Crying On A Saturday Night

The passing week went by slowly, but the treatment for Charlie really seemed to
be helping. Apparently Zacky knew what he was talking about. I mean, sure Charlie was high all the time, but she wasn't in pain. And she wasn't screaming, thank god. I was really optimistic that she was going to get a full recovery. I could feel it.

I held onto Charlie's hand as Zacky administered the heroin, for what seemed to be the millionth time since we'd started this. We shot her up 4 times a day, and the dosage we were giving her at this point was probably just about half of what we started with.

Her grip on my hand loosened once the heroin was completely in her system. This was her morning dosage, so Zacky and I had just woken her up.

"How ya feeling?" I asked as she sat up.

"Good. Always good. I like good," she smiled. She always talked a lot when she was high. That or she would go crazy, which Zacky and I always found rather amusing.

Throughout this whole ordeal, I felt like the bond between us was growing. Maybe it was because she needed constant care, like a small child, or something like that. But I actually felt like we had the father-daughter connection going on. And it felt good.

"Okay. Well, we'll be downstairs, so you can go take a shower or something," I said as I stood up and walked to the door, Zacky following me.

I decided that since things were smoothing out with Charlie, I'd call Michelle and give her an update on everything going on. I hadn't talked to her since this all started, because I'd been so busy taking care of Charlotte.

I picked up the phone from the cradle and started to walk into the living room.

"Hey man, I'm gonna go home for a few hours. Can you man the fort while I'm gone?" Zacky asked as he walked by me. He'd spent the entire week here, staying the night and all, helping me watch over Charlotte and giving me someone to talk to.

"Yeah. You can go. I'll be fine here," I replied as I punched in the number for Matt's house.

"Okay, just remember to give it to her again around 3 if I'm not back by then," he said, and then walked out the door.

Just as he left, someone picked up on the other line.

"Hello?" I heard Matt ask into the phone.

"Hey Matt, it's Bri. Do you know if Michelle is awake yet?" I asked.

"Uh... yeah. She's in the kitchen I think. Hold on one sec," he replied, and I heard movement through the phone.

"Michelle, its Brian," I heard Matt's voice, sounding far away.

"Hey baby," I heard her say, and I smiled. This was the longest we'd been apart in quite some time.

"Hi. How've you been?" "I asked as I took a seat on the couch.

"I've been good I guess. I miss you like you wouldn't believe," she said, and I could hear a hint of sorrow in her voice.

"I miss you too baby," I sighed.

"How's Charlotte doing?" Michelle asked quietly.

I smiled to myself. "She's doing a lot better now. She doesn't have the fits anymore. And Zacky's a great help around here. I'm just glad she's not in pain anymore," I replied, and I heard the shower turn off upstairs.

"... So can we come home? I really miss you, and poor Jack thinks that we're fighting cuz we haven't talked or seen each other in so long."

I sighed deeply. "I'm afraid not. The house still isn't safe," I said quietly.

"But I thought you said she was better, and stopped with the fits?" she asked.

"Well she is. Its not safe because... we've got heroin here," I said, hoping she wouldn't get the wrong idea.

"What!? Why?"

"Because that's the way Zacky wants to get her off it," I tried to explain.

"... So let me get this straight. Zacky wanted to put her back on heroin... to get her off it? How exactly is that supposed to work?" Michelle asked, the skepticism heavy in her voice.

"Well yeah, he said it'd work. And it is. We've got her on this sort of.. 'weaning' system," I said, knowing she'd understand what that meant.

"Oh... so how far off is she?"

"About half of what we started her on, which is amazing after just a week," I said, and stood up, walking into the kitchen.

"So we can come back home next week? She'll be cured by then, right?" she asked eagerly.

"Er... yeah not really. Zacky wants to wait about a month from now. I guess he wants to monitor her progress after she's completely off it, just to make sure that she doesn't go into a quick relapse or something. But after that, if everything goes well, I think you'll be able to come back home."

"A month?" Can't you like... get Zacky to watch her, just for a while, and come see us?" she asked, almost pleaded.

"... I suppose I could. I'll have to ask, and see if he'll let me. He probably will, considering I haven't seen you in a fucking week," I said, and I heard Charlie come down the stairs and turn on the TV.

"Good. Cuz if you don't come here, I'll go there. I don't care what you say, I'll do it," Michelle replied, a chuckle making its way through.

"YOUR MEMORY WILL CARRY ON! WILL CARRY ON! AND THOUGH YOU'RE DEAD AND GONE BELIEVE ME, YOUR MEMORY WILL CARRY ON!" I heard Charlotte yell from the next room. Yeah, she was hyper.

I poked me head into the living room, only to see Charlotte jumping on the couch as an old music video was playing.

"Oh god, is that her?" I heard Michelle laugh.

"Yeah, that's her alright. Hey, Charlie, can you keep it down? I'm on the phone. And stop jumping!" I said, directing it to Charlie.

"Ohh ohh! Is that Michelle!? Can I talk to her!? MICHELLE! HI!" she screamed as she jumped down to a sitting position.

Michelle laughed. "Tell her I say hi back."

"Michelle says hi Charlie," I said, and she smiled before turning back to the TV.

I went back into the kitchen. "You know, I really feel like I'm closer to her now. Its amazing. I mean, this whole situation isn't at all what I would consider 'good', but at least something good came out of it," I said to Michelle as I sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Well, I'm glad she's doing okay now."

"Yeah... so where's Jack?" I asked.

"He's still sleeping. He said he didn't feel good this morning," Michelle said with a sigh.

"Oh... I was hoping I'd get to talk to him, but I guess I'll call later or something," I sighed as well. "I gotta go though. I love you and I miss you and I can't wait til you get to come home," I said.

"I love you too, Brian. Bye," she said. I said goodbye in return and then we hung up. I walked back into the living room where Charlie was sitting on the couch.

"So how's Michelle?" she asked cheerfully.

"She's doing good. Hopefully, if all goes well, she and Jack will be able to come home in about a month," I said as I sat down next to her.

"OOOH A MONTH!? I'm gonna be all better by then?!" she inquired.

"I'm hoping, yes." I said with a smile.

She kinda sat there for awhile, completely silent. "So... where's Zacky? I haven't seen him since I got down here," she randomly asked, breaking the temporary silence.

I shrugged. "He said he was going home, but I bet he went to a bar, which is okay, I suppose. Cuz you and me have pretty much never had time with just the two of us," I said.

"Yeah I guess," was all she said in reply before putting her full attention on the screen.