AN: Trigger warning: drug overdose.
Sorry it has taken so long to get this next chapter finished. Hopefully its worth the wait. Enjoy!
Chapter 21
"She left letters," Elizabeth said, pointing to a stack of folded papers on the table.
Henry crossed the room and picked them up and flipped a couple open. They look like goodbye letters," he said. "We need to go find her. Now."
"How are we going to do that? Your dad looked for her for a month and never found her."
"I bet I know of other places to look that he didn't. The ones where she goes when she doesn't want to be found." Elizabeth stared at him. "I spent a lot of time watching her when I was in high school. Especially once Beth was born. It took a long time to find her, but then I got decent at tracking her. I know a few people who used to keep an eye on her. Maybe they're still around." He slipped his hand around Elizabeth's and led her out the door.
Once in the car, they drove to a run down part of town. Henry parked in front of an abandoned house. He opened the door and then stopped. "What?" she asked.
"I'm trying to decide if you're safer here or with me."
"With you. Quite frankly, I don't like the idea of sitting here alone when I don't know the situation." Henry nodded and exited, meeting her on the other side of the car. "Let's go." The couple walked around to the back of the house and pushed open the back door. They made their way through the path on the floor, food boxes and other trash littering the area. The place smelled of dirt, body odor and sewage. Elizabeth swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and hung onto Henry's hand as he pulled her up the stairs.
He knocked on the door at the top of the stairs. "Les? You there?"
There was some rustling and a few seconds later the door opened. "Angel? For goodness sake. I haven't seen you in forever. I thought you left."
"I went off to college and I'm just home for a while before I leave for the Marines. How have you been doing Les?"
"I'm still kickin' if that's what you mean. You know my husband was a Marine when he was young."
"I know Les. We talked about that. I remembered how you said he was tough and would always pull through. It kept me going a time or two in boot camp."
"You's a good one. You and your sister both. You need to drag her ass outta here." Henry opened his mouth to protest, but Les put her hand up to stop him. "I know. You've tried. She just keeps gettin' pulled back in by the monster. I thank God every day that I never got mixed up in that. I might not have a proper house, but at least I got my wits about me. I'm not givin' in to that. Ain't no situation so bad that I'm gonna do that."
"Unless it happened without your consent,". Elizabeth murmured.
For the first time Les turned her attention to Elizabeth. "Who might you be?"
"I'm Elizabeth." She extended a hand to Les, surprising the older woman. "I'm lucky enough to be with him." She jerked her head toward Henry. "We're looking for Maureen. Have you seen her today?"
"Star," Henry corrected. "She goes by Star here." Elizabeth nodded.
"She hasn't been around for a couple days. Check with Bernie. He's out and about more than I am. I kinda keep local nowadays," Les said. "I don't have the get up and go like I used to." Henry nodded.
He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and retrieved a card that had a quarter taped to it, then pulled out a $20 and folded it up with the card. "If you see her and you get out, would you call and let us know she's still around? And do something nice for yourself. You keeping an eye on my sister has been much appreciated." Henry reached out and patted the woman's shoulder. "Thank you."
"Good luck to you," Les said as she pushed the door closed.
Henry and Elizabeth made their way back down the stairs and out the back door. When they got to the street, Henry unlocked Elizabeth's door and let her in. "Glad the car's still here." Elizabeth's eyes went wide. When Henry rounded the front end of the car and got in, he finished his thought. "It's a nice car. It could've been stolen."
"Swell," she whispered, closing her eyes. Henry pulled away from the curb and headed down the street before turning. "What's with the name Angel?" she asked.
Henry smirked, "Les gave me that name because she kept finding me in the shadows watching Maureen, or Star. She said I was her guardian angel. It appears that's not really the case at all." Elizabeth reached over and squeezed his leg.
Several turns later, he stopped in front of a warehouse. Henry got out and met Elizabeth at the front of the car. "Is this safe?" she asked.
"Depends on your definition of safe," Henry muttered. "To most people, no, but this is one of the better places Maureen has been known to frequent." He slipped his hand into hers and walked along the perimeter of the building, pulling on doors as they passed to see if one was unlocked. Rounding the end of the building, they saw a man open a door. "Bernie!" Henry yelled and took off running, pulling Elizabeth after him. The man glanced up, and rushed through the door, letting it slam shut behind him.
Henry made it to the door only a couple seconds after it slammed shut. He pulled on it and it was locked. "Bernie," he called, pounding on the door. "It's Angel. Let me in."
"She doesn't want to see you," came the voice from inside.
"But I want to see her. I need to talk to her Bernie. Let me in." Henry's voice cracked. "Please," he begged. Elizabeth put her arms around his waist and pulled him back from the door.
"Can we force our way in?" she asked, "or check the other doors?"
"Dammit Bernie. Let me in." Henry pushed against Elizabeth and pounded on the door again. The door opened a crack and Elizabeth and Henry quickly moved out of the way of the door and stepped inside.
