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Self Quarantine Day 8
My kids broke a window today! How was your day?
I thought it was day 9 of the quarantine. I clearly have completely lost track of what day it is. I haven't even put on real clothes in a week now. I just change from one set of pajamas to the next. What is the point of getting dressed for the day when you are stuck at home?
I hope this update finds everybody healthy and happy. We are currently safe from COVID-19. We are currently self quarantined in our home. The schools are all closed here, which means that I am home all day with two autistic kids, until further notice. The entire country is basically shut down at this point, which is interesting to watch from online. Luckily for my family, this complete shutdown of life isn't really hurting us at all. Other than being trapped in our house, nothing has changed. My husband still goes to work, but now gets to run all of the errands too, while I stay home with the kids. It's great fun being stuck at home. I am sick of watching tv, and sick of every game on my phone. But I now have to home school my kids, so I actually have less free time than I thought I would. I already miss my kids going to school. I am NOT cut out to be a teacher! This sucks! I hope you are all doing well, and continue to remain healthy.
If anyone has kids and needs help with finding some educational materials to keep them learning while the schools are closed, there is a list on facebook of all the companies providing free learning memberships for their apps and programs, including ABC Mouse. If anyone needs a copy of that list, feel free to let me know and I can get it to you. If any of you are sick, I wish you a speedy recovery, and I urge you all to reach out to your local resources for any help that you may need. Many school districts, and local businesses are providing free lunches to students in need, no questions asked. Just hang in there, and keep up with the the great hygiene and obsessively washing your hands. And most importantly, have a plan for your family. We are a family of asthmatics, and have a plan in place just in case one of us starts getting sick. We are doing our best to stay healthy, I hope that you are all doing the same. Have a great weekend, and I'll update as much as I can to help keep you all entertained.
"Hey Baby! Did you sleep ok?" Rory asked when Logan woke up a few hours later, and came downstairs to find her on the living room couch with a book.
"I did, but I missed you being there when I opened my eyes." Logan said giving her a kiss.
"Hey there Sleepyhead!" Luke said from the kitchen. "I hope you're hungry, dinner will be ready soon."
"It smells amazing!" Logan said looking up to see Rory's parents and April in the kitchen, working to prepare the meal together. "April, you're still here!"
"Actually Honey, I told April she could stay for another week. I hope that's ok?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, of course! You are welcome any time, April. Mi casa es su casa." Logan told her.
"Hey Logan, can I ask you something?" April asked.
"Of course you can."
"I was talking to Rory, Lorelai and Gigi last night, and I talked to Dad before that . . . I graduate from MIT in May, with a degree in biological sciences."
"Wow! That is really awesome! Congratulations! You will have to get us the information for your ceremony, so we can be there."
"Thank you, I definitely will. So I was thinking about what I want to do with my degree, and I was actually thinking of maybe trying to get a job in a hospital laboratory."
"I will definitely put in a good word for you at Columbia. Put in an application and use me as a reference. You can even live here with us for as long as you want to. Either until you get a place of your own, or even until you get married and move away. Whatever you want to do. You don't even have to worry about rent. My sister gave me a place to stay, rent free, and we'll do the same thing for you. Whatever you need, just say the word, and I'll take care of it."
"Really? Because I totally don't mind getting my own place." April told him.
"You are welcome to live here for as long as you want to. It's a big enough house, and we are happy to have you. We'll have a brand new baby, so as long as you don't mind all the crying, and baby stuff everywhere, you are definitely welcome to be here." Rory told her.
"Thanks you guys! You know Dad, I really do love having a sister! Thank you for giving me a sibling!" April said giving Luke a hug, and kissing him on the cheek.
"Awwwwwww!" Lorelai said with a proud smile. "That was so sweet!"
"Hey Ace, do you know where my phone is?" Logan asked. "I was looking for it upstairs, but couldn't find it in our room."
"Yeah, I actually have it." Rory said reaching for the two phones on the table next to the couch. "But before you check your messages, I need to talk to you about something."
"What happened now?" Logan asked with a sigh, lifting Rory's legs so he could sit down on the couch next to her.
