There To Catch Him If He Falls
By Carrie Verkman
carebear1025@juno.com
Chapter Eight


Two Months Later...


Anna sat on the airplane nervously twitching her fingers. She was still in shock that John had just spent the last two months in rehab. Anna shuddered to even think of the word 'rehab'. Most rehab centers she had seen were cold, sterile, clinics, but from the sound of John's description from when she talked to him on the phone (a reward for staying clean for two weeks), it sounded like he was being taken care of.

After the plane had landed, Anna took a rental car to the treatment center. Julia and J.J. sat buckled in the backseat wiggling with excitement to see their father. Anna too, couldn't help but be a little excited herself.

"I'm here to see John Carter." Anna said at the admissions desk.
"You must be Anna Carter." said Margaret warmly. "He doesn't stop talking about you or his kids."
Anna smiled back. "He must miss us."
"Every one here gets terribly homesick for there families." explained Margaret. "But that's not what we treat. I'll go get him if you don't mind having a seat here."
Anna nodded and took a seat on the bench with her kids in her lap.
"When do we get to see Daddy?" asked Julia.
"Soon." Anna said. "Soon."
"Why does he have to be so far away?" asked J.J.
"Well." Anna said. "Remember when Daddy got a big owie on his back at the hospital?"
Both kids nodded.
"Daddy was hurt very badly. Every time he moved, his back hurt. So the doctors gave him some medicine to make him feel better. But Daddy took more medicine than he was supposed to and it made him sick."


Anna couldn't see him, but John was watching Anna from the other room. He listened as Anna told his kids in plain English why he was here. Anna couldn't say that "Daddy has a drug problem" and John praised her for how well she was explaining it to them.
"So the other doctors that I work with, Uncle Mark, Uncle Peter, Uncle Donald, Auntie Jing-Mei, Auntie Abby, and Aunt Kerry said that Daddy needs to get some help getting better. Uncle Peter took Daddy on a plane and dropped him off here. Now the doctors here are making him better so he wont take anymore medicine than he has to."
Julia and J.J nodded. They understood what was going on.
"Now Daddy will be home in one month, and then he'll be all better. But he'll have to go to meetings and talk with other people who took too much medicine."
John decided to appear on the scene at this time. "I guess now would be a good time say hello."
"Daddy!" shouted Julia and J.J. They ran up to their daddy and nearly tackled him to the ground.
"Oh it's so good to see you kids again." John said as he hugged and kissed them.
Anna stood up and walked over to John. "Wow, you look..."
"Different. I know." John said. And he did look different. John was more tan, showing that he had spent some time outside. He had lost a little weight, making the denim shirt and khaki pants he was wearing look baggy on him. John also had a goatee.
"No, you look great. I see you have a goatee now." Anna said.
"Oh yeah," John said rubbing his chin. "I wanted to do something different."
"I see." Anna said.
"I liked the way you explained what was going on the Julia and J.J." John said. "I can't believe how big they've gotten. And how much more they are talking."
Anna nodded. "They miss you like crazy."
"I miss them just as much." John said. "There isn't a lot to do here."
Anna had to laugh. "It's a rehab clinic!"
"I know. It's like, I wake up, go to detox, then AA, then detox again, and then I meet privately with a counselor. That is what my day is like." John explained.
"How long have you been clean?" Anna asked.
"Sixty-three days." John said.
Anna hugged him. "I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it."
"At first I didn't think I could." John said, holding his wife close. "There were a lot of days the first month I just said, 'I can't do it.' Then I realized that I needed to do this for so many people. Especially you and the kids."
"Everyone will be glad to hear that you're making an excellent recovery." Anna said. "People at the hospital miss you too."
"How is it over there?" John asked.
"Hell." Anna said. "There's a custodial strike, Kerry is short staffed, Corday and Greene are getting married and having a baby, as is Chen."
"Really?" John said. He sat Anna down and demanded to be filled in on all the gossip."
"Oh yeah." Anna pulled her kids up on her lap as her and John began to catch up on everything.


Three Months Later...

John stepped off the plane, once again entering Chicago. He was wearing a dress shirt and dress pants. His goatee was gone. John walked down the corridor of the plane terminal. He saw Anna waiting for him along with J.J. and Julia. Anna and the kids looked very different. Anna's long blond hair was cut short, and neatly resting on her shoulders. J.J and Julia were a lot taller, and John remembered that they were three year olds now. John greeted them happily, wrapping everyone in a big hug.
"It feels so good to be home." John said. "I missed you so much."
"We missed you too." Anna said.


"We'll put you on the schedule for Monday." Kerry said. "But we want you to take it easy. No traumas and no pushing narcotics for ninety days. Also, please sign this that says you consent to blood and urine tests every thirty days."

John's eyes widened. He could already see that this wasn't going to be an easy road home. He signed the consent form halfheartedly. "So that's it?"
"That's it." said Mark. "We're glad to have you back."
"You've made an excellent recovery." Kerry said.
"Thank you." John said. Kerry and Mark left the conference room. He could tell that they didn't fully trust him yet. It would be a long time before that could happen.


"So are you mad that I told on you?" Abby asked.
"No. I had a feeling they were going to find out sooner or later." John said. I didn't know you went to AA meetings."
"I'm a drunk, what can I say?" Abby said as she took another long drag on her cigarette.
"How long have you been sober?"
"Five years."
John nodded. He put out his own cigarette that he was guiltily smoking. "Gotta stop with these first. Bad for the kids."
"I've tried to quit five times. Hasn't worked." Abby said.
"You'll get there." John said. "I know I will. I have to."
"You'll be okay Carter." Abby said. "I know you will. It's kinda nice having another addict to work with in the hospital, isn't it?"
John laughed. "Well, it's nice to know that I'm not alone. I mean it's better to have someone who knows what's going on. And who'll stick with you until you can be fully trusted again."
"What about Anna?" Abby asked.
"Anna's been wonderful too." John said. "God bless her. She's been there through everything. The stabbing, the addiction, the rehab, everything. She's picked up all the pieces. When I fell, she was there to catch me."
Abby smiled. "Maybe you should let her know that."
John nodded in agreement.


Over the next few weeks John slowly began to pull his life together. He passed all the routine drug tests with flying colors. There were times when he struggled with it, even taking two Vicodin pills and then regurgitating them, but he never gave up. He never gave up wanting to gain everyone's trust, or to make his life normal again. John learned that everyone suffers from an addiction, not just the person with the addiction, but the person's friends and family.


One evening, John was arranging his sobriety coins on his dresser. Anna watched him as he did this.
"I'm proud of you John." Anna said. "This is the healthiest recovery I've ever seen."
"Thank you." John said. "I did it. I finally put my life back together."
"It wasn't easy was it?"
"Hell no." John said. "It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. It wasn't easy coming to terms with Lucy's death, it wasn't easy going through rehab, it wasn't easy to pick myself up when I began to fall."
"But now, you have so much to look forward to." Anna said. "I mean, people trust you again, you have the possibility of even being chief resident now, and you've gained the respect of your family members and become a positive role model for our children."
"I know." John said. "I couldn't have done it without you."
"Me?" Anna said.
"Yes you, Anna. You were the only one who saw any faith in me through this whole ordeal. You sacrificed so much for me. You were there to catch me when I fell."
"It was because I love you." Anna said holding her husband.
"I love you too." John said hugging her back.

"So take, these broken wings. I need your hands to come and heal me once again. Once again. So I can fly.
-Tupac

The End.