Off the grid, p.4
Off the Grid, page 4
He took them out to the rear deck and hugged them in the heat. They sat down and started to eat some good fish that Ron had been preparing on the grill. They were famished from the activity of the day and dug in with a gusto he hadn’t seen before. Surprisingly, the girls liked grouper sandwiches. They usually hated everything but fish sticks, which Mike wasn’t even technically sure were really fish.
When they were all finished, the girls were desperate to go inside and be with their mother. Mike had no idea what to do. He wanted to say no for selfish reasons, but didn’t have the heart to say that to his girls. He looked at Lisa for any support.
“I’ll take them inside,” Lisa stood and led the girls into the house.
Ron just shrugged. He understood perfectly. Together the two of them cleaned up the table. The dogs got the scraps.
Five minutes later, the Lisa and the girls returned and looked worried. Elizabeth and Victoria were crying. Mike thought their mother had upset them badly and was tempted to go inside and settle this once and for all. He took a deep breath.
Lisa looked at him. “We can’t wake Susan up. No matter what we do, she’s out cold.” She couldn’t get another word out. She was just as worried as the two girls.
Mike walked past them without saying a word and moved quickly into the house right to his wife. He stepped toward her and leaned down to listen to her. She was breathing very shallowly, looking very pale with clammy moist skin. That surprised him. It was very cold in the house with the air cranked. Her nose was running, and her skin color looked increasingly blue. He opened her eyelids and saw that her pupils were pinpoints. Her eyes rolled back into her head after a second. Mike decided she looked physically ill. He began to panic. She looked very sick. He tried to bodily shake her without any success and began to get frantic.
“Susan wake up!” He screamed it at her again and again. It had no effect. Through his panic, he thought it funny that he had dreamed of physically shaking her into brain damage in the past. Now he was doing it to get her awake without success. The thought made him very guilty and embarrassed.
Ron walked up behind him and grabbed her left arm. He looked down and saw numerous needle track marks. He put his hand on Mike’s shoulder and got him to stop what he was doing. Ron shook his head at him.
“She’s O.D.ing. She’s high. She took too much, and now she’s overdosing. I need to call an ambulance.” Ron said it matter of factly. He picked up the phone and called for the Ambulance a couple of Keys north of here.
Mike looked at him in shock. He had no idea what to say. This couldn’t be happening. “Susan doesn’t even like taking baby aspirin.” He felt foolish saying this. He had no idea what to think about any of this. Meanwhile, Susan became desperate for air and was beginning to gasp audibly.
Mike moved forward to give her mouth to mouth. Just as he was about to do it, Susan vomited all over herself. He jumped back in surprise to keep from getting splashed. Ron jumped forward and grabbed her upper body. He pulled her head down to her knees to keep her from aspirating the vomit. She retched unconsciously and then breathed easier when it was all out of her system, never waking up through the process.
They cleaned her up together and wiped down the floor. Mike was glad none of it reached the couch. He was their guest. Then he thought how stupid that was when he looked at his wife and saw her almost lifeless form. They had intruded themselves enough into Ron and Lisa’s lives right now. So much for the stress-free vacation they had all wanted. They would have been better off shoveling a foot of snow back home in Minnesota.
Ron heard the ambulance pull up to the front and went out to meet it while Mike stayed by his wife’s side. Mike didn’t have the first clue as to what to do in this case. He was a Band Aid type of guy and left the other kinds of first aid to others.
The EMTs ran into the house with their equipment and came right to them. They shooed Mike away from her. They took one look at her and slapped the Oxygen on her. The pulse ox machine went from seventy-seven percent to ninety-eight percent within a minute. Mike hoped that was a good thing because he had no clue what that meant. The EMTs looked pleased. They then hooked up an IV to her right arm after three pokes. The guys had trouble finding a vein. Mike saw them look at each other when they turned the arm around. He saw one sneer at the other. It made Mike annoyed and physically shamed at their scorn. He knew they made the diagnosis of ‘drug addict’ right then and there. They had to be wrong, right?
