After Brody dropped her off, refusing to let him inside the hospital knowing a tearful goodbye would undo the happiness they'd found at the fair, Carrie cut across the lobby to the stairwell. Certain she'd have a shot at avoiding Abby if she avoided the elevator two doors down from the staff lounge.
She made it up to the second flight of stairs without being detected, but once she was, her reflex was to duck for cover, hide behind a wall. Unfortunately her friend knew her enough to anticipate this and tapped her on the shoulder, making her almost jump out of her skin.
"Jesus, Abby."
"If you thought that face paint would work as camoflauge, you thought wrong," the older woman scoffed. Taking Carrie by the arm she walked her back towards the stairs.
Once reaching the third floor, after exiting the stairwell Abby unlocked, led Carrie into her office.
"You know curfew is in an hour. I was planning on just heading right to my room," Carrie said, taking a seat on the small sofa while Abby took a pack of wet wipes from her desk drawer, tossed them to her.
"You can't give me five minutes to make you some hot cocoa while you scrub those whiskers off your face?"
"Well if I'd known that cocoa was involved."
"I'll be right back. Just stay here with your tiger friend and clean up."
"So demanding," Carrie teased, leaning back into the couch cushion more. Scrubbing the paint off her face with the cloth, her free arm cuddled with the plush toy Brody won for her and the baby at a shooting game. Her face was just about whisker free when she heard familiar voices down the hall.
When the voices started shouting she frowned. Leaving the tiger on the sofa she got to her feet, stepped into the hall.
"Chris, you know we don't have a choice here."
"You're making the choice to lock me up! As if being held captive didn't fuck up my birth dad for life!"
"Chris!" Jessica exclaimed, fighting back tears as Faber put his arm around her.
"Mr. Faber," the nurse at the desk said, standing up as Chris folded his arms, bowed his head.
"Voluntary holds in this unit only last for a three day period-"
"Oh trust me. Nothing about this is voluntary!" Chris snarled.
"C'mon man," Faber pleaded. "It's either this or Brent's family presses charges."
"I apologized at the match for the stepping side kick. You said if I apologized...I did! That was supposed to be enough!"
"Apologizing was the first step, sweetheart," Jessica choked out. "This is the next step! Please, if there were any other way to handle this, you know we would've-"
Trailing off, Jessica approached Chris, reached to touch his shoulder but he fought her off, started pacing up and down the width of the hall.
Watching the scene from a distance, wide eyed, after Abby left the kitchenette with the cocoa Carrie grabbed her by the arm. Dragged her to stand in the alcove with her.
"Carrie? What-"
"You need to go over and talk to him. To Chris," Carrie said, taking the drinks from her.
"What the..."
"Jessica and Faber are checking him in for a seventy two hour hold. I don't think they had a choice."
"Carrie, unless my boss assigns his case to me-"
"Please, Abby. I wouldn't ask if I didn't know for a fact that you could help him."
"Carrie, it's not up to-"
"Brody would want you to," Carrie interrupted, getting a skeptical look from the older woman.
"Abby, he'd insist. He should be here right now to tell you that but since he's not-"
"Alright, alright," Abby relented.
"You head back to your room though, alright? At least make it look like I'm stepping in without being prompted to by a patient!"
"I'll keep my distance. I promise," Carrie assured, stepping back into the alcove as Abby let out a slow breath, approached Faber and Jessica who were standing by the bench Chris was sitting on.
"Evening Mr. and Mrs. Faber. I'm Abby Reynolds," she greeted, shaking their hands.
"Evening Ms. Reynolds. We're here with our son, Chris."
"Chris, please. Say hello," Jessica encouraged as Chris looked up, rolled his eyes.
"What's the point. I know I'm stuck here! I'm not gonna pretend to be okay with it."
"Damn it, Chris," Faber hissed.
"Well, technically you're not. Stuck here," Abby clarified as Chris frowned.
"According to the desk nurse you're not checked in yet. And this is a voluntary hold, so you're free to leave. You have your own car here?"
"No. They drove me," Chris said.
"Well, that makes it a little tougher," Abby said, sitting on the bench beside Chris.
