by Thornton, EJ
The more Peter consoled her, the harder Jeannie cried. Eventually she pulled away and wiped her eyes. "I'm all right." She went to get herself a glass of water.
She and Peter sat on the couch to talk things out. Peter reiterated that he planned to be there for his nephew or niece and he would help in any way she needed him to. They talked for over an hour. Jeannie told him how she felt about Jeremi and how badly he had hurt her. Peter listened. Sometimes he'd explain some detail about Jeremi that he hoped would give her insight into his character, and sometimes that helped. Peter got ready to leave after he was fully satisfied Jeannie had settled down and was going to be all right. Then the phone rang.
"What now?" Jeannie said, exasperated. She answered the phone and snapped "Hello."
She listened for a bit, her eyes getting big. She motioned for Peter to come over to the phone. She covered the mouthpiece and whispered, "Jeremi's in jail and since there was nobody's home at your house, he called me to come bail him out."
Peter rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "He's got his nerve."
"This is why you're here, Peter. You need to get him out of jail and into a treatment center. Tell her you'll go get him." William coached.
"How did you know about this?" I asked William.
"George summoned me and told me to get Peter here. He had me turn the ringer off Peter's phone right before I left," Peter's angel explained.
"He's good," I said. William agreed.
Jeannie repeated what Jeremi said to her, for Peter's benefit.
"Tell him you'll take care of it," Peter whispered to her. Jeannie looked at him in disbelief. He encouraged her to say it.
"I'll take care of it," Jeannie said to Jeremi, then hung up the phone abruptly.
"This is perfect," Peter said excitedly.
"How?" Jeannie asked.
"He's right where we want him."
"You got that right."
"No, no. Check this out: I'll bail him out in a little bit, but first I'll make arrangements for him to check into the Hope Center to detox," Peter explained. "Where's your phone book?"
"How are you going to get him to go there?"
"Well, I'll reason with him to see if he sees the predicament he's in. If keeps being hard headed about it, he'll walk his little ass back to jail!" Peter grabbed the phone book from Jeannie. He held the receiver with his shoulder as he looked up the number. "This might be exactly the break we've all been praying for."
Peter made the arrangements, hugged Jeannie and told her that he'd call her tomorrow and let her know what was up. He left.
Pearl assured me that Jeannie and the baby were all right, so I left to go back to George and Jeremi.
Jeremi was in a drunk tank. I explained the plan to George.
"I think I'm getting through to him," George said. "That is, when he's quiet. If he's agitating his cellmates, forget it."
Jeremi vented his anger from time to time by complaining about one of the other's personal habits, but luckily they all pretty much ignored him. Jeremi muttered to himself about needing a drink.
When Jeremi was pitching a fits, George was silent. When Jeremi finally got quiet, George coached, "Jeremi, you know you're big in trouble. You need someone to throw you a life-line. It may seem to you like nobody is there for you, but there's plenty of people and angels who are on your side. We all want to see you get well. You need to get off this poison. You need to sober up and stay sober! You have a son coming. I know you want him to grow up knowing the real you." A tear formed in Jeremi's eye. George's voice softened. Jeremi's closed his eyes and drifted off to a shallow sleep.
"I'll be right back," George said and he went into Jeremi's dream. Jeremi reached out and looked like he was holding on to something. George reappeared.
"What did you do?" I asked.
"I threw him a life-line. It said Hope on it. When Peter gets here, I want that image to be fresh in his mind."
There was still plenty of time to pass before Peter could arrive. So, while Jeremi slept, I needed to understand what happened with Henry. As usual, George knew what was on my mind.
"Are you ready to talk about Henry?"
"Why, yes I am. However did you know?" I replied glibly. He ignored my tone. So I went on, "How could he quit like that? How could he just walk away? When we're closer now than ever to a breakthrough."
