Page 109 of The Gathered Fragments of Us
I looked at Caden, and I knew the surprise I saw on his face was mirrored on my own. I said out loud, "What's going on?" at the same time he said, "What? Why?"
"Staff reported she'd begun to have erratic outbursts, paranoia, and confusion. At first, they thought it was withdrawal, but by today her behavior should have evened out. They did a tox screen too and it didn’t show new substances either. Concerned about her behavior, they moved her to McLean Psychiatric Hospital for evaluation. She’ll be under observation there while they run more tests.”
Holy shit.
Chapter 43: They Found Something
~Caden~
"Holy shit," I said.
"I know it's a lot to process," Morrison continued through the speaker. Felicity and I both took a seat on the front steps of our porch. Both of us clearly realized we couldn’t go inside before our conversation was finished—not with the chance that Macy could hear before we knew what to do. "The facility staff said her behavior had been escalating over the past few days. She was having violent outbursts, confusion about where she was and why, and she kept yelling that people were plotting against her."
Felicity and I looked at each other. The expression on her face told me we were both stunned by this news. I was ashamed to admit though, I had a small thought—could she be faking it to try and get out of the charges?
"What does all of this mean?" Felicity asked.
"Not really sure yet. We'll have to wait and see what the psychiatric evaluation reveals. Could be anything from severe withdrawal complications to underlying mental health issues that were masked by drug use."
"How long does something like this take?" I asked.
"Depends on what they find. Could be a few days for observation, could be longer if they determine she needs treatment, and they need to figure out how to stabilize her behavior. I'll keep you posted as I hear more."
After Morrison hung up, Felicity and I stood in our driveway, trying to process this latest development.
"Should we tell Macy?" she asked.
"Let's wait until we know more. No point in worrying her over something that might be nothing. Given what she shared with Dr. Chen, I think it's safe to say that sharing with her right now could cause her undue stress for something she can't do anything about."
But even as I said it, I had a feeling like there was something we weren't thinking of.
The next few days passed in a strange limbo. We went through our normal routines—work, school, dinner, homework—but there was an undercurrent of tension, like we were all just sitting here, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
True to our promise to Dr. Mitchell, Felicity and I did our nightly check-ins. The first night was awkward, both of us self-conscious about the formal structure of it. But by the third night, it was starting to feel natural. More than natural—helpful.
"How did you feel about our relationship today?" I asked on the fifth night, holding her hands as we sat on our bed, cross legged and facing each other.
"Good. Solid. I felt like we were really working together, especially when Macy had that meltdown about her math homework." Felicity dipped her head and shook it back and forth lightly, clearly thinking back to the screaming fit Macy had. It was obvious that math wasn't the cause, but we gave her space to have her moment and then, together, we sat and talked with her about what was going on.
"Was there a time when I wasn't there for you today when you needed me?"
"No, actually. You were really present today. Honestly, this one answers this question and the one you would ask next about me feeling seen."
"Okay, hit me."
Felicity continued, "Well, you remember how when we were making dinner together, we were talking about my presentation at work when you got a call from the contractor?"
"Yeah?" I responded, nodding, and thinking back to that moment.
"You got stressed about the call and stepped into the other room to take it. At first, it felt a little weird—we'd been cooking, and you had to disappear. But I stepped away from my feelings and looked at the actual scenario. I realized that, first you'd let me know first—not just walking away. Second, the kitchen would have been a distraction—pots and pans, movement, music and all the things going on."
She took a deep breath and continued, "so, I realized that, in reality you were looking for a quieter, less distracting space to take the call, not to just get away from me. But the big thing for me was, when you came back into the room and you gave me a quick insight on what the call was about, let me know why it was a stress point, andthenyou jumped right back to our conversation about my presentation at work."
I smiled. Hearing her say it made me consider how effortless it had been to include her in everything. I was happy we were together for the moment because it was clear how much more powerful our relationship was when we did life together.
As we talked, we let each other in on ourselves—working through our questions and hearing one another. When we finished the conversation, Felicity bent forward and laid her head on my shoulder. My arms wrapped around her, and I basked in the settled feeling of love and gratitude I had.
The following morning, as we were getting ready to head out, Morrison called.
