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I nearly drop the phone. I stand there stunned, and let that sink in. “I’m sorry… what? Two days ago?”
“Your mother’s an adult and she was here voluntarily. We aren’t obligated to make this phone call and there’s some legal precedent for respecting patient privacy, but—” She clears her throat again. It must be a nervous habit. “She left with another patient and I believe they’re using again. I’m sorry, Katherine, I really am. I tried to get her to stay, but she wouldn’t.”
“Mom’s… using again. Mom’s using already.”
“I don’t know for sure, but yes, I believe so. Have you heard from her at all? I don’t think you have, but—”
“No, nothing. I didn’t know she’d left.”
“That’s what I figured.” She lets out a breath. “I’m very sorry, Katherine. Sometimes people aren’t ready to get clean and move on. Your mother—”
“My mother is going to end up dead before she ends up sober. Thank you for the call, Ms. Howley.” I hang up before I say something more, before I rage and scream and shout at her forletting my mother run away. There’s nothing that woman can do now and she couldn’t exactly keep my mother prisoner, but how could she waittwo daysbefore calling?
I pace back and forth, feeling dizzy and overwhelmed. Melody comes over, looking concerned. “You okay? You look a little—”
“I need to go home,” I tell her. “My mom. I just... I’ve got to go home.”
“Sure, yeah, do whatever you need to do, I’ll cover for you. Is there anything I can do?”
“No, not right now. I just have to go.” I hurry inside to gather my stuff and text the car company on the way. My ride shows up ten minutes later and I’m a mess on the way back to the apartment. I’m going to the worst-case scenario, imagining Mom overdosed and dead on the side of the road, or sharing needles with these total strangers and getting sick, or doing dozens of other horrible and dangerous things in the name of getting her drugs. I want to scream and cry, and I feel so weak and powerless and all my good feelings are blown away like seeds in a tornado.
My mom checked herself out of rehab, I send to Ford.I need to find her.
He gets back right away.I’m not home, but I can meet you there soon.
Thank you.I hit send then call Grandfather. He needs to hear about this. Two days. Two whole days! Who knows what my mother’s been doing these last two days? While I’ve been busy having sex with Ford and trying to be happy for the first time, my mother’s spiraling into her addiction again. If I hadn’t been so preoccupied, if I spent more time calling her, if I visited her more—
Grandfather doesn’t answer. I curse and try again, and again, until finally the line clicks and his voice comes through. “Katherine, I am busy right now, please stop calling.”
“Wait,” I say quickly. “Mom’s gone.”
There’s a pause. The line’s still live. I hear him breathing. Then: “Gone where?”
“I don’t know.” I tell him everything Director Hawley said. “We need to find Mom and figure out if she’s safe.”
Grandfather sighs. “No, we don’t.”
“Please, I know it’s been hard, but—”
“I’m sorry, Katherine, I really am busy. Your mother is on her own.”
He hangs up.
I stare at my phone. He hung up on me. His daughter is missing, probably out getting high again, and he hung up on me. Never in all the years we’ve been dealing with Mom has he ever hung up on me like that.
The resignation in his voice was thick and said everything.
He’s finished with her. He’s probably finished with me, too.
I’m on my own.
The car parks outside of the apartment building and I head inside. Grandfather won’t help me, but Ford’s going to. I took this deal in case of this exact scenario, and now that it’s here, I feel like I’m on the verge of panic.
I have to remind myself that I have Ford. I have Ford. He’s going to help me. He’s going to find Mom and bring her home and get her help, and maybe he can’t cure her, maybe nobody can, but he’ll at least help.
I step off the elevator and head up toward our room. Something looks off—the living room looks like someone’s been pulling the cushions off and looking around behind them. Maybe Ford lost something in the couch? I’m too panicked and upset to think about it and go straight to the bedroom. As I reach the doorway, I pause when I hear the sound of a drawer opening and closing.
“Ford?” I ask and step inside.