Whatever stench Elizabeth thought the house had was tripled in this space. It was all of the foulness of the house with a stagnant water smell on top of it. It didn't matter that it was already 80, Elizabeth wished for long sleeves so she could cover her mouth and nose. Henry stepped up to Bernie. "Where is she?" he demanded.
Bernie's face hardened. Elizabeth saw that Henry wasn't going to be able to get answers talking to the man like that. "Henry, stop. Bernie hasn't done anything wrong. You need to calm down. " Elizabeth stepped in front of Henry and placed her hand on his chest mouthing the words "I got this." Henry's jaw was set, but he didn't move.
She turned and flashed Bernie a kind smile, and extended her hand, grabbing his and shaking it. "Hi Bernie. I'm Elizabeth. We came to find Mau-I mean Star." Les said you would be the best person to ask because you know about everyone. You are the one people come to when they need answers. Was Les right? Are you the one with all the answers?" She smiled shyly and leaned in toward him. "I hope so. We really need to find Star."
Bernie almost instantaneously caved under Elizabeth 's flattery. "Yeah, she's upstairs. She's with Benny and Max though. I'd be kind of careful if I were you. Those two are a little rough."
"Thank you so much Bernie. We appreciate your help so much." She reached into her purse and pulled out a $20 for the man and pressed it into his hand. "Where can we find Star upstairs?" Bernie gave them simple directions and tucked the bill inside of his jacket and pointed the way and gave a few directions.
Henry nodded his thanks and he and Elizabeth made their way up the metal stairs, across a catwalk to a walkway with several rooms lining the length of the building. Elizabeth assumed these may once have been office spaces. They walked carefully over the debris and stopped in front of the door. "What do we do now?" Elizabeth asked.
Henry reached out and turned the door handle. It turned freely. "We go in," he said softly. Henry cracked the door enough to see the three laying sprawled out on a dirty mattress unconscious. Henry crossed the room in two steps and pushed one of the guys away from Maureen. He knelt beside her. "Maureen. Sis, wake up for me. Come on!" Henry's voice became a little higher and more strained with each word. Elizabeth placed two fingers against Maureen's neck.
"She has a pulse, but it's weak. We need to get her out of here and to a hospital." Elizabeth didn't even get the full sentence out and Henry had scooped up Maureen and was moving toward the door. Elizabeth quickly surveyed the room and seeing a syringe next to the mattress, made the assumption that heroin was the drug of choice. Carefully Henry carried Maureen down the stairs and out the door. He greatly regretted walking so far away from the car because now they were backtracking and Maureen was dead weight in Henry's arms. Looking down at her in the daylight, her lips were bluish. Henry picked up his pace.
Finally making it to the car, Elizabeth unlocked it and helped Henry into the backseat with Maureen and proceeded to hop into the driver's seat and take out toward the hospital.
Henry cradled Maureen, her head against his shoulder. "Don't die on me Maureen. I'm so sorry. I love you." He rocked her, his tears rolling down his face onto her cheek. Elizabeth took a corner hard, throwing Henry to the side. Maureen's eyes shot open and she struggled weakly against Henry. "Maureen, don't. I've got you. You're safe," Henry murmured over and over. Finally, her eyes cleared and she saw who was holding her.
Tears filled her eyes, "I'm sorry," she mouthed, her eyes started to close again.
"No! Stay with me!" Henry shook her and she cracked her eyes again. "I'm sorry. I love you. I love you." He pushed the hair away from her face. "Do you hear me?"
Elizabeth made another sharp turn. "We're here," she cried, bailing out of the car immediately to get help. Henry grabbed the door handle and barely had the door open when three orderlies came rushing out with a gurney. They hauled Maureen out of the car and placed her on the gurney and started pushing her away. Maureen grabbed hold of Henry's shirt. "Beth?"
"Always," he said as they pushed her through the doors. She let go of him. Henry turned and collapsed into Elizabeth's arms, burying his face in the crook of her neck and sobbed.
Thirty minutes later, Patrick walked in. "Have you heard anything?" Henry shook his head. "How is she? How did you find her? Where?" Patrick was full of questions that Elizabeth mostly answered while Henry's head remained buried in his hands.
A short time later, a nurse stepped to the door. "McCord?" The three stood and were ushered to a small room outside the waiting area. "The doctor will be in shortly," she said, pulling the door closed behind her. Patrick paced the small space behind the table as Henry and Elizabeth sat quietly next to each other holding hands.
The door opened and a middle aged man entered. Hello, I'm Dr. Brian Johnson. Please have a seat." He motioned to the chair next to Elizabeth. She reached up and took Patrick's hand, pulling him in the direction of the chair. When, Patrick sat, the doctor sat as well.
"Mr. McCord, when Maureen arrived, her heart rhythms were very inconsistent and her respirations depressed. We intubated her and tried to counteract the effects of the heroin in her system, but she was in an advanced state of overdose and we weren't able to bring her out of it. We tried multiple times to revive her and we were unsuccessful. I'm so very sorry."
