“I don’t care. You are my priority. You, Mom, Dad, Morg, and Patrick. You’re my priorities. I’ll be back in the morning. I love you, bub.”
“Love you too,” Chase said. He kept his head on Hollis’ shoulder for a few extra moments before Hollis got off the bed.
I stepped closer and took hold of his hand.
“Rest up. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Chase tugged my hand closer and then flung his arms around me. He leaned his head against my chest and stomach while I smoothed his hair down.
“Thank you for answering when I called.”
“I’ll always answer. Whenever you need me, I’m here for you.”
I guided him to lean back and rest against the pillows. He immediately pulled the sheet and blanket up and rolled onto his side. Charles walked out into the hallway with Hollis, Morgan, and me, and I could tell by his face that today had shaken him. He hugged Morgan and Hollis and then me.
“Thank you so much, Patrick. I don’t know what we would have done if we’d gone home and found him unresponsive.”
“I’m glad he called me.”
“Dad, Steve and Jacobi are going to stay the night. If you or Mom need anything, you let them know,” Hollis said.
“Sir, will you be needing a lift home?” Steve cleared his throat and asked. Before he could answer, I spoke up.
“Did you drive? Morg?” I asked him.
“Yeah, I drove here.” Morgan looked at Steve and then to Charles. “I’ll make sure Hollis and Patrick get home.”
“Very well. I’ll let the rest of the security team know that you’ll be with Morgan and Patrick,” Steve said and then returned to the chair by the doorway.
“Want me to drive?” I asked Morgan when the three of us got into the elevator.
“I’ll drive. Can I crash at your place for the night?” Morgan asked.
“Of course. I wouldn’t want you driving all the way home tonight. It’s late, everyone is stressed, and it’s just not a great idea to be out on the road distracted,” Hollis added.
“Do you guys think we could go to the house?” I asked as we walked to Morgan’s SUV.
“Mom and Dad’s?” Morgan asked.
“Why?” Hollis asked.
“Chase’s bathroom is kind of…” Morgan and Hollis stopped walking and stared at me. I didn’t want to worry them. “Kristin or Charles don’t need to see that when they get home. Chase doesn’t need to see it again either.” I looked down as I tried to put into words what it felt like or was like to see the scene where you tried to kill yourself. I pictured the phone cord wrapped around the clothes bar in my closet when I was in high school. My eyes welled up because it hit me like a ton of bricks that I had been so alone with all of that as a teenager. “It’s … um…” I took another deep breath and exhaled slowly while I looked at the asphalt. “It’s just hard to see the leftover scene of when you’ve reached the absolute lowest point in your life,” I murmured.
“Fuck,” Hollis said as he walked toward me. He pulled me into an embrace. I wrapped my arms around him. I had wanted to comfort him all night, but there hadn’t been a private moment for the two of us to share.
“You guys can wait downstairs, and I can clean it up,” I volunteered.
“The fuck you will,” Morgan said. “You aren’t cleaning anything up alone.”
We rode in silence to the house, and when we got there, I led Hollis and Morgan upstairs to Chase’s bathroom. The three of us stood in the bathroom and looked around at the chaos, each of us lost in our own thoughts. We cleaned the bathroom quickly and in silence, and Morgan took the knife to the garage. He said he put it in a cardboard box and set it in the trash.
When it was all done, Hollis told us to sit at the table. He brought over some cans of Coke for us and sat down. We were all tired, but at the same time, we’d been hyped up on adrenaline. I could feel the crash coming on, though, the longer we sat there.
“Come on, let me get you guys home,” Morgan said.
“My SUV is outside. I can drive Hollis and me,” I said. “You can stay here, at least where you’re comfortable.”
“You sure?” Morgan said and then glanced at Hollis to see how he felt about it.
