chapter 81

word count:1703

nurse ritchie continued, “i am going to have to ask all of you that are not immediate family to leave,, since it is evident you do not know how to behave yourselves.. this is a hospital,, not a junior high school cafeteria!!!”

“but…”  started hank..

“no but’s!!” exclaimed nurse ritchie, “no but’s,, just leave.. mr. miller you are free to stay,, but i am afraid the rest of you will have to leave!” a tone of authority rang out in her voice,, as she pointed fervently toward the door.. 

“buzz needs me!!” trudy rang out.. grabbing buzzes arm,, and hanging on for dear life.. 

out!!” exclaimed nurse ritchie.. and there was no way her proclamation could be mistaken for a suggestion.. 

slowly they filed out.. each stopping to give buzz their sincerest condolences,, and reassure him they were either just a phone call away,, or in the case of trudy and john,, that they would be right downstairs in the cafeteria if he needed them.. 

within a matter of minutes,, buzz found himself alone.. he slumped back into a chair,, clearly defeated,, and reflected on the day’s events.. 

maybe he had done the wrong thing by bringing trudy home,, but how was he to have known adam would react in such a way?? and then there was the news that hank and the two uniforms had stopped over to deliver.. news?? it would have been more accurate for him to say they had stopped over to drop a bomb on him..

according to hank,, not only had adam tested negative for any trace of oleander ,, but he was now the prime suspect in the poisoning death of his own mother?? not to mention the poisoning of buzz,, not once,, but twice,, and then there was mrs. dunn.. 

sure, buzz thought to himself,, the boy was disgruntled.. he was grief stricken,, and all evidence pointed to adam hating him as much,, if not more,, than any young boy had ever hated his father.. but to actually poison the mayonnaise?? how could a child of seven even know about such a thing,, let alone devise a plan,, and pull it off without anyone being any the wiser??

the uniforms had been there to take adam into custody.. hank had accompanied them to soften the blow.. it was evident,, they had a clear cut case against adam,, and yet in his rage at the mere accusation,, buzz had flown off the handle and stormed adam's room without even waiting to hear what it was.. 

thank god he had,, in light of the fact that it could have been too late for adam if he had sat and listened to the evidence they had against him,, but the questions racing through buzzes mind unanswered, made him wish he had been given more information.. 

“mr. miller?” 

“uhm,, right here.” buzz answered, despite the fact that he was the only one in the room.

“you may go in and see your son now.. the doctors have got him stabilized,, and he is awake. i would guess he would be comforted by having you there,, so follow me..”  nurse ritchie informed him,, as she turned on her heal and exited the room,, fully expecting buzz to follow right behind her.. 

buzz sat motionless. what should he do?? he wanted with all of his heart to be the one adam would take comfort in,, but he knew there was every possibility that his presence in the room would have the exact opposite effect..  how could he explain to the nursing staff that he was more than likely the reason that adam was here in the first place,, and that his very presence in the room would more likely than not cause a setback instead of be a comfort to adam??

nurse ritchie, returned,, stuck her head in the waiting room and said,, “mr. miller,, right this way please!” once again in a tone that signified this was not a suggestion.. 

without a word,, buzz set off behind nurse ritchie,, his marginally healed knees forcing him to hobble along, thus  following her at a distance.. 

nurse ritchie preceded buzz into adam’s room. 

“your dad is here to see you adam, he has been very anxious to see you..” she said in her most gleeful voice.

“no!! screamed adam from behind the blue privacy curtain. “get him out of here!!”

“now,, now,,” comforted nurse ritchie,, ”your daddy loves you.. he is worried about you.. he wants to see for himself that you are alright,, surely you want to set his mind at ease, don’t you??”

“please!!” adam eeked out,, his voice weakening,, “i just want to be alone. please??”

“buzz cut in, “it’s alright nurse,, let him rest.. he has been through a lot today.. i don’t want to upset him.”

“well surely you want to see him…” nurse ritchies voice trailed off,, as she watched buzz do an about face and head back toward the waiting area without so much as another word.. .. 

