The Bounding

Overdose

It was a cold winter evening in Illinois, Chicago. Ally forgot her coat that day, so once again big sister came to the rescue. "Thanks again, Al." The little child spoke while holding her sisters hand. Allison smiled in return as they continued walking. "I hope mama is making her chicken soup, maybe that's why she was late." Ally said while skipping her tiny feet. "I doubt it." Allison whispered under her breath. Suddenly the little girl stopped, "What?" She questioned. Allison quickly snapped and smiled at her sister, "I bet." She said and the little girl smiled. Truth was, who the hell knew what was going on with their mother.

Their mother was going through a rough patch this past month. Allison did her best to take care of her mother, along with her siblings. They finally reached their house, as Allison was walking up the steps she heard her baby sister crying. Ally heard as well and they both ran inside. The living room was freezing and her baby sister, Alaya, was in her crib crying. "Ally, get her!" She yelled to her sister. "Mom?" She called out while tossing a blanket to her sister so she could wrap up Alaya. She left them in the living room and walked down the hallway to her mothers room. "Mom, Alaya was crying, you in the shower?" She yelled out. She finally entered the room and screamed at the scene in front of her.

"Mom!" She yelled and ran towards her.
Her mother had a needle in her arm and was unconscious on the floor. Pills everywhere on the floor. Her mother lifeless and still. She ran and sat by her and grabbed her arm. Allison read enough medical books to understand what was going on. She grabbed her mother's wrist and checked for a pulse, quickly she doubled checked on her mother's throat. Next she felt her mother's head to see if she had any swelling. She could feel a pulse and there was no sign of swelling in the brain. She heard little feet run down the hallway. "Is she dead?" A little voice called out, full of terror.

Allison quickly turned her attention to her younger sisters. "No, but we need to call 911." She said quickly leaving the room with her baby sister in her arms. "What happened?" Ally asked with tears. Allison ignored her sister and grabbed the phone. Ally was still asking questions but Allison did her beat to ignore her as she called for help.

"No sir, I don't know what she took."
"She had a pulse."
"Yes I checked."
"I just got back from school."
"Me and my sisters."
"Allison 16, Ally 7, Alaya 2 months."
She answered the questions and finally help was on the way. Allison grabbed her sisters and took them outside. "I'm scared Al!" Ally screamed. Allison held her sister close and finally the sirens became closer.

The ambulance and police arrived and the girls ran to them. "Make room." The medics called out as they put her mom in the ambulance. Allison watched as the men disappeared into the distance. A police women got out of he unit and walked over to the girls. "Hi, I'm Officer Henry, can you tell me your names?" She asked and Allison answered. She explained everything to the officer and how her mother was under stress. After the questions another lady showed up. The women looked familiar, but Allison hadn't seen her in a long time. She was Allison's social worker.

The cop and the DCFS worker talked for a while. The DCFS lady's name was Carman, she handled Allison's cases in the past. Allison has her attention focused on the cop and Carmen, until a little voice call her name. "Are we going to live somewhere else?" Ally asked as they all sat in the cop car. It finally clicked to Allison that it was her younger sister first time going to a foster home. She looked at them, their tear stained cheeks, runny noses, and red eyes. "Yeah, I think they are." Allison replied as she stroke her younger sisters hair. Ally looked at her and began to sob. Allison whipped her eyes and kissed her head, "I promise, I won't let anything happen to you." She whispered.

The cop came back with Carmen. "Hello." Carmen greeted. Allison turned her attention to her, carful not to wake up her sisters. "It's nice to see you again Allison, you know, but not under these circumstances." She said with a smile. "She dead?" Allison asked looking down at her hands. Carmen let out a deep breath, "She's unconscious for now, but I suppose you already know what that means." Carman replied. Allison gave out a little laugh, "Jail, Rehab, Group, Therapy." She listed and closed her eyes. Carmen nodded her head, "I'm so sorry Al." She apologized. Allison smiled, "Me too."

They finally transferred them from the car to the DCFS building downtown. The girls where in different rooms, each waiting to be placed somewhere. This wasn't all knew for Allison. She had been through the system before, way too much for one kid. Carmen walked in with two folders and sat down by Allison. "Where are they? Where we going?" She asked and Carmen made a sad expression. She let out breath, "We are placing the girls with their grandparents." She replied. Allison made a confused face, "We don't have grandparents." She snapped. Carmen closed her eyes and shook her head. "Allison, you and your sisters have different dads, the girls have the same one, but unfortunately, you don't." She said and Allison sat there shocked. Unbelievable. "So on top of everything else, she's a whore." Allison yelled. Carmen called out her name as a warning. "Listen, the fathers parents are coming to get them, I did the background check and they are perfectly normal." Carmen explained. "They're my sisters, what happened to keeping family together?" She asked. Carmen shook her head, "This times different, okay, but I promise we are gonna find you a great home." She said and Allison scoffed. The door opened and man walked in, he whispered something to Carmen. She nodded and the man walked back into the hallway. "The grandparents are here, the girls want to see you." She said and Allison quickly got up. She opened the door and ran to the entrance. She looked and saw a couple standing there with her sisters. "Allison!" Ally yelled and ran to her. She picked her sister up and hugged her. "I don't know them, I wanna stay with you." She said while holding her sister tightly. Allison rubbed her back and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Listen, they are gonna take good care of you, you need to be good." She said with a smile. "Take care of your sister, you're the big sis now, okay?" She asked. Ally nodded and hugged her even tighter. She put down Ally and walked over to Alaya, who was sleeping in her new grandpas arms. The grandparents gave her a smile and she kissed her baby sister as a goodbye. "Please, take care of them." She whispered and the grandparents nodded. Allison took a step back and like that, her sister where gone.

Allison has been taking care of them. She was the one who fed them, bathed them, clothed them. Just like that, they were taken from her. She walked back into the room and stared at Carmen. She sat down and sobbed into her hands. Carmen patted her back and then stepped out the room. She pulled out her phone and dialed the number to her new clients. They phone rang and then the other line picked up. "Hi, this is Carmen from DCFS." She greeted and looked back at Allison, who was crying in the room. "Mr and Mr. Gallagher, I may have a foster kid for you."