Chapter 9 The Other Side
This takes place during the previous chapter, on the other side of Randy's bedroom door...
Brad
We're all sitting at the dining table, eating. Without Randy. But it's been like that for a while now, so we don't wait for him anymore.
I still want to apoligize to him for what happened between me and lauren. He just doesn't get that I really am sorry and I do feel guilty about it. I don't know why I did it, I guess it just happened. I know that's not an excuse, but it's all I've got.
Everyone's quiet. Noone seems to know what to say. I feel bad for mom as I she looks at the empty chair next to Mark. I know this has been very hard on her.
I guess all of us always saw Randy as the one who would be most succesfull in life. Mostly because of his strong beliefs in a better world. Mom was always against him going to Costa Rica, not that she expected this outcome though. None of us ever could have predicted this...
All of a sudden everyone looks up as the front door opens and Randy walks in. He doesn't even look at us and walks straight to the fridge. He looks even worse than he did this morning. It's horrible to watch my younger brother as he destroys himself like this. Apparently he openly admitted to dad that he's on drugs. Not that he had to, I mean, you can easily tell by looking at him.
I really wish I could do something, but we can't. Mom's colleague told us that he needs to ask us for help and only then are we allowed to do anything. Mom wasn't happy about it, but we have no choice.
Right now I can tell mom just wants to jump up and pull him into her arms, and make it all better. Dad knows it, too, as he gives her a warning look.
We continue to watch him as he takes some food and dissapears to his room. As he shuts the door, we all release the breath we were holding in. Mom still watches the door he just went through with a sad look.
'Jill?' She turns to us with tears in her eyes. 'Honey, I know this is difficult, but remember what Stan said. We can't do anything, unless he asks us to. Look, I don't like it either. You think I like watching one of my boys dissapearing right in front of our eyes? Ofcourse I don't, but we have to do what's best. And right now, that means leaving him alone.' She nods sadly and goes back to her dinner.
After half an hour mom is doing the dishes as me and dad are watching a basketball game we taped last night. Mark went upstairs to do his homework. We're just enjoying the game when all of a sudden we hear strange noises coming from the basement. Mom noticed it, too, as she is looking at the basement door.
Dad shuts off the sound of the tv as we try to figure out what is going on. Dad gets up slowly and walks towards the door to listen closer.
'What is it?' Mom asks him. He puts his lips to his mouth to indicate for her to be quiet. He puts his ear on the door. I get up also as we all listen carefully.
All of a sudden the sounds get louder. Someone seems to be screaming.
'Is that Randy?' I whisper to dad. He tries to listen again.
'I think it is. I'm going to go see what's the hell is going on down there.' He opens the basement door and goes downstairs.
The screams become louder and more clear now. He seems to be screaming for help and pounding on his bedroom door. Mam puts a hand to her mouth. I go to her and hold her as we wait for dad to let us know something.
I can hear dad knocking on his door and saying his name. Then I hear him yell to me.
'Brad, grab a screwdriver. I can't get this door to open!' Randy's screams seem to get louder as I run towards the garage and quicly grab a screwdriver. When I move down the stairs I see mom is there as well, already crying and pleading to help Randy as dad is still trying to open the door. I hand him the screwdriver and he tries to loosen the screws of the door.
As he works to open the door, we can hear Randy pleading someone to stop. He seems to be crying, which only makes us want to help him faster. Then the sounds stop all of a sudden.
My heart is pounding in my chest as dad finally opens the door and we look inside to see what is happening. Mom goes in first.
I fear the worst as mom screams for my brother. As I finally walk in, my heart nearly stops as I see my younger brother convulsing on the ground, gasping for breath and my mom holding him closely. I hardly register my dad screaming my name as he tries to get my attention.
I finally look up as some of the daze has lifted off and I hear the words dad has been mouthing.
'Brad, I'm going to call an ambulance. Stay here and try to see if he's breathing!' he rushes upstairs as I kneel next to my mom. The convulsions seem to have stopped, so I listen to his chest to check for a pulse. His heart is beating fast and his breathing is coming in in gasps. Mom holds on to him and as dad comes back down. He takes my place as I shakily stand up and sit on his bed.
I can't do anything but watch, as my parents finally break down over the body of my once so happy go-lucky brother.
Then, something catches my attention. A small bag of pills lies on his nightstand, seemingly harmless. I pick them up carefully. As I stare at the pills, I can feel anger rising.
Why the hell did we listen to Stan Pearson? We should have talked to Randy. He may have told us he didn't want our help, but if we had just held on, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. We could have helped him, we could have... oh forget it. Right now I just want him to survive...
I just can't believe this is happening right now. I never imagined him doing drugs. He never believed in them. I even remember him asking me what I was thinking when he found out that I did pot once in a while a few years ago. Times sure have changed since then...
I ball my fists as I let my emotions run free and I cry for my brother's life.
Everything is a blur to me as the ambulance arrives. I don't remember the paramedics loading my brother onto a stretcher, or performing CPR when his heart stops the first time. I don't even remember handing the bag of pills to one of them as they rush upstairs and the ambulance siren moving in the distance, until it's too far to hear.
All I know is, the last bit of hope I had of getting my brother back, has just been shattered...
--
A/N Okay, now, I really did struggle a lot with this chapter, so I'm sorry if it's no good. Let me know what you guys think, if you don't like it, let me know if you have any ideas on how I can improve it and I will repost it.
Thanks for reading this story and please keep reading and reviewing!