"I talked to Doctor Levan while you were sleeping."
"He called?"
"No, I called him. And before you get upset, I need you to hear me out. This whole heart attack thing doesn't make any sense to me. Your Dad was doing great in California. I've heard the therapists at the rehab center when you've talked to them. They didn't have any concerns, and they said that he was getting stronger every day. So for Mitchum to come back here, and have a massive heart attack after only 3 days, it raises a lot of questions."
"I've been trying to figure it out too. We have to be missing something. I had a lot of blood drawn to run every test I could think of. It'll be a few days before all of the results come back." Logan told her.
"I asked Doctor Levan to add a toxicology test."
"Ok?"
"None of this makes any sense to me. I don't know if it's the reporter in me, or if it's pregnancy hormones, but I suspect that someone may be sabotaging your Dad's recovery."
"But why would anyone do that? And who do you suspect?"
"Mom, would you bring me that bag please?" Rory asked, turning her head to look toward the kitchen. "Mom and I went over to Honor's house after I talked to Doctor Levan. I was already pretty annoyed with your mother for the crap she pulled last night, and I originally went over to confront her about it. But then while we were talking to Honor, I had a thought." Rory said as Lorelai handed her the bag with Mitchum's medication in it.
"What is that? Is that prescription bottles? Who's medicine is that?" Logan asked as Lorelai sat down in the chair next to the couch.
"I asked Honor who has been over seeing your Dad's medication. Who is giving it to him while he's been here. She said that she's been doing it with a little bit of help from your Mom. I asked to see the medication. I want you to count these pills." Rory said handing him the bag.
"I'm guessing you've already counted them."
"I did. Mom and Honor counted too."
"And?"
"Count them." Rory told him.
"If you guys already counted them, I trust your numbers."
"All 3 of the bottles say to take one pill twice a day. They are each a 30-day supply and were filled exactly one week ago, with 60 pills each. Taking each medication twice a day, means that your dad should have 46 pills left in each bottle. Even allowing two extra pills for doses missed last night and this morning, that would only leave 48 pills."
"But you got a different number." Logan concluded.
"Different numbers." Lorelai told him.
"What?"
"Each bottle has a different number of pills in it."
"You're kidding." Logan said as he took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "How many pills are in the bottles?"
"One bottle has 50 pills. The others have 52 pills and 54 pills."
"Which means that not only has my dad been missing doses of his medication, but that he's been given the wrong doses too."
"Exactly." Rory agreed.
"Getting the wrong doses would have definitely caused his heart attack. Damn it!"
"I'm so sorry Babe!"
"It's fine. I actually really appreciate you figuring all of this out. It saves me time."
"There's more." Rory told him.
"You confronted my mom . . ."
"Kind of . . . Did she admit to it?"
"It wasn't that kind of confrontation."
"Explain."
"She wasn't exactly thrilled to see us at Honor's house. She was outside smoking when we got there, and Honor called her into the kitchen after we counted the pills."
"Does she know that you know?"
"She knows that I know something, but she doesn't know what I know."
"You're being evasive." Logan told her.
"I might have ripped into her for being a disrespectful unsupportive mother."
"You did?"
"It was awesome!" Lorelai commented with a chuckle. "Rory really gave her a piece of her mind."
"How did that go over?" Logan asked.
"I might have thrown my driver's license at her."
"Which accomplishes what?"
"I wanted her to see my name."
"Your new license says Huntzberger on it. I was with you at the DMV."
"I gave her this one." Rory said pulling her old license out of her pocket. "I might have called her a gold digging bimbo and told her that being a Hayden means that I have more money than she does."
"Being the CEO of HPG means that you have more money than she does." Logan told her.
"I told her that I went to Chilton and graduated with Honors."
"Honor went there too."
"Honor made that comment as well. But she also said that I have her beat because she didn't take any honors classes while she was there."
"Rory graduated Valedictorian from Chilton." Lorelai told him.
"I remember her telling me that."
"I told your mom that she hates me because unlike her I have a brain, and that I don't need a man to take care of me."
"And?" Lorelai urged.
"And that I like to earn my keep and do things for myself."
