Carry the Ocean: The Roosevelt, Book 1 by Heidi Cullinan

Author:Heidi Cullinan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: new adult;autism;depression;anxiety;new adult;college;gay;lgbt;coming of age romance;quadriplegia;The Blues Brothers
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2015-04-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Jeremey

I’d been tempted to move back with my parents after being discharged from the hospital, and when my mom and dad started accepting my condition after the disaster of a family meeting, at first I considered giving a return home a try. Dr. North made me wait to finalize my decision, and he asked me a lot of questions about why I wanted to go home. “Do you think you’ll be kicked out of the hospital?”

Well, not kicked, exactly, but yeah, I didn’t think I could hang out until The Roosevelt was finished. I wasn’t sure what would have happened if my parents had disowned me, but I figured now that they hadn’t, I had to go home. “I can’t move in with Emmet yet, so where else would I go?”

That was when he told me about the group home.

In my head I called it the halfway house, which I know the term is for people with drug additions, but it fit me too. I wasn’t ready for living on my own, and honestly, I worried if I went home, Mom especially would try to make everything the way it used to be. I didn’t know if I could be strong enough for that yet, and just thinking about it, Dr. North pointed out, increased my anxiety. The Icarus House was meant to be a bridge, he told me, between an institution and total independence.

I was confused. “Isn’t that what The Roosevelt is?”

“It is, in a way. The Roosevelt won’t have such a formal daily structure. Essentially there will be a common area for laundry and socialization, plus social workers will live on site and be available in case of trouble. Beyond that, though, the residents will be responsible for rent, utilities, everything but building maintenance. If you don’t clean your apartment, it won’t get clean. But if the social workers are concerned about how unsafe the room is, they might say something. And Bob will probably make occasional inspections to make sure someone hasn’t set up something that would harm the residents. At Icarus the residents are much more monitored. Many live there permanently or in similar facilities, and The Roosevelt is wildly beyond their reach. Some are like you, simply needing one more leg of recovery or a stop-gap between situations.”

I’d had no idea group homes existed—which was how most of my life felt right now. I felt like Alice, lost in an alternate world that didn’t always make sense or at least followed a logic pattern I’d never considered.

I went home for an afternoon the day I moved into Icarus. Mom wanted me to stay a night at the house, but she didn’t push when I said I didn’t want to. That was good, but things were still tense as I packed.

It felt weird to be home, even for a few hours. Everything was familiar, which was nice, but the house felt heavy too. It would be easy to slide into my room, to let my

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