And did you leave them out with the intention of your son getting a hold of them?
[A/N: takes place during "Georgia on my mind" that aired on 12/18/12, but for the purposes of this story Charlotte did not end up going into labor]
Mason.
I looked down at the bite mark on my arm while the nurse cleaned it up, I think when I told my momma about what happened she started getting pains in her stomach. I don't even want to tell dad what happened, he'll be even more angry, I went to see him yesterday while he was with our first born triplet in the NICU, I tried to talk to him, he told me to be quiet, and that my new little sister needed him more. Does that mean I can't need him right now? Maybe the world only has room for one Freedman child at a time. That's when I got the idea.
Cooper.
"I'm home, Mason- you want to play some wii tennis, I think I'll stay here tonight, how about we order a pizza… Mason? Mason? Are you here?" That's odd. Mason always comes running at the word wii, and if that doesn't get his attention the word pizza will. I've barely seen him lately, maybe this is some sort of a backlash against me. But he should be home- Violet dropped him off at 4:30 and it's practically five o'clock.
Cooper goes to Mason's room and sees him laying on the bed head down
"Mase, wake up, are you tired, sick? You don't usually sleep this…" and then I realized, he was unconscious and had a low pulse.
"911, I need an ambulance here as soon as possible bpm is very low, young boy 11 years old, 4"9' 110 pounds, and yes our address on your gps is correct, hurry." I had no idea what happened, lack of food, some sort of carbon monoxide leak, I knew I should have installed those detect…
Cooper looks on Mason's night stand- he sees an empty glass of water and a bottle of pills, he looked closely at the label "provigil"
What have I did, why don't I have a lock for my medicine cabinet, that's dangerous enough with Charolette in the house, I thought if anything she would be the one to do this, not Mason, he's just a child. I still had six pills in here.
The paramedics arrive
"It looks like he took six of my provigil."
"and who exactly was the prescription issued to Mr. Freedman?" This cop must be new, who does he think he is, calling me "Mr." all the cops know me by now, if not my wife. "It's, Dr. Freedman, and those are mine." He'll say my name right.
"And why do you have them?"
"stress, from my wife's pregnancy and work, I got tired during the day, these were prescribed to me by another doctor to help me get through the day and back on a normal sleeping routine."
"And did you leave them out with the intention of your son getting a hold of them?" I felt a sickening feeling run through my body and had to sit down, did I leave them out so my son could get them? Did I hope my son would kill himself? What kind of a question is this, what kind of a world do we live in? I put my head to my knees crying. "Well, did you leave them out with the intent that he would find them, have you ever encouraged him to just take medicine without permission?"
"No. NO. NO. NO. I didn't want this to happen, I keep them in a cabinet, I guess he knows where they are, I never taught him to use them I didn't even tell him what they did, but he's a smart boy, a real smart real good boy and all I want right now is for you to save him and I don't need any of this questioning, I don't know what happened here, I just got home, my wife is on bed rest, pregnant with triplets, one of the triplets came out early and is in critical care in the NICU and I don't want this to be happening," I continued crying.
"Can we drive you to the hospital to see your son, is there anyone I can call for you," The cop looked at me with sympathy, more likely so I couldn't come back and sue him than the fact he actually felt bad for me.
"Take me to him. NOW." I demanded.
"Is there a friend we can call, or your wife?" the last thing Charlotte needs right now is this, I'll wait until we know for sure Mason is fine before even telling her. I wasn't sure who to call, Violet busy with Lucas, Sam and Addison were in the NICU with my baby.
"Sheldon." My voice was weak. "Sheldon Wallace, here is his number."
"I'll forward it to the station and have them make the call."
Sheldon.
"Dr. Sheldon Wallace speaking, yes, yes, I'll be down there right away." I couldn't believe it, Cooper's son, and suicide. I reviewed all the times I had seen the boy the past few weeks in my mind, now I could slowly see the signs, being less involved, being more quiet than usual, just staring off. I should have asked him if he was o.k, I could have stopped this, I'm a damn psychiatrist, I see the kid every day, and yet I miss it all.
