The Falling of Lauren Johnson

Chapter Four

The rest of the week passes by more quickly than I expect, and by the time Friday rolls around, I'm more worried about my father than any sleepover. I walk down the hallway to his room at 7:08 on Friday morning and stand in the doorway. He lays in a crumple of sheets on the bed, and I can see the unnatural shades in his skin as the light shines in through the window. I hear him mumble something, and I walk in closer and sit on the edge of the bed, hoping to hear what he's mumbling.

His lips move and I only catch, "drugs", "help", and "overdosed", and these words leave me thinking the worst. I hurriedly leap from the bed and head into my room, throwing on my school uniform and a long pair of socks that go past my knees. I quickly glance in the mirror and notice my disheveled appearance; my skirt pull up to high, my blouse wrinkled and improperly tucked, but regardless of what I look like, I know need to go get some help for my dad. I throw on my sweater and run into my dad's room one last time to check on him. He looks at me with bloodshot, droopy eyes.

I give him a quick kiss on the cheek, and whisper to him "I'm going to go get you some help, Daddy. I love you." He shakily pulls his hand up to my head and grabs a strand, testing the weight in his hand. He drops it and whispers my name to me, telling me to go. I book it out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the house with my school bag strung over my shoulder. Instead of heading towards school, I run towards the Police station in the middle of the sector.

My feet move faster than I ever thought possible, and I fly into the doors gaining a couple of glances. An officer meets me before I can reach the front desk.

"Are you okay, Miss?" He asks.

I shake my head, "Its my dad, he needs help."

"What's wrong? What's happened?" He asks.

I bite my lip. If I tell him he does drugs and he overdosed, he's going to get locked up. I suck in a deep breath, "If I tell you, you have to promise that he's not going to get in trouble."

The older looking officer sticks his pinky out and whispers "I promise". He tells me to go wait outside and he'll meet me there. I watch him run back into the station, and I run back outside to wait for him. A minute later, he runs out the door and over to me.

"Alright, what's going on?" He asks.

'Well, my dad, he's been taking drugs and he's not doing so well. I think he's dying, and I need to get him to the hospital."

The officer nods and directs me to his patrol vehicle. I quickly repeat my address to him and he's speeding off towards the house as soon as I'm buckled up. Within half a minute we arrive in front of my house. I sprint up to my front door with the officer close behind me. I push the front door open, and my mom whips her head up towards us. I start running up the stairs with the officer on my tail.

I hear mom run after us yelling, "Lauren, What's going on!"

I push the door to my father's bedroom open and I see him laying there, looking worse than before I left him. The officer runs over to my dad, and checks his breathing, and then sends a message via ping inaudibly. My mom runs into the room with her eyes ablaze.

"Lauren Olivia, what have you done?" My mother scream furiously.

The officer steps between us with eyes toward my mother, "She saved his life. You're husband has overdosed on what seems to be some extremely potent synthetic drug. Have left like this much longer, he would have died. I've called the hospital and they're sending of team of paramedics to stabilize him and bring him in for dialysis."

My mother, still frantic, continues yelling, "What's going to happen to him? You said he's going to live, but you're going to lock him up, aren't you?"