5
C.J. had slept pretty well. She found the message from Matt but he didn't pick up the car phone when she called and Chris told her he had a meeting at Tuscan Sunset. Smiling, she figured he was probably going to surprise her with her favorites from the restaurant she loved.
She got downstairs and made some coffee. Chuckling she pushed aside the decaf Matt had bought because of Carol's recommendations, and grabbed the french roast. 'I need all the caffeine I can get,' she thought to herself.
After making a cup she took it back upstairs and grabbed that package. It was almost 4pm now. Grabbing a pair of scissors she sat down on the bed with the box. Having the scissors, C.J. made quick work of the box. There was no return address she noticed as she tore into it.
Opening it she found only a small note that read remember this. She pulled out, wrapped in tissue paper a small jewelry box, a child's jewelry box. It was a small white rectangle shaped box. Painted all over the sides were pink ballet slippers with larger ceramic pink ballet slippers on the top.
C.J.'s breath came faster as her hands trembled. Blinking over and over and swallowing it was as though she remembered this box but didn't remember it at the same time. Her body seemed to be connected to it while her brain wasn't. "What is it I'm supposed to remember?" she said softly to herself.
Carefully opening it she found nothing inside, but it was clearly a used jewelry box. Where one was supposed to put rings, she found a space that was opened a little more than the rest of it. In fact it appeared as though a ring had rested there for a long time at some point.
She closed her eyes and suddenly an image appeared of a small gold ring with a little emerald in her mind along with an image of her father. Her fingers felt the small wind at the back of the box and she wound it. The song sent more images into her mind of a room, one filled with a ballerina motif in white and pink. There was a small bed with a pillow in the shape of ballerina slippers and a pink bedspread. On the wall were posters and in the corner a desk with a ballerina lamp.
It was almost as if she were standing in the room, watching a much younger version of herself sitting at that desk. Her father walked in and asked, "What are you doing, C.J.?"
Her smaller self answered, "Prepping my closing arguments." She smiled big as she looked up at him smiling back.
He chuckled and knelt down beside her, "What do you mean? I thought you had to write a paper on wildflowers in California."
She answered, "I did, but you see at the end of my paper I wanted to make sure the teacher knew and everybody else that people shouldn't cut them. They're too pretty and too important and..." She bit her lip and looked back at the paper, "Well, Daddy, I know I need another reason, but I just can't think of one. I just know people shouldn't cut them."
He chuckled again and hugged her, "Always having those three big reasons, huh? Well, I have trained you well. Look, your Mama wanted me to come get you because dinner is about ready and you don't want to miss another day of school. Here..." He pulled out a dime from his pocket, "I found this..."
She squealed, "Another silver dime!" She hugged him tight and then said, "I'll add it to my collection!" She walked over and pulled out her lunchbox.
Her father asked, "I thought you were keeping those in your jewelry box, why are you putting them in there?"
She explained, "Well, I remembered you telling me about keeping things in places people are least likely to think they were, so I figured no one would think I'd keep anything valuable in this."
He smiled again and said, "Ah yes, my little lecture on how people dispose of or store evidence. C.J., if you have such an early start studying the law I have no doubt in my mind you will make one of this country's greatest attorneys."
She smiled again and told him, "I will, Daddy, I will." He picked her up for a second and the two went down to dinner. A smile crept across C.J.'s face along with some fresh tears.
Her hand ran across the box and she turned it over. Suddenly her head began to throb. Something was wrong. Her heart started to race when she looked at the box again noticing a brown stain on the bottom of it. Although there was nothing to tell her this is what it was, she was sure it was blood.
C.J. seemed lost in a trance again. She stood up and went to the kitchen. Her hands moved on the cabinet and grabbed the bottle of sleeping pills. Then she took a glass, filled it with water and walked back to the couch on the second floor. On autopilot it seemed, she took out the entire bottle of 30 and began taking them one by one.
