Page 132 of One More Kiss

Chapter4

Two police officersare now standing at the bottom of my bed. They came in right after mom confessed to stealing my key. Axe looks down at me and smiles. We have both had enough of my mother’s bullshit for today.

“Ms. Washington, Dr. Hines called, said there was someone causing a problem with one of his patients.” The shorter of the two officers says.

“Yes, officers.” My mother cuts in. “That man right there.” She points at Axe. “He came busting in here and started screaming at us. I want him removed.”

“You’ve lost your mind.” Dr. Fran sighs. “Officers, Mrs. Washington,” She nods her head towards my mother. “is the one Dr. Hines called you about. Her daughter does not want her here. We also just found out that she illegally obtained a key for her daughter’s apartment and let herself in without her daughter’s permission.” Dr. Fran smirks at my mother.

“Wow, it’s going to be one of those calls.” One of the officer mutters to himself. “First,” He looks down at me. “are you Ginger Washington?”

“Yes, but I prefer to be called Tink.” I give him a small smile when he nods at me.

“Yes ma’am.” The other officer says. “I’m Officer Uni and this is Officer Gent. We are only here to help remove the person who is upsetting the patient.”

“That would be her mother.” Dr. Fran tells them.

“And who are you?” Office Uni asks.

“I’m Dr. Rachel Fran, the psychiatrist who was assigned to Tink’s case. Tink and I have met several times over the last few years. I know the dynamic of the situation between her and her mother. Tink is an adult. She has made it clear that she doesn’t want her mother here. She has told her to leave multiple times, which as you can see didn’t happen.”

“Did she tell you to leave?” Officer Gent asks my mother.

“She’s mentally ill, she doesn’t know what she wants.” As usually the word mentally was whispered like it was a dirty little secret. “Two nights ago I found her bleeding to death on her bed. She cut both her wrist open.” She grabs one of my arms and lifts it up to show the bandages.

Axe growls at her. Literally growls like a bear at her. It made my mother jump while making me and Dr. Fran laugh. At least it made her drop my arm.

“How about, for right now, we don’t touch the patient.” Officer Uni tells my mother. “Now, who is leaving with us? I don’t care who is sick with what. I don’t care who is related. I don’t care if you did try to off yourself. All I want to know is who isn’t supposed to be here.”

“I like him.” Axe whispers.

“I don’t want my mother here. I would also like to know what I can do about her stealing my keys, making a copy of my apartment key, and never telling me.” Axe gives my hand a gentle squeeze. I’m sure he’s proud of me for asking what can be done. I never thought I’d need to get the police involved when it came to my mother, but here we are.

“That’s not what we were called out for. Honestly, it may be best if you came to the station when you are feeling better and file a complaint.” Officer Gent tells me.

“Would you press charges against her if that’s suggested?” Officer Uni asks me.

“Yes.” I try to keep my emotions out of my voice, but even I heard the crack at the end.

“Ginger…how could you even think about putting me in jail? After everything I have done for you?” The shock in her voice is probably real, but what does she expect me to do? Just let her keep doing shit like this.

“Did you still your daughter’s key?” Officer Gent asks my mother.

“I made a copy; I never stole her key.” She tells him.

“Did she tell you to make a copy?” Officer Uni asks.

“No, but it was only for emergencies. It’s not like I was over there every day sneaking in. Why is everyone on my case about this? If I hadn’t had that key she would be dead now. I found her in bed, laying in a pool of her own blood, with both her wrists cut. She tried to end her life. I rushed her to the hospital to save her. How am I the bad guy in all of this?”

“Is this true?” Officer Uni asks me.

“Did I cut my wrists? Yes, I’m a cutter. The fog was too much for me and cutting helps with that. Was I trying to end my life? No, absolutely not.” I sigh as I try to push myself up in the bed a little more. Axe reaches down, puts one hand under each of my arms and scoots me up on the bed like I weigh less than a feather. He nudges the tip of my nose with his before standing back up. I wish we were home right now watching cooking shows and eating pizza.

“Anyone who purposely cuts themselves is trying to die. There’s no other reason why someone would feel the need to slice themselves up.” That’s not the first time my mother has said this. Sadly, this is something she actually believes.

“Statements like that is what causes Tink to want nothing to do with you. Cutting is just as much a mental illness as bipolar is. You just heard her say the fog was too much for her.” Dr. Fran rolls her eyes at my mother before addressing the officers. “The fog she is talking about is a feeling that over comes her sometimes. It can control the mind and the body. It’s like you are walking in a dark cloud. All you can think about is how awful life is. You end up only seeing all the bad things in your life. It can truly suffocate you. It’s quite common with people who suffer from bipolar and other depression disorders. It can be extremely hard to conquer, and yes some people turn to self-mutilation or drugs or even alcohol. Now these types of fogs can absolutely end in suicide. However, right now I’m not convinced that this was a suicide attempt. I still need to sit down with Tink in private, but as of right now I do believe this was Tink’s way of clearing her fog.”

“I do hope you weren’t trying to kill yourself.” Officer Gent softly says. “However, right now all we are here for is to remove the person that is causing issues here at the hospital. Obviously, that’s your mother, but with everything we just heard you may want to consider getting a restraining order once you get out of here.”

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