A New Life
I would love to hear your opinions and look to working further on the story. This is a follow-up to Undercover Family. How do they survive being children?
I do not own or have connection with the "Criminal Minds" program or its characters.
Chapter Fourteen. I Killed My Brother!
It is the first of May and momma and the girls are going to the beauty salon to have their hair styled and manicures and pedicures done. The boys are staying home alone and momma isn't sure it is the best thing to do. She just has a bad feeling but decides to trust Sean to watch the other boys.
"Are you sure that you can handle the other boys, Sean?"
"Yeah, we will be fine momma. We'll just play together in the house here. What's the big deal? We are adults in our minds if not in body. I don't think anybody is going to be a problem." She looks at him with a worried look but decides to give him the chance to show he can be responsible.
"The girls and I are leaving now, Aaron and Spencer are napping. Spencer is usually awake before Aaron so keep an ear out for the boys when they wake up. Do not make too much noise and wake them up prematurely. You don't want cranky little ones on your hands." She sighs and says, "Are you sure that you don't want me to call someone older to stay with you?"
"Go momma, we will be fine." She sighs again and leaves the house with the girls.
Sean sighs with relief and says, "Finally, I know she worries about us but we are mentally not children and can make decisions for ourselves."
David says, "She worries because she cares."
"She worries because she sees us as children not adults."
"I really won't say that. Before the machine broke, she made us adults at times and was very good about keeping our dignity intact. She considered our adult pride but also does see our smaller bodies and less ability to reach and do things. Since the permanence of our situation it has become that she does see us more as children but especially since that case in Minnesota. I do remember you spending many nights in her bed after a nightmare." Sean reddens and hangs his head a little. ""Hey, you don't have to be ashamed by it, just give momma a little leeway to worry about you and the rest of us."
"Let's go play a game."
"Derek is playing in the playroom with cars and trucks, how about a computer game."
""Tony Hawk, Skater?"
"Sounds good." The boys go running to the office with the computer games.
An hour later, Spencer wakes from his nap and goes to find what everyone else is doing. He finds all of them in the office playing games on the computer and drinking what they shouldn't be drinking. It seems 'grandpa' keeps his liquor in the office in an unlocked cabinet and our boys have decided to pretend that they were adults again and have a drink. Sean had a rum and coke while David had a scotch on the rocks and Derek had gin and tonic. Spencer came in and saw the other boys laughing and having fun.
"Hey guys, what's so funny?"
They look at him and burst out laughing at him.
David says, "Hey, Spencer how about a nip for the little genius? What's your poison?"
"What do you mean? Are you drunk?"
"No I am not drunk but I have had a little to drink. What do you want?"
"We shouldn't have anything like that. We have bodies of children and our sizes make it difficult to metabolize alcohol."
Derek says, "The little genius is coming up with logic and will probably start spouting facts and figures and statistics now. What is it boy? Too afraid to drink like an adult maybe we should just get you some milk like a baby."
"I am not a baby. But I don't think we should be drinking alcohol. If we got caught we could be punished badly."
"Who is going to catch us? Nobody is home except us." Says Sean. "I am in charge and I say you should have a shot of whiskey. Get the boy a shot glass Dave."
"Right away Sean." Dave gets a shot glass and fills it with some whiskey. He takes the glass over to Spencer and puts it in his hand. Spencer just looks at the glass but doesn't drink it.
"Go ahead Spencer. Be a man and have a drink or aren't you a man?"
Spencer looks at the glass and takes a swig. All of the boys raise their glasses in salute and take a swig of the alcohol inside of them.
An hour later, Sean begins to hear something. It sounds like someone is screaming but who could that be? He remembers now. Aaron is still in his crib and it sounds like he has wakened from his nap. Sean goes upstairs to the boy's room where Aaron is standing up in the crib screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Aaron, stop making all that noise. I am here now." Aaron looks at him with red-rimmed suspicious eyes.
"Where is momma?"
"Momma and the girls went out. I am in charge."
"I want out of here now Sean."
"I know." Sean picks Aaron and proceeds to change his wet diaper. The boys go down to the office where the other boys still are playing games.
"Hey everybody, look at who is up."
There is a bevy of hi's to Aaron who looks around at the boys who look pretty tipsy.
Derek says, "How about a drink for the old boss man."
"Yeah, I know he likes his bourbon." Sean prepares a bottle of milk for Aaron and puts an ounce of bourbon in the drink. He picks up the baby and puts him in his lap, Aaron fusses as he doesn't really want the drink but Sean puts the nipple of the bottle in his mouth and Aaron instinctively begins to suckle.
