Return to Denise's Page Part 4
Part 3
As Kermit pulled into the driveway of the Blaisdell home, he saw Carolyn's Jeep parked outside the garage and several lights on in the house in spite of the late hour. "Might as well get this over with now," he mumbled as he pulled the Corvair alongside the Jeep.
He sat in the car until Carolyn opened the front door, waving to him to come on in. Walking toward the house, he never flinched as the motion detector switched the light on at the corner of the house. He and Peter had installed it after Paul had left over a year ago, a tidbit of memory that teased at him.
"Kermit! What are you doing here?" Carolyn greeted him as she held open the front door. Then, she saw his grim face, and her welcoming smile faded, replaced by fear she had kept in the back of her mind. "Peter?"
"Where's Annie?" he asked, stepping into the house.
"I'm here, Kermit," Annie answered, walking into the foyer. "You found Peter."
"Yeah, he's at my place right now." Kermit placed Annie's hand on the crook of his elbow and led her and Carolyn to the living room, guiding Annie to a seat on the couch. "He's sick, Annie."
"Then bring him here. I'll take care of him." Annie felt the tension emanating from the ex-mercenary and knew Kermit wasn't telling her everything. "What's wrong, Kermit?"
Looking at Carolyn, then clasping Annie's hand in his, he took a deep breath. "He was shot up with drugs. I'm pretty sure one of the drugs used was heroin."
"Oh, God, no," both women answered in unison, Annie squeezing Kermit's hand. She shook her head, denying both the words and the sentence imposed on her son. Kermit would never kid about that. "H-how is he?"
Swallowing the lump that had become stuck in his throat, Kermit tried to give an optimistic view, carefully omitting the balcony scene. "He's sleeping right now. I want to take him up to the cabin and let the drug wear off. I need a quiet place with no one else around."
"I want to come with you." Annie answered.
"No, Mom," Carolyn answered quickly. She had volunteered at a drug rehab center when she graduated from high school to see if that was what she wanted to do with her life. She soon found the screams of pain and anger would follow her home and into her dreams. She could never forget about them.
"She's right, Annie. He's going to fight tooth and nail, and he's not going to know who is there or what is going on for a few days." Turning to face Carolyn, he said, "I need to borrow your Jeep for a while. He can lie down in the back on the way up to the lake. I'll have to take him tonight while he's still drowsy."
Carolyn nodded her head and left the room to find her keys. She took a few minutes to regain her composure and let the tears fall in the privacy of the upstairs bathroom.
Annie sat ramrod straight, knowing she had to be strong for her family and her son, though deep inside, she cried out in anger. Anger toward her husband who had left her to "fight his demons", anger at the man who had taken her son and harmed him, anger at God for not keeping her child safe. When everyone left tonight, she would allow herself to break down, but not right now.
"You think the man who did this will try and come after him again?" she asked.
"I don't know. All I know is that Peter was drugged for revenge. Revenge against me," Kermit answered as he stood and paced the room. "Annie…" Kermit stopped, feeling himself losing control of his strength and voice. He felt her light touch on his shoulder.
"I trust you, Kermit Griffin. I trust you with both my life and my son's life. All I ask is that you bring him back home." With those final words, Annie turned and left the room, unable to prevent the flood of tears that came from the ache in her heart.
Carolyn met Kermit, handing him the keys to her Jeep and the cabin as he handed her his keys. "Do you know what you're getting yourself into, Kermit?"
He removed his sunglasses, letting Carolyn see into his eyes and soul if she cared to look deeply enough. "I know, but I have to do this."
They walked to the front door and stepped out onto the steps to prevent their voices from carrying to Annie's ears. "Why do you think they used heroin and another drug?" Carolyn asked, making sure the door was secure before going on with the subject.
Kermit was glad Annie wasn't outside with them. "He's mellow, his pupils are pinpoint. Those can be attributed to the heroin. I found him trying to jump off the balcony. He came down because he thought I was Caine. Heroin does a lot of things, but I don't recall hallucinations being one of them. He's frightened. That could be because of the torture." He stopped; that was something he hadn't meant to tell her.
Carolyn nodded and waited for him to continue.
"He had a fresh burn on the palm of his hand. It's oozing clear liquid." Kermit was forced into an explanation by her patient gaze.
"He'll need calories to keep his body going." Carolyn tried to distance herself with her accumulated knowledge. As a nurse, she had seen too many drug overdoses. The last person she wanted to see suffer that particular hell was her brother. "The heroin will have him down and sedated. Without the drug, the body tries to return to normal. Everything speeds up. He'll be extremely sick and he'll fight you because his brain is going as fast as his body and he'll be confused. Give him lots of sugar, anything that'll fuel him, because he's going to need it. If you go to a store, you'll need the high-energy stuff like the fruit bars they've come out with. Oh, and get some candy and chocolate and coffee for the caffeine for when he's down. He likes chocolate; he'll probably eat that if nothing else. I can get you some methadone tablets if you want me to."
Kermit replaced his glasses. "No. He has to be totally clean, and that means NO substitutes. Carolyn, I know it's going to be bad. I've seen it before, but I have to do this with him." He let her continue. He knew it was helping her to think she was partaking in her brother's care.
Carolyn didn't ask for details, but continued with her lessons in care. "As far as the other drug they used, it sounds like amphetamines. You'll need to watch out. If he had both, then he could be severely combative or depressed. Kermit, if and when he goes to sleep, you'll have to watch it or he could stop breathing."