Matt came in carrying the box from Tuscan Sunset. He knew he was going to have to tell her about the death of her mother and knew that would hurt her. The only real thing he could do now was provide whatever he could to comfort her. The coffee smell was strong as he walked through the kitchen and he saw the french roast bag still on the counter. He smiled and knew that meant she wanted to be up for the rest of the day. Maybe it would be good to take her with him when he and Roy went to go find out about the gun. He really didn't want to hide any of this from her, but stand beside her as she struggled with this part of her past.
He called out, "C.J.! I've got a surprise for you." He smiled as he saw her sitting on the couch upstairs. She didn't answer though and his steps slowed, his brow furrowed as he approached. She seemed to be in a trance again.
Her hand went to her mouth and she took a drink of water. Matt exhaled figuring she was just taking her cold medication and that was why she hadn't answered. He sat down beside her, about to tell her about the food when he noticed the empty sleeping pill bottle.
Matt almost dropped the foam container and grabbed the bottle, "C.J., what..." He brushed her hair from the side of her face as she was still facing forward, not speaking. Matt's heart started pounding hard, "How many...oh my god...C.J." She still wasn't moving so he grabbed her shoulders hard, turning her to face him and shook her, "C.J.! Answer me!"
She blinked and looked at him sleepily saying, "I have to go now." Her head fell forward and Matt grabbed her, running her out to his car. He put her in and then practically flew to the hospital. His hand stayed on hers and he was practically yelling over and over, "Stay with me, C.J.! Stay awake for me as best you can. I love you, honey. I love you so much."
At one point she seemed to be trying to open her eyes and saying in a whisper, "I love you, Matt. What is...what is going on...I'm so tired."
Matt answered, "Just stay awake for me as best you can. Fight it, C.J. Fight the urge to go to sleep. I need you to try, honey I really do. I love you so very much. Just stay with me a little longer." The car spun out just a little bit as he pulled into the emergency room entrance.
He called out for help and in no time she was being wheeled in on a stretcher. Matt told that familiar doctor, "She was sick today and I think she accidentally took too many pills to help her sleep. She needs her stomach pumped I'm sure. Please..."
The doctor patted his shoulder began ordering the pump and then told Matt to wait in the waiting room. He went to that familiar room and started pacing. Hoyt met him there. "Houston, I just heard over the radio. Do you know you had a cruiser following you trying to get you to pull over? You lost him on the highway but another one just spotted your car here. What's going on?"
Matt didn't know exactly what to tell him. It was hard enough just for his own mind to wrap around this, how could he explain it to anyone else? What would Hoyt think? No, it would be best to keep this between him and C.J. for now if he could. He did figure he would have to talk to the doctor too though. He bought a bottle of 30 and it was empty. So he told him, "C.J. wasn't feeling well today and I bought her some medicine. I should have stayed with her because she took too many." He ran his hand through his hair and just sat down.
Hoyt sat beside him for a second without speaking and then said, "Houston are you sure..." Matt shot him a look but he continued, "You told me yesterday..."
Matt interrupted him, "She's just sick, Hoyt. C.J. woke up at 4 this morning sneezing and stuffed up." He shook his head, "She just wasn't thinking clearly because she's sick. I..." He knew he was about to lie and he hated doing it, but he knew C.J. needed to be home with him, not in some mental hospital or mental ward. He knew the laws and even though Hoyt was a friend, he would probably have to, as a result of the law, have her committed. "I think she took her medicine and then forgot she had taken it so she took it again. It has a sleep aid...I just don't take any chances with her, you know that." He got up and started pacing again.
Swallowing over and over again as he thought through everything Hoyt just watched with Roy who showed up with Chris about 5 minutes later. The doctor came out after another agonizing 20 minutes, "Mr. Houston, she's going to be fine now." He looked at all the others waiting with him and then said, "I do need to see you in private for a minute though."
Matt nodded and followed him back to the door to C.J.'s room. He almost whispered, "She's inside here, pretty drowsy but alert. She told us she didn't take anything and doesn't understand what's going on, but we pulled out 28 pills. Mr. Houston..." he looked down and Matt did the same not knowing how to answer the question he knew was coming. "Mr. Houston, has C.J. said anything to you about, well...have there been any indications to you that she might be depressed?"
