The pain Eased
A few days later, Amanda had bought the boys round to play on the beach whilst she spent some time with Mark and Steve, it felt odd Jesse not being there, but they all hoped that he was sorting himself out down with his mum. Mark had told them about his conversation with Jesse and whilst they all agreed, Jesse was worse than they thought, they were glad he was at least trying to sort himself out.
As they were sitting there discussing Jesse, the door bell of the Sloan's beach house sounded, wondering who it was Steve wondered down to answer it, very very surprised to find this particular visitor here, and not in Minnesota!
"Hello, can I come in, thought Jesse might be here?" said the familiar voice belonging to a lady whom Steve had met a couple of times.
"Umm, yeah come in, but why are you looking for him here, he's supposed to be down with you." Steve replied, still somewhat confused, as he lead Jesse's Mum into the beach house and out onto the deck where Mark and Amanda were watching the boys playing on the beach below. "Hello," Mark said to her, "You came back with Jesse then, glad to see you, hope everything is getting back to some kind of normality."
"Umm, Dad," Steve started, "It seems Jesse never made it down to Minnesota to visit his Mum, she's come here looking for him."
"Yes and it seems you lot haven't been looking out for him very well have you, not knowing where he is, and at this vulnerable time." His Mum scolded them all, and Mark could see that she hadn't changes a bit since the last time she had visited Jesse and wanted him to work at her practice, no wonder he hadn't wanted too!!
"Now just a minute" Amanda cried indignantly, "we have been looking out for you're son, a lot more than you have, you haven't even called him to see if he's been alright, we've checked on him once everyday and had no reason to doubt that he was going home to see you."
"I can't believe you lot, I'm leaving to take care of my son on my own, you are not wanted!" she cried, and stormed out the beach house, leaving the three friends stunned and wondering what to do.
The following day the three friends decided to go and see Jesse for themselves, to make sure he was alright, though knowing they'd probably have to brave the forces of his Mum who had made it more than clear that they were not welcome near them!
They arrived at the drive of Jesse's house, noticing that there was only one car in the drive, Jesse's it looked as though his Mum hadn't come to see him afterall. As they approached the door, Mark noticed that all the lights were out, curtains and blinds remained open and it seemed as if Jesse hadn't been there at all, in fact there was no sign of life at all. Amanda knocked on the door, and after waiting about five minutes no answer came at all. They tried again, and still got no answer. Deciding they needed to see if Jesse was ok, Steve got out his spare key to the house and let himself in, followed closely by Mark and Amanda.
Walking through the house, Mark noticed everything was exactly the same as it had been before, suspecting that Jesse was still in his bedroom, as he had been before, Mark suggested that they go straight there, though when they got there, only he went in, Amanda and Steve knowing that his dad would be able to help Jesse best. Mark opened the door and was shocked by the state of the room. Jesse had clearly moved his entire wine rack up from the kitchen to his room, although there were only about two bottles that hadn't been opened. In about a week Jesse seemed to have drunk most of the contents of his wine rack, yet there was no sign of Jesse at all. Walking further into the room, Mark had to wade through the empty wine bottles, to get to the other side of the room, and he had to resist the temptation of picking them all up to tidy the place, just incase, and he dreaded the thought, that this ended up being a crime scene.
Mark finally arrived at the opposite side of the bed, and if he was shocked at seeing the wine bottles, he wasn't sure what would describe the reaction to the scene he saw before him. Jesse was lying heaped up in corner of the room, as if he had fallen out of the bed, surrounding him were several bottles of wine, all empty, on the one in his hands had any liquid in it, though most of it had already been consumed. Jesse was unshaven, worse than last time Mark had seen him, his hair hadn't been combed at all, and was a tangled mess, and Mark suspected that there was quite a bit of alcohol which was causing it to be entangled. Jesse's eyes were half open, and Mark could tell that they were red and very bloodshot but worse than that, they just starred out, into nowhere, he wasn't looking at Mark, but past him, he didn't move, stayed like a statue. His pyjamas had been worn for sometime, at least since the last time Mark had seen him and they were stained with alcohol and probably some of Jesse's perspiration too, which seemed to be dripping from his forehead. Jesse was gasping for breath too, and was totally unresponsive to Mark's presence. Jesse by all accounts was lucky to be alive, yet it didn't seem that Jesse would see it that way at all.