"But I know there's a bus stop within walking distance. 66, crosstown. One of our patients jumped on it the other day. Even though, unlike you, her stay here isn't a voluntary one."
"Are you saying she escaped?"
"Yeah. She could've chosen to take off indefinitely. But she came back. Tonight as a matter of fact. And it wasn't just so she could make popsicle stick art or sit in a circle with people and talk. She knows she's made progress here. That she's learned some tools to help her cope on bad days, and that the small amount of time she has left here might actually do her some good."
"How much time does she have left?"
"Just about two weeks. Now, you wouldn't be here that long, but while you are here you may learn some tools yourself. Some ways to cope or ways to figure things out that have you confused or hurt or in pain. You may even meet and talk to some people who might be able to help you out. Or, you can get on the bus. The exit's right there," Abby said simply, pointing it out as Chris let out a heavy sigh, shrugged his shoulders.
"What if I decide to use it tomorrow? The exit?"
"Well you'll have at least one day of help under your belt. That's still a win in my book."
"Will you be my doctor if I stay?"
"Well, I'm not a doctor so that'll be tough, but I'll be your case manager and make sure nobody but the best is looking after you. And I don't know if you heard but I've got a lot of pull," Abby said as Chris nodded.
"Want to take a walk over to my office? You and your folks and I, we can make it official?"
"Yeah. Okay," Chris agreed. Clearing his throat, Faber mouthed a thank you to Abby while Jessica pulled Chris into a fierce hug.
"I'm so, so proud of you, honey," she said tearfully as Chris nodded, pulled back after a beat.
"I'll catch up to you guys in a second, okay? I just need to freshen up."
"My office is room 315, Mrs. Faber. And the ladies room is right down that way if you need it," Abby said, pointing it out before turning on her heel, walking Chris and Faber to her office.
Once they left, knees shaking, Jessica all but collapsed onto the bench. Put her head in her hands as she cried.
Still watching from the alcove down the hall, Carrie bit her lip, waiting til the coast was clear before walking up and clearing her throat.
"Damn it, Mike. Go back in with Chris, I'll be fine," she choked out.
"It's me, Jessica," Carrie said softly as the brunette looked up, shook her head.
"I don't want to bother you, I just...was down the hall and overheard everything and-"
"You brought me coffee?"
"Cocoa, actually. If you want-"
Taking one of the cups from her Jessica thanked her, took a long sip before shifting over, making room for Carrie on the bench.
"Did you send her over here?"
"What?"
"Abby Reynolds," Jessica clarified.
"Jessica-"
"Brody told me before that you knew her. That she's helped you in here. Did you send her over just now to talk to Chris?"
"Yes," Carrie answered, standing to toss her now empty cup in the trash as Jessica did the same.
"Carrie-"
"I may have crossed a line, but I know if Brody was here he'd want her on Chris' case. For good reason. Abby has been my lifeline in this place. I'm not exaggerating when I say that. She is the best person in here to help. But if I overstepped, did anything to-"
Cut off when Jessica hugged her tightly, Carrie stood frozen in place. Unsure of what to say or do, until she realized the woman was in tears and apologizing to her for it.
"It's alright. I...it's alright."
After a beat, pulling away and looking mortified Jessica shook her head. Ran her hand over her face.
"I'm sorry. I'm just...God, I don't even know what...I'm just-"
Seeing how embarrassed and out of sorts she looked, particularly when the desk nurse stood up and frowned in their direction, Carrie frowned back at her. Gently took Jessica by the arm.
"C'mon, Abby's office is this way," she said, leading her past the desk and earning a glare from the nurse in the process.
"Ma'am!"
"It's on the path back to my room," Carrie snapped as they walked past the desk.
"Saves you from needing to get up and give a fucking tour," she scoffed, getting an eyebrow raise, slight smile out of Jessica as she led her to room 315.
"Anyway, here's your stop."
When Jessica stopped short, glanced in the window at Mike and Abby signing forms while Chris sat on the couch, holding onto the toy tiger, Carrie bit her lip. Spoke after a beat.
"And my room is just down the hall. If you need a minute before seeing Chris or-"
Getting a quick nod she took to mean yes, Carrie nodded back. Making sure the nurse was occupied she quickly led the brunette over to her room. Shut the door behind them both.