Complaint

How would Adison and Kirk take care of Barnes? Jamison had little faith that they could. If he’d slugged anyone but Mark, he might have a chance. But not now. Not under these circumstances. Which sucked because working for the Elite…that would be a cool experience. Risky, but what else was new?

“Yeah…see ya,” he called after Adison as she left. He stood in the kitchen a little while longer before finally going to lock the front door again and return to his living room floor to resume reading. At least he wasn’t bored. He could sit and read all day. But he knew eventually it would get old…and he had no idea how long Barnes intended on keeping him suspended.


Kirk sat in an unused Elite cubicle, mainly going through paperwork. It was a nightmare, but he knew it would be worth it in the end. As much as he just wanted to jump right in and start working on Elite cases, he knew it was going to take time. This was a long process, and his six-week estimate was pretty aggressive. 

He’d asked Adison and Sam to meet him here today as soon as they could get away from the office, to at least start integrating them into this system. He wanted Sam to shadow Hal as he worked with Aaron, and he wanted Adison to fill him in on her visit with Jamison. Until they arrived though… He glanced around the desk. He hadn’t gotten coffee this morning, and regretted it. Until they arrived, he’d have to survive on more paperwork. 


“Hey, Nate?” Laura leaned back against the kitchen counter, having just called Nate. She hated bothering him at work, especially in the morning before he’d really gotten started, but she hadn’t had much of a choice. 

Maggie was off to school, Garret hadn’t come out of his bedroom yet, which could be a bad sign, but they’d let him be for now. If he was still hibernating by tonight though, Laura would get after him again. 

“Um, the school just called. Maggie’s riding the bus home tonight, right?” She bit her lip. “Apparently when Garret went to pick her up the other day… well, I guess there’s been some sort of complaint that he may have ‘intimidated’ a couple kids. I really don’t know the details – the teacher that called said the parents had complained and they weren’t exactly sure what happened but… I guess the school is concerned. Do you know anything about that?” 


Gunner stared down at his plate of toast and scrambled eggs. His stomach churned. He knew his body was hungry, but the meds they'd started him on last night were making him just nauseous enough to not want to eat. He glanced up at the other tables in the dining room. There were less than ten other patients, and it was quiet...warm, almost. So much different than Northside had been. He was even allowed to dress in his own clothes. He could almost pretend he was at some hotel on vacation in some faraway place. But then the reality always came back...he was still at a mental hospital.

"Gunner? Aren't you hungry?"

He looked up dimly at the nurse. Her name tag said Julie. "Not really."

"Can you at least take a couple bites?"

Gunner bristled. He wasn't a little kid, and he didn't want to be treated like one.

Julie saw him stiffen, and she grimaced a little before lowering her voice. "If I take your full plate back to the kitchen, they're gonna give me a bad time for not making you eat. So really...I'm just being selfish when I want you to take a few bites."

Gunner sighed as he relaxed a little, and picked up his plastic spoon. Even that was irritating though. Did they think he'd try to slit his own throat with a real fork? He nibbled on some eggs, then threw Julie a withering glance. "Does the cook know how to use salt?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "Tell you what... you eat half that, and tomorrow I'll smuggle you a couple salt packets."

He managed something close to a smile...kind of, before picking at the eggs again. This was going to be a long day.