Mike watched one of them pull out a syringe marked Narcan and put it into the IV. The guys then stepped up to talk to Mike and Ron. They seemed very concerned.
“What’s the lady’s name? Does she have any medical problems?” The tall EMT asked these questions together rapid fire.
Ron looked at Mike who answered quietly, “She’s always been fine. No medical problems at all.” Mike looked down embarrassed. This was unbelievable.
“Do either of you know what kind of drugs the lady took?” The EMT was sure of the diagnosis. He just wasn’t sure if there were more than one type of drug in her system.
Mike looked at the man, “Up to a few minutes ago, I had no idea she was on any type of drug.” Then he looked down. He wasn’t handling this very well.
Just then she sat up and ripped the oxygen off her face. She looked at them angrily and screamed, “What the hell’s wrong with you people? I paid good money for that shit!” Susan was pissed and whiny that her great buzz was gone. She ripped the IV from her arm and stood up. She fell straight back down onto the couch, seething at them and swearing under her breath.
Mike saw the EMT shake his head and roll his eyes. It was nothing he didn’t see on a daily basis. The EMT was obviously sick of it.
The Paramedic turned and faced her. “Ma’am. We recommend you accompany us to the hospital for further evaluation and testing.”
Susan sat up and looked right into his eyes. She spat out, “Absolutely not. I’m fine. I need to get out of here.” She stood up with difficulty and moved to the front door. She was walking funny, as if her legs were asleep.
Susan moved to the front door, opened it with difficulty, and walked out leaving it open. They heard her stomping down the stairs.
They all looked at one another. Ron and Mike were in shock. The EMT was annoyed. He pulled out a clipboard and a pen and shoved it at Mike.
“Please sign here. She obviously refused our medical advice. We need documentation of this.” He waited patiently.
Mike was in complete shock at this turn of events and had no idea what was happening. He simply stared at the piece of paper for a few minutes.
Finally Ron just took the pen and signed it. The EMT took back the form, packed up, and left. It became very quiet in the house. Mike and Ron just looked at each other blankly. Their emotions were bottled up until later.
Finally, they turned and saw the women standing on the deck watching them. Mike saw his girls crying and holding themselves in their bathing suits. He had to go to them.
Mike moved outside and hugged his girls. He felt their wet tears and their wet suits pressed up against him. He was distraught that his kids felt so frightened about everything they just saw and angry beyond belief at the reaction his wife had to being saved. How could this be? He couldn’t recall her ever taking anything stronger than an Ibuprofen in the past, even when she was recovering from her c-sections. This was just impossible to him. How could a relatively normal human being just change into a drug addict in such a short period of time? It was beyond him. Then he started to scan his memory for any signs of it. He had nothing to go on and decided that he must have not been around enough to see the signs. Then he got mad at himself for failing her. After a few seconds, Mike got mad at himself for blaming himself instead of Susan. He couldn’t think straight.
Mike looked down instead and concentrated on his girls. He hugged them tight. They melted in his arms. Their tears continued for what seemed for hours. Mike didn’t know what else to say. He couldn’t reassure them that their mom was back. He couldn’t tell them that she would be ok. In her present state, she wouldn’t be. The last thing he wanted to do was to lie to them in any way.
When they were spent, Mike stood and looked at Ron and Lisa. He looked distraught. “We should leave and head back home. We’ve disturbed your home enough.”
Instantly, he heard a response from them, “NO! Absolutely not!” They started yelling at him for even suggesting such a thing. “You’re staying, and it’s final.” Lisa wouldn’t take no for a response.
“How could you ask for us to stay after what we did? We’ve intruded way too much.” Mike was very confused and looked at them helplessly. The girls still cried, but this time softly.
Ron looked at him and smiled. “How was this any of your fault? You were caught in the middle just like we were. You shouldn’t leave because of it. We want you guys to stay.” He was genuine.
