Day 15
When Jeremy Flynn woke up, he was in a hospital bed. His brother was there. Dillon asked why. Jeremy said he didn't know. He asked if it was about Ami. Jeremy said no. 'Well if it isn't about her, then why?' Jeremy couldn't remember. He said he wanted to go back to bed. Dillon left. Jeremy laid back in bed.Of course it was because of Ami. His argument with her still clung to his brain like an old piece of gum. Hard remembering specifics. He didn't want to, most importantly. He remembered how the argument started. It was the day of Ami's senior trip. Jeremy wanted to speak to her. He went to her room. She was smoking with the window down.
Ami said he should have knocked. Jeremy asked where she got them. and Ami told him it was none of his business. Jeremy Flynn didn't punish her for being rude. That was his father's way, not his. But he wasn't about to budge. He took the packet away from her, crushed it and threw it out the window.
"I'm not a little kid anymore, Dad."
Ami didn't curse, and she didn't take the Lord's name in vain. Respectful, even when she was being a brat.
"You're right. You're a grown adult. If you want to kill yourself with smoke, that's fine. But when you're living in my house, you'll do exactly as I say. And if I catch you again, I'm kicking you out."
Her reaction was instantaneously but muddled.. She ran through a dozen emotions like she wasn't sure which one to settle on.
She settled on anger.
She said she hated him.
Every father must hear that at some point in their lives. To Jeremy it was a low blow. Like salt in the wound, a tone that no child should ever use with their parent.
Jeremy didn't respond. Silence hung in the room and Jeremy turned and left. Sat in the parlor, not sure how long. Ami came in and started talking at one point. He didn't hear her. She walked away. One of her friends offered to pick Ami up. Jeremy didn't stop her. It took until she left the house for Jeremy to realize he had been crying the entire time..
Ami was a good girl, he told himself. She would call him and everything would be alright. That's just who she was. Ami was a good girl. She would call.
When she didn't call, Jeremy called her. When her phone went straight to voicemail, Jeremy turned the TV on. When he found out she didn't even arrive in Florida, Jeremy stopped leaving the house. And when they found pieces of the plane in the ocean, Jeremy hung a noose inside Ami's room.
If Jeremy wanted to die quickly, he should have had the rope snap his neck. Other way's slower, more painful. Jeremy didn't consider those logistics. Had he taken the time to prepare, though, Dillon wouldn't have had time to bust into the room and save him.
Jeremy didn't struggle. But what he did do was cry. He cried when Dillon held his head and muttered "Jesus Christ, Jer, look at you." He cried when the neighbors came in and they all held him down until the ambulance arrived. He cried as he thrashed in the stretcher and he swallowed back snot as they tied him down. He wanted to cry when they stuck a needle in his arm. He fell asleep soon after.
Day 16
Jeremy stayed another night. The rope cut off circulation to the brain, Doctor said. Just precaution. Jeremy stayed in bed and slept.Day 17
They released him. Evening, not sure what hour. Dillon drove him home. No funerals. Tamara left the night before. Jeremy went to bed and slept.Day 18
People came to watch over Jeremy. To stop him from trying again, he figured. No energy to argue. There was fog in his head and he couldn't think. Jeremy stayed in bed and slept.Day 19
Fog even worse. More people. He didn't care. Jeremy stayed in bed and slept.Day 20
Dillon unhooked all of the phones. Didn't say why. Jeremy didn't bother to ask. He stayed in bed and slept.