"What you need to understand, Martin," George began, "is that there is a terrible battle going on. Evil is constantly trying to overtake the good in the world. There are battles going on everywhere, all the time. Angels need to feel useful. The battle must be continually fought or we will lose good people to the void. Henry felt useless. He's tried to get through to Jeremi and he's tried for many things over many years. Sometimes people lose their angels. Some people can do something so offensive to their angel that their angel in good conscious have to leave. This has been building up for so long, today Jeremi hit the woman who is carrying his baby. That was his breaking point. And unless he turns his life around, he'll probably never get another angel."
"So what's going to happen to him now, angel-wise? Who'll be there to look over him?"
"Nobody, and nobody will again unless he gets back on the right track and earns back the privilege of being guarded by an angel. There are a lot of angel-less people out there, Martin."
"There's gotta be another answer!"
"It's up to Jeremi now..." George tried to comfort me.
The guard opened the door and called. "Jeremiah Harper."
Jeremi was still asleep. As the guard called him a second time, both George and I yelled in Jeremi's ear. He sat up confused and groggy.
"You Jeremiah Harper?"
"Uh huh." He wavered a little getting up, but George steadied one arm and I the other.
"You've been bailed out, buddy; let's go." The guard let Jeremi out and closed the cell door behind him.
Jeremi looked around, saw a clock. It was two in the morning. "It's about time she got here," he sputtered.
The guard heard what he said and asked, "She?"
Peter was there waiting for him. When Jeremi saw Peter he stopped in his tracks. "I thought Jeannie'd be here."
"She handled it. I'm here," Peter emphasized Jeannie's exact words. "Sit down, we need to talk." He motioned for Jeremi to sit next to him and the guard took his seat at the desk. Jeremi sat down.
"What?" Jeremi said impatiently. "Let's get out of here."
"We've got to talk before I take you anywhere," Peter said. Jeremi gave him his attention. "You know I love you." He nodded and got Jeremi to nod back. "But--"
"I knew there had to be a 'but.' Cut to the chase, man," Jeremi snapped.
"Okay." Peter took a moment and rethought what he needed to say. "This is the deal: I've made a reservation for you at the Hope Center. If I bail you out, that's where I'm taking you."
"If?!" Jeremi repeated in disbelief, with a hint of panic.
"That's right, 'if.' If you refuse to do this, then you get to keep your happy behind in jail! If you choose jail, you'll detox here because by the time you see the judge, it'll be tomorrow morning. I doubt that anyone's gonna serve you a beer breakfast in your bunk!" Peter's tone was very firm.
"Then he's looking at least 60 days," the guard said.
"What did you say?" Jeremi asked the guard.
"I said, '60 days.'" Jeremi and Peter looked at him, waiting for him to explain. "The judge he's seeing is on a personal quest to rid the world of alcoholics. A drunk driver killed her sister. She'll sentence you to at least sixty days for the level of booze you had in your blood. Throw an open container on top of that, you're looking at least four, maybe six months. Your only hope is to detox voluntarily." The guard leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his head and rocked.
"I guess that's the only choice I have." Jeremi snapped at Peter. "This sucks."
"Then is that where we're going?" Peter asked.
"I guess I'm stuck," Jeremi conceded, angrily.
/> The guard gave Jeremi and Peter both papers to sign. He told Jeremi where to wait to have his belongings returned to him; both Peter and Jeremi went there. They stood in line for a moment, then Peter abruptly returned to the officer's desk.
"Where is this officer?" Peter asked of another guard standing nearby. "I'd like to thank him for his help with my brother." Peter pointed at the piece of paper which was just signed, to help this new guard discern who he was talking about.
The other guard looked at the paper and said, "Oh, he's gone. He left a couple of hours ago."
Peter stood there, perplexed. He looked around and tried to regain his bearings, making sure he was in the right place. He looked back at the paper, the guard's name was clearly written on it. Jeremi waved at Peter to let him know he was ready. Peter left, scratching his head and looking over his shoulder, still trying to sort it all out.
I looked at George, who had on a huge cheesy grin. "Tell me you recognize an angel when you see one."
"Of course!" I said, but he knew he got me good that time.
"I love it when a plan comes together!" George laughed.
We joined a confused Peter and a reluctant Jeremi as they walked silently out to Peter's car.