An hour later, momma and the girls come home and spread out in the house. Momma goes to try to find where the boys are. She checks the bedroom and then the play room and the kitchen and dining area. She checks out the backyard. She is confused because she can't seem to find any of the boys. Sean had said that they would stay in the house but where. She can't even hear where they might be. She finally enters the office and sees four of the boys lying around in the different chairs in all sorts of dishevelment. She sees the glasses on the side table next to a chair and goes to smell it and discovers that it is alcohol. She gets extremely worried now as she looks at her boys. She goes over to Spencer and his head lolls back. He is unconscious and the skin was clammy and cool to the touch. She continues to check each boy but is worried because she can't find her baby. Where is Aaron?
She looks around and finally sees a tiny foot coming out from under the desk. She goes over to him and is aghast when she sees the baby. He is unconscious, clammy to the touch and his lips and skin was a light blue. She feels for a pulse which is weak and thready but at least it was there. His respiration was shallow. She decides he needs medical attention.
"Penelope, Get the van ready to go." She yells out the door. "Jennifer and Emily go to the door."
She goes around to the boys and tries to wake them up. Sean is groggy but does open his eyes and she helps him to stand and takes him to the front door and sets him on the hall bench. Jennifer sees and tries to keep him awake. She looks up at momma with worried and questioning eyes. Momma goes back and gets David and then Derek out to the hall. By this time Penelope had come back in with the van running.
Mommas says, "I need you to take the boys out to the van now and I will follow with Spencer and Aaron. Girls, help Penelope and then get into the van. After getting in the van call Dr. Hovde at the institute and have him meet us at the emergency room at Washington Medical Hospital."
Momma goes back to the office and picks up Spencer and then Aaron and carries both out to the hall and then to the van, she buckles them into their car seats and then settles the other boys as she checks them out more and Penelope is on the phone with Dr. Hovde. The girls get in and momma drives to the hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital, momma gets out and goes in while Penelope and the girls work on getting the boys out.
"Please help me, my boys got into their grandfather's liquor cabinet and I think the baby has alcohol poisoning and the others need to be checked to make they are just drunk and not poisoned as well." Orderlies and nurses head out to the van with gurneys and begin to bring the boys in. Aaron is taken first to the back and placed on a respirator. Each of the boys was given an intravenous feed as their blood was taken and their BAC was taken. It was found to be excessively high in each of the boys and they went to work on getting it lowered by flushing it out through hydration.
They had to clean up Spencer when he wet his pants while lying on the gurney. To help keep the linens clean they placed a diaper on him in case it should happen again. Aaron was in the worst condition with alcohol poisoning. The medical personnel hooked him up to a heart monitor and an intravenous drip to help clear the alcohol from his blood. They put him in an incubator to keep him germ free and protected. The poisoning lowers his immune system and opens him up to infections and illnesses.
When Doctor Hovde arrived, he first checked out the reports of the labs already taken and talked with the doctors in charge. He schedules an MRI for Aaron, it seems there is little response to the treatment and he is concerned about the lack of reaction in his eyes and motions. He is concerned about his mental abilities.
He checks on each of the other boys and sees that there is no poisoning of alcohol just drunk children who know need to get the alcohol out of their blood system. Spencer seems to have a little problem but not to the extent of Aaron and not so that the Doctor is overly worried. But he should be watched for a few days in case of lack of coordination or other problems may occur. Derek is just drunk but should also be checked over in a few days at the institute.
The doctor comes out to talk to momma.
"Rebecca?"
"Yes, Dr. Hovde."
"The boys are quite drunk; Aaron is the worst with some alcohol poisoning. I have scheduled an MRI to check for brain damage."
"Is that a possibility?"
"With the BAC he has, yes it is a possibility." Momma groans at this and fights to keep her tears in check at the thought of her baby man not being there. "I also want to keep a close eye on Spencer, I don't think that he is in as dangerous a situation but he needs to be closely monitored for a week a so to determine if the alcohol hurt any part of his brain. Some symptoms would be lack of coordination, slurred speech, muscle droop or something of that. If he shows any of these things then we must do an MRI on him as well. Derek has a high BAC but is coherent in his responses to the questions and tests done. I don't think there will be a problem with him. He should recover fine with just a hangover in the morning. David and Sean also seem to be coherent and able to respond well. We are trying to reduce the hangovers for the boys by hydrating them well and I think they should all stay overnight but I don't see a problem with them going home tomorrow. Except for Aaron of course, he will be here for a few days."
"Thank you doctor, keep me informed. I am going to check on my boys."
"I'll let the nurses know."