"And?"
"And that I have a happy marriage with a husband who actually loves me and doesn't cheat on me."
"And?"
"And that she might be related to you by blood, but you were raised by nannies, to be who you are, and that the amazing man that you are is in no part because of her."
"And?"
"And then I told her about your dad having a heart attack and being in a medically induced coma, and that it was her fault and she knew what she did. And I might have told her that she had better hope that the results from the blood tests all come back in her favor because it is a criminal offense to play God with someone else's health."
"Did she cry?"
"Not that we saw." Lorelai told him. "Rory stormed out after that, and I left right behind her. But Shira definitely didn't look happy."
"Well she deserved all of it. She had it coming." Logan told them.
"Your sister was snapping at your mom before Rory even started in on her. Your mom was pretty pissed, and started to rip into Honor until Josh stepped in and checked her."
"I wonder if she's even still over there."
"Honor said she won't be leaving until you say it's ok. She's got her under house arrest." Rory told him. "I talked to her about an hour ago."
"Has Doctor Levan called?" Logan asked.
"No, but he texted. He wants you to call him. I told him that I would let you know when you woke up." Rory said as she handed Logan his phone.
"Logan, go make your call." Luke said from the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in about 20 minutes."
"If dinner is ready before I get back, go ahead and start without me. I'm not sure how long this will take." Logan told everyone.
"Do you need anything?" Rory asked.
"No. You've done a lot today. Are you ok after dealing with my mother?"
"Yeah, I'm great actually! There are some things that I wish I had said, but didn't think of until after the fact, but it's all good."
"Rory did tell her that if your Dad does by any chance die, that it's on her, and that your mother will never be allowed in your home or family ever again." Lorelai told him.
"Oh yeah. I forgot that part." Rory chuckled.
"After what she pulled, I don't want her anywhere near you, or this house, EVER! And that goes for the baby too. That woman can't be trusted." Logan said getting up from his seat on the couch. "I'll be in my office."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Scene 2 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So what's the plan then?" Honor asked as she sat in front of the fire pit in her backyard with Logan, Rory, Josh and April.
"We won't know what kind of damage was done until Dad wakes up. Doctor Levan wants to start waking him up tomorrow. We are still waiting on the results from today's blood draw to see exactly how much of each of the medications is in Dad's blood, but the overdose from just one of them could have caused the heart attack. We just need to wait and see if it did any other damage. Dad could have memory loss, motor function decrease or loss, it could have done a lot of damage. We just don't know until he wakes up and starts talking and moving around."
"So here's an idea that I thought up, and I want your opinion on it . . . I'm thinking that maybe we need to think about sending mom to rehab. I've noticed that she might have an addiction problem. She's smoking a lot more, and her Xanax bottle that I picked up for her just the other day is almost empty. Plus, she's been trying to drink, which of course she can't do in this house because we moved all of our alcohol over to your house when we brought dad home. But mom has been asking for drinks an awful lot. Maybe we should send her to a facility where she can detox and get some therapy. I'm starting to think that maybe she didn't screw up Dad's medication on purpose. Maybe she thought that she was helping, but she was so drugged up herself, that she completely screwed everything up."
"That is a definite possibility." Logan agreed. "I am not one to give mom any kind of break on anything, but as a doctor, you've made a valid point. It is very likely that mom was too drugged to know what the hell she was doing. Mom has been abusing Xanax and alcohol for years. I don't doubt that she's addicted. What I do doubt though, is that she would be willing to go to rehab to get clean."
"Well here is where I think we can blackmail her." Honor told him. "Rory and I are both pregnant. If Mom wants to have any kind of contact with either or our children, she needs to get clean, and stay clean. Otherwise, she doesn't get to be a grandmother."
"That might work for you Honor, but your mom doesn't give a damn about me being pregnant. As far as your Mom is concerned, I could be the one in the medically induced coma, and she still wouldn't care. That woman wishes that I didn't exist. There is no way that she would get clean in order to have a relationship with our kid."
"You need a referral from a doctor before any of the luxury rehab centers will accept you." Logan told them. "There is no chance in hell that Mom will agree to see a doctor."
