2.
~ "Mom!"
"Norma?"
"Mom, we're here for you. What happened?"
Norma felt the pain in the back of her skull vibrate towards her eyes. These annoying voices were chirping at her. A man and a woman now, demanding she acknowledge them.
She had been sleeping so peacefully when a worried couple entered her hospital room. They were a young pair, early twenties at most. They were attractive and obviously well meaning.
The man was tall and had classic prince charming looks. The girl herself looked to be stolen from a fairy tale. Her large brown eyes, sad and hopeful, seemed better suited to some enchanted forest than a harshly lit hospital room.
Norma blinked at the lights biting at her eyes again and stared vacantly at them.
"Norma?" the girl with the large brown eyes said. Her expression concerned and afraid.
"Mom?" the young man said. "Romero called me. Told me what happened. Sorry it took so long to get here."
Norma blinked and stared stupidly at the both of them for a long time.
'Such a nice couple.' she decided at last.
"I'm fine." she said out loud.
"You're not fine, mom." the young man said. His voice quivering slightly as if he might cry. "I told you Norman wasn't ready to come home. I told you this was a big mistake."
His tone felt like an accusation. Norma didn't understand.
"Norma." the girl said calmly. "Did Sheriff Romero tell you what happened?"
"Tell me about what? What happened?" Norma asked weakly. She wanted to go back to sleep again. It was exhausting listening to these two right now.
"Norman tried to kill you." the young man said angrily. His voice breaking slightly and Norma caught sight of the tears in his eyes.
She felt bad when he looked away from her. He didn't want her to see him cry.
"You look just like my son Dylan." Norma said conversationally.
The young man with the prince charming looks smiled softly. He glanced back at her hopefully.
"I am your son Dylan." he said at last.
Norma sat up, but with effort. Her body felt spent and exhausted. Everything hurt right now.
"Dylan!" she said in a happy surprise. "You're here!"
It felt like a light had punctured her chest and the pain that had settled there didn't hurt anymore.
"You're here to see me. You came." Norma sighed happily.
"Of course we came." the girl said taking Norma's hand.
Norma looked at the girl now. She was like some magical fairy come to life. The last place she belonged was in a hospital.
"Emma." Norma said carefully.
Emma Decody nodded and rubbed Norma's cold hands to warm them up.
"You both… you both came to see me." Norma said in disbelief. She was suddenly overcome with gratitude at the gesture.
"Mom." Dylan said carefully. "Do you remember what happened? About Norman? About what he did?"
Norma tried to think. Tried to make her mind work. All she could think about was that Dylan didn't like her much, that he was mad at her, but he was here now. That he still loved her and was calling her 'mom' again.
"I'm so glad you're here." Norma gasped and started crying.
~ "How is she?" Alex asked when he found Dylan outside of Norma's room.
"Emma is talking to her now." Dylan nodded to the glass room with oxygen symbols obscuring their view of Norma Bates. "They had to reduce the oxygen output for now, but she's going to be fine."
Romero nodded and glanced at his wife. He was pleased to see her smiling at Emma. The younger woman holding her hands and sitting on edge of her bed.
"You really think Norman did this?" Dylan asked. "I mean, I know he's had his troubles, but I don't think he would ever hurt her."
Alex saw that Dylan's eyes were red and looked away from him. An unspoken male code to not embarrass a friend by noticing such things.
"I know he did it." the Sheriff said in a sour voice. "He must have overheard the repairman explain how the old furnace would release toxic gas into the house."
"What are we going to do?" Dylan asked.
"I'm going to take Norma home with me. I've still got the rent house on Pearl Street. She's not going back to that house again." Alex said firmly.
"Alright." Dylan nodded. "I think mom will be better off… not living in that house anymore. After everything… she might just need a fresh start."
Romero and Dylan watched as Norma smiled at Emma. Her face so child like and innocent.
"What are we going to do about Norman?" Dylan asked at last.
At last the elephant in the room.
Romero felt anger rise in him at the idea of having to deal with his treacherous stepson.
"He's going back to Pine View." he said calmly. "Norma wouldn't want him back in the county psych ward. They couldn't help him anyway. All they would do is medicate him."
"Pine View released him." Dylan said. "That doctor let him out."
"Well, they can just take him back. It's either Pine View or county, Dylan." Alex said darkly. "Or the morgue."
~ "Sheriff Romero, you can't blame us for what happened." Doctor Edwards said in that calming voice that must make everyone feel at ease and trust him.
"I do." Alex said easily. "I do blame you for what happened."
Norman Bates was now on a psychiatric hold until his two family members, his step father and half brother, could have him forcibly committed back to Pine View. A thing that became expedited very quickly when the Sheriff of White Pine Bay became involved and suspicion of attempted murder was mentioned.
Dylan glanced at Sheriff Romero for how to act, and picked up easily that his function was to remain quite, look intense and angry and back Romero up.
"Norman was in your care for only two weeks. During that time he managed to elope out of your facility with another patient and wound up in some kind of brawl at a strip club. Something you never told his mother, or myself about. You've only just now told us how he's been having problematic behavior and disturbing sessions. How could you have released him?" Romero demanded.
"In my opinion, Norman Bates wasn't dangerous. He never showed myself or any of my staff that he was dangerous. As long as he stayed medicated, he remained a troubled but non violent young man." Edwards said calmly.
