The Children of Main Street by Merilyn Howton Marriott

Author:Merilyn Howton Marriott [Marriott, Merilyn Howton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946016607
Publisher: Firefly Southern Fiction
Published: 2018-11-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

I held a pent-up breath I hadn’t realized I’d held for twelve hours until I released it, seeing Bubba already seated in my treatment room when I arrived the next day. Thank you, God. I made a hasty trip to the front office to greet Alicia and to find if there were any new emergencies. I always knew from her body language the minute I saw her. She had this fluidness to her posture when things were under control. Rigid or jerky motions or a grim set to her mouth meant that someone was in trouble.

“Hey,” she looked up and, as usual when all was well, she smiled. She held the phone propped between her left ear and shoulder, obviously on hold.

I wondered how many years it would be before I walked into the office to find Alicia’s head locked in a permanent clutch-the-phone position. She spent her life trying to help people who needed mental health services wade through the quagmire of the pre-certification process. Too often she found that—to the clients’ surprise—they had no mental health benefits, or they had minimal coverage that paid a mere pittance toward a session to receive much needed and doctor-referred treatment.

“Bubba is already back there.” She pointed toward the phone then made a circular motion to signal she was lost—on hold. I assumed she was attempting to contact a supervisor from what we routinely called “the burning pits of a devil’s hell.” My mom believed that’s where you went when you didn’t go to heaven. Alicia and I believed it’s where you go when you opt for an HMO.

I hugged her over her shoulder. “I know. I glanced toward him when I arrived. Did he seem okay when he came in?”

“Yeah, in a depressed sorta way. He got here thirty minutes early. He seemed jumpy when the phone rang, which is all the time, so I put him in your room. His chart is in your bucket.” She handed me a pre-cert form and a pen. “Sign this form for me before you head back,” she said.

I scratched my signature on the paper as I asked, “Did Tabbi call?”

She shook her head then turned her full attention to the phone. The devil appeared to be finally on line two.

I turned and walked to my treatment room where Bubba waited. “I’m glad to see you today, Bubba.” He had no idea how glad. He looked up at me without raising his head. I walked to the sofa and gently placed my hand under his chin, lifting it a bit. He looked a tad stronger. “Were you okay last night?”

“Yes.” He shrugged his shoulders. He wore another ball cap. This one said: I HATE EVERYBODY.

“Did you sleep?” The circles around his eyes appeared a smidge lighter.

He bobbed his head. “The doc gave my mom some sleeping pills in case I needed them. She gave me one … so I slept some.”

“I’m glad.” I released his chin, backed toward my chair and sat. “Tell me more about your family and your relationships at home.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.