"That's what I thought. Look, I won't leave him. I'll take care of him."
"I know. Just bring my brother back to me. OK?"
"Oh, yeah," Kermit answered as he caressed her hair and chin, then turned to leave.
"Kermit?" Carolyn called as she thought of another question.
He stopped and turned, listening.
"You'll get the bastard who did this, won't you?"
"I promise. Larsen will go down for this."
Karen watched Peter as he sleep a restless sleep, his legs and arms never still for more than a second. She watched as his eyelids fluttered and goosebumps rose on his skin. She covered him with another blanket, tucking the covers under his shoulders, careful not to jar the restrained hand.
Kermit had wrapped not only the wrist, but also the hand. She had seen him apply lotion to the both wrists, thinking it was an antibiotic ointment for the cuts, and had not seen the third degree burn to his hand.
She found and lit a candle, letting its vanilla scent fill the room and soothe her fragile nerves. 'Aroma therapy', she reflected. She was getting awfully 'new age' hanging around the Caines.
Peter's mind had drifted in darkness for what seemed a long time; he had had no desire to come fully awake, but smelling the familiar perfume he fought the heaviness of his eyelids. Cracking his eyes open a bit, he saw the flame next to the bed and saw the unnamed woman who had tormented him in his dreams. She reached forward to touch him, and he tried to shrink back. "No, please. I'll be good. I promise. Please, don't do it," he begged, feeling the pain in his hand from the multiple times she had burned it with the candle. He heard her laughter at his pain and his pleas.
The nightmare had begun when he had been abducted. After the first injection of heroin, Maria had been in the mood for sex with her partner in the kidnapping. She fed her habit by selling her body to those who chose pain to get them in the mood. Seeing Peter fight brought her more enjoyment and ecstasy. When he stopped fighting the injections, she had turned to burning his hand with a candle to get the effect she desired.
Karen watched in horror as Peter pulled back from her and mumbled his request. She heard the words, though they were slurred. Smiling, she reached toward him in an effort to calm him, but he only pulled further away, tugging against the restraint that bound him to the bed. Karen was glad of the wrapping on Peter's wrist, knowing now how the scabs had gotten there.
"Put the candle out, Karen," a hushed voice said from the doorway.
Karen looked up, thankful for Kermit's return. "Why?"
"Just put it out and move away from him," Kermit again commanded, keeping his voice low and coming around the side of the bed as Peter jerked hard on the handcuff and fear filled his eyes.
"Please, don't. I don't want any more." Peter looked at Kermit, his mind seeing only the man who had given him the timely injections. In order to get Peter addicted to the drugs in so short a period of time, his captors had made sure Peter received each injection before the last dose wore off.
"It's all right. We aren't going to hurt you," Kermit soothed as Karen put out the flame and moved away. "I have something for you, though. Annie gave it to me."
Peter stopped his struggles at the name. "M-Mom?" Confusion lined his face and his breathing slowed down. "Sh-she's here?"
Kermit knelt on the floor, face to face with Peter. "No, but she will be. She said you needed to drink this." Kermit moved the bottle of Surge he had been holding into Peter's line of sight, praying this would work. "Come on, let's sit up and drink this. OK?"
Peter looked toward Karen as she backed further into the darkness that lined the wall. Only the small table lamp shed any light in the room now. "She won't hurt me?"
"No, I won't let her," Kermit assured the young man as he slowly reached out and lifted Peter's head, urging him to drink.
Swallowing, then closing his eyes, assured that the burning pain would not start again, Peter fell asleep as Kermit gently lowered his head to the pillow.
Kermit motioned for Karen to follow him to the upstairs bedroom, where he began packing some clothes without comment.
He saw the concern in her eyes, and the question on her lips and finally relented. "They burned his hand with a candle. That's why I wrapped it. I'm guessing his reaction to you means Maria did that part. I have to get him out of here. I don't know if Larsen will follow us or even if he cares that Peter didn't jump. But I know we can't stay here. I'm taking Peter to a quiet place. I'll call you later and let you know everything."
"You think…?"
"I don't know what to think. I contacted Marilyn. She's safe, along with her family. I want to catch Larsen and…"
"And kill him?" She finished what he couldn't.
"If that's what it takes, yes." Kermit finished packing, then returned to Peter and dressed his friend in clothes he had retrieved from Peter's apartment.
Peter was barely conscious, but Kermit's soothing words eased the fear that gripped his mind. He leaned into Kermit as they walked down the empty hall to the elevator, only to collapse as they reached the basement. Karen had followed with the packed bags of clothes, grocery items, and other necessities. When Peter fell, she dropped her load and helped Kermit pick Peter up and carry him to the Jeep.
"You'll call me when you get to wherever?" She asked, going back for the fallen articles.
"Yeah, I will," Kermit replied, giving her a tender kiss before getting into the vehicle and driving away into the night.
One vehicle sat alone on the street, its occupant oddly fascinated by the view of an unoccupied balcony, a balcony that should have ended a life. Someone had coaxed the young man from his perch and into the safety of the building.
"I'll get you, Griffin. I'll make you wish you had finished what you started," Larsen promised as he waited in the car and watched as the Corvair left. When the car didn't return, he wondered what had happened to Peter Caine and decided to wait. He'd go in later, when the apartment lights went out, and inject the young man with more drugs. This time, it would be enough to kill him.
Larsen was so deeply immersed in his thoughts and plans for revenge that he missed the driver of the green Jeep coming to the parking area and leaving with an extra occupant.