"That was the last person in TK's contacts and they haven't heard from him in weeks," Carlos sighed, tossing his pen onto the coffee table. He hadn't expected TK to be hanging out with someone without letting him know he wouldn't be home, but he'd hoped that would be the case. Anything was better than not knowing at this point.
"And none of the hospitals in the area have anyone matching his description. I could go further out but-"
"It's unlikely TK would've been that far," Carlos finished for him. "Did something happen at work? Was there a hard call?"
"Not that I saw, but you know we don't always go out on the same calls together anymore."
"A patient involving drugs maybe? I know he doesn't like to admit it, but those calls get to him sometimes." Carlos felt like he was exposing too much about TK, but it was worth it if it helped.
"He looked happy when he left this morning. I can ask Tommy if she knows anything, but I didn't see him upset," Judd shrugged.
"I texted her, but I didn't tell her anything was wrong. I texted everyone at the 126 actually. I didn't know how to say, 'hey, TK is missing, want to come over and panic with me?'"
"You could say it just like that. I meant what I said before about y'all being family. They feel the same way and they'll want to do what they can to help," Judd insisted. "Want me to call them and tell them what's going on?"
"No, I should do it," Carlos said reluctantly. More people in the know might mean someone coming up with a good idea of what to do next. He pulled out his phone again just as there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get that," Judd said, waving him back onto the couch as he walked to the door. Would it be cowardly to group text everyone at the same time? "Hey Carlos, I don't think you'll be needing to call anyone."
"Why?" Carlos asked, looking up in confusion.
"I brought the cavalry," Owen replied, standing in the doorway. Judd stepped aside and let him in, but he wasn't alone. The rest of the 126 filed in behind him, looking determined and ready to go.
"You guys didn't have to come," Carlos mumbled, feeling his emotions bubble up again at all the support he was being shown. This could still be a false alarm, but they were all here anyway.
"Of course we did. We want to help," Paul insisted.
"Anything for you and TK," Marjan added. Carlos nodded, not having the words to convey his appreciation at the moment. Owen walked over and sat next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. That almost broke him entirely, but he held it together. The only tears Carlos was going to shed were going to be from happiness when they finally found TK.
TK didn't know if he should've felt relieved when Lorna came back with what looked like a normal bottle of cough syrup. It was better than whatever she'd been giving him before. And a good number of the brands you could get in the stores were safe and non habit forming. But that didn't mean the bottle hadn't been tampered with previously. And he really didn't want to take it either way.
"You know, when I said before that I was tired, I didn't mean it that way. I meant that my brain was tired from going down memory lane," TK said, trying to convince her that he didn't need any medicine.
"Forgetfulness was always one of your symptoms too. You'd get such bad headaches trying to make yourself remember things," Lorna sighed, shaking her head sadly.
"No, it's not like that," TK insisted. He was making things worse on himself, but he had to keep trying.
"You haven't remembered anything since you got here. I'm your mother and I can recognize the signs," Lorna replied. Her jaw was set in determination, but her hands were shaking a little as she poured the dosage into the little cup. "It's not too late this time and I'm going to make you better."
"I'm not sick," TK argued again, even though it hadn't worked before.
"I know you're just repeating what the doctors told you because you're scared of the truth, but you don't have to be. I'm going to get it right this time." TK weighed his options. There really wasn't a lot of syrup in the little cup she poured, so it probably wouldn't do anything to him. And he might be able to pretend that he was miraculously better. Shutting up and taking it might be his best bet.
"Okay," TK agreed, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He could do this.
"There's my brave boy," Lorna praised, running her hand through his hair. She was just about to raise the cup to his lips when a phone rang in her pocket. Lorna stepped back and pulled it out, frowning at the screen. "Burt, it's Leslie on the phone. I have to take it." TK wondered how smart it would be to try to make noise to alert the person on the phone of his presence. He really didn't want his tongue cut out.
"How about you take it in another room?" Burt suggested, walking back into the kitchen.
"I was just about to give Brian his medicine," Lorna sighed, setting the cup back on the tray.
"I'll take care of it," Burt assured her, shooing her out of the room. Lorna hesitated, but quickly dashed off. TK kept his eyes trained away from the other man. He wasn't ashamed to admit that Burt terrified him. His fingers were still throbbing from the earlier breaks. If that was what Burt was willing to do in front of his wife, what else would he do?
"Um, I won't fight you this time," TK whispered, relaxing his jaw. Taking the medicine from Burt instead of Lorna changed nothing.
"I'm glad you're finally learning," Burt said flatly. He picked up the cup, spinning it lightly in his hands. "Marriage is complicated."
"What?" TK mumbled in confusion, finally looking up at Burt. Why was he saying this to him?
"A man has to do things to keep his wife happy," Burt said seriously, walking over to the sink. "But sometimes, he has to make the hard decisions. Even when he knows it'll hurt her."
"What are you talking about?' TK asked nervously, watching as Burt poured out the medicine into the sink. Was he going to let him go? Or at least pretend that he'd given TK the medicine?
"Losing Brian changed her and I understand that. It was my job to make her better. But I couldn't. Then she found the new Brian. She lit up like she hadn't in years. She was my wife again," Burt said, the first bit of emotion that wasn't anger flashing across his face briefly. "But it didn't last. As soon as she lost that one, it was like losing Brian all over again. And for her, it was."
"I don't-"
"It was because he stuck around for so long. That's what made it harder on her. The hope. The later ones got easier, because they were gone quicker. I figured out that about a day was the easiest amount of time for her to bounce back from."
"Why are you telling me this?" TK whispered, feeling a tear break free from the corner of his eye.
"I need you to understand she's not an evil person. She's just a mother trying to make things right. But I'm a husband, trying to do the same. I really am sorry for this, TK."
TK barely had time to absorb the shock of Burt saying his real name before his head was wrenched back and the full bottle of cough syrup was pressed against his lips. The thick liquid flooded his mouth, sliding down his throat as soon as it had nowhere else to go. TK's spasming coughs were hurting him more than they were helping him, but he couldn't stop. It felt like he was drowning.
Burt's grip was unrelenting and the angle of his neck was painful and impossible to get out of. TK was powerless as he watched the bottle empty into his body. Burt clasped his hand over TK's mouth like he had earlier, preventing him from bringing up anything that he'd just swallowed. This was a lot more than what he'd been forced to ingest earlier and he could feel it churning around in his stomach.
"For Lorna. For Lorna," Burt mumbled under his breath. TK closed his eyes, feeling any hope of making it out of this drifting away. He thought he'd still have time to gain Lorna's trust, but Burt was going to see to it that it wouldn't happen. TK was screwed.
Author's Note: I looked up stuff about cough syrup and the internet told me that there are some that are opioid based and others that aren't. For the sake of this story, TK got one that won't affect his sobriety. I don't want to turn it into that kind of story.