Gem, Himself, Alone, page 9
There were too many, and they were too strong. They could do whatever they wanted with him.
Sirens screamed in his ears. Gem didn’t know whether to be scared or relieved. There were too many crooked cops. Too many cops who would look the other way or even take part in Gem’s humiliation.
His captors did not scatter at the arrival of the squad cars and Gem despaired.
Crooked cops.
He heard the various voices around him but could not comprehend them. It was as if they were speaking a foreign language.
“What’s going on?” Lucette demanded, getting out of his squad car. There was a big crowd, and he radioed for backup.
“These two were fighting,” the bar owner explained, gesturing with a shotgun at the big, red-faced biker and the man under the pile of barflies. “Or… something. I don’t know what happened, but the kid was screaming like a banshee fighting him off.”
“He just attacked me!” the biker protested the first chance he got. “He’s high or crazy; I don’t know what. I didn’t do anything but hold him off.”
“Sure, you did. Move off, let me see him,” Lucette told the pile of men on top of the kid.
“If we shift, he’s going to start fighting again. He’s nuts. Wouldn’t stop.”
The boy was muttering something in a low, desperate tone. Lucette motioned for his partner to cuff the biker and tried to make out what the boy was saying. At first, he thought it was something about the biker, but then it sounded like ‘Riker.’ He got closer to the ground to listen to him and was sure of it. He couldn’t hear every word, just ‘Riker’ repeated several times, and something that sounded like ‘straight cop.’
Lucette stood up and clicked on his radio. “Dispatch, is Riker in one of the units en route?”
There was silence for a moment. “Affirmative. ETA one minute.”
Lucette walked to the curb and looked for the car. It pulled up a minute later. Riker stepped out.
“What’s up, Lucette?”
“You know this junkie over here? I think he’s saying your name.”
Riker walked over and knelt on the ground to look. “Yeah. His name is Gem. Let him go. I’ll look after him.”
They protested. Riker motioned for the man with his foot across Gem’s neck to back off. He reluctantly withdrew. Riker touched Gem’s chin.
“Gem, it’s Riker. Do you hear me?”
“Riker?” Gem croaked.
“Yeah. Now I’m going to get these yokels off your back. You stay still?”
“You put the cuffs on. You take me in. You’re straight, Riker. I know you’re straight.”
“That’s right. So hold still.”
Gem didn’t move. When he was released, Riker patted him down, then pulled Gem’s arms back and cuffed him. He put Gem in his car and went back to find out what had happened. He got back in the car a few minutes later.
“Got yourself in an altercation with a drunk, I guess.”
“You won’t put him and me in the same cell.” Gem’s breathing was still ragged.
“No.”
“You put me in with the Rippers last time. Some cops get a kick out of putting hookers and pimps in the same cell.”
“You aren’t a hooker anymore, and he’s not a pimp.”
“You think I don’t know a pimp when I look him in the eye?”
Riker studied Gem through the grill. The boy was white as a ghost, his eyes so wide his face looked like a mask.
“Is that what you thought? No wonder you were so freaked out. Let’s go to the station and talk. You’re still pretty shaken up.”
Gem said nothing. Riker drove in silence. He put Gem in an interrogation room and left him alone for a few minutes while he got coffee. Out of curiosity, he checked to see if the drunk Gem had tangled with had a record. He looked over Lucette’s shoulder at the computer printout.
“Nice guy,” Lucette commented.
“He really is another Raphael,” Riker said. Gem had tagged him for what he was, all right.
“Who’s Raphael?”
“An acquaintance of Gem’s. One he’s suspected of killing.”
“From the witness’s statements, I can’t say I’m surprised. If the kid had a weapon handy, that guy would be in the morgue right now.”
“He had a knife. Which means he was attacked, not the attacker.”
“You believe the kid’s story? With the state he was in?”
Riker shrugged. “Actually, I do. I’ve been dealing with him for a few months. If he wanted to kill this guy, he would plan it out and get away with it.”
Riker went back to see Gem. He handed him a cup of coffee. Gem was not looking good. His face was swelling up with bruises. But even aside from that, he did not look well.
“Are you high?” Riker questioned suspiciously.
“Low,” Gem contradicted. “Yeah, I’m stoned.”
“Don’t tell me you attacked that guy because you’re hopped up on something.”
“I took downers, not uppers.”
“You’re not acting down. You’re jittery.”
