Chapter 3- Down and Out
Mercer House-
"Well that didn't work," Angel said throwing his coat on the banister.
"Give him time," Bobby said.
"Ted-die," Grace squealed.
"What is it?" Angel asked her.
"Na-na!" she cried kicking in his arms so he put her down.
"What she say?" Bobby asked Angel, watching the toddler lay on the floor crying.
"I don't know, na-na?" Angel repeated.
"Maybe she misses Cythia."
"No you idiot! She's hungry," Sofi said walking down the stairs.
"Oh banana," Angel chuckled to himself.
"Where's her mother? Don't tell me you two stole her! Bobby! Angel!" she yelled.
"Silenco," Bobby warned and then Sofi hit him in the back of the head.
"She's Jack's daughter, Grace," Angel said.
"Yak has a daughter?" she asked taking Grace into the kitchen.
"Na-na! Na-na!" Grace yelled.
"We don't have any bananas!" Sofi shouted from the kitchen to Bobby and Angel.
Angel looked at Bobby, "Fine I'll go," Bobby sighed.
When Bobby came back from the store Angel was tossing Grace into the air as she giggled.
"You're gettin attached," Bobby laughed as he brought the groceries into the kitchen.
"What ever," Angel said bringing Grace with him as he followed Bobby; he sat her down on a stack of phone books at the table.
Bobby handed Angel a banana and Angel looked at him, "Don't look at me, you're her favorite," Bobby said.
"Fine," Angel groaned as he peeled the banana and gave it to Grace.
She stared at it.
"I think you need to cut it up," Bobby said.
"Man, why don't you…" Angel was about to go off but remembered that he couldn't because Grace was in the room.
"Here," Angel said handing Grace the plate of cut up bananas.
She picked up each one, put it in her mouth, and spit it out.
"What is she doing?" Bobby asked.
"Do I look like a nanny?" Angel scoffed.
"Move," Sofi said taking a seat next to Grace at the table.
She spoon fed her every piece slowly.
"Mmmm," Grace chewed.
"You need to feed her by spoon," Sofi said.
"Good, now you can do it, since you're so good at it," Bobby said as he and Angel went into the living room.
"What are we gunna do?" Bobby sighed lying on the couch.
"We can try again in a few days," Angel suggested.
"What happens if he doesn't want her?" Bobby asked.
"He will, don't worry bout it."
"Ted-die!" Grace screamed trying to run to Angel but her foot got caught on the living room rug and she fell.
"Oh, God!" Bobby yelled.
She started to cry. Angel picked her up and rocked her soothingly.
"Ted-die" she cried-screamed.
"It's ok," Angel said patting her on the back, "Ted-die's here."
Sofi watched as Angel comforted her, and when Grace was done crying he saw Sofi's reaction, "Baby, no," Angel said.
"Angel, you look so cute holding a baby," she proclaimed.
"Sofi, no," he babbled.
"Don't you want to have kids, baby?" she asked pouting her lips together.
"Of course I do but," Angel tried to finish his sentence but couldn't.
"Let me hold her," Bobby said.
Angel handed Grace to Bobby. Grace stared at him menacingly.
"She doesn't like you," Angel laughed.
"She's a good judge of character," Sofi giggled.
"Shut up. We should call her Grace the Face. Why do you always look at me like that huh?" Bobby asked as Grace blew bubbles with her mouth at him.
"Well at least she not crying like before," Angel smirked and then Bobby mimicked him.
"Pot-tea," Grace yelled at Bobby.
"Ok," he said startled by the toddler.
"You wanna take her?" Bobby asked Sofi giving Grace to her.
Hospital-
"How much morphine did the nurse give you?" Dr. Lane asked Jack.
"I don't know, how much you told her to give me," Jack said adjusting his pillow.
"I gave him ten milliliters, that's what he said he heard you say doctor. I couldn't read your handwriting," the nurse said pointing to where the doctor had written the order.
"You should've called me, but if Mr. Mercer told you ten when I told him one, he will suffer the consequences," the doctor said removing the I.V from Jack arm.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked anxiously.
"I'm stopping your morphine intake. You will no longer receive any kind of pain killers until the morphine is completely out of your system."
"But I need something!" Jack yelled.
"You should have thought about that before you deceived Nurse Kim," the doctor said as he exited the room.
Jack took a look at the small nurse who stood at the foot of his bed, "Come on, I was in pain, I didn't remember how much he told me. Please give me something" Jack pleaded.
"I'm sorry but I can't do that," the nurse said walking out of the room.
Jack threw the tray that was next to his bed at the door, behind the nurse. He scratched at the place where his I.V had been.
"I need something," he breathed heavily.
He picked up the phone on the desk next to his bed, "Hey Freddie, yea I need you to bring me something."
A half and hour later, Freddie met Jack in his room. Freddie was a rather short guy with red hair around his mid thirties. He sold any drug you could imagine, from crystal meth to the strongest pain killers.
"You got it?" Jack asked impatiently.
"What the hell happened to you," Freddie asked looking down at Jack's leg cast.
"They took me off morphine, that's what happened," Jack said waiting for Freddie to give him something.
"You want a pain killer?"
"What ever takes away pain," Jack said sweating from the symptoms of his withdrawal.
"I got Fentanyl, it's a lot stronger than morphine, it'll knock you out good," Freddie said handing him a clear bottle of the drug.
"That'll do," Jack said grabbing it.
"You need a needle," Freddie said.
"Well look for one! This is a hospital, shouldn't be to hard," Jack snapped at him.
"Fine, ok hold on," Freddie said slipping out of the door in search for a needle.
He found a small abandoned cart filled with unused needles and gauze.
