Righteous Obsession (48 page)

“Who is it?”

Colin explained about Debbie and what his mom and dad
were doing.  “I know, technically, I don’t owe her anything, but like it or
not, it was my psycho half-brother who tried to kill her and I feel
responsible.  I don’t see why she should suffer any additional pain because of
me.”

“That’s because you care what happens to people and I
certainly can’t fault you for that.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”  He paused
momentarily then continued, “I met my grandparents today.”

“How did it go?  What are they like?”

“I really wasn’t comfortable. Nora seems like kind of
a take-charge person while Luke seems kind of laid back so I guess they
complement one another.”

“I’m glad you got to meet them, but you sound tired.”

“I am a little,” Colin admitted.

“I’d better let you go so you can rest.  I’ll see you
tomorrow, okay?”

“Count on it!  I love you!”

“I love you, too.”  Alethea smiled.  Colin was really
coming along nicely at expressing his emotions.

The sound of the front door shutting awakened Colin. 
Peter put down his briefcase and stopped to glance through his mail Amanda had
left in the foyer.

“Hi, Dad,” Colin called as he carefully sat up, rubbed
his eyes and yawned.

“Hi, Colin,” Peter said, giving him a hug. 

Amanda came into the living room.  “Hello, Peter.” 
She gave him a hug and a loving kiss.  “How was your day?”

“Much better now that I’m home, Mandy.”  He held her
closely for a second before letting her go.

“Dinner’s almost ready.”

“Okay.  I’ll change and be right down.”

“Do you need any help, Mom?”  Colin asked.

“No, Liam and I have got things in hand.”

He picked up the remote control and turned on CNN. 
His father, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and athletic shoes, returned and sat
down beside him.  “What did your doctor say?”

“He took out my staples and told me he wants to do an
MRI scan to see how I’m healing inside.”

“I’ve read that an MRI scan gives them the best
arterial information.”

“I wish this whole thing was healed and gone so our
lives could get back to normal!”  Colin grumbled.

Peter patted his shoulder.  “I know it’s hard, Colin
doubly so since you and Alethea are newlyweds.”

Colin looked at him in surprise.  Noticing his
expression, Peter explained, “After your mother gave birth to you she took awhile
to heal.  So, there I was living with the only woman I’ve ever wanted and we
couldn’t make love.” Peter shook his head.  “It was rough!”

“I’m sorry,” Colin apologized.  “I guess when you’re
going through something like this you don’t think anybody else can understand.”

“Well, I want you to know I do.”  Peter replied,
giving him a hug.  “Have you heard from Jeff?”

“No.  We had a fight and we aren’t speaking.”

“I’m sorry for you, but not for Jeff.”

“I hope you guys are hungry because supper’s ready,”
Amanda said coming into the room.

“I don’t know about you, Colin, but I’m starved!” 
Peter declared.

“Me, too!”

Liam beat them to the chili and was filling his bowl. 
Amanda handed them each a bowl.  “Help yourselves.”

Colin filled his bowl and added onions, cheese and
chili cheese corn chips.  He filled a glass with his herbal tonic and another
with ice water then sat down next to Liam.

“This is great chili, Mom!”  Colin said.  “Jake
doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

“Thank you.  Have you talked to Diana yet?”

Colin slapped his forehead.  “God!  I almost forgot to
tell you!  Deb and Diana will be coming in tomorrow afternoon.  I told Diana
we’d meet their plane.”

“What time?”

“About a quarter to three.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.  I’ll get the guest room
ready tonight.”  Amanda shook her head with a look of disbelief.  “That poor
girl!  I can’t imagine any parent treating their child that badly!”

“It isn’t hard for me to believe, Mom.  I’ve heard
things from kids that are really shocking!”

“What do you do when they confide in you, Colin?”
Peter asked.

“I try to direct them to a place or a person where
they can get help.”

“I think that’s the most anybody can do,” Liam
remarked.

“I know, but sometimes I wonder if it’s enough.”

“You’ve helped Deb,” Amanda remarked.

“I hope so, Mom.”

They finished eating and Liam looked at his parents. 
“Are you going to run tonight?”

“I’m going to, but I don’t know what your father’s
plans are.”

“I’m planning a run with this beautiful woman!”  Peter
teased.

She smiled and teased him back, “Well, I hope you’ve
got extra energy because she has a few calories she needs to run off her!”

