All Over The Place
"Papa?" James walked down the boardwalk down at the docks, searching for his grandfather, his school backpack on his back as he held the straps by his arms.
"Hey, what are you doing down here on your own?" Punk noticed him, stepping off one of the boats.
"Mom forgot to pick me up from school." James nodded without much surprise as Punk looked at him wearily, wiping his hands on a towel.
"She forgot to pick you up?" Punk asked as James nodded.
"Both of us." James said, looking back down the boardwalk where Sofia was standing, throwing some of her leftover lunch into the water for the fish and ducks, "And I think my dad is working and Sam is at playgroup."
"How'd she forget to pick you up?" Punk scoffed, trying not to show he was concerned.
"She's been weird lately." James told him, walking down the boardwalk with him, "Ever since the shooting." He said as Punk nodded, not entirely surprised.
"It was a scary thing." Punk nodded, "It's completely normal that she's a little all over the place." He said as James nodded along, then shaking his head in disagreement.
"I know she's an alcoholic." James said as Punk turned to him, "And she takes pills every day." He added, "Like she's sick." He shook his head, not entirely sure he understood it. He was becoming a teen very soon, and so things were beginning to stick out to him. Things were more easily noticed. It just reminded Punk of Thea when she was his age. Curious. Observant. And slightly confused.
"She's not sick, buddy." Punk shook his head, reaching the end of the boardwalk where Sofia was, "Hey, you. You were supposed to eat that at lunch, I think." He noticed her feeding the ducks.
"Well I wasn't hungry, papa." Sofia told him sassily, "Why did mom not pick us up?" She asked.
"I'm not sure. I guess maybe time just ran away from her." He humoured them, not making it a big deal, "I'll give her a call, and I'll give the hospital a call. You guys can hang out here for now." He told them.
"I'm putting my bag inside." Sofia said, grabbing her backpack and running off into the locker area to dump it whilst James stood with Punk.
"Is there something wrong with her?" James asked Punk.
"Sofia?" Punk teased with a smile as James shook his head, looking at Punk seriously, "No, of course not. There's not anything wrong with her." He shook his head.
"You're her dad so you'd know." James nodded, "She always takes pills in the morning. I didn't wanna ask my dad." He admitted.
"Why not?" Punk shook his head as James shrugged. He looked down at the twelve year old, watching him look out at all the boats, scuffing his foot back and forth off the deck. He was an intelligent kid. A loving, sweet kid. Who was clearly growing up quicker than they all realised.
"She gets two birthdays." James told him, realising his grandfather wasn't saying anything because he probably didn't know what to say, "A normal one and one for how many years she hasn't drank alcohol." He said as Punk nodded.
"Y-Yeah." Punk nodded. He knew this, "It's a good thing to celebrate." He said, "But maybe this is stuff you might wanna just ask your mom. I'm sure she'll tell you whatever it is you wanna know." He said with confidence. He knew if James asked these exact questions to Thea, she wouldn't shy away from them. She wasn't like that.
"I don't want to upset her." James shook his head.
"You won't upset her." Punk said.
"Was your mom an alcoholic?" James looked up at him as Punk nodded slowly.
"Y-Yeah… yeah, she was." Punk nodded, taking a seat on the bench as James sat down beside him immediately.
"Was it scary?" He asked.
"Sometimes." Punk nodded, "Everyone's struggles are different. We all get them. Your mom is healthy and ok." He assured him first and foremost, "There's nothing you gotta worry about with her. She's fine." He assured him, "Why all the questions?" He asked as James shrugged.
"Just cause she's been funny lately. Since the shooting." He said, "She sleeps a lot."
"It's just a difficult thing for someone to go through. But she'll be ok." He nodded, "She's got you and your dad, and your sisters." He said, "Sometimes… people deal with things differently."
"My dad is one too, isn't he?" James turned to him.
