Love & All Things Broken

This chapter contains depictions of child endangerment, substance abuse, and a child being physically injured. It includes scenes of a parent under the influence of multiple drugs behaving erratically and dangerously around their child, resulting in accidental harm during a rescue situation. Readers who may be sensitive to themes involving children in distress, drug abuse, or physical injury may wish to proceed with caution.

A Note to Readers: The rescue is complete, and while there will still be challenges ahead as this family heals, the tone of the 온라인카지노게임 now shifts toward recovery, growth, and hope. The most traumatic events are behind us.

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The knocking was loud—and heavy. I could swear I felt my bed move against the wall.

The scratchy bedspread had been annoying me. I wasn't even watching the cartoons on in the background, but I was scared to say anything. Mom seemed like she could get mad at any second, so I decided to just stay quiet. I'll just wait for Dad to come get me.

Sitting and waiting, I could hear Mom mumbling to herself. Not to me—to herself.

"I know, I know," she'd whispered to herself. "But I can't let them take her."

I don't know why she's acting so weird. She wasn't always like this. I remember when I was little, she used to sit behind me on the couch and braid my hair. She liked to hum. When she met Brad though, things became about him and less about me. I thought of all the times she would nap when she came home from work. That didn't start until the last year ... I think. I squeezed my eyes closed. How long until my dad gets here?

And then, I heard bang, bang, bang! "Jessica Jensen, this is the police. Open up!"

Mom's eyes flew open. She sat up so fast it looked like it hurt, her hair all messy from the pillow. Her face went completely white, but then she looked toward the window and nodded like someone was telling her what to do.

"They're here," she whispered.

"Police! We need you to open the door, ma'am!"

"I KNOW!" Mom suddenly screamed at the door. Then she looked at me with wild, unfocused eyes. "Macy, they found us. Somehow, they figured out we left."

I sat up on the bed, scared. "Mom, what's happening?" I thought my dad was coming.

She scrambled, stumbling out of her bed—falling to her hands and knees. Her movements seemed crazy and scary. "They want to take you back to him. Back to that house. To her." She started frantically digging through her purse. "I need... where the hell are my pills? I need them. Just one to help me think straight!"

Items were falling from her purse as she searched—scattering across the carpet. "Just give me a second!" she yelled at the door, then immediately back to her purse.

"Got 'em!" As she pulled a bottle from her bag, she tried to open it. I saw all kinds of pills scatter across the carpet. She dropped down and tried to pick them up. There were white ones and a couple blue.

"Mom, you're scaring me."

"It's fine, honey. Everything is fine. I took some an hour ago." She was looking between me and the carpet as she tried to pick them all up. "It just wasn't enough. I should have known that. It'll be okay though." She found a pill and dry-swallowed it. Then another.

I kept looking at the carpet. It had weird red and green swirls all over. Someone had left a chip bag right near where my mom's foot was. I thought about the pills my mom was taking, wondering if there was dirty stuff on them now. Why would she want to take them? What about the police?

The knocking came again, harder this time. "Ma'am, we need you to open this door now or we will enter by force."

Mom grabbed my arm, her grip too tight. I cried out, and asked her to stop. I don't think she heard me though. Her eyes were really bright. She was sweating too, but it was so cold in the room. Why is she so sweaty?

"Macy, listen, listen. You have to listen." She shook me. "When they come in, you tell them you want to stay with Mommy, okay? Tell them your dad is just angry because I figured out what he was doing with the money."

"Money?"

"Yes, Macy! The MONEY!" she shouted.

"What money, Mom?"

"The money I had to take! It was mine anyway—I earned it! It wasn't a lot. Just a little. You know—to help out. Things are so expensive. And there was so much noise, so it helped with mommy's medicine. You understand, right, honey?" Her words were getting slurred.

Before I could ask what she meant, there was a loud BANG. I looked up and the door flew open.

All of the sudden it felt like a hundred police officers came into the room really fast. One of the police women came straight toward me, but everyone else went to Mom.

"Get away from her!" Mom screamed, stumbling backward. When she tried to put me behind her, I fell and then she fell on top of me. I screamed out—my arm caught underneath me. Pain like I'd never felt before climbed up my arm from my wrist to my elbow. Mom tried to get up but she fell on me again and caused more pain. When she fell, my head bumped into the corner of the bed frame.

Tears were streaming down my face. Everything hurt. So bad. "Mom, stop! Please stop!"

Finally, she was up off of me—she yelled to the police, "I have custody! Check the papers! She's MY daughter!"

"Macy?" the woman officer asked gently, dropping down to the ground to help me up. She had kind eyes and brown hair pulled back. "I'm Officer Lidia Martinez. You can call me Lia. Can you move your arm, sweetheart?"

I tried to move it but it hurt so much I started crying harder. "It hurts!"

"Okay, honey, let's get you checked out. Just sit still for now. Did you bump your head too?"

