Charlie IV

Chapter 8

Rick was driven back to the UCLA Medical Center the very next morning. This morning was going better for everyone involved. By the time Jim, Rick, and Charlie arrived on the floor, Johanna and Doctor Wroce, the psychiatrist, were already there and waiting just a little outside of Katie's door.

Jim, Jo, and Rick had each stopped at the nurses station to see how Katie had fared during the night. Finding out Katie was again unresponsive wasn't good news.

Johanna was putting her trust in Charlie and what he was accomplishing but she still saw Rick as a man. Her memory of what Katie did when she saw men was still front and center in her mind.

"I'll take him." Jo took Charlie's leash from Rick and together with Doctor Wroce, they entered Katie's room. The two of them had already looked and knew Katie was awake. Just not really looking at anything.

[:] o-0-O-0-o [:]

Thirty minutes later Jo and Doctor Wroce were back out but without Charlie. "Katie isn't even petting Charlie this time," Jo told her husband and Rick. "We're losing her." The anguish in her voice was evident. Yesterday had sounded so promising. Now all that seemed to be gone.

"I need to make a call. Get a second opinion on just what to do now." Doctor Wroce left them and hurried to the nurses desk.

"May I? She didn't scream at me yesterday. She did say no last time a couple of times," Rick reminded them.

This had Jo looking at her husband and she watched him nod his approval. What did they have to lose? "Go ahead." If he could get Charlie to work his magic and they couldn't they would both take it.

This time Jo poked her head around the corner just enough that she could see and hear what he did.

[:] o-0-O-0-o [:]

It took Rick and Charlie just 15 minutes to get Kate to pet Charlie again and this time she heard her daughter say NO! when Charlie was called away. Jo put a hand over her mouth to keep from crying out and ruining everything. It was literally the first word she had heard Katie say since the days of her screaming when she saw a man.

Another fifteen minutes and she said it again when Charlie went away again because Rick called him to him. Jo stepped back into the hallway. "He has Katie saying NO easily. Can you believe it?" Jo stepped back into the doorway and went back to watching and listening.

Jo felt someone trying to enter the room and saw that it was Doctor Wroce. Jo stopped her and dragged her away from the door. "He has her talking and petting Charlie. I'm not going to say that you're fired, but right now I don't want you in there ruining what little those two have accomplished. So go sit down somewhere."

The psychiatrist wanted to say she was far more qualified. It was just if Charlie and his owner had gotten something out of Katie that none of them had, she couldn't argue against that so she headed to the nurses desk to call someone.

[:] o-0-O-0-o [:]

It had been two hours. Rick and Charlie came out of Kate's room and went to the nurses station to see where Jim and Johanna were. Jim drove him here so he needed him to drive him back home.

He never made it. "You're out and..." Johanna wanted information.

"I'm not really sure if what I'm or Charlie is doing is helping at all. All I get her to do is pet him, miss him when he leaves, and say no. Charlie goes back and she goes back to petting him. Do it again and she says no. That's it.

"Charlie's a Therapy Dog and I walk him around to people that could use his help. People that are already awake and just want a little love to brighten their day. That's us. I want to help, so does Charlie, I think. I'm just not sure we can help you." Rick hated to break it to her.

"Charlie is all she has responded to at all. What else is there to do?" Jo looked at her husband for help.

"I can keep coming back if you want. Right now I really need to take Charlie outside so he can do his business. We can come back inside and come back up here. If I can get this far." Jim did, so he did. Rick just didn't know if he could do it alone or not.

[:] o-0-O-0-o [:]

Rick was outside walking Charlie around to see if he needed to pee or poop. He had agreed to go back inside and up to her room again. He just didn't see that he was helping. In his mind a Therapy Dog delivered a little love to people that could use it. This Katie needed a lot more than just that.

[:] o-0-O-0-o [:]

"What do we do? Our medical coverage has a limit and we're reaching it," Jo questioned her husband.

The emergency operation after she was found was bad enough. The last two months in UCLA Medical was adding up fast. The male doctors they did have and were gone now had already submitted their bills and been paid by their medical coverage after paying the deductible.

"Pretty soon we're not going to have a choice," Jim told her. "We take our girl and go home. That means one of us quits our job. It also means we need to do what we talked about maybe sooner than we thought."

Jo moaned and leaned into her husband. She was a strong-willed woman but she had her limits and was reaching them fast. So she let her husband hold her.

"I have a question, Jo. Tell me I'm way out in left field here but our options are limited." Jim waited for his wife to say something but she didn't.