Mark was horrified and stood there starring for ages, he had no idea that Jesse had been affected by his Fathers death this badly, that would have driven the sensible, fun loving, caring and professional doctor to something like this. Mark had known Jesse for long enough to know that there must be more to his desperate act than just his Fathers death, something deeply engrained on Jesse that he couldn't tell, and Mark knew he had to find that out if he was ever to help Jesse regain his life back. Mark was really saddened that he hadn't seen this coming and hadn't been able to help his young friend and hadn't seen this coming.
Suddenly the doctor in Mark kicked in. He bent down to take Jesse's pulse, at least it was still there.
"Steve, you still there?", Mark questioned,
"Yup Dad, you found him?"
"Yeah, he's worse than I ever imagined, Steve I need you to call an Ambulance, and wait for it to arrive, show the paramedics up here, and tell them to come fast, I don't know how much time we've got."
"On it Dad."
"Is there anything I can do?" Amanda asked
"Yeah, if you could come in here and clear up a bit, give me some space to sort Jesse out." He asked
Amanda walked into the room, clearly not prepared for what she was about to see. Amanda drew in a sharp breath of air,
"Mark what on earth has been happening here?" she questioned, clearly shocked and affected by it, "Why didn't we see this coming?"
"I don't know honey, I just don't know. But I need you to clear up the bottles, and move the bed away from the wall a bit more so that I can get Jesse into a more comfortable position to help with his breathing until the ambulance comes."
Amanda busied herself tidying up and helped Mark as best she could, everything was done solemnly none of them spoke, not even when the ambulance came and took Jesse away. They finished tidying up Jesse's house and followed silently in the car, knowing that it was going to take an awful lot to get Jesse back on the road to recovery.
A few days later, Amanda had bought the boys round to play on the beach whilst she spent some time with Mark and Steve, it felt odd Jesse not being there, but they all hoped that he was sorting himself out down with his mum. Mark had told them about his conversation with Jesse and whilst they all agreed, Jesse was worse than they thought, they were glad he was at least trying to sort himself out.
As they were sitting there discussing Jesse, the door bell of the Sloan's beach house sounded, wondering who it was Steve wondered down to answer it, very very surprised to find this particular visitor here, and not in Minnesota!
"Hello, can I come in, thought Jesse might be here?" said the familiar voice belonging to a lady whom Steve had met a couple of times.
"Umm, yeah come in, but why are you looking for him here, he's supposed to be down with you." Steve replied, still somewhat confused, as he lead Jesse's Mum into the beach house and out onto the deck where Mark and Amanda were watching the boys playing on the beach below. "Hello," Mark said to her, "You came back with Jesse then, glad to see you, hope everything is getting back to some kind of normality."
"Umm, Dad," Steve started, "It seems Jesse never made it down to Minnesota to visit his Mum, she's come here looking for him."
"Yes and it seems you lot haven't been looking out for him very well have you, not knowing where he is, and at this vulnerable time." His Mum scolded them all, and Mark could see that she hadn't changes a bit since the last time she had visited Jesse and wanted him to work at her practice, no wonder he hadn't wanted too!!
"Now just a minute" Amanda cried indignantly, "we have been looking out for you're son, a lot more than you have, you haven't even called him to see if he's been alright, we've checked on him once everyday and had no reason to doubt that he was going home to see you."
"I can't believe you lot, I'm leaving to take care of my son on my own, you are not wanted!" she cried, and stormed out the beach house, leaving the three friends stunned and wondering what to do.
The following day the three friends decided to go and see Jesse for themselves, to make sure he was alright, though knowing they'd probably have to brave the forces of his Mum who had made it more than clear that they were not welcome near them!