“That’s why I took them,” Gem said impatiently. He reached for the coffee.
“Maybe I’d better make that a decaf,” Riker said.
Gem paused. “You got decaf?”
“I think I can track some down. Let me send someone for some.” Riker stuck his head out in the hallway and sent a junior officer on the mission.
“You got any cigarettes?” Gem asked.
Riker hated sitting in a smoke-filled interrogation room and, of course, it was against city bylaws, but if there was a chance of getting Gem talking, he wasn’t going to throw it away. He got out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter and put them down in front of Gem. Gem shook one out clumsily and put it in his mouth. He tried to light it, but couldn’t get the lighter to work. Riker watched him getting more frustrated, and eventually pried the lighter from Gem’s fingers. He thumbed the lighter, and it worked on the first try. Gem poked his cigarette into the flame and inhaled.
“Now, why don’t you tell me what happened tonight?”
“That fat pimp propositioned me. I turned him down. He grabbed me, and I protected myself.”
“He says you attacked him.”
“Of course he does. What else is he gonna say?” Gem took a deep drag on the cigarette. “Why would I attack someone three times my size?”
“Because you’re high.”
“I couldn’t even get at my blade. If I’d attacked him, I woulda pulled it and split his fat belly, not stood there trying to scratch his eyes out.”
“What about him made you think he was a pimp? We’ve been watching him awhile and haven’t been able to catch him at anything.”
Gem shrugged. “The way he looked me over. The way a girl looks at a dress when she’s deciding whether to add it to her wardrobe.”
“You don’t know anything about his girls or if he runs a shop like Raphael?”
“I never seen him before.”
“Too bad. I wouldn’t mind putting him away for something more than drunk and disorderly.”
Gem’s coffee arrived. Riker thanked the young officer and handed it to Gem.
“Your hands are shaking,” he observed. Gem warmed his hands around the cup, then tucked them under his armpits.
“I’m cold.”
“You’re shivering. It’s not that cold in here,” Riker said, concerned.
Gem nodded, his teeth almost chattering. Riker took off his jacket and laid it over Gem’s shoulders. Gem huddled inside it.
“It’s probably the dope,” Riker said. He took Gem’s wrist and felt his pulse. He looked at Gem’s face while he took it. “I’m going to take you over to the doctor.”
Gem shook his head. “I’m okay. Just cold… and sort of nauseous.”
Riker nodded. “I want to get you looked at.”
He handcuffed Gem again and took him over to see the station’s doctor. It was Dr. Stein, a woman. Tall, brunette, wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.
“Well, what have you got for me today?” she questioned.
“I’m no expert, but I think he’s in shock.”
Dr. Stein ushered Gem in and over to the examining table and looked him over while asking Riker questions. “He was in an accident?”
“No, a fight. But when I got there, he was practically incoherent. I wondered if the emotional stress…”
“Could be. What about drugs?”
“Downers. Can you be any more specific, Gem? What kind of downers?”
Gem shrugged. “Pills. Prescription.”
“Tranquilizers?” she questioned.
“I guess.”
“Your heart is racing. How were you feeling before that?”
“Hyped, worried, worked up…”
“Have you seen a doctor about these feelings of anxiety?”
Riker was interested in Gem’s answer.
“I’ve seen plenty of shrinks about plenty of things. I’ve had lots of downers prescribed before.”
“Were these prescribed to you?”
“No.”
“Have you been drinking too?”
“Yeah.”
“I suspect you’re feeling the effects of mixing street drugs and drinking. Why don’t you tell me about this fight tonight?”
Gem flushed. He glanced aside at Riker and shook his head. “Just a fight. Nothing to tell.”
“How often are you popping pills?”
Gem shrugged. “I gotta have something to keep me cool.”
“Well, you chill here for a minute while I talk to Riker.”
Gem nodded and pulled Riker’s jacket close while they went to the other side of the room to talk.
“Is he a psych case?” Stein questioned.
“Probably. Why do you ask?”
“You should have seen how much his pulse sped up when I asked him about the fight. And it was already abnormally fast. Either he’s got a heart condition, he’s taken uppers instead of downers, or he’s on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.”
“Could be a panic attack. He never struck me as the type before, but I saw him after the fight. He was having a first-class meltdown. And he does have a psychiatric history.”
“Well, to be safe, let’s put him in the hospital for the night. I don’t want to be responsible if he gets worse. I’ll get the form for you.”