"Katie can't stay here much longer. And Rick and Charlie are the only ones that have reached her. To cut costs we need to take her out and move to one of the places we've talked about," Jim summarized. "Now comes the kicker. We talk Rick into moving with us. Find him a local job. Rent out a room to him if we have to. Hire him if need be. The places we're talking about are a lot less expensive. The sooner we do this the bigger the cushion we will have."

Jo said nothing and just let him hold her while she thought about what he'd said. She raised her head. "He'll never go for it, Jim. It'll never work."

"You haven't seen where he lives, Jo. I told you he lives in a trailer park in a really old Airstream. I've told you where he suggests that we go for lunch that I pay for the both of us. It's not McDonald's but it's not a $50 steak, either.

"We get a really nice house, give him free run of the place, and rent out a room. It will be more than he has now. As for the job, we can figure that out after we get there.

"How long do you think we have?" Jim asked her.

Jo sighed since she already knew. They had already done the math and he knew just as well as she did. "Two weeks tops. We sell the house, maybe sell everything in it. Buy a house or rent one. Pack up us and Katie and start driving. Sell one of the cars if we have to.

"Help him sell his trailer if he agrees to this idea of yours. …Oh, Jim, it'll never work! We're asking him to follow us all because of Katie. And he's right. Charlie's a Therapy Dog for people that are already awake and just need a little extra love. What we're asking is more than any dog or owner could ever hope to accomplish.

"Maybe we really have been fooling ourselves. Grasping at straws." Jo didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Katie had shut herself off from the world for what felt like forever. Worse, the police had nothing. If it really was gang members, even if they did sue, they wouldn't ever see a penny.

"He'll be back soon. Let him go back in and get her to say no. At least she's talking; that is something. Then when I drive him home later I'll stay and talk to him. Offer him this option. All I need to know is where." Jim wasn't ready to give up just yet.

To him this is what a good marriage did. Each gained strength from the other when they were running a little short and it sounded like his wife was running short.

Jo looked up at him. She really did love him. Just when she needed him most. And to think she had almost given up on him asking her out on a date.

"Number two?" They both knew where number two was located. "It has a hospital and he does have a Therapy Dog. Plus three assisted living facilities."

"Number two it is. We can start the planning when we finally go home tonight. This isn't going to be easy." Jim had no illusions.

"No, it isn't." Jo was sure of that and let him keep holding her.

[:] o-0-O-0-o [:]

Rick and Charlie were riding home with Jim. After coming back and actually being allowed up to their floor he hadn't gotten any further with Katie, as her parents called her, than he had any other time. All he mostly got was the word NO. She knew Charlie was there and didn't like it when he went away. It was just he wasn't qualified for this. It was why he was hoping there was someone already waiting for him when he got home since he had questions.

"You're quiet."

"Sorry, just thinking. What you and your wife want is outside of what I know. So I called someone that might be able to help but maybe not." Rick was hoping she would be there when they got there.

Jim kept his eyes on the road. "I want to talk to you, too, when we get you home. Jo and I have something we want you to think about."

"All right." Rick couldn't think of anything and why he couldn't talk about it at the hospital? But all right.

[:] o-0-O-0-o [:]

"Looks like she's here." Rick was happy about that.

Rick got out after Jim stopped and let Charlie out. Charlie instantly figured out there was an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time so he ran right to her.

"Hi, Charlie!" Kim knelt down, petted him, and gave him scratches right where she knew he liked it the most.

"Mr. Rodgers." Kim shook his hand.

"Kim, this is Jim Beckett. His daughter is why you're here. Let's go inside where it's at least a little cooler so we can talk." Rick unlocked his door and got Charlie to go first. Charlie headed right for his water bowl and attempted to try and drink it dry. Then he dripped all over the floor.

"So what can I help you with that we couldn't talk over the phone?" Besides coming to see Charlie didn't hurt.

"Jim?" Rick let him explain.

"Our daughter experienced a traumatic event. At first she screamed at every male she saw and refused to calm down till they left her sight. That pretty much included even me. For about the last month she's shut down completely. I forget the technical term for it. Basically she has created a place in her mind and has retreated to that place.

"She doesn't talk, doesn't move, doesn't really eat. We hand feed her much like my wife and I did when she was just a baby. She won't come out. This all happened roughly 2 months or so ago.

"Then the hospital told us about Charlie here." Jim even reached out to pet him since he was close enough. "Between Rick and Charlie they've gotten her to say No a few times. Then she retreats back into her own mind. We've been warned that if she doesn't come out into this world soon, she may never. Resulting in her withering away and slowly dying.

