Enough

His fingers tapped against the steering wheel of the rental car; he had been a nervous wreck for the last twenty days. His hazel eyes fixated on the building in front of him. Admittedly, it didn’t look as daunting and scary as he made it out to be in his head. Aurora Recovery Centers; even the name sounded welcoming. Still, this was a mental health facility. Maybe it looked inviting on the outside, but surely the inside was dreary and horrible.

He knew that stereotype came from horror movies and television shows; society had definitely progressed when it came to treating mental health. However, he had never been inside of one. How was he to know what they were truly like?

Suddenly, a hand gently grasped his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Matt, look at me.”

He finally tore his eyes away from the building and looked at his fiancé. Val sat calmly in the passenger seat, a soft smile on her lips.

“You can do this. She needs you now more than ever.”

Matt absorbed her words, letting them marinade in his brain. Val was right, as always. This wasn’t about his fears or grievances. Pulling his hand away from Val, he shut off the car and swung open the door.

With every step, he could feel the lump building in his throat. How did it come to this? How did he end up at a mental health center? More importantly, how did he not see this coming? He tried his hardest to push away his guilt, but it was difficult. He had one job and he failed.

As Matt pulled open the door of the building, Val linked her arm with his, silently showing her support. He took in his immediate surroundings. The lobby had a lot of natural lighting, a small gathering area in the corner, and was decorated with bright pops of color against neutral bases. It was a far cry from the mental image he had painted.

“Welcome to Aurora Recovery. How can we help you today?” The receptionist greeted in a cheery voice. As Matt approached the desk, his noticed the man’s nametag; Roberts.

Matt took a few long moments to respond, so Val gently nudged his ribs. She desperately wished that she could do this for him, but she wasn’t related. She was only able to visit because of Matt’s relation.

“We’re here to see my sister; Hailey Sanders.” Matt spoke hoarsely, licking at his dry lips.

Roberts nodded and began typing on the computer. “Names?”

“Uh, Matthew Sanders and Valary DiBenedetto. I’m Hailey’s brother.”

Within seconds, Roberts had them signed in and was handing them visitor’s passes. He stood from the desk, “you’ll be meeting with the psychiatrist first to discuss Hailey’s treatment, and then you’ll get to see her. They’re finishing up lunches right now.”

Matt thanked the receptionist and sighed heavily when he took a seat on the visiting couch. He ran his tattooed hands down his face; he was still unable to process everything.

Twenty days ago, Hailey, his baby sister, was admitted into this treatment facility. Within an hour of her admission, they were calling Matt to inform him of the situation. However, they weren’t able to give him all the details, and because he was on tour, he couldn’t do extensive research. The only thing he had found was that this place treated drug and alcohol addiction.

How could his baby sister be on drugs? Hailey wasn’t that type of person. She enjoyed drinking on the weekends, but she never got blackout drunk and she never acted out. Then again, it had been a couple years since Matt had seen her. A lot could change in that time. Maybe she was a completely different person.

“Matt, what are you thinking about?” Val asked softly as she turned to him.

Matt shrugged, his head shaking in disbelief. “How the hell did this happen? Every time we spoke to her, she sounded fine.”

“Babe, whatever was going on, she obviously didn’t want people to know about it. You can’t blame yourself because she was good at hiding it. Listen, just take a breath and we’ll see what the doctor has to say.”

She leaned in a pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

Matt smiled gently, his dimples making a slight appearance. “Have I ever told you how much I love you? You always know exactly what to say.”

“It’s one of my many talents.” Val joked, trying to lighten the mood, flipping her hair from her shoulder.

…

It was only a fifteen-minute wait for the doctor. Matt and Val got wrapped up in some infomercial that was playing on the hanging television. They didn’t even hear him approach until he called out to them.

“Mr. Sanders?”

Matt immediately stood from the couch, clearing his throat. Just like that, his nerves were out of control again.

“Sorry about the wait. I’m Dr. Blake and I’ve been overseeing your sister’s treatment. How are you today?” The doctor extended his hand, and Matt grasped it firmly.

“Could be better, could be worse. And please, Mr. Sanders is my father. Just call me Matt.”

Dr. Blake smiled warmly, “you got it.” He paused for a moment as he opened up the folder in his hands and gestured for them to sit back down. “So, I want to start off by saying that it’s really great you guys came to see Hailey today. Support is a big help with our patients, and I’m glad that she has people in her corner.”

Matt felt a familiar rush of guilt as the doctor spoke. “Well, I would have come sooner, but I was out of the country for a while.”

