Gravity Day 9

Immediately upon arriving in the observation room Greg noticed it didn't look or feel any different than the room he had just been escorted from. Although it didn't have one sided windows, it had one plain table and a cold iron chair and a comfortable looking black leather office chair, the plushy kind with armrests and adjustable height. Greg walked right over to his iron chair and sat down. Dr. Canfield remained standing by the door giving him an inquisitive look. Greg seemingly agitated shrugged his shoulders and squawked "What??????"

 The doctor responded "Greg why did you sit in that chair and not the black one?"

"I naturally assumed this was my chair, you, after all, are the doctor." -replied Greg

"So you feel, because I'm the doctor and you are the patient, you should sit in the lesser quality chair?"

Greg not amused by the questioning responded with a question of his own

"Did you intentionally put two different quality chairs in here? Is that part of my "evaluation"?" He said with air quotes. "I can answer a question with a question too doctor!!! I know how these things work."

Greg was no stranger to controlling situations and conversations. He was a highly paid manager of a major company. Managing people and situations was a skill he had developed over the years. 

Dr. Canfield was not amused.

"Listen. I'm not here to play games Mr. Greyson. Are you willing to cooperate and allow me to help you or should I leave you to the wolves? Should I let the detectives come back in here and chew you up and spit you out?" - exclaimed the doctor.

Visibly shocked, Gregory retorted "I just want to be left alone right now." And he sunk his head into his hands and tried to wrap his head around the kinds of life changes he was about to endure. Greg began to drift back into the dream state. Not really asleep, but not in the moment mentally. His mind escaped back to the family vacation in Cancun, back to the relaxing feeling of laying poolside by the ocean in the warm tropic breeze. Jenna and the kids all having the time of their lives.

Jenna popped up from her beach chair exclaiming "Greg.....Greg! I don't see Jeremiah! I don't see him anywhere." Greg sat up and glanced over to the sand box area next to Jenna's beach chair. At that point both of them jumped up and began scurrying around scanning the crowd. Greg ran over to his other two children playing on the beach and yelled "Corren where is Jeremiah?" - he placed both of his hands on her shoulders shaking her "Corren, where is he?!?!?! Did you see where he ran off to?" Corren, frightened and shocked by the uncharacteristic yelling of her daddy, found herself unable to even respond with words, and could only shake her head no. And as Greg turned to continue his search, scanning the resort, his eyes were drawn to the beach and a crowd of people standing over a lifeguard kneeling next to a small child, administering CPR. Everything turned to slo-motion. It was as if the earth had slowed its revolution, and time had been stalled.  

"Jerrrreeemiiiaaahh???" Greg ran towards the crowd. "Jerrrreeemiiiaaahh!!!!!!!! No, God nooooo..."

"What happened to my son?" - Greg screamed

Jenna hearing the Greg's screams began sprinting towards the group

"Greg!!! Oh my God Greg what happened? What's going on Greg?"

"Greg.....Greg answer me!!"

"Wake up Greg!" Gabrielle clapped her hands together to startle Greg back to reality.

The doctor had left the room and Gabrielle had entered without Greg even realizing it. He hadn't fallen asleep, but he certainly had just lost a period of time without realizing it.

It was in this moment Greg began to realize he may indeed have something wrong him. He hated to admit it to anyone, especially himself, but he needed help. This wasn't something he could talk his way out of. No amount of meetings, no amount of questions, no pleading and no amount of money could get him out of this. Not permanently anyway. But he was at least going to try and use money to get him out of it temporarily. 

"Is there any chance of me being released Mrs.?" - asked Greg.

"It's Ms. Ortiz, or Gabrielle." Explained Gabrielle

"And you can see the judge at 4:00 which is about 15 min from now. He will determine your immediate future. We can head down there now."

"Will there be any kind of bail option available to me?"

"We will have to see what the judge says Gregory"

"You can call me Greg. Or Mr. Greyson." Chuckled Greg

Gabrielle unamused opened the door and motioned for Greg to get up and head out the door. And he did, without comment or question. And the two of them made the long, emotional, quiet walk to the front of police headquarters where detectives and a squad car awaited them. The detectives put Greg in handcuffs and assisted him into the back of the car. Gabrielle walked around to the other side, got in the back seat with him, slammed the door and they began the five minute car ride to the court room for Greg's arraignment hearing.