"She knows Charlie is there because she pets him and knows when he leaves but that's all so far," Jim explained without going into details that she didn't need to know.

Rick spoke up. "I asked you here because I don't know what else to do. I wanted Charlie to be a Therapy Dog. Go to hospitals and other place and let people see him, love him and get some love in return. This is beyond me or Charlie."

"I see." Kim got it and she could feel for Jim. It was just Rick was correct. She helped train Therapy Dogs. His daughter was something else. "I can make a couple of calls when I get home, but I'm afraid Mr. Rodgers may be right. I'm not sure a Therapy Dog can help your daughter. It's not a problem I've ever dealt with. Like I said I will ask but don't get your hopes up." Kim would do it. That wasn't the issue.

"Thanks, Kim." Rick would take all he could get.

"I wish you luck, Mr. Beckett. If you don't answer I'll leave a message, Mr. Rodgers. If it's complicated I'll just ask you to call me." Kim left them after saying bye to Charlie.

"Drink?" Rick offered since he was the host. "I don't have much. I'm not even sure I have a beer at the moment so probably just water."

"I'm fine, thanks, but I have an offer for you to think about. For financial reasons my wife and I will need to remove Katie from the hospital soon. Take her home and do what we can ourselves with maybe some outside help on occasion.

"To that end we can't afford to stay in LA when that happens so we'll be selling perhaps everything but one car, likely mine, move, and take Katie with us.

"This is where you and Charlie come in. Charlie, so far, is the only one to have reached her. We want to ask you to come with us. The plan is to get a nice big house, let you rent out a bedroom, yet have full run of the house. Charlie will have hopefully his own yard to play in. Have access to Katie 24/7." Rick opened his mouth but Jim raised his hand to stop him.

"We know you have a job but maybe with our help you can find another one. Where we're going is a small town in Mississippi. It's not a dead town and it's getting better little by little. It has one major hospital along with a smaller one further out of town in addition to 3 assisted living facilities. So Charlie would still be busy.

"Everything there is less expensive. A million dollar house in LA is maybe 300 grand there. We'll help you sell your trailer and your truck if you need us to.

"We need to cut costs soon so in about 2 weeks Katie will be leaving the hospital. Not long after that, if all goes well, we'll be moving. Maybe rent a house at first, haven't really worked that out just yet.

"Just think about it. You would have the run of the house, we promise, Jo will even cook for all of us, including you. You rent a bedroom and Charlie keeps doing what he has been doing, just in a different city. Yes, it will be hot and a lot more humid in Mississippi and there won't be a beach. It's about a 2 hour drive to New Orleans if that helps. You're young, think Mardi Gras every year.

"If you decide you're tired of us we'll help you move to a place of your choice. But you might like small town living. Unless you have a girlfriend?" Jim hadn't even thought about that till just now. It was just he was so willing to come to the hospital on his days off.

"Not any more, no. …Mississippi." He hadn't ever even thought of living in that state. "Two hours you say?" It wasn't Mardi Gras that he was thinking of. Though that was a draw. Rick was thinking of his contract with Black Pawn. They wanted him to do book signings. Three of them. Of course they would be thinking the signings would be in LA. But he didn't recall his contact specifically stating in LA. Only that he had to do three of them. And New Orleans was a nice large city. They sold books.

"Think about it. That's all we're asking. Not to be insulting, but it would be bigger and better than a trailer in a trailer park. Charlie will have lots of room. I'm sure there has to be kids in the area just like here. Charlie will still be busy." Jim kept trying. Rick and Charlie were all they really had that seemed to be working at least a little.

"It's not that easy. But I'll think about it." Just then Rick heard a knock on his door.

"Mr. Rodgers?" To Rick that meant someone needed his help with something. Suddenly leaving to get away from this was now a bright spot. Though it would mean leaving these people and they in a way depended on him. But he did have someone in mind that might take his place. Even buy his trailer from him.

But would his truck last the trip to Mississippi? That was another good question.

"Let us know what you decide one way or another. If we have our timing right you only need to come to the hospital when you have two days off for the last time. After that she'll be home with us." Jim got up to leave and saw what looked like an 8 or 9 year old Black boy at his door and his bike lying on the ground.

"He's all yours, son. …Shake?" Jim offered his hand and got to shake his.

"Mom wants to talk to you, Mr. Rodgers," Justin told Rick as Jim walked toward his car.