Chapter 23
The drive to the Hope Center was just as silent and still. Jeremi hung his head. When they arrived in the parking lot and brought the car to a stop, Jeremi was still in the same position.
"It'll be all right, bro," Peter comforted him.
Jeremi grumbled. Peter got out, went around and opened Jeremi's door for him.
"All right, all right," Jeremi snapped at Peter.
"C'mon, bro, they're waiting for you," Peter said. Jeremi looked up, surprised at that statement.
They walked slowly into the facility. Peter tried to put his hand on his brother's shoulder, but Jeremi shrugged it off. Peter stopped at the front desk to ask directions. The lady pointed and they followed a corridor in the direction she indicated. They went through a doorway and sat down in a waiting area.
"This is messed up!" Jeremi complained to Peter. "Get me outta here. I can quit drinking by myself. Give me a chance."
"Do you want to take your chances with the judge the guard talked about?"
"I bet you put him up to saying that."
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Once Jeremi had had enough quiet, he went on the offensive again.
"This is all Jeannie's fault. If she just come into the pub, sat down and listened to my explanation, none of this would've happened," Jeremi vented.
Peter looked at him in complete disbelief. "You mean if she'd've just believed your lies one more time... Blaming other people for your mistakes, will keep you right where you are man, stuck. You were the one behind the wheel. It was only a matter of time before you were stopped and you know it."
"I'm out of here," Jeremi said and stood up.
"Mr. Harper," a nurse called, right as Jeremi stood up. Jeremi froze in his tracks.
"It's your choice, my brother. Let booze screw up your life more than it has already--or get rid of the demon that has control of you. What do you think your future son or daughter would want you to do?" Peter spoke very softly. "What would Dad want you to do?"
Jeremi stared Peter down. George, William and I prayed hard that those thoughts would make a difference and Jeremi would turn around.
"Mr. Harper," the nurse called again.
Jeremi turned and went to sit at the admitting desk. When Jeremi's back was turned, Peter raised his eyes and clasped his hands together and mouthed the words, "Thank you."
They went through the typical admission questions, statistical information: height, weight, age, etc. Peter filled out another form quietly behind him, a form on his impressions of Jeremi's problem. Jeremi was asked to fill out the same form. His answers differed significantly from Peter's. However, I suppose that was pretty common for this situation.
Peter was informed about the rules regarding contact, they will be denied contact for three to five days, depending on his progress. They also gave him a list of necessities; like clothes, pajama's, etc. that he would need to bring to the unit for him.
He told Jeremi, "See ya, bro. I'll be praying for you."
Jeremi grumbled some more as they led him into the unit.
"He'll be just fine," the nurse assured Peter as he watched Jeremi go.
"I sure hope so," Peter said.
A nurse led Jeremi to a room and gave him a gown, pajama bottoms and slippers and asked him to change. He went behind a curtain and came out in the pajamas. She took his clothes and put them in a bag and put it by the door. Jeremi swore under his breath. The nurse told him to lie down on the bed and she took his vital signs. He was a rude, uncooperative patient. George and I watched and shuddered as each new request was made. It got to be funny after a while, to every one but Jeremi. Jeremi asked for a cigarette and the nurse promptly slapped a nicotine patch on his arm.
"You rest, I'll be back in and check on you in a little bit," she said and took the bag of his clothes and left.
Jeremi laid down, but he was stiff as a board because he was so tense. He kept grumbling. "Rest, ha! You stick yourself in this bed and try to rest. This sucks." He replayed the night's events in his head and tried to figure out who to blame for his predicament. "All I wanted to do was have a nice night out, but she had to get all up in my face about drinking and Karla. If we were married, that'd be different. Hitting her was wrong, I know and that cop, where did he come from? I was set up. I get harassed everywhere I go. Then this crap, he's my brother, he should've bailed me out and let me handle my own business. I could quit if I wanted. Problem - ha. This place is the problem!"
"Hey man, shut up!" an agitated voice came from the bed by the window. "Some of us are actually trying to sleep here!"