They arrived at the drive of Jesse's house, noticing that there was only one car in the drive, Jesse's it looked as though his Mum hadn't come to see him afterall. As they approached the door, Mark noticed that all the lights were out, curtains and blinds remained open and it seemed as if Jesse hadn't been there at all, in fact there was no sign of life at all. Amanda knocked on the door, and after waiting about five minutes no answer came at all. They tried again, and still got no answer. Deciding they needed to see if Jesse was ok, Steve got out his spare key to the house and let himself in, followed closely by Mark and Amanda.
Walking through the house, Mark noticed everything was exactly the same as it had been before, suspecting that Jesse was still in his bedroom, as he had been before, Mark suggested that they go straight there, though when they got there, only he went in, Amanda and Steve knowing that his dad would be able to help Jesse best. Mark opened the door and was shocked by the state of the room. Jesse had clearly moved his entire wine rack up from the kitchen to his room, although there were only about two bottles that hadn't been opened. In about a week Jesse seemed to have drunk most of the contents of his wine rack, yet there was no sign of Jesse at all. Walking further into the room, Mark had to wade through the empty wine bottles, to get to the other side of the room, and he had to resist the temptation of picking them all up to tidy the place, just incase, and he dreaded the thought, that this ended up being a crime scene.
Mark finally arrived at the opposite side of the bed, and if he was shocked at seeing the wine bottles, he wasn't sure what would describe the reaction to the scene he saw before him. Jesse was lying heaped up in corner of the room, as if he had fallen out of the bed, surrounding him were several bottles of wine, all empty, on the one in his hands had any liquid in it, though most of it had already been consumed. Jesse was unshaven, worse than last time Mark had seen him, his hair hadn't been combed at all, and was a tangled mess, and Mark suspected that there was quite a bit of alcohol which was causing it to be entangled. Jesse's eyes were half open, and Mark could tell that they were red and very bloodshot but worse than that, they just starred out, into nowhere, he wasn't looking at Mark, but past him, he didn't move, stayed like a statue. His pyjamas had been worn for sometime, at least since the last time Mark had seen him and they were stained with alcohol and probably some of Jesse's perspiration too, which seemed to be dripping from his forehead. Jesse was gasping for breath too, and was totally unresponsive to Mark's presence. Jesse by all accounts was lucky to be alive, yet it didn't seem that Jesse would see it that way at all.
Mark was horrified and stood there starring for ages, he had no idea that Jesse had been affected by his Fathers death this badly, that would have driven the sensible, fun loving, caring and professional doctor to something like this. Mark had known Jesse for long enough to know that there must be more to his desperate act than just his Fathers death, something deeply engrained on Jesse that he couldn't tell, and Mark knew he had to find that out if he was ever to help Jesse regain his life back. Mark was really saddened that he hadn't seen this coming and hadn't been able to help his young friend and hadn't seen this coming.
Suddenly the doctor in Mark kicked in. He bent down to take Jesse's pulse, at least it was still there.
"Steve, you still there?", Mark questioned,
"Yup Dad, you found him?"
"Yeah, he's worse than I ever imagined, Steve I need you to call an Ambulance, and wait for it to arrive, show the paramedics up here, and tell them to come fast, I don't know how much time we've got."
"On it Dad."
"Is there anything I can do?" Amanda asked
"Yeah, if you could come in here and clear up a bit, give me some space to sort Jesse out." He asked
Amanda walked into the room, clearly not prepared for what she was about to see. Amanda drew in a sharp breath of air,
"Mark what on earth has been happening here?" she questioned, clearly shocked and affected by it, "Why didn't we see this coming?"
"I don't know honey, I just don't know. But I need you to clear up the bottles, and move the bed away from the wall a bit more so that I can get Jesse into a more comfortable position to help with his breathing until the ambulance comes."
Amanda busied herself tidying up and helped Mark as best she could, everything was done solemnly none of them spoke, not even when the ambulance came and took Jesse away. They finished tidying up Jesse's house and followed silently in the car, knowing that it was going to take an awful lot to get Jesse back on the road to recovery.