“That’s perfectly understandable. Our patients need support, but you guys have lives as well. It’s a difficult balance, but you should know that Hailey has been doing really well. We had some issues the first week, but she’s made lots of positive strives since.”

Val’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she spoke up. “What kind of issues?”

Dr. Blake’s smile never faltered as he explained. “It’s not uncommon for our patients to feel like they’ve been backed into a corner. Usually we have some problems for a while before they accept our help. Hailey got into a couple of fights with two of our male patients, but she turned around pretty quickly.”

Matt let out a deep sigh. His sister wasn’t one to get into fights unless she had to, and those were in high school, so it was surprising to hear.

“Listen, doc, I have to ask. What drug, or drugs, was she on?” Matt asked; he wanted to hear it all. Rip the band-aid off. He had to know what was going on with his sister.

For the first time, the doctor’s smile faltered and was replaced with a look of confusion. Val, once again, chimed in to better explain things.

“We weren’t really told a lot when we got the call. They just informed us that Hailey was in the hospital and that she was being transferred here. We assumed that maybe she overdosed or something.”

“Ah, that’s an easy assumption to make. Here at Aurora Recovery, we do mostly treat drug and alcohol addiction. However, we also treat various mental disabilities. We drug test all of our patients during admission, and I can tell you that Hailey was completely clean.”

Matt and Val felt the weight lift from their shoulders. Hailey wasn’t on drugs. For twenty days, Matt had been battling with himself. He assumed that it was drugs, and he had a hard time wanting to really support Hailey. Sure, he was rooting for her, and he was no saint, but he didn’t know how involved he should get. Hearing that she was clean made everything easier. But there was still one question left.

“So, why is she in here?” Matt blurted out. He couldn’t help it. His curiosity was suddenly overwhelming.

“Matt,” Dr. Blake sighed. This was going to be difficult to break. The couple had no prior warning or information. “Hailey has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is difficult to say, and I apologize, but your sister was in a physically abusive relationship.”

Val gave a quiet gasp, and Matt suddenly felt like he was spinning.

Throughout their childhood, Matt had always been protective of Hailey. She was the baby, she needed to be protected. Matt had lost count of how many fights he got into over her in school. From bullies to asshole boyfriends, he was there defending her honor.

Matt’s protectiveness carried over into their adult lives. He always made sure she was okay and if she needed help, he was there. He knew eventually he would have to ease back and let her live her life.

When Hailey met Derek, he thought he could let her go. He felt at ease around the man. Derek was charming and caring. He had doted on Hailey and earned Matt’s trust, which was not an easy task.

The thought of Derek had Matt boiling. It took everything in him to resist the urge to drive to Derek’s house. The facility wasn’t far, he could do it, but Hailey didn’t need him in jail right now.

“I know this is hard to hear, but you need to know the extent of everything. When Hailey came to us, she had broken ribs, a fractured wrist, a concussion, and signs of sexual assault. The hospital did a rape kit, so that’s on file if she decides to press charges.”

Matt, who was now fighting the urge to vomit, furrowed his brows. “What do you mean if? She hasn’t already?”

“Well, it’s common for domestic violence victims to try to protect their attacker. When Hailey is ready, she’ll tell you the rest; doctor/patient confidentiality. She has made some big strides, but she still has a long way to go. I’m thrilled that you came to see her. Before I let you meet with her, I have one question. She only has ten days left with us before she can leave. Does she have anywhere safe to go?”

Matt did not hesitate. “Our home. She can come home with us. We have lots of friends and family around that can help.” He was not going to be letting her out of his sight for a long time after this.

“That’s great. I’ll make sure that gets put into our system. Just keep in mind that too much at once might overwhelm her. Let her set the pace. Oh, and here is a copy of her prescriptions. She should still take them for a while once she’s out of here. I also highly recommend weekly therapy appointments.”

The conversation came to an end, and Matt could feel a migraine creeping up. They hadn’t been talking with Dr. Blake for very long, but it felt like hours. Matt felt like he was going to explode. He was angry, heartbroken, scared, guilty, and sad.

A sniffle from his left broke his thoughts. Val was crying. She was attempting to stop, but he could see the occasional tear slide down her flawless cheeks. Her manicured fingers gently wiped them away, careful to not smudge her mascara.

“Hey,” Matt gently grabbed her chin, locking eyes with her, “she’s okay. It could have been a lot worse. We’re going to help her through this.”

He surprised himself. As much as he wanted to lose his mind and spiral out of control, he needed to be strong. It was the only way that Val was going to feel better, and it was the only way Hailey was going to get better.

Sighing once more, Matt kissed Val’s temple and wrapped an arm around her shoulders while they waited for Hailey.