Intervention

Chapter 3: Breaking the News

Mrs. Fenton answered the door. "Mr. Lancer, come in."

She led the way into the living room where her husband stood to shake his hand.

"Thank you for seeing me, Mr. and Dr. Fenton."

"Please, call us Jack and Maddie," the large man invited as he took a seat in the chair opposite the couch facing them. Jazz sat in another chair off to the side.

"Call me Will," his lips into a smile that did not reach his eyes.

Lancer looked at them and suddenly wished he didn't have to do this; after this nothing would be the same in their lives. He stared at his hands gathering the courage to start.

"Thank you for coming to our home, but why did you want to meet us here. Wouldn't it be more usual to have us come to the school?" Mrs. Fenton asked.

"It's not just a school matter," Lancer paused and glanced toward Jazz. "Jazz came to see me earlier today. She wanted to talk to me about her brother."

"If Jazz had concerns about Danny, why didn't she come and talk to us directly?" Maddie asked bewildered.

"I was afraid you would not believe me," Jazz murmured.

Maddie looked stricken but Lancer continued before she could say anything. "There are some things that are better off coming from someone else. I think she came to me because she was looking for more evidence to corroborate her opinion and she knew I had some experience in cases like Danny's."

"Cases like Danny?" broke in Jack Fenton, "What are you talking about."

"Danny may have a problem with substance abuse." There was a moment of stunned silence.

.

.

Jack and Maddie looked back and forth between Lancer and their daughter.

"You mean….drugs…? or alcohol?" Jack finally asked.

"Danny? He wouldn't…." she trailed off seeing the seriousness on their faces. "What happened?"

Lancer waited and then said gently. "He wasn't caught in possession, if he was, it would be a matter for the police, but your daughter has come to me with concerns and we have all noticed that Daniel has had some problems lately."

In a rather shaky voice, Jazz explained that she had found an empty medicine bottle in Danny's trash can which had made her suspicious. A tear escaped to trickle down her face as she described her investigation and her conclusions.

"Since the accident, we've all seen some drastic changes in Danny's behavior," Lancer went on to outline some of the problems Danny had been having in school. "As you know from previous conferences, when he doesn't skip class entirely, he often comes in late or spends half the time in the bathroom. He frequently falls asleep in class. His completion of assigned work is erratic and there has been a marked drop in the quality of his work. His test scores have dropped and his whole attitude toward school has become apathetic. He's been involved in fights. It's not just my class; it's across the board. We knew these things were happening; now we know why."

Jack shook his head, "Danny…I can't believe it. Our Danny… He comes from a good family in a good neighborhood. How could this happen?"

"Danny was such a sweet boy. It can't be. We know our Danny has been having some trouble but he'd never do drugs. We've always told him….he knew the dangers….why would he…? Maddie Fenton covered her face. "What did we do wrong?"

"Sometimes these things just happen, to the best of kids, from loving homes," Lancer said gently. "The thing is not to focus on blame but on getting Danny help."

"If he was in trouble, why didn't he come to us?" Mr. Fenton asked.

"An addict will do anything to conceal their habit," Lancer explained. "It becomes their most important thing."

"I didn't want to believe it either. But we all know Danny has changed. He no longer cares about his interests and hobbies. He misses curfew, stays out all night….", Jazz wiped the back of her hand across her cheeks. "We can't help him unless we face the truth."

Maddie grasped her husband's hand, "A few weeks ago when we took the kids in for a checkup, the doctor had ordered some blood work because his heart rate seemed a bit low. Danny kicked up a fuss and refused to let them take his blood. He said the needles freaked him out, which is rather strange because they never bothered him before. Since he seemed fine, the doctor decided it wasn't urgent and we let it go."

"He must have been afraid drugs would show up in his blood," Jack concluded.

"And there were these injuries. But they seemed to be minor. Danny never complained and they didn't last long. He's always been a bit uncoordinated. Sports were never his thing and he got banned from handling fragile equipment in the science lab."

"I didn't think anything of it. It's normal for a boy to get a few scrapes and bruises now and then climbing trees, taking a spill on their bikes, rough-housing with his friends. Jack shook his head in disbelief, "How could we not have known?"

"A common question from parents and loved ones. He's a bright kid and his ability to hide is far greater than your ability to see through his subterfuges."

"I think we didn't want to think that our son could have a drug problem," Jack admitted.

"An addicts will lie very convincingly", said Lancer, "To quote one recovering addict, "If an addicts lips are moving, they are lying. It's part of the process."

Maddie shook her head. "I can't believe we didn't see this before. What kind of parents are we?"

Jazz reached over and laid her hand over her mother's, "I think we all were blind to it."

"What about his friends?" Lancer asked.

"I think they may be part of the problem," Jazz said and then explained her encounter with Sam and Tucker. "At first I thoughts they just didn't believe it but now I think they are helping Danny conceal his problem in a misguided sense of loyalty."

"Mr. Lancer – Will – you say you have experience in this kind of thing before. What do we do now?" Maddie asked.

"The important thing to do is to get him into treatment. I know who some people who can help get things started and some phone numbers to some treatment centers. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to wait until the addict hits rock bottom. In fact the earlier we can start working on this the better. I won't lie to you; it's not going to be easy and it's going to be for the long haul. There will be steps forward and steps backwards. Good days and bad days. Sometimes treatment doesn't take the first time but we can't give up. It's part of the process. They call it tough love because there's nothing harder and no greater sign of love."

AN: Unfortunately I lost the last two installments of this story. I will attempt to resurrect them but it will take some time and I will not be able to post them in a timely fashion.