"Yes, against the corner of the bed here." I used my good hand to show her where I hit the side of my head. When my hand came away, it was sticky. I think it was blood. I looked at the officer and showed her. "Am I bleeding?"

"Oh boy. It looks like you are. It's okay. Everything is going to be okay now." She looked at the other officers. "We need paramedics for the child too, ASAP."

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Mom shouted from across the room. Two officers were holding her arms as one cuffed her—she kept trying to come to me.

"Ma'am, we need you to calm down," one of the officers said to her.

What's happening? My arm and my head hurt really bad and Mom was acting so weird—weirder than normal.

"What kind of pills did your mom take, honey?" Officer Lia asked me really quietly.

"I don't know. She had lots of them. White ones and blue ones. She said they help her think. There are some on the floor and I think some in her purse too." I wiped my nose with my good hand. "Is she sick?"

"Yes, sweetie. Your mom is very sick right now. Those pills aren't good for her."

I looked over at my mom—sitting on the floor now because the officers made her sit down. She looked so sleepy and she was hanging her head like she was super sleepy, her eyes looking tired... and sad.

I could barely hear her through her mumbling, but I think she said, "I was trying to protect you." Her words sounded funny. "Your dad... he doesn't understand. The pills—they clear things for me. "

I don't get it. If the pills helped her think, why was she acting so confused?

"Am I in trouble?" I whispered. "Because I took someone's phone."

"Absolutely not. You're not in trouble at all. You did exactly the right thing by calling for help." She was pushing on my head with a towel from the bathroom. It made it hurt, but it was more of a dull hurt than the pain from when I actually banged it.

A man in a uniform came in with a big bag. Officer Lia told me he was a paramedic and he was going to look at my arm.

"Hi there," he said. "I'm Mike. Looks like you got hurt, yeah?"

"Yeah. My mom fell on me—on my arm. And then I hit my head." I started crying again because talking about it made it hurt more.

Mike was really gentle when he touched my head, peeling back the towel that Officer Lia was using. He replaced it with some gauze and wrapped it tightly—so tight it hurt a little, but it still felt better. Then he looked at my arm. "I think you broke your arm when you fell. We'll need to have you get an X-Ray." I cried harder at that. Everything seemed like a lot. I wanted my dad. I wanted my mom too... just not like this. "We're going to wrap it with this splint, just to keep it still and make sure you don't get hurt anymore. Then we'll put it in something called a sling to keep it safe, okay?"

While Mike was fixing my arm, I could hear the other paramedic talking to my mom. She kept saying weird things like "it's all too much," and asking him to make it all stop.

"Officer Lia?" I said.

"Yes?"

"Is my dad really coming?"

"He is. He's driving here as fast as he can. It might take a couple hours though because he was far away."

"Can I wait for him?"

"Of course. We're going to take you to the hospital to make sure your arm is okay, and your dad will meet us there."

"What about Mom?"

Officer Lia looked sad. "Your mom needs to go to the hospital too, but she'll be in a different area. The doctors need to help her with the pills she took."

I nodded. I felt really confused and scared, but also kind of better. With the police here I wasn't as scared as I was before—plus, Dad was coming. Maybe things would be normal again.

As they helped me walk to the ambulance, the officer was putting Mom in the back of a police car. I grabbed Officer Lia's hand with mine, wishing it was my dad's hand. Normally I'd feel like I was too old to hold someone's hand. But I didn't care right now.

Mom looked so sleepy. Even though she scared me and hurt my arm, she was still my mom. I hoped the doctors could get her the right pills. Maybe she just didn't have the right ones.

"Will this be the first time you're in an ambulance?" asked Officer Lia.

I nodded, "yes. I've only seen them driving or on TV. I've never been inside one before."

"Well, this will be your first time then!" she responded with a smile. "Normally I'd ask if you want to turn on the sirens, but you're probably too big for that now."

"No I'm not! I would totally turn on the sirens. Do you think Mike will let me?"

Mike was a little bit in front of me and said, "you bet, kid!"

"Okay cool! Thanks Mike!"

"You're welcome Macy."

I saw Mom again. I could see her lips move but couldn't hear anything she said. There was no one with her though in the back seat, so I think she's talking to herself.

"Will she be okay?" I asked Mike as we got in the ambulance.

"The doctors are going to do everything they can to help her," he said. "Sometimes when people take too many pills, it takes time for their bodies to get better."

"Officer Lia?"

"Yes, Macy?"

"My mom said she took some money? Do you know what she means?"

"Oh honey, don't worry about that right now. Your dad can figure all that stuff out. Right now we should just focus on getting your arm fixed up. Okay?"

I leaned back against the stretcher thing and closed my eyes. "Okay." My arm still hurt, but I felt safer now. Dad was coming, and soon this whole scary thing would be over.

I wonder if he'd hug me right away or if he'd look me over first. I hope he isn't too scared. He will probably cry when he sees me. I won't cry when he sees me, that way he won't be scared anymore—he'll see I'm strong so he won't worry. I felt tears roll down my cheeks. Better to cry now instead of when my dad is here.