Happy Little Pill

As I walked back across the street to my house, I couldn't help but think that my sister was a little too calm about the whole situation. If Charlie was my son, I would have freaked out. Or cried. I wrapped my arms around my waist and walked into the house. BVB was still in the living room, watching one of the Saw movies. I just walked past them and up the stairs to the bedroom. Andy and I began sharing a room like two weeks ago, I think. I sat down on the bed and sighed. Something wasn't right with how my sister responded to it. For one, she said Charlie wasn't gay, what the hell? How would she know, and why should she care. He is her son, she should accept him what ever way he is.

I laid back on the bed and brought my knees to my chest. As I closed my eyes, I heard someone yell from downstairs.


My eyes fluttered open as the bed moved. I blinked a few times before focusing on Andy. He was looking at me and I licked my lips.

"Hi," he smiled and I smiled back.

"How come you didn't come finish the movies with us?" Andy asked.

"I had a lot on my mind, and I don't like horror movies as much as you think I do," I said and he chuckled.

"What's on your mind?" He asked. I sighed and looked into his eyes. His eyes always seemed to make me calm, might be the shade of blue, or the fact that they are Andy's, but I always lost my train of thought when I focused on them.

"Um, when I called my sister and told her what happened, she was surprisingly calm about it," I said. Andy furrowed his eyebrows and squinted his eyes.

"How can she be calm about this kind of thing?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know, but I told her what Charlie told me, that he was being called names and shit like that at school because the kids there found out he is gay. I thought that was bullshit, people shouldn't be called names because of their sexual orientation," I paused.

"Exactly, what did Lauren say?" He asked.

"She said, in her words, 'Charlie is not gay,'" I said and Andy shook his head.

"Why is she being closed minded?" He asked. I shrugged and sniffled.

"I don't know, but it killed me when she said that. And when she got home, she didn't even go up to make sure he was okay, or to talk to him. While I was waiting, I kept going up there and checking on him, making sure he was still sleeping and not trying to kill himself again. She just thanked me for waiting for her to get home and then told me to leave," I said.

"Did you tell her how serious it is?"

"Of course I did, she just waved it off and that pisses me off. My nephew is being bullied to the point that he thinks killing himself is the only solution. It might be because I went through a similar thought process when I was his age, but I would have thought Lauren would be more concerned," I said.

"We can talk to her tomorrow, but right now, we should go to sleep," he smiled and wrapped his arms around me. I buried my head in his chest and slowly closed my eyes.


As the sun shined through the drapes in the room, I opened my eyes and blinked around, getting used to the light. I was still laying my head on Andy's chest, but he had his arm tightly wrapped around my waist. A smile spread across my face and I slowly rolled out of the bed and got up. I walked out of the room and down the stairs before realizing that something was off. Something in the air felt weird and, well off. I looked out the windows in the living room at my sister's house. There were no cars in the driveway, which was normal, since Gustav worked at a business firm in downtown LA and my sister was working on running for senate. But it still felt weird. I glanced at the clock, it was eleven in the morning. I wrapped my arms around my waist and walked to the kitchen to get a granola bar. Once I sat down on the stool and began eating my granola bar, I heard Andy rushing down the stairs, talking to something. He stopped for a brief second and looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Come on," he said and left the house. I quickly got off the stool and ran to catch up with him. He ran across the lawns and the road and opened the door to my sister's house. The worst thought came into my mind. Please tell me that Charlie is at school. As Andy was rushing up the stairs, I sprinted past him and burst open Charlie's door. He wasn't in there, but his shoes and back pack were. Oh no. I turned around and ran to the bathroom. It was open and no one was in there. I turned and looked at Andy.

"Parent's room," he said and I ran to Lauren and Gustav's room. When I opened the door, I had to stop in my tracks and put my hand over my mouth. I have no idea who Andy was talking to, but it wasn't Charlie. Charlie was laying, face down, on the bed. I climbed onto the bed and turned him over quickly. He was breathing but really shallow.

"Andy! Call 911!" I cried out and began trying to wake Charlie up. When that wasn't working, I scanned the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except that Cienne was curled up in the corner, with a phone in her hand.

"Cienne! Oh my god. Come here honey," I said and she shook her head. I noticed that she was holding something else.

"What's in your hand baby?" I asked. She held it out and it was an empty bottle of Grey Goose. Oh no, please tell me he didn't.

"Cienne, do you know what happened?" I asked.

"He, he was drinking this. And he was eating that," she pointed to the nightstand. I took a look and felt my heart drop. It was a spilled bottle of Valium. Oh my god.

"Andy! Come here!" I yelled and then he was at the door.

"Oh my god," he gasped.

"Can you please take Cienne downstairs?" I asked and pointed to her. He looked and quickly nodded before grabbing her and taking her out of the room.

"Oh Charlie. Please be okay," I felt the tears falling as I waited for the ambulance to get there.

When they did get there, they grabbed Charlie, put him on a stretcher and took him to the ambulance. I followed them and looked at Andy.

"Take her to our house, check it Claus is in there too, I'll call you when I can. Oh, and call my sister or Gustav, tell them I am pissed off for one, and two, get their asses to the hospital. I'll deal with them there," I said and kissed him quickly and climbed into the ambulance.

"How are you related to the boy?" A paramedic asked.

"I'm his aunt, I live across the street," I said.

"What's his name and age?" He asked.

"Charles Fleischmann, and he's sixteen," I said and he nodded.