Stein found one in her desk. They finished up and went back to Gem. “You’re going to the hospital tonight.”
Gem rolled his eyes. “I’m not sick.”
“You know you are,” Stein said firmly. “And I want you to get a consult to see if you need ongoing medication. No reason to be screwing up your system if an anti-anxiety pill will work for you.”
Gem shrugged. “I told you I been through all that before.”
“Well, try once more. There are a lot of new alternatives. Do you want to walk around with your heart jumping out of your chest all the time?”
Gem shook his head wordlessly.
“Then learn a lesson from tonight and take care of yourself.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RIKER TURNED ON the radio. Gem sat in the back of the car, leaning his head against the side of the car, listening to the quiet hum of the engine. The adrenaline rush started to subside. His heart began to slow down, and his eyelids drooped. He’d taken downers and booze, and with the immediate danger gone, he was starting to feel them.
The hospital was not his favorite place. He’d had plenty of bad experiences in places like that. But doctors were usually kind, and he was taken care of. Institutions came with their own set of problems. But the hospital, for just one night, wouldn’t be so bad.
The Home hadn’t been bad, to begin with. Lots of rich nuts, most with no problem other than not wanting to face the real world. Gem had been lonely, but felt reasonably safe.
Then funding started running out. Instead of a private room, he was in a ward with the violent crazies. He kept getting in fights with the inmates and nurses.
Then he’d stopped seeing Schulz and started seeing a new, weird doctor. Suddenly they were doing hypnosis and regression, and they started giving him meds that made him hallucinate. Then meds to counteract the hallucinations and violent episodes. He was doped up until he couldn’t do anything, then pronounced cured and kicked out.
Riker pulled into the specially marked police stall and opened Gem’s door for him. Gem just sat there and didn’t move.
“Gem, come on.” He still didn’t move or respond. Riker shook him. “Gem.”
Shaking his arm had no effect. Riker pulled his arm a little harder. Gem slid his feet out and stood up. He still didn’t look Riker in the eye. His face was blank. Riker shook him and spoke louder.
“Gem! Snap out of it. Come on!”
Gem did not respond, but he went with Riker when led. Riker took him to the admitting desk in emergency. The nurse at the counter motioned to the clip-boarded forms to be filled out, and Riker handed her the one the doctor had given him. She looked it over and typed on her computer while talking on the phone. She hung up the phone while pulling Gem’s printout off the machine.
“You’re going to be waiting for a while—” she started.
“He’s changed since the doctor at the station saw him.”
“Changed how?” she demanded.
“He’s not responding to me at all. Checked out.”
She stood up, studying Gem. “Gem, can you hear me?” she said loudly. There was no response. She reached over and pinched his arm. Riker winced, but Gem didn’t flinch.
“He’s been taking drugs?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll upgrade him. Go sit down, and a doctor will come get you.”
Riker nodded and went over to the chairs. He sat down. Gem remained standing. Riker shrugged and didn’t try to seat him. Maybe they would get a quicker response if Gem were more obvious.
The halfway house after the Home had been just as bad as the Home, in different ways. No more fights or hypnosis, but he was so drugged out that he could not protect himself against the abuse of the house parents.
But one of them had forgotten to completely close a door one day and another inmate had seen what was going on.
A white-jacketed doctor approached Riker and Gem, glancing over a clipboard. “This is Gem?” he questioned.
“Yes.”
“Let’s get him to an exam room.”
The doctor took Gem firmly by the arm and guided him to a curtained exam area. “This is interesting,” he said aside to Riker as he performed a swift exam on Gem. “Not at all typical for a drug overdose. Your admitting form says he has a psychiatric history?”
“I don’t know any details, but he has been institutionalized.”
“I’d suspect some kind of psychotic break, then. We’ll order a tox screen and detox him if we need to. But I don’t know if that will have any effect on this state. I’ll order a psych consult.” He paused. “Get a nurse to change him and lock up his clothes. And if you want to keep him in custody, put cuffs on him. You never know if this is put on, or how quickly he’ll come out of it. You go to the john, and he’s gone when you get back.”
Riker nodded. That would be just like Gem. He’d disappeared from a hospital while supposedly in a catatonic state once before.
Riker wasn’t going to let that happen again.
* * *
“Where’s Gem been lately?” Rico asked Thrasher.