Matt took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second, "You want to know if she tried to commit suicide."
The doctor nodded, "Its a textbook example, Mr. Houston. People don't accidentally take upwards of 25 sleeping pills."
Matt told him, "I don't think she really wants to commit suicide. We're working on a case right now and it...well...its having an effect on her. I can't explain it, but when I found her, she wasn't herself. Someone is manipulating her, making her do this." He shook his head, "I don't plan to leave her alone for a second until I find out who it is. I left her alone today, but it was the last time until this case is over."
The doctor nodded and then said, "Well, you two always did have a different kind of job that brought all sorts of different risks." He sighed and then said, "Ok, I won't report all the details here, but if anything happens again, I'll have to. Mr. Houston, we don't come up with these rules to hurt people, they were designed to help people. If she tries again, you may not be lucky enough to catch her again before its too late. If you do, then she'll have to be admitted. Whether its to this hospital or an independent one, it will have to be done." He patted his shoulder and then said, "Sometimes, there is only so much a loved one can do before letting professionals handle what they're trained to handle."
Matt slowly opened the door to find her laying in the bed. It reminded him of coming into her room after she'd been shot trying to clear her friend Connie of being accused of smuggling drugs. He blinked again and pulled a chair up by her bed, taking her hand and rubbing it in both of his. It caused her eyes to flutter open.
Trying to focus, C.J. squinted and said, "Hiya hubby."
Matt smiled a small smile and almost whispered, "Hiya sweetheart. Howya feeling?"
C.J. took a breath and said, "Tired, very, very tired. I don't understand what's going on. I haven't been shot I know, but I just don't remember much. I ate a pizza for lunch, I took a nap and then I made coffee to help me wake up. The next thing I know, you're telling me you love me and to hang on while we drove here. Matt...what's going on?"
Her eyes were so heavy he could tell so all he said was, "Listen right now, just relax and take it easy. You took too much medicine..." his voice caught as had started brushing his thumb across the eyelid she had closed. "You're going to be fine now, just relax" even as he said the words she was drifting off and tears were forming in his own.
At that point the doctor opened the door again and motioned for him. Reluctantly he put her hand down after kissing it and got over to him. The doctor whispered, "She'll be out for a while now. We could give her something to counteract the sleeping pills that got digested, but its best to just let her sleep I think."
Matt looked back at her and nodded, "So she's going to be completely out for the next few hours?"
The doctor said, "Yes she will. We need to talk to her when she wakes up. I arranged for an hour in the morning, around 8 for us to sit down with her."
Matt swallowed and then turned back, "Look I want to put a couple of guys outside her room..." The doctor started to object he could tell so he kept going, "They won't be in anyone's way, but I don't want to run the risk of someone getting in here and hurting her again."
The doctor took a deep breath and then said, "Fine, as long as they are invisible if you know what I mean."
Matt nodded and then walked back over to her, kissing her, whispering that he loved her again and then went back to the waiting room. Hoyt, Chris, Warren, and Roy were all waiting for him. He told them as they got up to meet him, "She's going to be fine. The doctors neutralized the medicine, but she's going to be out for a little while."
Roy then spoke up, "We had a meeting tonight, I'll go cancel it."
He had started to walk off when Matt stopped him, "Wait...Chris..." He turned to face her, "would you mind staying with her while I'm gone?"
Chris answered, "Of course not. I was hoping it would be ok to go back, even if its just for a minute."
Matt then told her, "I would appreciate it if you could stick around until I get back."
She answered, "Sure." Matt then told her the room number and after kissing Warren, Chris headed in that direction.
Roy, Hoyt and Warren then walked over to Matt. He told them, "I'm calling in Brad and Greg and then we can go, Uncle Roy. I've got to find out who is going after my wife. They got way too close today. I've got to figure this out, now." The men all nodded and then left after he made that call and Greg arrived.