The boys had been taken to a ward room while Aaron is in the nursery still in the incubator to keep him germ and infection free. Momma walks into the ward room and sees three beds and a crib of metal holding Spencer in the room. It is hospital policy to put all children under the age of five in a crib of metal bars. The boys are in beds with plastic rails surrounding them and each has an IV still attached to them feeding them saline solution to help flush out the alcohol toxins in their bloodstreams.
She goes over to David first and he is sleeping peacefully. She brushes his cheeks and then heads to the bed next to him which holds little Derek. Derek, being only seven, looks so small in the bed and appears to be pale and sleeping. But instead of looking peaceful, he looks like he is having a bad dream and begins to moan a little. Putting the rail down, momma picks up her little boy and holds him in her arms where he begins to relax as he feels safe. After a few minutes, she places him back down and he is now sleeping peacefully.
Sean is in the next bed and momma looks down on her young teenager. His eyes are open and it looks like his head is hurting. He asks, "Is everybody okay momma?" Tears begin to form in his eyes as realizes where they are and what he did to his little 'brothers'.
"They will be."
"I am so sorry momma. I guess I was not ready to be alone with the boys. It was me who gave everybody the alcohol. Is Aaron okay? I think I hurt him momma. Is he okay?" Momma looks at her young teen and strokes an errant lock of hair off his face. She wipes the tears forming in his eyes as she fights from showing the ones that want to form in her eyes.
"He is being checked and we can only hope that he will be okay."
"I did hurt him then." He begins to cry earnestly.
"I am not going to lie to you Sean. They are worried about his lack of response and we can only hope and pray that any hurt is temporary and can heal. I want you to stop crying, you need to keep hydrated so that you don't get a hangover and you need to sleep now." She brushes her hands along his cheeks and wipes his eyes as he closes them and tries to sleep. She stays with him until he does fall asleep.
She goes over to the crib to check on her big little boy. She puts the rail down and checks his diaper which is wet. Putting the rail up, she leaves to get supplies to change him and when she comes back, she discovers that he is awake.
"Hello sweetheart, how are you feeling?"
"Why am I in a crib?"
"It is the policy of the hospital to put children under five in this type of bed."
"Why am I in a diaper?"
"You wet yourself in the emergency room and they put you in a diaper to keep the linens clean in case you were unable to control yourself."
"Oh. Why am I in a hospital?"
"You got drunk with the other boys and I was worried that it was a problem, so I brought you here. Sweetie."
"Yes mommy."
"I need to change your wet diaper."
"Okay mommy. I would like to feel more comfortable." She proceeds to clean him and places a dry cloth diaper with waterproofing chucks between two layers of cloth.
"This is only temporary." She smiles down at him and he wanly smiles back and gives her a big hug. She strokes him along the back to help him fall back asleep. After checking that all the boys are asleep momma leaves the room and heads to the nursery to check on her baby.
He is in a glass box with two holes that hold rubber gloves in on either side. She goes over and puts her hands in a pair of the holes and stokes her baby's hair. He is just wearing a diaper and has wires and tubes attached to several areas of his arms and chest and head. He is still sleeping as she looks down and continues to stroke his cheeks and forehead. She does this for about half an hour when she realizes that she needs to go check on her girls and let them know what is happening with their brothers. She reluctantly takes her hands out of the holes and heads to the family room where the girls are sitting waiting for news. The girls get up when they see her coming in.
"Are the boys okay?"
"As good as drunk children can be. They will be staying overnight and come home tomorrow. They are sleeping right now, so I want you three to go home now and get some rest and you can see them tomorrow."
"Aren't you coming with us?"
"No, I am going to stay in the nursery. Aaron hasn't woken up yet and I want to be here when he does. You know how much he likes strangers taking care of him." Some chuckles and nods at this remark as the girls gather their things and head to the van where Penelope drives them home.
When they get home, the director is there and questions them about the mess in his office. When they tell him about how they found the boys and where they are now, he gets upset and angry about it. He goes into the office and begins to clean the area and takes all the alcohol from the room and puts it into the safe. But it is like locking the barn door after all the horses have been stolen, still it is an effort on his part. Like momma, he did not expect his child agents to do this type of action. He also assumed that they would know better. He and the girls eat some dinner and the girls spend a quiet evening together before going to bed at about 10:00 pm.
The following day, at about 1:00 pm, the director and the girls show up at the hospital. Momma had called and said not come until the afternoon. Penelope had brought a bag with clean clothes for the boys and momma. They go into the wardroom with the boys who are still eating their lunches.
