Abby

CHAPTER SIX

"Did you hear that?" Jennie had been having trouble sleeping. She'd heard a thump. She glanced at her phone. It was two-thirty in the morning. Her husband was sleeping and hadn't heard. She got out of bed and walked down the hall. She heard something at the bottom of the stairs. She saw someone, no doubt Abby, creeping up the stairs. Jennie stepped back into the hall and waited for her to come to the top landing. As soon as Abby came to the top and turned for her room, Jennie spoke.

"Where the hell have you been?" Abby jumped out of her skin.

"Shit." She said.

"Yes, shit. Shit my mom caught me sneaking in at two-thirty in the morning." Abby sighed and turned to go to her room. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To bed." She muttered with an attitude.

"Turn around and look at me." Her mother said with a hurt Abby just couldn't deal with right then. She did as her mother said. Jennie started to cry. The commotion had woken her husband. He saw her crying and then looked at Abby. And then he looked away. "I don't know what I did wrong." Jennie sobbed. He held his wife and assured her she'd done nothing wrong. Abby looked on for a moment and then went to her room. Jason walked his wife back to their bed and tucked her in. He held her until she fell asleep.

...

Jennie didn't want to get out of bed the next morning. Jason let her sleep. Or rather lay there in misery. He went to Abby's room and knocked on the door. She didn't answer. And it was locked. He went to Aaron's room and woke him for school. He stood at Abby's door, debating whether to kick it in like he wanted to, or forget about her and leave her to herself. He knocked again.

"Abby. It's time for school." He said loudly enough for her to hear. Still nothing. He fiddled with the handle, and when it didn't budge, he went for his wife's dresser. He shuffled around until he found a hair pin. He went back to Abby's door, straightened the pin, and after thirty seconds of fiddling, popped it open. By now, Jennie and Aaron had realized there was something going on. They watched from the hall. Jason walked in ready for a fight. Abby lay on the bed on top of her covers. She wasn't sleeping. But she wasn't awake.

"Abby?" He heard his wife call out, panic setting in her tone. He knelt by her bed and held her face in his hands.

"Abby." He said loudly. "Abby, wake up." He slapped her cheek, anything to get a response. He took her pulse, and while it felt slow, he found it easily. She was breathing. She tried to open her eyes, but they rolled back in her head. Abby heard his voice. She heard him banging on the door. She wanted to answer, she really did. But she had just passed the point of nirvana, and she couldn't come back even if she wanted to. She'd come home after sneaking out and been caught. She knew this morning would be a war zone, and she wanted to get ahead of it. A little high wouldn't hurt anyone. It would probably make it easier on everyone. Except, she never could quite find that perfect spot where it was just enough but not too much.

"Dad?" Aaron said, kneeling next to him. Jason looked over. He held a needle in his hand. They both looked down at her arm.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Abby." He stood up and in one fell swoop, picking Abby up. "Aaron, go start the car." He did as he was told as quickly as he could. Jason met his wife's eyes. "It will be okay." He told her. "They'll be able to get it out of her system." She nodded and followed him to the car. They drove in near silence, Aaron driving, his mother in the front seat, and Jason holding Abby's head on his lap. He checked her pulse and her breathing constantly as they drove. He saw her eyes flutter again; he swore she moved her arm. "Abby?" He called out. "Abby, can you hear me?" Her eyes fluttered again. Jason called the hospital on their way to let them know what they were bringing in.