Mike was conflicted. His first impulse was to run away. A lot of pain happened here. Then again, a lot of pain happened at home too. It was just normally suppressed. He looked at his girls. They seemed very helpless, like they regressed back into being toddlers. He didn’t feel like he was being a good father right now.
Ron walked into the house while Mike stood there and debated his future. Mike genuinely had no idea what to do. Ron came out with two huge ice cream bars and handed them to the girls. Mike saw his girls’ faces light up in surprise. Then they went at the bars with a vengeance, making Mike smile. Ron had much more experience dealing with child trauma than he did. Ice cream fixes almost anything.
When they were finished Lisa took the girls inside to clean them up. They were dripping chocolate and milk.
Ron looked at Mike and said softly, “Don’t let the bitch ruin your life.” He looked backward into the house to make sure that Lisa didn’t hear him. Ron would have made Lisa’s shit list for months for saying such a thing about her niece.
He turned back to Mike. “She’s bad news. She’s a full-blown addict. She was on the verge of death on that couch, and all she was worried about when she was brought back to life was her high.” Ron was pissed. “She had no idea that you guys were here. She was looking for something to steal so she could get her next fix. She would have robbed us blind.”
Mike winced at that. He knew Ron was right, but hearing it from a reliable source about his wife still made him uncomfortable. Ron was right though. He knew that his woman was bad news.
Ron softened his stance. “Take care of your girls, and they’ll be fine. Cut Susan loose or she’ll ruin all of you. You’re doing fine without her. Oh, and you’re staying, and that’s final.” He got Mike a beer and a Diet Coke for himself.
The girls got back outside and looked at Mike with a little sadness. They were forcing themselves to be positive and failing. They gave their dad a hug.
“Who wants to go miniature golfing at Boondocks?” Ron made it as exciting as possible. He saw their eyes light up.
The girls began to get excited. They looked at their father with hope. They wanted to go. Their mouths said ‘please’ silently.
Mike actually laughed at their pathetic pleas. He saw their large cat eyes and smiled broadly. He made a decision right then and there. “All right we’re going. You girls need to get dressed and clean.”
The girls ran into the house immediately. Mike walked up to Lisa and gave her a hug. She hugged him back and went inside to help the girls.
They headed over to play some golf, which the girls cheated at like middle-aged men. There must have been something intrinsic to golf that made every person in the world cheat. Mike didn’t mind as he still won. It also got his mind off his ex, albeit for a brief second.
When they were done, Mike, Ron, and Lisa sat down at the bar. The girls insisted on a rematch, but the blazing sun was just too much for the old people. Mike knew that there would be blood soon, as the girls’ cheating would soon degenerate into anger and yelling. It was the nature of sisters.
The old people looked at each other under the shade of the bar as they listened to some old guy on guitar. He was old and grizzled and pretty good. They clinked their bottles together in acknowledgement of one of the weirdest days in their lives. They watched the girls play and argue from the bar. Mike kept a close eye on them, making sure they were in his sight as he drank his freezing cold beer. He repeatedly wiped the sweat off his brow. Even in the shade, it was over eighty-five degrees with almost one hundred percent humidity. He wasn’t used to it. Nor was he going to get used to it as he was leaving at the end of the week; sooner, if any more shit happened.
Shaking his head and clenching his jaw, Mike remembered every last bit of his wife’s near death experience. There was no doubt in his mind that she would have been dead if the EMTs didn’t give her the antidote. It still amazed him that her high was more important than her life. He had no idea what had happened since they were last together. Mike could only speculate, and he was sure that he was wrong. He thought it could have been the wrong crowd, a reaction that her family could have caused, an effect that he caused, or even a childhood trauma. He was doing serious soul searching as he sat there and tried to figure it out and knew he was failing at it.
Ron and Lisa just looked at the wheels turning in Mike’s head and knew how betrayed and confused he was. There wasn’t much they could say. They looked at each other and then shrugged.