“I don’t know. Bethany thought he was home a couple of nights ago, but he keeps the bedroom door locked, so she’s not sure.”
“It doesn’t make sense, him disappearing like that. Where would he go?”
“Maybe he went on a bender or something,” Thrasher said with a shrug, “I haven’t seen him for a week.”
Riker got a line on Dee’s brother and was making arrangements to follow up when he got a call from the psych ward at the hospital.
“Hi, it’s Marie,” said the nurse he had gotten to know over the past week that Gem had been at the hospital. “Sleeping beauty has woken up.”
“Great. Does he seem normal?”
“Some anxiety and restlessness, but not bad.”
“I’ll come up at the end of my shift.”
He told Gordon that Gem was awake. “You want to go up with me?”
Gordon shrugged. “I don’t know why you even want to. He’s not being charged for anything. You don’t need to see him for anything.”
“I want to keep up with what he’s up to.”
“Go ahead. I don’t need to be there.”
Gem paced impatiently. He tried to stay away from the other patients. He refused to take any of the meds they wanted to give him. So far, he hadn’t seen a doctor, only nurses, orderlies, and guards. He was too jumpy to sit down or stop moving.
He turned around and was startled to see Riker. “What’re you doing here?”
“Checking up on you.”
Gem snapped his fingers and slapped his legs, fidgeting. “Can you get me out of here?”
“You know I’ve got no say in that. The doctor will release you when he thinks you’re okay.”
“Gotta walk,” Gem snapped, unable to stay still.
Riker walked beside Gem as he paced around the courtyard made available to the psych patients. Because apparently connecting with nature helped even if it was just a patch of worn grass enclosed by four walls of stone.
“You got a smoke?”
Riker had come prepared. He pulled one of them out and lit it for Gem. Gem smoked for a couple of minutes without speaking.
“It was a week?” he asked after a while.
“Yeah. Were you aware of what was going on?”
Gem shook his head. “No. Just dreaming.” He paused. “Except I knew where I was when I woke up.”
“Well, it’s pretty obvious where you are.”
“I knew you brought me here.”
Riker raised his eyebrows. “Maybe you were conscious on some level. What’s the last thing you remember?”
Gem thought back. “Some drunk trying to pick me up.”
“You don’t remember anything else?”
Sirens screamed in his ears. Gem didn’t know whether to be scared or relieved. There were too many crooked cops. Too many cops who would look the other way or even take part in Gem’s humiliation.
His captors did not scatter at the arrival of the squad cars and Gem despaired.
Crooked cops.
He heard the various voices around him but could not comprehend them. It was as if they were speaking a foreign language.
“What’s going on?” Lucette demanded, getting out of his squad car. There was a big crowd, and he radioed for backup.
“These two were fighting,” the bar owner explained, gesturing with a shotgun at the big, red-faced biker and the man under the pile of barflies. “Or… something. I don’t know what happened, but the kid was screaming like a banshee fighting him off.”
“He just attacked me!” the biker protested the first chance he got. “He’s high or crazy; I don’t know what. I didn’t do anything but hold him off.”
“Sure, you did. Move off, let me see him,” Lucette told the pile of men on top of the kid.
“If we shift, he’s going to start fighting again. He’s nuts. Wouldn’t stop.”
The boy was muttering something in a low, desperate tone. Lucette motioned for his partner to cuff the biker and tried to make out what the boy was saying. At first, he thought it was something about the biker, but then it sounded like ‘Riker.’ He got closer to the ground to listen to him and was sure of it. He couldn’t hear every word, just ‘Riker’ repeated several times, and something that sounded like ‘straight cop.’
Lucette stood up and clicked on his radio. “Dispatch, is Riker in one of the units en route?”
There was silence for a moment. “Affirmative. ETA one minute.”
Lucette walked to the curb and looked for the car. It pulled up a minute later. Riker stepped out.
“What’s up, Lucette?”
“You know this junkie over here? I think he’s saying your name.”
Riker walked over and knelt on the ground to look. “Yeah. His name is Gem. Let him go. I’ll look after him.”
They protested. Riker motioned for the man with his foot across Gem’s neck to back off. He reluctantly withdrew. Riker touched Gem’s chin.
“Gem, it’s Riker. Do you hear me?”
“Riker?” Gem croaked.
“Yeah. Now I’m going to get these yokels off your back. You stay still?”