"Two weeks, Doctor." Romero said in a voice that made Dylan slightly afraid. He knew Romero was soft spoken but had a deadly bite when he needed it. That the Sheriff was himself very dangerous; perhaps more than Norman. "You had him for two weeks and then you released him. Then this happened."
Dylan glared at Doctor Edwards. He understood Romero wanted him to play the angry and stoic son of the victim. To remain silent and let Doctor Edwards jump to the wrong conclusion about him.
"I want him back in Pine View tonight." Romero said at last. "I'll sign whatever form."
"We both will." Dylan said at last. His tone coming out harsh and menacing.
"I'm sure we can re-admit him." Edwards said smoothly. "But only for observation and to clarify what happened. Then we can decide if he's a candidate for re-admitance."
"Well, In light of his recent act of attempted murder, I want him to be held for as long as my insurance will cover." Romero said.
"Sheriff, Norman had already been approved for a three month treatment at Pine View. In light of his recent actions, he could easily remain there for years once underwriting is done." Edwards balked.
"Good." Dylan and Romero said in unison.
~ "I should have listened to you. When you wanted to commit Norman before. When Norma wouldn't listen to you, when you came to ask me for help, I should have agreed to it." Dylan admitted once Doctor Edwards had left them.
The gentle doctor was going to visit Norman Bates now. Talk to him about what had happened and about going back to Pine View. Dylan hadn't bothered to see his brother. The shock and pain at what he had done was too harsh.
Then again, so was the loss of his brother. He'd always wanted to be close to Norman. Always wanted a better relationship with him. Dylan always felt, if he could get him away from their mother's overprotective ways, Norman would be fine.
Now.
Now Dylan could finally see that maybe his mother had a reason for keeping Norman so close and protected. It was more than just black outs. More than just mental confusion and the occasional manic episodes. Norman was a monster and his mother was trying to hide him from the world.
"It's not your fault." Romero said sourly.
The Sheriff didn't look at his oldest step-son. They never had that kind of relationship.
"It feels like it." Dylan admitted. "It feels like my fault."
They had both wandered back to Norma's hospital room. Emma was still sitting beside Norma, although the patient had fallen asleep.
"You can't help how you feel." Romero said at last. "But none of this is your fault."
Dylan nodded and was thankful Romero was there. The Sheriff brought in a very stabilizing presence into their always chaotic world.
"I was told you saved her. Saved both of them." Dylan said at last. "That if you had come home any later, she wouldn't have made it."
"Let's not think about that." Romero said quickly. Effectively ending the conversation of what might have been.
"I just want to say thank you." Dylan said after they had a moment of respectable silence. "You've done so much for us. Thank you."
"It's fine." Romero said.
Dylan didn't argue.
"Hey, you want to go get something to eat? They have that all night cafe open." Romero said at last.
"Yeah, that sounds nice." Dylan said.
"We should bring Emma." Romero nodded to the girl who patiently sat beside Norma's bed.
"Okay." Dylan nodded.
"Norma said the two of you were together."
"Yeah." Dylan blushed slightly. "Yeah, it just sort of happened."
"That's how it works sometimes." Romero told him emotionlessly.
~ After some thought, Dylan decided he didn't mind Romero as a step father at all. He wondered briefly what it would have been like to have been raised by Sheriff Alex Romero. He was sure it would have been a strict home at times, but one where he would have had a place. It would have been the kind of home where Romero would have made room for him and kept his mother calm. It might have even been a happy childhood. A family Dylan had always longed for.
Romero, despite his stoic and unfeeling facade, was actually very caring. Dylan wasn't sure why had had never noticed how polite the Sheriff was to Emma. His manners were kind and sympatric to the both of them. Dylan had only ever known Romero as the hard as nails cop who never gave an inch and wasn't above playing dirty.
They had ordered food and were pleased to have a lonely table in back.
"Norma is going to stay with me." Romero told Emma when she asked what would happen next.
"Not in the old house?" Emma asked worriedly. "She loves that house. What about the motel?"
"We still have to get the windows fixed. It's off season right now. The motel isn't doing that much business." Dylan explained quickly. Romero caught his eye and nodded.
"What about Norman?" Emma asked. "Will he be staying with you to?"
Romero took a sip of coffee and refused to look at Emma.
"Norman will be back at Pine View." Dylan explained instead.
"For how long?" Emma asked.
Romero still refused to look at her. Dylan felt uncomfortable.
"It's just for a little while." he said at last.
~ "Norma didn't recognize me." Romero told Dylan when the three of them left the cafe after dinner. "In the hospital this morning."
"She didn't recognize me at first either." Dylan admitted. "Her doctor said memory loss is common for cases like this."
The two men watched Emma unlock the Sheriff's SUV and climb inside to get out of the cold.
"Norma needs to know what he did." Romero said. "Why he's back at Pine View."
"She won't believe it." Dylan shrugged. He knew his mother. Knew she only saw what she wanted to when it came to Norman.
"I know she won't. I can expedite a forced commitment into Pine View. He'd be there for years not just weeks this time."
He turned to his oldest step son.
"If you help me this time." Romero added.
"That's crazy. You're talking about forcibly separating them."
"It's not crazy. My insurance had a million dollar policy for mental health. Norman could stay in Pine View without Norma getting him out. Maybe his entire life if it's a question of the safety of others." Romero said seriously. "There are worse places for him. County for instance. Or even prison."
"Or the morgue." Dylan reminded him.