Page 94 of Road Trip
He started to chuckle and stumbled a little bit. Sadly, it was time to separate and get back to the reality of staying at Gran’s and caring for Mom. The knowledge that Kelly would be with me made it a lot more bearable.
“We’ll have to try out a few other methods,” Kelly whispered against my neck before letting me go. The thought of that gave me chills, but I needed to give him a break.
“Kelly, you don’t have to stay. I can manage this. I don’t want you to feel like you have to.”
He frowned a little and let his hands run down my arms. “Abra,” he said seriously.
“Kelly,” I said, mimicking his tone. It made him laugh when I did that.
“Abra, do you want me to stay? Because I want to stay with you, but I understand if you need some space.”
“I don’t want space from you, but, Kelly? Now that you’re here, now that you’ve seen what I deal with…”
“Yeah. I can’t believe…I’m so sorry, Abra.”
“See, I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, though.”
“No, it’s not that I feel sorry for you. It just, I don’t know, helps me understand maybe. A little bit.”
“I’m so scared I’ll end up like her,” I finally admitted to him.
His strong arms came around me and held me tight. But he didn’t say anything. What could he say? I’d take his being here, for now.
Kelly
So for the first time in my adult life, I was spending a significant amount of time with a woman. We’d been together nearly twenty-four hours a day for the week of our runaway, and I stayed with her for another week at her grandmother’s place, helping her get her family settled.
The first order was getting the ramp for her gran built before she came home from the hospital. Manny and her friend Sally helped us, and we also made some adjustments in the house so Gran could get around in her wheelchair with help. She was looking at a significant time with her cast on, which worried Abra. She was a tough woman, but it put a lot of strain on her.
Abra’s mother wasn’t handling the stress well, either. She’d retreated more into herself, slept longer hours, and became belligerent about taking her medications. One morning after I’d been at the house for a few days, I’d gone out for a run, and when I came back in I found Adrianna screaming in the kitchen and throwing things around. Luckily she hadn’t gotten to the breakables. Abra was trying to talk her down, but she wouldn’t settle.
“Mom. I’m not giving you your pills so you can just forget it.”
“But you’re keeping them from me! You won’t let me get well. You want me to be like this! You want to keep me here and hurt me. That’s all you’ve ever wanted, to hurt me.”
She finally ran out of steam and collapsed on the floor sobbing. Abra gave me a look that I thought meant she needed help. The two of us approached her cautiously and Abra embraced her. She held her mom, the two of them rocking softly, until her mom passed out. I felt so helpless, yet I admired Abra’s strength so much. The haunted look in Abra’s eyes when she looked back up at me reminded me of so many calls I’d been on where the family members of those in need were obviously just barely hanging on. I didn’t ever want Abra to be like that, alone with her burdens. I knelt down beside her.
“Shall I carry her to her bed?”
Abra blinked back her own tears and offered me a grateful smile. Every day we were going to have to take these steps together. I wanted to do that with her, despite the unnerving nature of her mother’s tirade. I wondered how much of her words Abra actually took to heart. If she took any of it in, it had to be doing deep damage to her conscience. I wanted her to know I thought she was doing an incredible job, but I didn’t know if she’d hear me.
Abra checked with me every day and asked if I’d had enough, if I wanted to leave. Surprisingly, for both of us, I had no desire to leave. I had been a little afraid of whether I was up to the task, but I wanted to be a permanent part of her life, so none of it, not even the ugly parts, made me want to leave. She seemed grateful to have me and thanked me several times a day.
All vacations, or staycations, had to end, and after two weeks had passed, it was time for me to report back for duty. Lt. Reynolds called me two days before I was to report back with some news.
“I got you a spot in the Child Abuse Investigations unit. You’ll work with Kara Mitchell and the staff of the Youth and Family Services Bureau.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant. I appreciate your faith in me.”
She laughed. “I don’t know about that, but I wish you luck. I’ll miss having you on shift.”
“I’ll miss working with you, too, ma’am. Just make sure Manny is taken care of.”
She snorted. “Manny doesn’t need to be taken care of, but I get your point. I’ll do what I can. Oh, and, Graham? Between you and me, watch your back with Mitchell. She’s good for the most part, but I’ve heard stories. She’s no picnic.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I’m just going to go in there and do the best I can do.”
She smiled. “Of course you are, because you’re my officer. Don’t think you’re gone permanently. I’ll get you back. I keep the good ones.” She laughed, and we said goodbye.
