Angel of Redemption (88 page)

Sara comes through the door, catching my
attention, and her eyes widen when she sees me. She looks in Stephanie’s direction
and then back at me.

“Crap, I’m sorry, Kay,” she whispers when she
reaches me. “You had ‘Turkins final visit’ written on your calendar. I didn’t
realize you were having it here. I just thought
… I guess I wasn’t really
thinking.”

“Uh
…” I swallow the thick lump in my
throat. “It’s…it’s okay. I have to…go help Dana.” I turn on my heel and head
through the door and into the hallway where the visitation rooms are, Garrett toddling
alongside me.

After sitting down and letting go of Garrett’s
hand, I glance over at Lizzie. She looks agitated and nervous. Her leg is
shaking as she interacts with Garrett. Something doesn’t feel right, but I can’t
gauge what it is because my mind is still on Stephanie. I want to sneak into
the observation room and see her and hear her voice. I want to see the kids. I
want to see the little girl Dean thought was his.

Dana taps on my wrist. “
You okay?
” she mouths. I nod, but I’m not. I should excuse myself.
I shouldn’t let myself get so distracted. It’s the number-one rule during
visits. Never allow yourself to be caught off guard. Parents who are about to
lose their children can be unpredictable.

Dean

Going back to work after
taking Kayla to see Granddad is harder than I expected it to be. I loved having
that time with her. I loved introducing her to Granddad, even though I know he
probably won’t remember. But we will. I couldn’t have asked for a better
thirtieth birthday.

But now I can’t seem to get settled. I’ve been
fidgeting all morning. Emily, who’s only working a half day, keeps suggesting I
stop drinking so much caffeine, but I don’t think that’s it.

Zander picks a fight with Edgar, and the two end
up tearing up the den. The new kid is little, but he’s tough. And he spits.
Emily and I are patching up three kids before lunch, including Curtis, who just
happened to get in the way. When I try to send the little scrapper to his room,
Zander screams all sorts of profanities at me. It’s only when I’m standing
directly in front of him and he’s looking up at my angry face that he finally
relents and storms up to his room.

Once I’ve dealt with that issue, I check in on
Trey
—who has yet to come out of his room today—and find him
missing.

“Shit!” I swear under my breath. It takes me,
Emily, and
several of the boys almost an hour to find him. Luckily, he
hasn’t gone far—just past the property line. He’s testing me, and I don’t
let him get away with it. I introduce both of the new boys to my form of
restriction: lockdown and sappy love songs from the seventies. The rest of them
escape by going out to play basketball.

The afternoon is a little less manic. After Emily
leaves, I make Edgar and Zander clean up the damage they’ve done to the den,
and Trey’s social worker comes to check on him. She lectures him on the
importance of always telling me where he’s going. I know she means well, but he’s
not listening to her and it’s obvious. She hands me meds for both his bipolar
disorder and his ADHD.

“You’ll have to monitor his intake,” she tells
me. “He’ll hide them under his tongue and then toss them. He’s even been known
to throw them up.”

“He didn’t come with any medications,” I say,
agitated. She sighs.

“He probably has them, but I was out on leave and
the on-call who placed him didn’t know. I’m sorry. I didn’t even know he was
moved until I got back yesterday. If he hasn’t been taking them, you need to
watch him. When he’s not stabilized, he’s a rapid cycler. Has he been up or
down?”

I think about it for a minute. “Down.”

“Okay, well, just keep an eye on him. He could
jump to a manic state before the medications take effect.”

I nod. “Is he a risk? Other than the running?”

“There’s always a risk, but hopefully he’ll
stabilize again before the depressive state gets too bad. He’s not dangerous to
anyone else if that’s what you’re wondering, though. If he were, we’d have him
institutionalized.”

I hear her, but I’m not 100 percent convinced. We’ve
dealt with both bipolar disorder and ADHD before, and each kid handles it
differently.

I’m just sitting down at my desk with a cup of
coffee when I hear Matty yelling.

“Dean!”

I groan and stand up. If anyone else is fighting,
I’m sending them all to their rooms for the rest of the night.

“Dean!”

“What?” I ask, walking into the den. Matty is the
only one there. “Why are you yelling?”

“Isn’t that where Kayla works?”

