.

 

Walking away from the doctor, he opens Beth's test.  "We are going to the house and ordering pizza.  They want to stay together and be here when you get back.  They are really worried.'

 

'Please tell the kids that she is awake and talking.  She's pretty pissed at me right now.  I'll be home in a little bit, I have over stayed visiting hours, plus she doesn't want me here.  I love you Beth!

 

He heads back into Dorothea's room and tells her that he has to go.  She is only allowed 20 minute visitors and he has been there throughout the night and most of the day.

 

"Thanks for being here, Jon.  It means alot.  I'm sorry that I have been so mean to you today.  I hate feeling like I am losing everything and there is nothing I can do about it."

 

"I understand your feelings and your thoughts, but Dot, we have been apart for years.  You can't deny that.  We'll talk when you get out of here and back home.  I have to get out of here, I'm sorry."  He walks up to her and grabs her hand, "If you need anything, please call me.  They tell me that you're here for 7 days and then you will be taken to a hospital to deal with why you did it and to learn skills to deal with it all once you get home.  Beth and I will keep the kids and make sure they are at all activities and stuff that they are involved in.  They are really scared now, and I need to go talk to them."  He kisses her on the head and whispers, "You are stronger than this."  And he leaves.  he looks back at her as he walks away, and she is a blubbering mess.  He needs to get to his children.

 

In the car on the way home to New jersey, his cell phone rings.  He looks at the caller ID and sees that it's Peter Laird, his attorney.

 

"Hey Paul."

 

"Hello Jon, how is Dot?"

 

"She's fine and she will be fine.  She's on a 7 day hold and then she needs to be inpatient for a while, but she's okay.  She had 40 sleeping pills in her stomach, can you believe that?  And Steph found her, I am so pissed.  I need to run home, talk to the kids, change clothes and then I'll meet you at the courthouse.  It will be close, but I'll be there."

 

"About that Jon."  Peter is on the verge of telling Jon something that he never wanted to hear.

 

"What?"

 

"New Jersey law states that you cannot divorce someone if they are confined to a hospital, against their will.  Dot can't be there to testify or sign anything.  I'm sorry."  And Peter waits for the Italian to come out.

 

"You have got to be fucking kidding me?"

 

"Sorry, no I'm not."

 

"My divorce was supposed to be final today, Peter.  And now this?"  Jon goes quiet for a minute and then it hits him.  "She fucking did this on purpose, she planned this.  God damn her.  There has to be something we can do?'

 

Peter, sounding very apologetic tells Jon, "There is nothing we can do.  The law is the law.  And once she gets out, she may try to pull something else.  Just prepare yourself, okay."

 

Jon knows he's lost this battle, but he'll win the war.  So he tells Peter, "Okay, please keep the ball rolling on it.  I want this done as soon as legally possible!'

 

"Will do, buddy.  Take care of those kids."  Paul hangs up.  Jon drops his phone on the passenger seat and drives back into Jersey with a blank mind.  He's so pissed, confused and hurt.  His heart aches for Stephanie and even the boys because this will be a headline tomorrow.  Jon cringed.

 

On his drive, he recalled that Beth had an OB appointment, so he called her. 

 

"Hey babe, get ready for your appointment.  We need to go to that, I need some good news.  We can drop the kids at my moms, and when we're done we will sit the kids down and tell them what happened, okay?"

 

"That's fine honey, your mom is already here though.  She's a little pissed off herself.  Ill be ready when you get here."

 

He tells her, "I'll be there in about 10 minutes.  What are the kids doing?"

 

"The little guys are sleeping.  Jesse is on the computer and Stephanie is watching a movie. They all seem okay, but they just want to know how their mom is."

 

"She's fine.  She had 40 sleeping pills in her stomach.  You should have seen her.  She had the charcoal on her face and she looked like shit.  She's pissed at me, its all my fault and she doesn't want to talk to me about it.  I'll fill you in on the rest later.  Be there soon.  I love you."

 

"I love you too, Jon.  I really, really love you."

 

And the line goes dead.