The Breakdown

Chapter 3-Russ

Russ also wasn't terribly shocked by the news that Mike had attempted suicide, but unlike the others; he understood where Mike was coming from. It was hard to be totally alone. Russ, at least, had his in-laws; Mike had no one but the crew, and they had failed him miserably.

There had been more then one sort of breakdown. There was Mike's literal breakdown, but there had been a breakdown in communication, empathy, and connection within the crew. Mike, Tom, and Russ had always prided themselves on taking care of their own, but somewhere; there had been a serious breach in the way they did things. As Russ sit and stared at the notepad where he was supposed to write Mike a note of encouragement, he remembered back several years before, even before the Red Flu, just after he was released from the hospital after the accident that had killed his wife and daughters.

Russ slowly stood up and made his way to the front door. He was shocked to see Mike and Christine Slattery, on the other side of the door. He quickly opened the door and smiled at the casserole in Christine's hands, along with several more in Mike's.

"Russ! Its so good to see you home. I got to thinking; you must be sick of hospital food, and you don't need to be on your feet, cooking a meal. I brought a few things." Christine said after he let the couple in. Seeing a happy couple hurt.

"Thank you. The kitchen is this way." Russ answered and began leading them into his kitchen.

"Oh, no no. I will put everything away. You go relax. I'll send Mike in in a moment to visit. I also planned on straightening things up so you could just go to bed. I won't mess with any of Trish's things, I promise." Christine told him firmly.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." Russ agreed because he knew; Mike's temper was bad, but his sweet wife's was legendary. The last thing he wanted was to incur her wrath. He made his way back into the living room and finally Mike joined him.

"Just let me know if she gets on your nerves. She means well, but she can come across kind of overbearing at times." Mike said as he sat down on the couch.

"She's fine. I suppose I should go through the closets and rooms." Russ remarked.

"I would wait until you are ready and when the time comes, Christine and I don't mind to help you if you want it. When my mom died, it took my dad over a year to go through her closet." Mike told him.

"What took him so long? It was cancer, right?" Russ asked.

"Yes, breast cancer. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. Finally, Christine and I went home on a visit, and he just abruptly asked us to help. It took him a lot longer to get rid of her toothbrush and to my knowledge, her coffee cup stayed sitting in the same place, right up until he died. I have it now, and it sits in the same area in my cupboard. Left side, towards the front, with the handle pointing out." Mike answered.

Russ smiled at the memory, because roughly three months later, when the time came; Mike and Christine helped him go through his wife and daughters' belongings. It nearly broke Russ when he realized, when Mike went through the house in Norfolk, no one volunteered to help him. He remembered one of the younger crew member's saying that it must be morbid to go through a person's last effects. Why had no one jumped in to help Mike?

Mike always helped. Babysitting, helping people move, advice, someone to talk to; you name it, Mike was there. But when he needed someone in his corner, he found himself alone. Perhaps he should have asked, but they should have sensed he was in trouble, just as he had always sensed when they needed help.

Thank you for the reviews. I know these are short chapters, but I struggle with other points of view, so I find a good stopping point quickly! Hope you all are enjoying!