Continued From Part 12: Sometimes You Just ‘Get’ It
My initial hopes Joe would get back to me at least by Monday afternoon, were dashed. No contact at all. On top of that, Nick’s parents hadn’t called me back yet either. Maybe they hadn’t contacted me because they were dealing with Nick; maybe admitting him to an alcohol and drug treatment facility.
I scoured the internet. Typing Nick’s name. There was a morbid fascination with what I was doing, and I was in a state of wanting to find news and not wanting to find news at the same time. The good part was that I could identify this behavior, and my gut told me I was just searching for answers, some sort of closure. If there was news I would feel better…but there was nothing. As a matter of fact, as I type this blog entry, I have multiple browsers open with his name in the search windows.
Then suddenly, ‘Ping!’ an international sound declaring I have a message on Facebook. Joe was sending me an instant message. “Call me!” and then he gave me the number.
I called immediately.
According to Joe, I could not have better timing. He noticed some dramatic difference in Nick over the past number of months; withdrawn, angry, paranoid, and secretive. To me, those are all signs of using again. When they finally got to him, Nick was holdup over the past number of weeks in his condo, not eating and not answering the phone. Luckily for all of us, Nick trusted Joe enough to give him a set of keys to water the plants, take in the mail, and that sort of thing when Nick traveled. That’s how Joe found him; unwashed, paranoid, thin, unshaven.
“So, is he using again?” I asked when there was a moment.
Joe paused, “I don’t know. He says he isn’t.”
“That’s typical. He’s had a lot of sober time, so he might still be processing the fact he fell off the wagon. Of course it depends on what he is using and where his brain is at. If it’s crystal meth, his brain could really be messed up right now.”
“Yeah, I don’t know. But since he said he wasn’t using we couldn’t get him into a treatment facility here, so we placed him in a mental treatment facility.”
“Well, that’s treatment one way or the other!”
Continue on with Part 14 – Facing an Awful Truth