“You put the cuffs on. You take me in. You’re straight, Riker. I know you’re straight.”
“That’s right. So hold still.”
Gem didn’t move. When he was released, Riker patted him down, then pulled Gem’s arms back and cuffed him. He put Gem in his car and went back to find out what had happened. He got back in the car a few minutes later.
“Got yourself in an altercation with a drunk, I guess.”
“You won’t put him and me in the same cell.” Gem’s breathing was still ragged.
“No.”
“You put me in with the Rippers last time. Some cops get a kick out of putting hookers and pimps in the same cell.”
“You aren’t a hooker anymore, and he’s not a pimp.”
“You think I don’t know a pimp when I look him in the eye?”
Riker studied Gem through the grill. The boy was white as a ghost, his eyes so wide his face looked like a mask.
“Is that what you thought? No wonder you were so freaked out. Let’s go to the station and talk. You’re still pretty shaken up.”
Gem said nothing. Riker drove in silence. He put Gem in an interrogation room and left him alone for a few minutes while he got coffee. Out of curiosity, he checked to see if the drunk Gem had tangled with had a record. He looked over Lucette’s shoulder at the computer printout.
“Nice guy,” Lucette commented.
“He really is another Raphael,” Riker said. Gem had tagged him for what he was, all right.
“Who’s Raphael?”
“An acquaintance of Gem’s. One he’s suspected of killing.”
“From the witness’s statements, I can’t say I’m surprised. If the kid had a weapon handy, that guy would be in the morgue right now.”
“He had a knife. Which means he was attacked, not the attacker.”
“You believe the kid’s story? With the state he was in?”
Riker shrugged. “Actually, I do. I’ve been dealing with him for a few months. If he wanted to kill this guy, he would plan it out and get away with it.”
Riker went back to see Gem. He handed him a cup of coffee. Gem was not looking good. His face was swelling up with bruises. But even aside from that, he did not look well.
“Are you high?” Riker questioned suspiciously.
“Low,” Gem contradicted. “Yeah, I’m stoned.”
“Don’t tell me you attacked that guy because you’re hopped up on something.”
“I took downers, not uppers.”
“You’re not acting down. You’re jittery.”
“That’s why I took them,” Gem said impatiently. He reached for the coffee.
“Maybe I’d better make that a decaf,” Riker said.
Gem paused. “You got decaf?”
“I think I can track some down. Let me send someone for some.” Riker stuck his head out in the hallway and sent a junior officer on the mission.
“You got any cigarettes?” Gem asked.
Riker hated sitting in a smoke-filled interrogation room and, of course, it was against city bylaws, but if there was a chance of getting Gem talking, he wasn’t going to throw it away. He got out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter and put them down in front of Gem. Gem shook one out clumsily and put it in his mouth. He tried to light it, but couldn’t get the lighter to work. Riker watched him getting more frustrated, and eventually pried the lighter from Gem’s fingers. He thumbed the lighter, and it worked on the first try. Gem poked his cigarette into the flame and inhaled.
“Now, why don’t you tell me what happened tonight?”
“That fat pimp propositioned me. I turned him down. He grabbed me, and I protected myself.”
“He says you attacked him.”
“Of course he does. What else is he gonna say?” Gem took a deep drag on the cigarette. “Why would I attack someone three times my size?”
“Because you’re high.”
“I couldn’t even get at my blade. If I’d attacked him, I woulda pulled it and split his fat belly, not stood there trying to scratch his eyes out.”
“What about him made you think he was a pimp? We’ve been watching him awhile and haven’t been able to catch him at anything.”
Gem shrugged. “The way he looked me over. The way a girl looks at a dress when she’s deciding whether to add it to her wardrobe.”
“You don’t know anything about his girls or if he runs a shop like Raphael?”
“I never seen him before.”
“Too bad. I wouldn’t mind putting him away for something more than drunk and disorderly.”
Gem’s coffee arrived. Riker thanked the young officer and handed it to Gem.
“Your hands are shaking,” he observed. Gem warmed his hands around the cup, then tucked them under his armpits.
“I’m cold.”
“You’re shivering. It’s not that cold in here,” Riker said, concerned.
Gem nodded, his teeth almost chattering. Riker took off his jacket and laid it over Gem’s shoulders. Gem huddled inside it.
“It’s probably the dope,” Riker said. He took Gem’s wrist and felt his pulse. He looked at Gem’s face while he took it. “I’m going to take you over to the doctor.”
