Define "Normal" For Me Again. I Seem to Have Forgotten

Matt’s POV

I was laying comfortably on the hotel, nursing a beer in silence when the guys came rushing in.

“What the fuck, guys? I have to visit Tiff tomorrow! I need some piece before I deal with her!”

“Dude, you getting any kind of peace tonight has just flown out the window.” Zacky replied, turning on the TV and flipping to a news channel. He stepped back so that I could see it.

“Last night, two patients at Los Angeles’ Women’s Mental Health Rehabilitation Center escaped. The only thing that the health center will tell us is that one is extremely dangerous even though she is not armed. The other is harmless. No word yet about where they are headed. Back to you, Cheryl.”

“Thank you, Krista. In other news…”

Zacky then muted it and looked at me expectantly.

“Fifty bucks says Tiff escaped again.” Jimmy said, leaning his back against the door with his arms crossed. I just nodded. There was no point in arguing, we all knew he was right. I leaned over to the nightstand and dialed the center’s number.

“Los Angeles Women’s Mental Health Rehabilitation Center.”

“Hello, this is Matthew Sanders calling on behalf of my sister’s, Tiffany Sanders, welfare. May I please speak to Candace?”

“Of course, Sir, I’ll put you right through.” I rolled my eyes at the guys’ snickers.

“Hello, Mr. Sanders, this is Candace speaking.”

“Oh don’t play with me. I’ve had a really stressful day. What was the point of me signing all those forms only to hear that my sister has escaped once again from the local news? Is it me, or did we not specifically agree that you would inform me first if anything should happen with her?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sanders, but we were sure that we had everything under control.”

“Well apparently, you don’t!” Val came in and looked at me questionably. Syn took her aside for the time being. “Why was I not informed? And don’t you fucking give me some bullshit excuse.”

“Tiffany is not showing any improvement.”

“She’s not supposed to! She has no conscious! I thought you psychology people were supposed to be smart! Or do you not remember what happened the last time you administered her shocks? Nothing happened! No, she called me all in tears because she had no idea why you were hurting her so much!”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sanders, but if you speak to me-”

“Shut the fuck up, I don’t give a rat’s ass! She won’t be going back there.”

“You don’t know the seriousness of her situation She needs to be in a controlled environment.”

“Oh, no, she’s definitely going to an institute…she’s not going back to yours” I then hung up, tired of the bitch’s voice.

“Well?” Jimmy probed.

“Well that was just a waste of energy and breath. I’m going out to find her, she can’t be that far.” I said, getting up and grabbing my jacket.

“We’ll go ahead and scout out the local bars. Someone’s bound to have seen her.”

I nodded and grabbed my keys. Val started to follow me. “No, Val, I don’t want you hurt. You know what happened last time.”

Val glared at me and put her hands on her hips. “You know damn well that doesn’t work on me, Sanders. Tiff is practically my little sister. I’m not going to let a few scars render me useless. Now let’s go before she gets any farther.” She said, putting on her jean jacket and walking out of the door with the others.

I shrugged my shoulders. We split up into pairs- Val and I, Jimmy and Zacky, Syn and Johnny- and scouted out the streets. This wasn’t the first time, and it sure as hell wasn’t the last that I had to go out in the streets to find my baby sister. I pulled the most recent picture of her out of my wallet and began flashing it to everyone I saw. There were a few who had seen a girl that looked like her several blocks down the street. I thanked them and dragged Val in the direction of the nearest bar.

Val and I checked every bar for the next three blocks. Every time, there were some people saying that they saw her, but no one had an idea where they were going. One mentioned Disney World, but that rumor was put to rest by his drinking mate. It was nearing four in the morning when I got a call from Zacky saying that he found her. I told him to keep her there while I hailed a cab.

This is the last straw. I’m going to have a serious talk with her, then her ass is going to be shipped off to the East Coast.