Sheldon gets to the hospital and sees Cooper standing by the trashcan looking sick.
I wrap my arms around him and rub his back. "Cooper, you're gonna be alright, how's he doing?"
"They are pumping his stomach now, and he's going to be o.k, but he has to stay in the pysch ward," The tears rolled down his face, every parent's nightmare, knowing that their child would permanently be labeled as 'damaged' from there on out. Wait until Charlotte hears this, it's not going to go over well. I rub his back some more, I feel sick to my stomach too, my eyes tear up.
"You know- I should grab everyone, you deserve support, are you o.k here by yourself?"
"Sure." He shakes and sits down on the floor with his head between his knees. I grab Addison and Sam. We all sit together, Addison holds Cooper, Violet comes as soon as she can and takes a turn holding him.
Cooper.
I just sat there leaning on Addison, helplessly, I'm a damn doctor and I can't even help my own son, well mostly because they won't let me. Addison makes me feel so comfortable she's really good at taking care of people, that must be why she is such a good doctor, I really owe her one, maybe next time a guy breaks her heart I'll hold her for a while. I felt Violet's hand go down my back, such a comforting feeling to know that my friends are here with me. Finally a doctor, it must have been seven hours.
"We've pumped your son's stomach, he's in room 304 bed B, and on a 51:50 hold for the moment, luckily there wasn't much to do, that's why it only took us about twenty minutes." The words coming from the doctor's mouth seemed slow and confusing.
"So… he's… um" I swallow. "Alive?"
"Yes, Dr. Freedman, he's alive, he's safe, but we've got a lot to talk about and investigate, he'll need a psychiatrist as well." I look to Violet and she nods. I stand up but my legs feel like jelly, I turn to ask Sheldon for advice, but he looks just as bad as I'm feeling.
"What.. Where.. Where do I start?" I turned to Violet.
"Don't push for questions, make him feel loved first," She rubbed my back encouragingly. It felt like I was walking a mile down that hallway to his room even though it was only a few feet.
"Mase," I sat on his bed and stroked his head. "I love you. So much. And I just want you to know that if I ever lost you, I would be a disaster, my life would be terrible and I know lately I haven't been doing much with you and there really isn't any excuse why I shouldn't, I'm a horrible father." I began to cry, I let him see my tears.
Mason.
I lived. For a doctor's son clearly I'm not that smart considering I didn't take enough to kill me, but my dad looks terrible, I can't believe what I've done, and especially with Momma's situation now, oh gosh, Momma, I didn't even think about her, she's going to be really sad. "Dad." I'm crying now too. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what I did, I'm so selfish, it doesn't always have to be about me, in fact, it never has to be about me, ever again. What's going to happen to me now?"
"Well, you're going to have to stay in here for a little while, you're also going to have to talk to someone, like how about Violet, about how your feeling, and you can tell her things she won't tell me unless you say it's o.k, now I need to go see your momma and I don't want to leave you alone, everyone's outside, do you have a preference of who you want me to get for you?" I liked everyone from the practice, I just shook my head.
Cooper leaves the room.
Cooper.
"Can someone go sit with him and keep him company, Sheldon, Violet, or anyone? I need to go see Charolette and I don't want him to be alone?" I look around, Sheldon still looks really upset, which is weird because I don't see Sheldon as the guy to get emotionally involved and all, He's never really spent much time with Mason. Violet points down at Sheldon and mouths she'll take care of him.
"I can," Addiosn is a life saver.
"thank you so much Addiosn."
"I'm always here."
Cooper walks down to Charolette's room.
Charolette.
Can't believe, it's been like an hour and none of those damn a-holes have come to check up on me, it's kind of nice, I actually enjoy the quiet. Oh look, it's my husband, why does he look so upset? Not my baby… "Coop what's going on, just seein' your face is scaring the life out of me."
"Babe," He took my hand, this can't be good.
"Mason tried to kill himself this afternoon," I started crying, I knew I never wanted to have these damn babies in the first place, I could have been there, wait maybe it's me, it's my fault.