Breakeven

Chapter 27

"Look Kay, I shouldn't be the one to tell you this, but me and Rina think you need to know.  Danny should be the one ringing you but he's just in total denial of everything, he won't even let us in." he rambled, making no sense.

"Mark, what's happened?" I asked again.

"Adam's in hospital"

I laughed, "What's he done now?"

"I don't know Kay, but you need to get yourself back here now" he said with a sense of urgency in his voice.

"Danny would've rang if it was that serious Mark, I'll be home soon" I said, not really paying attention to what Mark was saying.

"Kay, Adam's in critical care, the place is swarming with social workers, and Danny's in denial which is why he hasn't rang you.  I'm sorry that I'm the one telling you this but you need to know."

I dropped the phone and broke down, inconsolably sobbing, how could my little boy be in a critical care unit?

Within a couple of hours I was boarding a flight back to London.  Steven had come over to stay with the girls as I didn't want to wake Alleysha and Keira and as I only booked one plane ticket, I had to persuade Jessica to stay as well.  Steven agreed to fly down to London with them at the weekend.

My mind was racing, I hadn't been able to contact Danny at all since Marks call so I didn't know what had happened to Adam, all sorts of thoughts were racing through my mind.

I sat fidgeting throughout the flight, desperate to land and get over to the hospital to find out what was happening but checking the time every few seconds was making this flight feel like it was taking an eternity.

As we finally touched down in London, I raced through the arrivals until I saw Mark and Rina waiting for me.  They still knew no more than they did when Mark rang me so we ran through the airport and got into the car where Rina took me straight to the hospital.

I was frantic by the time I got there and could hardly get my words out as I reached the reception desk, but I managed to ask where Adam was.

"Are you Mrs O'Donoghue?" a smartly dressed lady asked as she approached me.

"Yes, but I'm sorry I need to see my son." I said assuming that she was a fan of The Script.

"Catherine Pritchard" she said as her hand extended to shake mine "I'm the social worker assigned to this case, I wondered if you had a minute for a quick chat?" she asked.

"I just want to see my son, if you can help me with that, then great, if you can't then can you just let me find someone who knows what's going on" I snapped at her.

She turned and walked down a corridor, not inviting me to follow her but I did anyway.  Eventually we found a doctor who had been treating Adam.

"We believe that your son has overdosed, we're not sure what he has taken and that's making it difficult to treat him." He started to explain calmly, my legs gave way as he said this and I suddenly felt Mark's arms around me holding me on my feet. "I can let you see him but please be prepared, he is currently unconscious and we have him hooked up to a number of machines to monitor him.  Just be assured, we are doing all we can."

I nodded, unable to process what I was being told as I followed the doctor to a private room.  He opened the door and then stood aside to let me walk in.

My eyes scanned the bed, my poor little boy lay lifeless with wires linking him to machines that made an incessant beeping noise, the only thing that indicated that he was still alive.  I stood silently for a minute before my eyes found Danny sat at the side of the bed, he looked devastated, but also shocked by me being here.

As my eyes continued to scan the surroundings I suddenly felt my blood run cold. "Get him out of here now!" I said with more force and determination than I thought I had.

Danny walked over to me, tears rolling down his face, he held his arms out to me.

"I said, get him out of here" I repeated as my eyes shot over to the other figure at my son's bedside, Leroy.

Mark looked confused, "Look mate, I think you better go now." He said to Leroy, clearly not understanding why I had demanded he leave.

"I'm not going anywhere mate, Danny has asked me to be here" Leroy said defiantly.

I looked at Danny with nothing but hatred and disgust, I knew I had to keep my temper under control for Adam's sake but it was incredibly hard to do. "Get rid of him or you can get out too" I said to him.  Danny looked helpless.

I walked away from him and pulled up a seat at the side of Adam's bed.  I stroked his brow gently before placing a soft kiss on his forehead.  "It's OK son, I'm here now" I said before taking his lifeless hand in mine.

Leroy let out a laugh, "I'm going, I can't stand to watch this, are you coming?" he asked Danny as he passed.

Danny went to follow Leroy.  "Are you fucking kidding me?" Mark said to Danny, "get in there and comfort your wife."

"Just let him go Mark" I said feeling at the end of my tether and not having the energy to even acknowledge that Danny had clearly relapsed.

I felt Rina's hands on my shoulder stroking them gently, she didn't say a word.  I assumed this was her way of letting me know that she was here for me but I guess she was very confused by what she had just witnessed and didn't have a clue what to say.

I heard the door and guessed that Danny had left, this was confirmed as I heard Mark mumble "No fucking way" and then heard the door again.

I turned to look at Rina, the tears flowed freely down my face.  She pulled up a chair next to me and held me in a tight hug, stroking my back as I cried onto her shoulder.