Colin and Liam started to clean up the kitchen while
their parents changed and did their warm-up exercises.  They heard them come
back downstairs and Amanda called from the foyer, “We’ll be back in a while,
guys.”

“Okay, have fun!”  Colin called back.  He chuckled as
they finished up in the kitchen.  “God!  Sometimes I can’t believe they’ve been
married twenty-eight years!”

“I know,” Liam agreed.  “I certainly don’t know
anybody else whose parents are still so openly crazy about each other!”

When they were finished in the kitchen, Liam went
upstairs to call Alison and Colin went into the living room.  He turned on the
television, but found nothing of interest.  He leafed through a couple of news
magazines without comprehending much, tossed them aside, and went upstairs,
too.

Peter and Amanda returned from their run almost an
hour later.  Peter sat down on the steps of the staircase and gave a contented
sigh.  “Whew!  That’s the most miles we’ve run in awhile, Mandy!”

Amanda giggled.  “Well, I did warn you I had to run
off that sundae I ate this afternoon.”

“If you don’t think you worked it all off, I’ve got an
idea how you could burn off a few more calories!”

“It sounds like an exercise I might enjoy!”  Amanda
suddenly noticed how quiet the house was.  “Were the boys going out?”

“No.  They’re probably upstairs.  I’ll go check.”  He
was back down in a few seconds.

“They’re both up there.  I heard Liam’s stereo and I
think Colin was on the phone.”

“Goodness!  You know, I can’t recall the last time we
had both our boys’ home at night!”

“I can’t either, Mandy, but I wish it were for a
different reason.”

“Father Michaels,” Amanda said bitterly.  “Alethea
called me this morning.  She said Colin had another bad nightmare last night
and it upset him so much he never got back to sleep!”

“I did notice the dark circles underneath his eyes.”

“His doctor noticed, too, and gave him the name of a
psychiatrist who specializes in trauma cases.  However, Colin doesn’t think he
needs any therapy.”

 “Well, no amount of therapy is going to do him any
good as long as he thinks he doesn’t need it.”

“I know,” She sighed.  “When he was little and got
frightened he ran to me.  I could always comfort him, but I can’t do that now.”

Peter put his arms around her.  “I know, Mandy.”

They went out in the kitchen and Amanda poured them a
cup of coffee.  Peter stirred cream into his coffee and took a sip.  “Were you
able to convince Colin to visit Jeff’s parents?”

“Yes.  He agreed, but I know he wasn’t comfortable the
whole time he was there. I think Luke and Nora were kind of hurt, but surely
they can’t expect Colin to warm up to them immediately given what happened?”

“Maybe they had hoped he was looking forward to
meeting them, but I’m not sure that would have been possible even without
Father Michael actions,” Peter remarked.

“Do you know Nora told me that they tried to find out
from my parents where Colin and I were, but they refused to even speak to
them?  I had no idea.”

“Well, your parents wouldn’t have wanted you to know,”
Peter commented.  “Luke and Nora are going to have to accept that Colin’s his
own person and goes his own way.”

Amanda laughed and squeezed Peter’s hand.  “I think
he’s been his own person from the moment he was born!”

They watched television for a short time before going
to bed.  Amanda stopped in the middle of the hallway, her hand on Peter’s arm
and said, “I just want to check on Colin and Liam.”

Peter smiled and nodded.  “Okay.”

Amanda went into Colin’s room.  He lay on his left
side and the bandage was obvious as the light hit it.  She pulled the covers
over him, brushed his hair out of his face and kissed him.  Colin stirred, but
didn’t waken.  She entered Liam’s room and did the same.

Peter smiled as she returned.  “I recall how you did
that every night when they were little.”

“I guess children grow up and change, but mothers
never do.”  Amanda admitted.

A scream jerked Colin from a sound sleep.  He looked
around in confusion for a moment then remembered where he was.  He quickly got
out of bed, ignoring a momentary sharp pain and pulled on his jeans and a
T-shirt.  His parents had already started into Liam’s room.  He motioned for
them to stop.  “Let me do it.”  They nodded and he went inside.

Liam was thrashing around and yelling, “No!  No!  I
won’t let you kill Colin!”

Colin leaned over Liam and very gently shook him. 
“Liam, you’re okay.  Everything’s fine.”  He sat down on the bed next to Liam.