“alrighty then.” concluded nurse ritchie,, as she plumped adams pillow and tucked him in tight.. 

“would you like to watch some tv?” was the last thing buzz heard,, as he made his way dejectedly down the hall..

he was half way to the waiting room,, when two uniforms turned the corner,, followed by some woman, dressed officially in a tailored business suit and carrying a briefcase.. 

“detective miller.” one of the uniforms greeted him..  

“detective miller, this is adrian beaumont,,child protective services..  she will be here to oversee adam’s care.. you understand at this point in time,, he is still the prime suspect in a murder investigation,, as well as under investigation in two counts of attempted murder.. your being one of the victims precludes your ability to oversee his care.. he is being placed in protective custody,, and ms. beaumont here has been assigned to the case..”

“but he’s my son.” were the only words buzz could form.

“i understand that, “ ms. beaumont addressed buzz directly. “ but you have to understand, we are doing this in the best interest of both adam and yourself..”

the best interest… buzz had used that same line enough times to know,, what it really meant, “you are no longer in control here..” 

he slumped back into a waiting chair,, as ms. beaumont withdrew some very official looking documents from her briefcase.. 

“i will need a couple of signatures from you, detective miller,, you understand,, turning adam’s custody over to the state until this police business can be concluded..”

she shoved a clipboard and a pen in buzzes general direction.. he took it without argument,, and just began signing his name.. even reading them was outside of his realm of reality right now.. 

“detective miller, myself and ms. beaumont will remain here,, and if you would be so kind as to accompany officer williams here to the station,, we have some questions that need answers.."

“yes,” buzz said visibly weakened.. “yes of course.. i understand.”

as buzz stood up to follow officer williams through the door of the waiting room,, he turned back and said, almost as an afterthought,, “you will let me know how he is doing?”

“absolutely detective,, we will keep you informed every step of the way.”

like a schoolboy being led off to the principal’s office,, buzz followed dutifully a few steps behind officer williams.. for the first time in his life,, he knew,, he was totally and completely powerless..

***

trudy did her best to keep well ahead of john as she headed toward the cafeteria.. she had no intention of speaking to him,, and the more distance she put between herself and that feeble excuse for a man she currently found herself married to,, the better off she was.. 

john,, being very much of the same mind,, followed at a safe distance.. there was so much he wanted to say.. he wanted to tell trudy she was free to go,, free to leave him at any point in time.. free to join buzz and live happily ever after,, if such a thing was even a remote possibility where trudy was concerned. 

he wanted to tell her that he had fallen madly passionately in love with lisa,, and the sooner trudy got out of his life the better.. but there was elliot to consider.. he had no intention of giving up custody of elliot without a fight.. no intention at all of allowing that cheating drunk of a wife of his to do any more damage than she had already done.. but being the gentleman that he was,, john realized now was not the time.. 

as john entered the cafeteria,, he saw trudy in line waiting to pay for a cup of coffee.. he could tell by her facial expression and her overtly sexual body language she was already in route to seducing the poor sod that had had the misfortune of being behind her in line.. 

whereas one might think,, seeing her in such a compromising position, in light of the whole reason they were here in the hospital to begin with, would have caused his ire to rise,, this was not the case.. 

instead he looked upon her with pity.. what a poor excuse she was for a woman she was,, let alone a wife..  she subsisted on nothing short of her disgusting displays of sexuality.. 

‘where would she be twenty years from now?’ john couldn’t help but wonder has he stepped up to pour himself a cup of coffee.. 

‘where would she be when her beauty faded,, the booze finally got the best of her,, and she had not one other redeemable quality on which to fall back??'

as he stirred the cream into his coffee,, he realized,, that he was looking at all of this from the viewpoint of a third party,, a disinterested bystander..

it was then that he knew,, he was over her.. not only in his heart,, as she had not resided there in quite some time.. but also in his groin.. whatever sick sexual hold trudy had once had over him had been extinguished.. 

alas he knew,, he was free..