Patrick's hand trembled around Elizabeth's as he let out the breath he'd been holding since he got the call. "Do you think-could I maybe see her?" His voice was soft, yet it conveyed all of the pain he felt and Elizabeth wished so desperately that she could take the burden away from him. She had always thought that the greatest pain one could have was to lose a parent, but in that moment she realized that losing a child could be so much worse.
The doctor stood and extended his hand. Elizabeth shook it, as the men on either side of her were oblivious to his actions. "Of course. I will send for you in a few minutes and you can go back. Again, you have my deepest sympathy."
"Thank you," Elizabeth murmured as he exited the room. She looked over at Henry. He sat stoically with his hands folded in his lap. Her hand slipped over the arm of the chair and covered his, squeezing them. Henry looked up at her, tears in both of their eyes.
"Do you think she knew?" he whispered.
Elizabeth nodded. "I do."
"You think she killed herself?" Patrick asked suddenly.
"No-no-no." Elizabeth shook her head soundly. "That's not what we meant. Maureen was in and out of consciousness on the way to the hospital. Henry was asking if she knew what we were saying to her in the car."
Patrick nodded and sat silently for a few moments. "Do you think?"
Elizabeth pondered that for a moment. "No, I don't. I do think Maureen sensed that she was close to the end though. I think that's why she came to the house last night and why she wanted to set some things straight, especially with Beth." Elizabeth patted Patrick's knee. Henry sat silently thinking about the letters in the car. He wasn't as sure as Elizabeth, but he said nothing.
A nurse came to the door. "You can come back if you like." The three rose from their places and followed her down the hall silently, Patrick leading with Henry and Elizabeth following hand in hand. The nurse stopped in front of a door, and led them inside. "Just hit the nurse call button when you are finished and I'll come and show you out." She stepped to the door. "I'm so very sorry for your loss." Then the nurse disappeared, closing the door behind her.
Patrick moved to one side and Henry to the other. Both looked down on Maureen's body, a white sheet covering her from her ankles up to her shoulders. "She looks peaceful," Patrick said, "More so than she's looked for years." Henry watched his father struggle and finally a hand covered his mouth trying to hold in the sob that was escaping regardless. Henry quickly moved around the end of the bed and pulled his father into a hug.
Elizabeth watched the scene unfold. The McCords weren't particularly a touchy feely bunch and Henry and his father had a rather tumultuous relationship, so seeing the two of them cling to each other pushed Elizabeth over the edge. She quietly backed out of the room and tried to pull herself together. Leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She wiped her eyes and was just about to head back in when Henry popped his head out looking worried. "Hey, are you?"
"I'm fine." She cut him off. "I was giving you and your dad a few minutes." He eyed her. "Really, come on." She laced her fingers through his a walked back into the room. She'd noticed something before and she wanted to look closer. She pulled the sheet up and looked at the tattoos on Maureen's ankles. "Look," she said to Henry. "Mary Elizabeth March 4. What's that one? Some sort of construction equipment?"
Henry peered over her shoulder, "You're kidding. It's Mike Mulligan's steamshovel. It was Beth's favorite book forever. I don't know how many times I read it. She talked about that steamshovel all of the time."
"Is that all?" Patrick asked, stepping beside Henry. They both looked expectantly at Elizabeth. She looked at them for a moment trying to decide how wrong it would be to search Maureen's body looking for tattoos, Of course, she was curious too, especially since the first two were related to Beth.
She sighed, and lifted the edge of the sheet. Elizabeth only found two more, one on each forearm. The first was a heart with the letters P and A and the date 2-29. "It's our wedding anniversary, but I'm not sure about the other one," Patrick said.
The tattoo was a cross with the dates 3-4,12-15, and 4-16. "Well besides 3-4 being Beth's birthday," Elizabeth mused. "Do you recognize the other dates?"
Patrick seemed lost in thought for a while. "It's not just her birthday," he said. "It was also the day she was Baptized. I think it's when she received the Sacraments."
"The April date is right. What was in December?" Elizabeth asked.
"Reconciliation," Henry replied. "I remember it was after finals because we had to stay in the dorms longer. We came and picked you up afterwards and went out to eat."
Elizabeth thought back. "Yeah, I do remember. Now that you say it."
"We told Maureen, but she brushed it off like it was no big thing. I guess it was more important to her than she let on," Henry said.
"Seems like she did a lot of that," Elizabeth said.
They stayed a few minutes longer before calling the nurse to show them out. The three walked slowly out of the hospital. Patrick told Henry that he would meet them at home, and he wandered, shoulders slumped, toward the opposite side of the parking lot.
"Want me to drive?" Elizabeth asked. Henry shook his head and took the keys from her hand. Henry sat behind the wheel and didn't move. Elizabeth placed her hand on his shoulder.
"I can't believe how little I knew about Maureen," Henry said, his voice full of sadness. "I wish I would have taken the time to get to know her."
"I doubt she would have let you," Elizabeth said. "She did a good job of keeping people at arm's length. Maybe she thought it was easier that way. She knew how you felt at the end. Hopefully that gave her some peace."
"I pray that's the case." Henry looked at Elizabeth. "Let's go." He turned over the ignition and pulled the car from its spot and pointed it toward home.