So Long and Goodnight || Drabble
Carson had just gotten back from his amazing date with Maddie. He'd come so far, he realized. He was no longer sifting through a pile of unremarkable girls with more baggage than an airport loading dock. He was no longer the glowing, unwanted whipping boy that had been used and abused and tormented at the hands of his exes. With Maddie, he was finally an equal, and he was finally deemed worthy of...well something. He didn't want to use Maddie to soothe his fractured ego,that wasn't what she was for. But somehow, she did that anyway. And it was alright because he was starting to think that maybe, someday soon he'd be able to say those three, little words to her that had previously only gotten him into trouble. Gretzky was in the kitchen, lapping up some dry food happily and enthusiastically. Carson popped into the shower, washing his hair and body quickly, before just enjoying the warmth of the water for a few minutes. He was pulled out of his paradise when he heard his phone ringing on the bathroom counter. He hopped out, grabbing a towel as he picked up his phone. He furrowed his brows, checking that the time was after midnight, before smiling and answering the call. "Jan-Jan, it's past twelve," he started with, ready to make a snarky quip at her about bedtimes. She instantly began to sob, and he could hear loud music blasting in the background. His protective instincts went into overdrive. " What's wrong?" "I don't...Carson, I can't..." He could barely understand her over the sobbing and the raging music, but he could hear that her speech was slurred. "I'm...where...there's a lot of things..." "Where are you?" Carson said firmly, raking his free hand through his hair in an agitated manner. " Dancing," she told him, and he heard a crash. He called out to her, but there was no answer for at least two minutes. When she finally spoke again, she was sobbing more. " I'm alone. Where...are you?" He closed his eyes in pain, feeling guilty and upset. " I'm in Florida, remember?" She cried more and spoke words that were indiscernible. " Jan, what did you take?" "I...pills...I don't know..how much," Janette's voice was fading in and out, and Carson could tell she had a shitty connection. "What were they?" Carson asked, not allowing himself to panic over the fact that she couldn't remember how many she'd downed. "Adderall and...candy," she told him, her sobbing subsiding for a moment as she laughed. " They mollies are so pretty, Carsey-Cat." "Fuck," Carson muttered under his breath, punching the bathroom wall so hard that some of the finishing broke away. His knuckle was bloody and most likely broken, but he couldn't feel anything at the moment. "Jan, tell me where you are right now." "Dancing," she repeated, laughing once more before the tears came back. " Where are you? Where's mom?"Carson was silent for a moment, giving her time to add. " Why did you...go away?" "Where are you, Jannie?" He asked, calling her the nickname he'd only ever used once before when she was unconscious in a hospital bed three years ago. "Where you are," she told him, almost causing him to break something else before she added, " Miami. You're..there and I'm...here. But it's the same place it's...all the same place." She stopped again, crying and asking him questions he couldn't answer. "Listen to me very carefully," Carson said, using his in-control-voice. "Go to the bar, and ask for a glass of water. Right now. I'm going to get Kenny to come and get you, okay?" "Who?" she asked loudly. "Kenny," Carson repeated, " Are you at the bar?" "No," She replied, laughing once more. "Go to the bar, Jan," Carson said clearly, reminding her until she got there. " Now sit down and have water.I'll call you back in three minutes." "Don't go!" She cried out, " Why do you keep leaving?" "Three minutes," he said again. Talking to her when she was this high always meant constant repetition. " I love you, Jan. Drink some water." He called Kenny Lawson, his old baseball chum and gave him the details. Kenny wasn't happy about being woken up and sent on a rescue mission, but he'd do anything for Carson and Jan for that matter, who'd been kind of like a surrogate family to him during his college years. His wife was less willing, and being six-months-pregnant, she'd stayed home. While Carson stayed on the phone with Jan, he was aware the second that Kenny arrived, hearing his brutish voice loud and clear despite the musical cocoon of sound. He'd given Kenny instructions to take her back to his place if he could, and if not, to return her to the family home. "Thanks man, I owe you one," He said, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted. The whole time, Carson had been repacking his house into the boxes and suitcases that it seemed he'd only just emptied. He now had the added bonus of having to pack up a dog and all of his supplies, wondering how much of his stuff he could hawk at the pawn shop or a used furniture store the next morning. One thing was clear, though. His stay in Asteria had been as peaceful as it was short. And so, it seemed, was his relationship with Maddie. He'd been a fool to think that the misfortunes and tragedies of his past couldn't follow him down to Florida. They were with him everywhere he went, clinging to the very essence of the being known as Carson William Harris. The next morning, after he dealt with his surplus of travel items, spoken to his landlord and formally resigned from the force, he'd board a plane to take him back to Detroit. There was nothing else to be done. It wasn't Jan's fault. She had things to deal with that she hadn't yet, and she was all alone in Detroit. He'd been a dick to leave her behind because of his own feelings, and he had to go back to her. She couldn't handle all of it on her own. Maybe neither could he. After he'd dressed the wound on his right hand, he'd changed into a fresh pair of boxers and written a letter for Maddie. She deserved this, at the very least. She deserved a hell of a lot more, but this was all he could give her. When the first daylight broke, Carson looked to his empty apartment, that had been stock full of life and hope just the day before. He loaded all of his items into the U-Haul truck he'd rented for the next three hours and set off to become Carson William Harris, construction worker, once more.