"Got one," Freddie said unwrapping it and handing it to Jack.
"How much of this do I use?" Jack asked as he poked a whole through the top of the bottle with the needle.
"Only a pinch, like I said that stuff's strong," Freddie said watching as Jack stuck the needle into his arm and sighed with relief.
"Thanks Freddie, you're a lifesaver."
"Look since you're in the hospital and you're a good kid, you get that one on me," Freddie said leaving the bottle with Jack.
"You have to take this, if they find this…"
"Right. Get it from me later eh?" Freddie said grabbing the bottle and leaving.
Jack sat back in his hospital bed feeling high as a kite. The drug Freddie gave him was working now and he could tell because his body was going numb and his headache was gone.
He laughed hysterically as he remembered his brothers visit, "Daughter," he chuckled thinking that it was all a dream.
While Jack reaped the benefits of illegal medication, Angel, Bobby, Grace, and Sofi visited him two hours later. They were told that Jack was feeling better and now would be a good time to visit him before the last dose of morphine wore off. Sofi stayed with Grace outside Jack's room.
"Jack how you feelin?" Bobby asked Jack who was pulling his fingers.
"Ha ha ha, I'm good man, never better," Jack laughed still pulling at his fingers.
"What are you doin?" Angel asked him.
"My fingers are numb, they feel like rubber french fries," he chuckled.
"Is it me? Or does he look high?" Angel whispered to Bobby.
"Jack we gotta talk about your daughter," Bobby said brushing off Angel's comment.
"I don't have a daughter."
"Yes you do."
"You guys are killing my buzz," Jack said rolling side to side on the bed.
"Jack listen we really should talk about this," Bobby said trying to catch his brother's attention.
Jack covered his ears, "Fine, we'll talk about Gwen later or something."
"Her name's Grace," Angel said irritably.
"What ever," Jack said as he began to fall asleep.
Mercer House-
"Welcome home!" Sofi yelled carrying Grace to the front door.
Jack was released two days after Bobby and Angel's last visit. The doctor warned Bobby to watch Jack when he took his medications and make sure he didn't drink or smoke, harmful stuff like that.
"Let's sit you down," Bobby said as Jack leaned against him for support.
"Since when did Sofi and Angel have a baby?" Jack asked looking at Grace who was playing with Sofi's hair.
Angel looked at Jack and then Bobby, "She's yours."
Jack took a good look at the green eyed, blonde-brown haired little girl, "Now you guys are stealing people's kids?
"Jack don't you remember? We brought her to the hospital once to see you," Bobby told him dropping Jack's hospital bag on the floor.
Jack hopped onto the couch as Sofi sat Grace next to him. He wouldn't look at Grace and then that's when she started to cry.
"Ted-die!" Grace cried holding her hands out for Angel.
Angel picked her up and handed her back to Sofi, "She's your daughter and you won't even look at her?" Angel asked.
"Hand me the remote," Jack demanded.
Bobby threw the remote at Jack's feet and left the room with Angel, Grace, and Sofi.
"This is gunna be harder than I thought," Bobby said as he leaned against the kitchen counter.
"He's off the medication, so what's wrong wit him now?" Sofi asked them.
"I got an idea, we should leave Grace in front of the TV and we should all run to the store," Bobby whispered.
"Not bad. What happens if she starts to cry?" Angel said.
"Sofi stay upstairs. This will help him bond with her if she is left alone with him," Bobby said as he grabbed his car keys from his coat.
"Ok, so I'll put her in the living room, and I'll tell him I'm going to take a shower," Sofi said taking Grace from Angel.
Sofi sat Grace five feet from the TV; Jack was watching some rock countdown on VH1.
"Hey Jack, we need to run out for a second, watch Grace for me thanks," Bobby said shutting the door behind him and Angel.
"Look-it," Grace said pointing to the TV, but Jack didn't pay any attention to her.
Sofi watched them from the kitchen and then she ran upstairs, "I'm going to take a shower, ok?"
He didn't answer her, instead he got up and limped over to the phone.
"Freddie?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, who's this?"
"It's Jack, listen I need that bottle," Jack commanded.
"You want me, I could bring it over right now," Freddie told him.
"That's perfect," he said hanging up the phone.
Jack limped back to the couch and saw that Grace had disappeared. Fifteen minutes later, Freddie showed up at the house.
"Here you go man, hope your feelin better. You will after you take this stuff," Freddie chuckled handing Jack two bottles of illegal Fentanyl.
"Thanks, do you have needles?" Jack asked, looking at the bag of drugs he carried around.
"Just one, I figured you needed it," he said handing the needle over, "You babysittin?"
"What?" Jack asked placing the drugs and needle into his jacket pocket.
"That little girl over there that's playin in the trash, your not doin a good job," Freddie laughed as he exited the porch.
Jack closed the door and went back into the living room ready to shoot up, until Sofi ran downstairs.
"Where's Grace?" she asked.
"Who?" Jack asked sticking everything underneath a pillow so she couldn't see what he was about to do.
Sofi ran into the kitchen where Grace was playing in the trash.
"Yak! She cut her finger on a piece of glass! How come you weren't watching her?" Sofi yelled as she sat Grace on the counter to clean the small cut she had gotten from a broken beer bottle.
The phone rang, "I got it," Jack shouted, "Hello?"
"Hi this is Cynthia, is this Bobby?" she asked.
"No this is Jack," he said sleepily.
"Oh, I'm sure your brother has talked to you about Grace. You want to keep her don't you?" Cynthia sighed.
"No."
Jack heard a long pause and then she said, "When can I come get her?"
"When ever."
"I'll be over in thirty minutes," she said hanging up.