"You don't gotta say it like that." Punk said, "We all have something going on. We all have things we gotta work a little harder at. Things that might not be hard for some people but are the most difficult thing in the world for others." He said, "If you wanna talk to your parents about this, don't be afraid. They'd probably rather you ask them straight. They won't be upset. I promise you." He nodded.
"Papa is my mom coming?" Sofia walked over to them.
"I'm just going to go call her and see if I can get a hold of her." Punk nodded, "You guys fancy some hot dogs?" He asked, standing up from the bench, tapping James on the shoulder playfully as he smiled.
He wasn't going to sit and go into detail with James about Thea, or even Dominic's struggles. He said as much as he felt was enough. It wasn't his place to talk about those things with him. And part of him still felt like he was too young to really know the finer details, like his mother's mental illness and past substance abuse problems. It was natural to want to protect him from that for as long as they all could.
"Hey, how you doing?" Thea knocked on Theo's room door, walking on into the room where she saw he was sat up watching TV.
"Still here." Theo nodded unenthusiastically.
"You look happy about that." Thea nodded, folding her arms and taking a seat on the chair which Cassie had usually been sitting on all day beside the bed, "Where is Cassie?" She wondered.
"She must have gone home when I fell asleep." Theo said, "She's bringing Chase later, gonna have dinner together." He said.
"They're not really supposed to eat in here." Thea admitted as Theo looked at her, "But I'll pretend you didn't tell me." She waved her hand as Theo smiled, "What have they got you on?" She wondered, standing up and looking at the chart by the bed to see what medication he was on, "Oh yeah you must be in pain." She nodded as she read the high dosage of pain meds.
"I've had a lot of injuries in my career but… yeah, this is up there with the worst." Theo nodded, "My whole body feels shot. I just know my legs are gonna be like jelly."
"It won't take long to build you back up." Thea assured him, sitting back down.
"I hope Cassie didn't tell your family that I didn't want to see any of them. That wasn't my intention." He clarified, "I just don't want the fuss."
"She told our parents, and I quote, don't go visiting Theo because he doesn't want anyone watching him like a circus animal." Thea nodded, "To my recollection."
"Subtle as a brick she is." Theo nodded with a smile.
"My parents know what kind of person you are. They know you don't want the fuss. They just wanna make sure you're doing ok and I guess be there for when you get home and need any help." She said as Theo nodded.
"I know Cass is dreading it." Theo looked over at the TV to avoid eye contact, "I can be a little bit of a nightmare when I'm not at work." He admitted, "I'm the kind of person who needs to be doing something."
"Yeah, you're just like her." Thea smiled, "Never sitting still. She's been that way since she was a kid. You'd never find Cassie sitting on the sofa watching TV all night like me or Jude. No, she'd be… rearranging her room or playing soccer until the street lights came on." She said, "But if mom asked her to do chores… now that was different." She said as Theo chuckled.
"Not surprised." Theo said, looking over at her, "You and I haven't really gotten a chance to talk yet."
"About what?" Thea asked.
"You know what." Theo nodded, "There's a good chance that… hadn't you been there, I might not be here." He said, "And whether that was you saving me for me or for your sister, I don't care, cause I'm alive and I'm… I'm glad about that." He nodded to himself, "Thank you. Cassie told me you still continued to stitch me up when there was a gun against your head. Not even a lot of cops are that brave." He said as Thea shook her head modestly, "I'm serious." He nodded.
"You're family. And I'm a doctor. It's what I do." Thea shrugged.
"No one is prepared to handle a situation like that. But you did." He said, "Seriously, I… I owe you." He nodded.
"No you don't." Thea shook her head, "Do you have any idea how inconvenient it would be to watch you die for the second time?" She teased as he chuckled, "It'd be a nightmare." She continued with a smile as he nodded.
"So are you finished your shift?" He asked her.
"Yeah, finally." Thea nodded.
"Home to feed the kids now?" Theo smiled as Thea nodded, pausing for a second as she quickly looked at the clock on the wall.
"Oh my God, my kids." She realised.