The director says, "Alright boys, what makes you think that you had the right to go into my alcohol cabinet. I thought you were smart enough to know what you can have and cannot have. I am very disappointed in all of you."
Sean speaks, "The only person you should be disappointed in is me sir. It is my fault. I gave the alcohol to the others. Since we are still mentally adults, I just felt we could have alcohol."
"Mentally or not, you are physically and legally a child and you will be punished as one. But I am glad that you are willing to accept responsibility for your actions and decision. But the rest of you should not have drunk the alcohol even if it was given to you by Sean. You will be punished for that decision. Where is Aaron?"
"He is in the nursery sir. He is not doing as well as we are."
"What do you mean by that?"
Momma comes in to the room because the nurse Angela informed her that the director and the girls had arrived.
"Hello Bob. I see you have already scolded the boys and I expect there was a mention of punishment."
"Yes, the boys know that they will be punished for this action. What is this that I hear that Aaron is not doing as well?"
"That is true as he got alcohol poisoning and is in an incubator in the nursery. He is scheduled to have an MRI done later today. The boys are good and I want you to take them home. I cannot leave yet until I know that Aaron will be alright or something about him changes."
Penelope brings over the bag and says, "I brought you a clean set of clothes and I will help with the others, you just keep an eye on our boss man. Make sure he is okay."
"We can hope and pray right now. That's all we can do at this moment. Take care of the kids." Momma goes to each of her child agents and gives each a hug and kiss as well as an admonition to listen to Grandpa and Penelope.
"I want to stay." Says Sean.
"No, I want you at home and not here worrying about what is happening to Aaron. There is nothing that you can do here for him. I will keep you informed of what is happening to him. You need to be my big boy and help grandpa and Penelope watch the little ones. You are not to leave the house for any reason and I need you to do what you are told. Do you understand what I want from you?"
Sean hangs his head and says, "Yes, but I want to stay." He looks up with tears in his eyes that were pleading.
"No." With firm hands, the director steers Sean away from momma and the boys and girls walked out the door heading home. Momma goes back to the nursery where she puts her bag down next to the rocking chair that she has been sitting in watching her baby breathe in the respirator box.
Several hours later, she is holding him in her arms while he drinks from a bottle. He is still not responding as well as he should be but is at least able to suckle and swallow the liquid. The IV has been removed and he is breathing on his own. There does not appear to be any adult recognition in his eyes but the doctor is still checking his MRI which was completed less than thirty minutes ago.
He finishes his bottle and she rocks him to sleep. When the doctor comes in a short while later she puts him in the crib they have assigned to him. He is sleeping peacefully when she walks with the doctor to his office.
"Well Rebecca I wish that I had better news but there does appear to be some damage." She groans and fights the tears in her eyes. He brings around the computer monitor as he brings the results of the MRI up on the screen. He shows where in the area of the left side of the parietal lobe of the brain appears to have some slightly damaged neurons. This is the area that focuses on long-term memory of language such as ability to read and understand speech. At his young age right now, he can relearn what he may have lost. It won't be known how much is lost until later when the brain has healed. It is possible that it can heal but right now there is damage. What he remembers and his abilities are unknown at this time." Tears begin to fall down Rebecca's face as she listens to what the doctor is saying. It is possible that the man is longer in the body of the baby. He may be lost in the damage to the long-term memory neurons. The baby can relearn what he has lost but the memories of the man may be lost. It is possible that it isn't forever but at this point there no guarantee of him remembering who he is.
"Thank you doctor. We will discuss this more at the institute."
"Rebecca, I am sorry. We will do what we can to help find the man inside."
She smiles grimly and with tears in her eyes. She gets up and walks to the nursery to see her baby. She keeps hoping to see the man in her baby's eyes but that may not ever happen again. She decides that it is time to go home and let the family know what is happening to him. She kisses her baby and walks out the nursery to take a cab home.
At the house, she walks through the door where Sean is sitting on the hall bench sitting waiting for her.
"What are doing here?"
"I was waiting for you."
"But you didn't know when I would be home."
"I was going to sit here and wait until you did."
She smiles wanly at the boy and holds him in her arms. After a minute he moves away and asks, "How is Aaron?"
"He is not doing well."
"What do you mean?" tearily the boy asks.
"There appears to be damage to the brain in the long-term memory and some abilities he may have lost."
"Damage to the brain? What do you mean? Is my brother still there?"
"We don't know the full extent and the man that was your brother might not be there anymore."
"Are you saying that I killed my brother?"
"Not physically, but it is possible that mentally he is no longer there."
He begins to cry loudly and heavily when he says, "I killed my brother."
Momma grabs him in her arms and lets him cry.