Page 65 of Her Brother's Keeper
I parked the cage and got out, Maren slipping out into the gently falling snow, sparkling bits catching in her dark hair, the halo of light behind her making her look more like one of the solemn angel statues you’d find in a cemetery. A work of art, soul moving, but still so fuckin’ sad. She was my Angel, and I took a split second in my head to thank whatever fuckin’ power that was bigger than us for putting me in her path, or her in mine, the day her daddy had died.
I held out my hand and she took it without hesitation as we walked up the broad, low-slung steps to the lighted glass front doors to the lobby of this place. She held my hand tightly as we dodged icy patches, my boots gritting against the salt that was meant to keep the steps from freezing but seemed like an exercise in futility.
The door opened and a man in suit pants, shirt, and a tie held it for us. We slipped past him into the linoleum entryway and he shut and locked the door behind us.
“Maren Tracy?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m her,” she said holding out her hand.
The man shook it and introduced himself, “I’m Marek Greene and I’m the Assistant Director of the hospital.”
“Nice to meet you,” Maren murmured, “I’m sorry it wasn’t under better circumstances.”
Marek nodded and shook my hand, I gave a nod and waited for him to ask, but the question never came. Instead, he looked back to Maren and said, “We’ve kept your brother here, away from any of the patients and especially his mother. Am I safe to speak freely in front of your… companion?” he asked.
“All of the paperwork is in order, right? I am technically my mother’s guardian now that my dad has passed?”
“Yes, of course. Your mother is incapable of making sound decisions and is, technically, under your guardianship.”
“It’s safe to talk in front of him, Dr. Greene.”
“Landon, Landon Fisher,” I said sticking my hand out and shaking his once again. “I am fully aware of HIPPA and all of the rules, I’ve run my own massage therapy practice before and am currently licensed and working.”
“I see, well, we haven’t allowed your brother to see your mother, she hasn’t been taking her medication you see, and –”
Maren held up her hand gently, “I know the routine, she’s been this way for a long, long time now.”
“Yes, well, your brother seems to be fairly in the dark on the subject. You understand, his coming up here, alone like he did, we called you right away being that you are listed as his legal guardian as well…”
“Yes, I understand.”
“The school didn’t notify you?” he asked.
“No,” I said and it came out a bit more sharply than I intended. “We’ll be taking that up with them in the morning along with the state caseworker.”
“Good plan,” Dr. Greene said pointedly.
“Where is Sage right now?” Maren asked.
“My office, right this way.” He led us down a corridor and had to unlock at least three doors with one of those fancy badges against the black box, then unlock a further two with a ring of keys. When he opened the door to the office, Sage looked up. I was the first one through after Dr. Greene and the kid all but blanched, looking around me for his sister.
“She’s here, don’t think it’s gonna save you from some serious consequences, though.”
Maren darted around me and half knelt, half took a seat in the empty chair beside Sage’s, pulling him into her arms and demanding, “What were youthinking!?” at her brother.
Sage tried looking at me defiantly over his sister’s shoulder and failed, his thin veneer of teenage badass cracking as his own eyes welled and he blurted out, “It’s not fair! She should try harder and come home so you don’t have to do anything. They won’t tell me anything or let me see her! I want to ask her why she won’t get better, Maren! I wanna know why she left us!”
Dr. Greene and I made eye contact and he gave a nod, slipping back out the door in a bid to respect our privacy and give us some space. Once the door was firmly shut, I leaned back against it. I both was and wasn’t a part of this tiny dysfunctional family at this point. Not until Maren indoctrinated me in fully. Not until she looked at me point blank and told me that she wanted me to intervene. Right now, even though it’d been a few months we’d been around each other and together, we were still on a case by case basis where Sage was concerned.
I tuned back in, dragging myself back out of the inside of my own head to hear what Maren was saying. “Sage, that’s not your decision to make! Like it or not, I’m the adult andyou’rethe child, and as the adult, I’m telling you right now, Mom is sicker than dad and I ever told you in a bid toprotectyou. She’s not safe for either one of us to be around. You have to trust me on this. You have to know I wouldn’t keep her away, or you from visiting, if I didn’t think it was best!”
Sage pushed back from Maren, and understandably demanded to know why. I let them go at it, they didn’t need a referee just yet. Maren was crying and upset, but as calm as she could be given the situation. She was holding her own, and Sage? Sage just kept right on pushing.
Finally, I interjected. “Sage, I’m going to give you a very important piece of unsolicited advice, buddy.” The fact I wasn’t yelling, or screaming, that my voice was as calm and even as I could make it, got the little man’s attention. He shut his mouth and looked at me and I imparted my wisdom: “Don’t ask questions, or demand answers to questions when someone is reluctant to give them like your sister is now. Sometimes the truth is way more painful than you could expect. You need to think really long and hard on if you really want to know the truth or what’s up here.”
“I wanna know!” Sage said petulantly, and Maren’s stricken and defeated face over his shoulder made my heart sink under the weight of the same defeat.
“Tell him,” I said. “Pretty sure at this point it’s the only thing that’s going to work, Angel.”