Then Ron had enough. “She did it because she’s an addict. What else is there? Stop beating yourself up about it. She is who she is. You guys are just getting in the way of her next fix. If you take her back, or try to fix her, she’ll destroy your family. All addicts do this eventually. Move on and take care of yourselves. She’ll hit bottom at some point and come crawling back for forgiveness. By that time you will have moved on. The girls are the problem. She’ll try to get back in with them. That’s where your nightmare is going to begin. Right now the kids are blaming themselves. Eventually, they’ll figure out it’s her fault and they’re going to rip her a new one when she returns. Get them into counseling as soon as possible before they start acting out as teenagers. They will be fine if they do. You can’t do this yourself. You need help, or they are going to pay for their mother’s sins.”
Lisa gave Ron a dirty look. She hated it when he talked about her family, especially when he was right. She was about to yell at him when they noticed an old bum drunkenly staggering from the bar. He fell down and got right back up pretty quickly. Then he fell back to the peanut shell encrusted floor. He managed to stand yet again and walked out into the bright sun.
They saw that his balding head now had a mixture of beer and wine on it along with the occasional peanut. The man gave it no mind. He continued to stagger without direction.
They all looked at each other and laughed softly. Lisa said, “Welcome to the Keys. Nobody here is afraid of a good time.”
Mike smiled at them. It really was a fascinating place. He loved it down here. It was just so different than what he was used to back in Minnesota.
Mike continued to watch the man as he staggered toward the miniature golf shack. He looked over and saw his girls on the seventeenth hole. They were almost done with their second game. When the guy reached the shack, he turned into the mini golf range without stopping.
Mike stood up as the guy went right toward his daughters who were pretty oblivious to any threat. The girls were too busy arguing over a missed shot. Mike started to move to the three of them as they began to merge on the green, just in case.
Ron stood and walked quickly behind Mike to make sure nothing happened to those girls, following Mike as a potential backup.
The girls finally saw the drunk guy as he was staggering toward them, backing off to the other side of the little windmill at their hole and just waited for the man to pass them. They knew their dad was behind this weird guy and would protect them so they had nothing to worry about. They kept a close hold on their golf clubs because they didn’t want to lose them. After all, they had spent ten minutes picking out the right colors.
The guy focused on them and fell right at them. Now the girls panicked with a shriek. The girls moved to keep the spinning windmill between them and the guy. One of the fan blades hit the man on his arm which stopped it hard. They saw that his arm was cut. He didn’t pay any attention to it. Despite the large gash in the skin, there wasn’t any blood coming out of the wound. Now they really started getting scared.
The guy lunged at them to the left of the windmill. His foot fell into the smelly green water surrounding it, causing him to trip. He stayed down and tried to lunge at them while he was on his knees. There was no question that they were his target when he growled fiercely at them.
They ran to the other side and screeched just as their father reached them. Mike pushed them out of the golf course and stayed between them and the goon. As he reached the field house, Mike grabbed a putter from the shelf. He shifted into a baseball stance and waited. The girls went to their aunt and stood wrapping their arms around her waist.
Ron and Mike watched and waited to see what the guy was going to do. They knew he was drunk, but that didn’t excuse him from going after the girls.
The guy’s eyes shifted to Mike. His target actually changed. He lunged at Mike with saliva dripping from his mouth. His hands closed into claws to grasp and pull in its meal toward his waiting mouth. His eyes showed nothing other than their fixation on his flesh. They didn’t deviate from Mike’s face as he approached the two of them, and he moved quicker and quicker until he was right upon Mike.
Mike moved forward and lateral to the man even faster. His right leg lashed out and kicked the man’s legs out from under him. The man went down fast. He went to get up immediately when he realized that he was suddenly on the ground. Mike put his knee down hard onto his spine and held him there. The golf club was used as a weapon on the back of his neck pushing down on the man’s spine. The man was trapped and didn’t have the strength to do a push up with another man on his back. Years of drinking and indolence assured his muscle tone was virtually nonexistent. He didn’t think to move laterally and kept trying to push himself upright. Growling didn’t help the man, but that didn’t stop him from trying.