"Leave the new guy alone." A much more pleasant voice came from the bed right beside him. "Hey, new guy, if you're gonna blame everyone else in the world but yourself for your situation, would you be a little quieter, please?"
"Blame everyone el--" Jeremi was incensed. "Like you would know!"
"You'd be surprised," the pleasant man continued.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jeremi demanded.
"Paranoia is normal, friend, just relax. We've all been where you are. We know what you're going through. You'll figure that out soon enough," the pleasant one explained.
"Oh yeah, do you want to come over here and say those things?" Jeremi tried to sound tough, which cracked the other two up. Through their laughter, Jeremi protested bitterly, "Yeah, well, did you guys just get dumped here by people who supposedly care about you?"
"You'd be surprised," the pleasant man repeated.
"Yeah, well, maybe you idiots wanted to be here, but I've got better things to do. Come morning, I'm out of here."
"You'd be surprised," they said in unison and laughed again.
"That's enough!" Jeremi whipped down his sheets and jumped out of bed, like he was going to take someone on. Neither of the other men moved a muscle.
"C'mon, friend, you've probably already done enough things you regret for one night. My guess is that you have a list about a mile long already," the pleasant man said.
"Whatever they told you, they're making a big deal outta nothing," Jeremi insisted.
"Of course," the one who was agitated said under his breath.
"And by the way, nobody told us anything," the pleasant one continued. "Like I said, we've all been where you are. Now would you please lay back down? We've got group in the morning."
"You might have 'group' in the morning, but I'll be gone by then." Jeremi dug himself a deeper hole.
"Like as not, friend, you'll be gone in the morning. But we need our sleep, so can you keep it down? Please?" the pleasant man concluded.
Jeremi got back in bed, still tense, but stayed silent.
The nurse came back every hour and checked on all the people in the room. Jeremi watched her like a hawk the fi
rst couple of times she did. In between nurse visits, George and I tried to talk to Jeremi to get him to calm down.
We also got to know the pleasant-voiced gentleman's angel, Claude, who was in the room with Jeremi. The man's name was Don. Don had been here over a week and would be going home in a couple of days. He was making very good progress. The other man in the room, whose name was Tony, was angelless. He'd been here about two days. Claude said that he was doing all right, but all had hoped he'd do better. There were angels that came and checked on him, but none that stayed very long. They were his children's angels. Tony had been sent here by court order. Don had been brought here by his wife and grown son.
Apparently, the unit tried to stagger the roommates, so that the new ones were put into rooms with ones that were working the program already, as extra support for what they were going through. Claude told us that when Don first came in, the experienced one in the room was an incredible help to him, especially the first few days, so he feels a great need to pass that on. Luckily, Jeremi will be the recipient of that payback.
Jeremi drifted off to sleep, finally. He still fought his sleep battles. The nurse made her third round to check on them. Jeremi's hand started to twitch noticeably, then vibrate constantly. Then his other hand did, too. "It's the beginning of the DTs," Claude told us. The nurse was on hourly rounds and she'd just been here. So, Claude pushed the nurse call button on Jeremi's bed.
"They're gonna notice--" I began to protest.
"Relax," Claude stopped me short. "Too much will be going on, too many ways that could've been pushed and nobody'll care."
Jeremi shook all over and he cried out in his sleep. Claude joined George and I in a prayer for this phase of withdrawal to pass quickly and without injury to Jeremi or anyone else. We prayed hard, while we kept him from falling out of bed and smacking guardrails with his head, hands and feet. Jeremi made enough noise that Don woke up and rushed to Jeremi's aid, first pressing his nurse call-button. Almost immediately, two nurses rushed in. One stayed and started shouting instructions to Don. Anything she said to do, we tried to help Don do. The second nurse came back with a syringe and once they had both stabilized one of Jeremi's arms, she administered the injection. Almost at once his tremors decreased, until eventually he lay there still, save for the occasional twitch. One of the nurses stayed with him for several minutes and monitored his vital signs. Don got back in bed and watched Jeremi from there and eventually fell back to sleep. Claude, George and I heaved a collective sigh of relief and sat down next to Jeremi on the bed.