I glance at the television. The four o’clock news
is on and the reporter is talking while a helicopter hovers over the DHS
building Kayla works in.

“
At least two employees have been
injured, however, the extent of those injuries is unknown at this time. The
identities of the individuals involved have not been released. We will bring
you more information as it is known. In other news…”

“Back it up,” I order. Matty picks up the remote
and rewinds.

“
Hello, and welcome to Channel 4 News
at four. I’m Annika Weaver. We start today with breaking news. There has been a
violent assault at the Minneapolis Department of Human Services. Details are
emerging that at just after three o’clock this afternoon, a woman entered the
building and managed to carry a knife through security. It’s believed that the
woman was there to visit her child, who is currently in the custody of DHS and
placed in a foster home. The child was reportedly present during the attack but
was unharmed. The suspect is in police custody. At least two employees have
been injured, however, the extent of those injuries is unavailable at this
time. The identities of the individuals involved have not been released. We
will bring you more information as it is known. In other news…
”

I don’t hear anything else. The hair on the back
of my neck stands up and my arms break out in goose bumps. There’s a sick
feeling in my stomach. I want to vomit.

“That’s her work, right?” Matty asks.

“Yeah,” I say distractedly. I need to get to my
cellphone, but I have no idea where it is. I set it down somewhere. I walk out
of the den patting my pockets. Matty is right on my heels.

“But she’s okay, right? I mean, we’d know if she
wasn’t. You’d know, right?” He fires off question after question I can’t answer
because I can’t find my fucking phone. It’s not in my office or in the kitchen.
I’m getting frustrated, and still I have a fourteen-year-old boy who won’t be
quiet so I can concentrate.

“Matty!” I finally snap. “Just stop for a minute.
I don’t know anything. Let me find my phone.”

“It’s in Emily’s office.”

I stop in my tracks and turn to face him with a
frown.

He shrugs. “I saw it in there when I was talking
to her earlier.”

Pulling out my keys, I open Emily’s office door.
Matty’s right—my phone is sitting on top of a pile of papers. I must have
set it down when I was in here earlier and forgot to pick it back up. I can
already see there are several missed calls. This doesn’t bode well. I don’t
even bother to see who they’re from, I just listen to voicemail.

“
Hey, man,
it’s Andy. There’s been some sort of incident at the DHS building. Call me—
”

I immediately hang up on my voicemail. Matty is
still at my side, looking up at me anxiously.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” I try to soothe, but it’s obvious
I’m not convinced. He doesn’t buy it. I dial Andy’s number.

“Who are you calling?” Matty asks. I hold up a
finger just as Andy answers.

“What’s going on?” I ask nervously.

“I don’t know yet. Sara just called me. Something
happened.”

“What?”

“I couldn’t really understand her. She said
something about an attack and
…Kayla.”

My heart is pounding right through my chest. I
wish Matty wasn’t in the room because he instantly knows something’s wrong. His
face goes pale.

“Is she okay?”

I hear Andy swearing and the screech of brakes.
“Shit, Dean. I don’t know. She was taken to University Hospital. I’m on my way
now.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I hang up,
walking out of Emily’s office and grabbing my coat before realizing
I
can’t leave. There’s no one else here, and I’ve got two new, at-risk kids.

“Is she okay?” Matty begs. “What happened?”

“I don’t know, bud. I’m trying to find that out.”

“Did you talk to her?”

“No. That was her brother.”

Matty’s face crumples, his lower lip trembling. I
stop what I’m doing and put my hands on his shoulders. “You need to calm down,
okay? I’m going to figure out what’s going on, and I’ll let you know as soon as
I can. Go listen to music. Relax. All right?” Matty nods. He looks back down at
me as he’s climbing the stairs. I smile as reassuringly as I can.

Walking back into Emily’s office, I don’t realize
how badly I’m shaking until I lift my phone and can’t even dial in my passcode
properly. I finally get in and hit Kayla’s number. It rings out. I call again
and again, but she doesn’t answer. I give up and dial Tracey.

“Can you come watch the boys?” I beg.

“Of course. Is everything okay?”

“Did you see the news?”

“Yes, I did. Horrible, isn’t it? Wait—is
Kayla okay?”

“I don’t know. Please, T.”

“Get ready to go. Give me fifteen minutes.”