Gem shook his head. “I’m okay. Just cold… and sort of nauseous.”
Riker nodded. “I want to get you looked at.”
He handcuffed Gem again and took him over to see the station’s doctor. It was Dr. Stein, a woman. Tall, brunette, wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.
“Well, what have you got for me today?” she questioned.
“I’m no expert, but I think he’s in shock.”
Dr. Stein ushered Gem in and over to the examining table and looked him over while asking Riker questions. “He was in an accident?”
“No, a fight. But when I got there, he was practically incoherent. I wondered if the emotional stress…”
“Could be. What about drugs?”
“Downers. Can you be any more specific, Gem? What kind of downers?”
Gem shrugged. “Pills. Prescription.”
“Tranquilizers?” she questioned.
“I guess.”
“Your heart is racing. How were you feeling before that?”
“Hyped, worried, worked up…”
“Have you seen a doctor about these feelings of anxiety?”
Riker was interested in Gem’s answer.
“I’ve seen plenty of shrinks about plenty of things. I’ve had lots of downers prescribed before.”
“Were these prescribed to you?”
“No.”
“Have you been drinking too?”
“Yeah.”
“I suspect you’re feeling the effects of mixing street drugs and drinking. Why don’t you tell me about this fight tonight?”
Gem flushed. He glanced aside at Riker and shook his head. “Just a fight. Nothing to tell.”
“How often are you popping pills?”
Gem shrugged. “I gotta have something to keep me cool.”
“Well, you chill here for a minute while I talk to Riker.”
Gem nodded and pulled Riker’s jacket close while they went to the other side of the room to talk.
“Is he a psych case?” Stein questioned.
“Probably. Why do you ask?”
“You should have seen how much his pulse sped up when I asked him about the fight. And it was already abnormally fast. Either he’s got a heart condition, he’s taken uppers instead of downers, or he’s on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.”
“Could be a panic attack. He never struck me as the type before, but I saw him after the fight. He was having a first-class meltdown. And he does have a psychiatric history.”
“Well, to be safe, let’s put him in the hospital for the night. I don’t want to be responsible if he gets worse. I’ll get the form for you.”
Stein found one in her desk. They finished up and went back to Gem. “You’re going to the hospital tonight.”
Gem rolled his eyes. “I’m not sick.”
“You know you are,” Stein said firmly. “And I want you to get a consult to see if you need ongoing medication. No reason to be screwing up your system if an anti-anxiety pill will work for you.”
Gem shrugged. “I told you I been through all that before.”
“Well, try once more. There are a lot of new alternatives. Do you want to walk around with your heart jumping out of your chest all the time?”
Gem shook his head wordlessly.
“Then learn a lesson from tonight and take care of yourself.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RIKER TURNED ON the radio. Gem sat in the back of the car, leaning his head against the side of the car, listening to the quiet hum of the engine. The adrenaline rush started to subside. His heart began to slow down, and his eyelids drooped. He’d taken downers and booze, and with the immediate danger gone, he was starting to feel them.
The hospital was not his favorite place. He’d had plenty of bad experiences in places like that. But doctors were usually kind, and he was taken care of. Institutions came with their own set of problems. But the hospital, for just one night, wouldn’t be so bad.
The Home hadn’t been bad, to begin with. Lots of rich nuts, most with no problem other than not wanting to face the real world. Gem had been lonely, but felt reasonably safe.
Then funding started running out. Instead of a private room, he was in a ward with the violent crazies. He kept getting in fights with the inmates and nurses.
Then he’d stopped seeing Schulz and started seeing a new, weird doctor. Suddenly they were doing hypnosis and regression, and they started giving him meds that made him hallucinate. Then meds to counteract the hallucinations and violent episodes. He was doped up until he couldn’t do anything, then pronounced cured and kicked out.
Riker pulled into the specially marked police stall and opened Gem’s door for him. Gem just sat there and didn’t move.
“Gem, come on.” He still didn’t move or respond. Riker shook him. “Gem.”
Shaking his arm had no effect. Riker pulled his arm a little harder. Gem slid his feet out and stood up. He still didn’t look Riker in the eye. His face was blank. Riker shook him and spoke louder.
“Gem! Snap out of it. Come on!”