Liam bolted upright, his eyes wide with fear,
breathing heavily and sweating.   He threw himself into his brother’s arms. 
Colin held him tightly, rubbed his back, and spoke soothingly, “You had a
nightmare, but you’re okay.”

“Father Michaels kept stabbing you over and over
again!  I couldn’t stop him!  There was blood all over – everywhere! I was
covered in it!”

“Liam, there was nothing you could’ve done to prevent
what happened.  Even McGregor couldn’t stop him and he had a gun!  This wasn’t
your fault!”

“Maybe, if I’d fought him harder when he kidnapped
me!  Maybe, I could’ve gotten away from him!”

“No!  He would’ve killed you rather than permit you to
escape!”

He lay back down and sighed loudly.  “I don’t know how
much more I can take of these nightmares, Colin!  It’s getting so I’m afraid to
go to sleep!”

“I know,” Colin replied wearily.  “Try to get back to
sleep.  I’ll stay here until you fall back to sleep, okay?”

“Okay.  Thanks, Colin.”

When Liam had finally fallen back into an uneasy
sleep, Colin quietly left the room.  His parents’ bedroom door opened and Peter
called, “Colin?”

He went to their door.  “Yeah?”

“How’s Liam?”

Colin sagged against the doorway and rubbed his face
with his hands.  “He had another fucking nightmare!  I managed to calm him and
get him back to sleep.”

“Are you all right, Colin?”  Amanda asked.

He shook his head.  “No, I don’t think I am, Mom.  I’m
going to call my doctor and ask for a referral to the psychiatrist he mentioned
today.”

“When you call them, Colin, will you ask her if they
does family therapy, too?  I think we could all benefit from it,” Peter stated.

“Sure, Dad.”

The next afternoon, Colin and Amanda were waiting for
Debbie and Diana’s flight to arrive and for the girls to disembark.  Colin
scanned the passengers as they came through the gate.  He finally spotted the
girls, nudged his mother and nodded in their direction.  Deb’s appearance
shocked him.  Previously, she’d been pretty, lively and somewhat buxom, but now
she looked like a ghost of her former self.  She was pale to the point of
colorlessness and it appeared she’d lost a lot of weight.  Her expression was
one of fear and uncertainty. ‘Fucking Father Michaels!’ Colin thought angrily.

When Debbie saw him she burst into tears.  He put his
arms around her and tried to comfort her.  “It’s okay, Deb, you’re safe here. 
Nobody will ever hurt you again, I promise!”

Debbie sniffed and nodded.  She dried her eyes and
attempted to compose herself.

“Deb, this is my mom, Amanda.  Mom, this is Deb
Simpson and her best friend, Diana Conrad.”

“Hello, Deb and Diana, I’m happy to meet you,” She
replied smiling warmly.  She looked at Colin.  “Are you going to stay here?”

“Yeah.  Alethea’s plane will be landing in less than
an hour so there’s no point in going back to Hillsborough.”  He turned his
attention back to the girls.  “You and Diana go with mom.  She’ll take good
care of you.”

“Come with me, girls.”  Amanda put her arm around
Debbie.  “Maybe, if you feel up to it, Deb, we can see some of San Francisco’s
well-known attractions before Diana goes back home.”

“That would be awesome, Mrs. Matthews!”  Diana said.

Debbie looked back at Colin, fearfully.  He smiled and
nodded encouragingly at her.  She gave him a tentative smile in return and then
allowed Amanda to lead her out of the terminal.

Colin stopped at a florist shop to buy Alethea a dozen
red roses then found her gate.  Her plane landed and taxied to the terminal,
but there was a ten minute delay before the passengers began to disembark. 
Colin was anxiously looking for Alethea and she was doing the same for him. 
They spotted each other at the same moment.  He gave her a big hug.  “Jesus!  I
sure missed you!”  He gave her a passionate kiss, ignoring the stares of the
people around them.

 “I missed you too and I’m glad to be home!”  She
replied once she’d caught her breath.

He gave her the roses and smiled self-consciously. 
“These are for you.”

“They’re beautiful!”  She took a sniff of the
bouquet.  “Thank you.”

“You two wait right here and I’ll get the Jeep,”
McGregor instructed them.  He strode off in the direction of the parking
facilities.