"Have you contacted his parents?" He asked.

"Um my boyfriend, who was holding the four year old, is going to call them," I said. The man nodded and we were quiet the whole way to the hospital. Every time I looked at Charlie, I was taken back to the time when I attempted suicide. I was fourteen and my mom's boyfriend at the time had just finished beating me. I was done with life. So done. People at school looked down upon me because of who my mom was. They felt pity for me because of my dad. They just teased me because I was small. And I was being abused. I tried slitting my throat, and I almost succeeded, but my mom found me and rushed me to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital, the paramedics rushed Charlie away, to pump his stomach presumably, and I was left in the ER waiting room. I sat down on a chair and ran my hand over my face and through my hair. I was rightfully pissed off at my sister. She was not accepting her son and it was killing me inside. I bent forward and put my head in my hands. At that moment I realized I was crying.

I was sitting in the waiting room for at least an hour before they let me go see Charlie. When I walked into the room, he was covered in IVs and machines. His wrists were bandaged and they were strapped to the table. Which makes sense, he is suicide risk. I sat down on the chair next to the bed and looked at him.

"Charlie, I'm not mad at you, I'm just confused. You were sleeping fine last night, I kept checking on you after I called your mom. What happened this morning to push you over the edge?" I asked him, but knew he wasn't going to answer. I felt the tears fall again but I quickly wiped them away. I need to be strong if he wakes up. Behind me I heard people walk into the room and when I turned around, I wish I hadn't. My sister and Gustav were standing there. Gustav had his hand over his mouth and had tears falling, he pushed past my sister and came to Charlie's side. But my sister was standing there, no tears, no shock on her face, nothing. It was pissing me off. I got up from the chair and walked over to her.

"Can I talk to you in the hall?" I asked. She looked at me and we walked out of the room. I looked at her with serious eyes and crossed my arms.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I asked.

"Excuse me?" She seemed offended.

"You heard me. Charlie tried to kill himself, again, in less than 24 hours. What the fuck is your problem?" I asked.

"Nothing, I just don't see the sense in suicide," she said.

"Of course you don't," I scoffed and she gave me a look.

"Excuse me? Charlie is my son, why were you even at my house?" She asked.

"Because Cienne called my phone this morning and Andy answered. We rushed over there and I found Charlie, face down on your bed. Cienne was holding an empty bottle of Grey Goose and there was a spilled bottle of Valium on the night stand," I said. She looked at me and was silent

"Exactly. I don't know what your views are on sexuality or anything, but even if Charlie is gay, you need to accept him. He is hurting inside because of what people are saying. He has scars on his wrists that are relatively old. He's been depressed for a while. I don't think you realize how serious this is," I said.

"I realize full well how serious this is. My son is in the hospital Sadee. I don't need you telling me how serious this is," she said.

"Then help your son! I don't know if he is scared to talk to you and Gustav, but if he has to call me, his aunt who he hardly knows, and is willing to talk to me about this, something is not right. I understand what he is going through because I went through it. Please, he needs help, he needs someone to talk to, and I want it to be you or Gustav," I said. She was looking mad.

"I don't need you telling me how to raise my child, please, just go home, we've got it," she said.

"No, I'm not leaving. I was the one found him. I should be the one who is there when he wakes up," I said.

"No, go home Sadee, we don't need you," she said.

"You are really pissing me off. I'm not leaving," I said and walked back into the room. Gustav was rubbing Charlie's arm and was crying. He was hurting the way a parent should.

"Hey, did Lauren tell you what happened last night?" I asked.

"No, what happened?" He asked.

"Are you kidding me Lauren? He called me last night, and when I found him, he was in the bathtub, covered in blood. He was trying to kill himself, but called me before he could," I said.

"Oh my god, is that what Lauren rushed us home for?" He asked.

"Probably, but when I told her the reason why he wanted to do that, she just waved it off and pretended like I didn't say it," I said.

"Why did he do it?" He asked.

"Because I guess the kids at school found out he was gay," I said.

"He's gay?" Gustav asked, more to himself than to me.

"I guess, and she just said, no he's not, and pushed it aside," I said.

"He's gay. Oh my son, I love you so much, why didn't you tell me?" He has switched to speaking in German and I was getting emotional. He was taking this much more like I had hoped Lauren would have. A nurse walked into the room to check on him.

"Um, I don't know if you can answer this, but how close was he to dying?" I asked.

"That I have no idea about, but I can send the doctor assigned to this in for you," she said and I nodded.

"Thank you," I said. She nodded and walked out of the room.

"You," I looked at Gustav, he was pointing to the door and looked pissed.

"What?" I heard Lauren ask.

"Get out of here," he said.

"Gustav, what's wrong?" She asked.

"You didn't tell me about my son, what he did, I don't want you near him, ever again!" He yelled and I sat there, looking at Charlie. He was still asleep, but he looked peaceful.

"Gustav, we can talk about this at home-"

"No, get out. I am going to file for divorce from you. I am done!" He yelled and when I looked at Lauren, she was broken. She left the room and I looked at Gustav.

"Where are Cienne and Claus?" He asked.

"Andy has them at my house," I said and he nodded. We got quiet and I was thankful. I know that Charlie is going to survive this, but I don't know if he will survive what is going to happen.

Notes

Well, I am sorry for the feels. I truly am. But it had to happen. Gustav is the awesome parent and Lauren is the not so awesome parent. You get to see into Sadee's past a little more, and yeah. Hope you liked it!!