"I don't mean to point out the obvious, but Logan, you are a doctor. You can write the referral." April told him.
"They may not take it from me though. I can try, but some places won't accept it unless it's from a psychologist or treating hospital. Mom hasn't been admitted."
"So let's admit her for a psychiatric hold. She did overdose Dad. That's a good enough reason to have her put on a psych hold. She isn't coherent enough to even give her husband his heart medication, which means that she is a danger to not only herself, but to others as well." Honor commented.
"Honor has a point there." Rory agreed. "You said yourself that you don't trust your mother near any of us. She already drugged your dad, whether it was on purpose, or by accident. Who's to say that she decides to come over to help me one day and accidentally gives me one of her Xanax instead of a vitamin or something, and ends up hurting both me and the baby? Or what happens if she's over here after Honor has the baby and drops the baby, or forgets what she is doing and puts the baby down and walks away leaving the baby wherever? Your Mother isn't even capable of making herself a meal, much less helping out with your Dad or our baby."
"I agree with Rory." Josh spoke up. "What if when we go to the hospital tomorrow for Mitchum's team to start waking him up, we have Shira admitted for detox, and then transferred to a rehab center from there?"
"I like that idea." Honor agreed. "Logan, do you think we might be able to do it?"
"I don't know. I can call and ask. I'm sure I can get her into a local program pretty quickly, but we would have to get her to agree to it. They won't take her unless it's what she wants."
"What about sending her somewhere like the Betty Ford Clinic? That place is supposed to be amazing! I've heard really good things about it." April suggested.
"Isn't that were a lot of celebrities go?" Josh asked.
"It is. It's a luxury resort style treatment center for drug and alcohol dependency, both of which Mom needs." Logan told them.
"Maybe while she's going through treatment and counseling, she can get therapy to deal with her blatant hatred of me." Rory chuckled.
"There is a good chance it'll be included. They'll ask a lot about her family. I'm sure your name will come up."
"Do you think they'll take Mom?" Honor asked.
"I think with the right referrals, and enough money, it's a definite possibility. But here in the other thing . . . Christmas is in a few weeks. It's not like it matters to me, but if we move mom into therapy right now, she won't be able to come back for Christmas." Logan told them.
"Deal!" Josh said loudly.
"I agree." Honor added. "Even when Mom is around for Christmas, she's never actually fully there. Between the smoking, Xanax, and Mom's constant alcohol consumption, she's always off in outer space during the holidays. I think this might actually be the best thing for her. Get her away from here for Christmas, and get her clean."
"I agree with Honor and Josh." Rory chimed in.
"It'll be peaceful with her out of state and not constantly under foot, making snide comments to us about everything we've done to mess up her traditions." Logan told them.
"Oh, excuse me." Shira said, stepping into the backyard with a pack of cigarettes in her hand. "Honor, I didn't know that you had friends over."
"Friends Mom?" Honor questioned. "Really?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I only see one friend." Shira corrected herself, as she took a step closer and realized who was sitting around the fire pit. "Hello Logan."
"Mom, why don't you come sit down." Honor spoke up.
"No thank you, I just came out for a smoke." Shira told her.
"You can't smoke out here with Rory and I both pregnant. Come sit. We need to have a little family chat."
"Honor, after the last little chat we had this afternoon, I am not interested in being a part of your childish games."
"Mother, you need to come sit." Logan spoke up. "This concerns you. Either you come sit down and hear us out on what is going on, or we will come up with a new plan for you that you won't like at all. If we have to, we will cut off your weekly allowance."
"Logan! That is no way to talk to your mother, especially not in front of one of your sister's lovely friends."
"You have got to be kidding me!" Rory said, rolling her eyes. "Did you hear that April? She thinks that you are one of Honor's friends."
"I mean, I guess I could be one of Honor's friends. No offense or anything, but isn't Honor like 15 years older than me?"
"Exactly!" Rory said trying to stifle her laughter.
"Mother, this is Rory's sister, April." Honor told her. "Now come sit down so you can hear what is going to be happening, starting tomorrow morning.