I’m in my car with my foot on the gas before
Tracey even gets out of hers. I wave to say thank you and book it as fast as I
legally can toward University Hospital. Unfortunately, it’s Friday afternoon
rush hour
and
it’s pouring rain. I
find myself stuck behind one slow person after another.

By the time I get there, I’m a fucking mess.
Pulling into the parking lot, I can see an ambulance in the emergency bay and
wonder if it brought Kayla here. As I jog by it, I pray it didn
’t. The
techs are inside cleaning, and their rags are stained red.

I get into the emergency waiting area and spot
Andy and Sara. He’s pacing the floor while she’s curled up on one of the
chairs.

“Do you know anything?”

Andy shakes his head. “No, I just got here.”

I look over at Sara.

“I don’t know,” she whimpers. “I was in a visit
with
…” She looks up at me. “I was in a visit. I heard
shouting—screaming. I didn’t think anything of it. I mean, she was
terminating parental rights. It’s not that unusual.”

“So you didn’t go check on her?” I ask sharply.

“I did,” she says in a whimper. “But by the time
I got down to where her visit was, the security guards were already there, and
there were people everywhere. I couldn’t see what happened. I just saw
…”

“Saw what?” My voice is growing louder with every
second that I don
’t have answers.

“Blood.” She hiccoughs. “A lot of blood.”

“Whose blood?” I beg.

“I don’t know,” she cries. “The security guards
were struggling with the mother. She had the baby in her arms, and he was
screaming.”

“Dean,” Andy says firmly, sitting down next to
his girlfriend and wrapping an arm around her.
“Stop screaming at her. I
want to know just as much as you do, but not like this.”

I swallow and try to get myself under control. I
hate it. I feel completely helpless. Is this how my parents felt when they got
the phone call that I’d been in an accident?

“Sorry,” I breathe. “What about Claire? Her
parents?”

“I got ahold of Brian and my mom right after I
talked to you. They’re on their way. Claire was over at Logan’s, which is only
about five minutes away. She should’ve been here by now.”

“Her mom?”

Andy shakes his head. “I left a message on her
cell, but I don’t expect her to call.”

“Why?” I snap. I don’t mean to take out my
frustration and anger on Andy, but the woman can’t get her shit together long
enough to make sure her daughter’s not dead?

Andy takes a deep breath. “Richard’s being
accused of medical malpractice and insurance fraud. Word on the street is that
they have a lot of evidence. He’s in deep shit.”

“So what does that have to do with Kayla?”

“It doesn’t, but the cops were called to their
penthouse the other night while you guys were away. A neighbor reported hearing
a huge fight. They arrested him for domestic battery.”

I feel slightly guilty for being pissed at Celia.
“Was it bad?”

Andy shrugs. “I don’t know. I was gonna tell
Kayla tonight and let her decide what to do.”

What a fucking mess.

Claire and Logan come through the electronic
doors. Claire’s face is pale. Logan’s holding her hand. He looks as worried as
I feel.

“Is she okay?” Claire says, her eyes widening.
None of us have any answers for her, which makes her break down and sob. Logan sits
and pulls her down into his lap, trying desperately to calm her. When I ask the
receptionist, she tells me she’ll let me know as soon as she can. It isn’t good
enough, but all any of us can do is sit and wait.

When sitting becomes too much, I pace. Between
Andy and me, we’re going to wear out the linoleum. I check my watch for the
time—the watch Kayla gave me two days ago. Right now, looking at the gift
makes me both calm and panicked.

“Is it all right if I take Claire to the
cafeteria for something to eat?” Logan asks. “She hasn’t eaten since
breakfast.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Go. I’ll text you as soon as we
know something.” I feel bad for the poor kid. He’s got three times as much to
worry about. Claire, the baby, and now Kayla. He seems to be handling it better
than me, though.

A nurse walks into the waiting room five minutes
are Claire and Logan exit. “Are you the family of Kayla Brooks?” Andy and I nod
our heads frantically. “She’s ready for visitors, but only one at a time right
now, please.”

“She’s all right?” I ask. The nurse smiles at me.

“She’ll be fine. We just don’t want to overwhelm
her.”

For the first time since Matty called me into the
den, I can finally take a full breath. I look over at Andy.