Terry and Gene 14

"Gene, please don't. Can I come over? I've got some natural sleep remedies that we can try. Please?" She was already up, finding her clothes.


"I've already tried all that crap. If I could just have one drink, I'd be OK." Gene sounded desperate.

Terry got dressed as much as she could with one hand. "Gene, listen to me. I can be there in less than an hour. I'll call you on my cell and you can talk to me the whole time. Please. Let me try to help you."


Half dressed, Terry went into the bathroom and got some lavender oil and lotion.

Gene sighed. "OK. But you'll call me on your cell?"


"Yes. Give me two minutes to get dressed and I'll call you right back."

"OK." Gene hung up on her.


Terry finished dressing and rushed into the kitchen to get some sleep aid tea and shoved all of it into a bag. She grabbed her cell phone and raced down the stairs to her van. As soon as she closed the door, she dialed Gene.

"Terry?"


"Yes. I'm in the van now. I'll be there as fast as I can. Gene, what happened?"

"I'll tell you when you get here."


"OK. Did you buy a bottle already?"

"Yeah," dejectedly.


"OK. Where is it?"

"Sitting here in front of me. God, Terry, I'm so tired but I just can't sleep." He sounded like he wanted to cry.


"Can you leave it where it is and go to another room until I get there?"

A deep sigh. "Yeah. You'll keep talking to me?:"


"Yes. I'm here."

Terry grilled him on his physical symptoms while she drove. He wasn't in any physical pain, so he probably wasn't sick. She asked if he'd been eating and he said he wasn't sure. Something had pushed him over the edge, but he wasn't telling her what it was.


"Where are you now?" Terry asked him.

"In the Genesis room," he said. "With the door locked. I left the bottle in the kitchen."


"OK. I'm only another ten or fifteen minutes away." Five, if I can keep up this speed and not get caught.

She continued to talk to him until she pulled into his driveway.


"OK. I'm here. Can you come to the door?" There was no answer, but as she got to the door, it opened.