Gem did not respond, but he went with Riker when led. Riker took him to the admitting desk in emergency. The nurse at the counter motioned to the clip-boarded forms to be filled out, and Riker handed her the one the doctor had given him. She looked it over and typed on her computer while talking on the phone. She hung up the phone while pulling Gem’s printout off the machine.
“You’re going to be waiting for a while—” she started.
“He’s changed since the doctor at the station saw him.”
“Changed how?” she demanded.
“He’s not responding to me at all. Checked out.”
She stood up, studying Gem. “Gem, can you hear me?” she said loudly. There was no response. She reached over and pinched his arm. Riker winced, but Gem didn’t flinch.
“He’s been taking drugs?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll upgrade him. Go sit down, and a doctor will come get you.”
Riker nodded and went over to the chairs. He sat down. Gem remained standing. Riker shrugged and didn’t try to seat him. Maybe they would get a quicker response if Gem were more obvious.
The halfway house after the Home had been just as bad as the Home, in different ways. No more fights or hypnosis, but he was so drugged out that he could not protect himself against the abuse of the house parents.
But one of them had forgotten to completely close a door one day and another inmate had seen what was going on.
A white-jacketed doctor approached Riker and Gem, glancing over a clipboard. “This is Gem?” he questioned.
“Yes.”
“Let’s get him to an exam room.”
The doctor took Gem firmly by the arm and guided him to a curtained exam area. “This is interesting,” he said aside to Riker as he performed a swift exam on Gem. “Not at all typical for a drug overdose. Your admitting form says he has a psychiatric history?”
“I don’t know any details, but he has been institutionalized.”
“I’d suspect some kind of psychotic break, then. We’ll order a tox screen and detox him if we need to. But I don’t know if that will have any effect on this state. I’ll order a psych consult.” He paused. “Get a nurse to change him and lock up his clothes. And if you want to keep him in custody, put cuffs on him. You never know if this is put on, or how quickly he’ll come out of it. You go to the john, and he’s gone when you get back.”
Riker nodded. That would be just like Gem. He’d disappeared from a hospital while supposedly in a catatonic state once before.
Riker wasn’t going to let that happen again.
* * *
“Where’s Gem been lately?” Rico asked Thrasher.
“I don’t know. Bethany thought he was home a couple of nights ago, but he keeps the bedroom door locked, so she’s not sure.”
“It doesn’t make sense, him disappearing like that. Where would he go?”
“Maybe he went on a bender or something,” Thrasher said with a shrug, “I haven’t seen him for a week.”
Riker got a line on Dee’s brother and was making arrangements to follow up when he got a call from the psych ward at the hospital.
“Hi, it’s Marie,” said the nurse he had gotten to know over the past week that Gem had been at the hospital. “Sleeping beauty has woken up.”
“Great. Does he seem normal?”
“Some anxiety and restlessness, but not bad.”
“I’ll come up at the end of my shift.”
He told Gordon that Gem was awake. “You want to go up with me?”
Gordon shrugged. “I don’t know why you even want to. He’s not being charged for anything. You don’t need to see him for anything.”
“I want to keep up with what he’s up to.”
“Go ahead. I don’t need to be there.”
Gem paced impatiently. He tried to stay away from the other patients. He refused to take any of the meds they wanted to give him. So far, he hadn’t seen a doctor, only nurses, orderlies, and guards. He was too jumpy to sit down or stop moving.
He turned around and was startled to see Riker. “What’re you doing here?”
“Checking up on you.”
Gem snapped his fingers and slapped his legs, fidgeting. “Can you get me out of here?”
“You know I’ve got no say in that. The doctor will release you when he thinks you’re okay.”
“Gotta walk,” Gem snapped, unable to stay still.
Riker walked beside Gem as he paced around the courtyard made available to the psych patients. Because apparently connecting with nature helped even if it was just a patch of worn grass enclosed by four walls of stone.
“You got a smoke?”
Riker had come prepared. He pulled one of them out and lit it for Gem. Gem smoked for a couple of minutes without speaking.
“It was a week?” he asked after a while.
“Yeah. Were you aware of what was going on?”
Gem shook his head. “No. Just dreaming.” He paused. “Except I knew where I was when I woke up.”
“Well, it’s pretty obvious where you are.”
“I knew you brought me here.”
Riker raised his eyebrows. “Maybe you were conscious on some level. What’s the last thing you remember?”
Gem thought back. “Some drunk trying to pick me up.”
“You don’t remember anything else?”