Iowa: We All Come Back Again

The blustery base from snow white storms 

A pleasant January seems out of the norm

Properties and pathways laid out like a grid

With soil and sand sold to the highest bid

Spring swings in late like your kin 

Never when we expect it 

But exactly when intended

With windows open we welcome it in

Summer's always a crap shoot

Wizened one week, irriguous the next 

The contrast greets us with petrichor 

The smell of fresh rain, I always want more

Summer's end brings seasons change 

Plenty of colors, out come the covers 

Autumn leaves crumble, watch them all fall 

Fowl fly south, feathers flutter in the wind 

We're all searching for cordial weather 

Patiently I wait praying 

Soon both will be back again 

Gravity Day 8

Greg's sobbing subsided and turned to heavy breathing. His eyes closed. His mind wandered. Oddly enough all he could think about was his son Jeremiah, the day he died and the events that led up to it. As he he laid there on the cold floor, still curled up, his thoughts turned to dreams as he drifted once again, into slumber.

Greg's dreams were beaming him back to Cozumel. He was laying poolside at the resort. Jenna by his side. The kids, Corren, Jacie and Jeremiah, playing in the sand nearby as she read her book, glancing over occasionally to check on them. Crowds of people were vacationing, laying on the beaches, drinking, boating, swimming, all of the events any good tropical vacation would provide. The sounds of speedboats and boom boxes, ship horns and shouting were all around him. It was loud. But it was peaceful. Through all that bustling and noise he could still hear the sound of the ocean tide slamming the shore, shhhhheewwww........sheewwwwwww.........sheewwww...back and forth like a metronome of waves. The sun beat down on his body as he lay there, relaxing, completely transported and removed from all things work related. This was the life. This is what we all wake up and live and breathe and bust our asses every day for right? So someday we can vacation every day and not once a year. Retirement, the ultimate prize. Work now, rest later. But those thoughts soon turned cynical.  Why am I killing myself slowly with stress and anxiety in the hopes I can someday lay on a beach? Greg wondered. Why not live now? 

Greg was awakened again. This time not by a detective, but Gabrielle. She knelt down by him, gently placed her hand on his shoulder and asked if Greg could get back up into the chair. 

"Greg I want to help you understand what is happening and the process we need to follow to get you the help you need. I'm asking the state to have you evaluated. You have been through an extreme amount of emotional trauma and we need to make sure you are doing ok. We are having you evaluated by Dr. Canfield, he is an independent psychiatrist. He is not affiliated with any organization. You and him, and only you and him will be relocating to a different room where he will sit down with you, get to know you and try to get to the bottom of exactly what's affecting your recollection of last nights events and causing your memory loss."

Greg retorted "I'm not crazy I don't need a psychiatrist."

"No one is saying you are crazy Gregory, but you are claiming you can't remember anything beyond having your first drink at Carl's and that was 5pm yesterday. So your mind has either blocked out or erased nearly an entire day of your life and shutdown your ability to recall it. And until we find the cause of this memory lapse, we can't address the problem, nor can we properly defend you from the charges being brought against you. None of this is going to go away on its own Greg. Not the charges, not the mental lapse and certainly not the death of Officer Kunz. This is real. And you need help. The ball is in your court. Help is here if you are willing to admit you need it by accepting it."

"Ok, ok, I'll go. But I'm not crazy!"- opined Greg "I am NOT crazy!" Gesturing his adamancy by slamming the table with his pointer finger.

Gabrielle responded- "Dr. Canfield will escort you to the evaluation room. I'll follow up with you when he is finished."

Dr.Canfield began giving Greg verbal directions to the evaluation room. Greg could hear the door slowly creaking closed as they strolled down the hallway toward an uncertainty. Dr. Canfield following closely being him. Greg felt confused and scared. He wasn't the put together well rounded man he saw in the mirror every morning. Life as he knew it was over.