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Chapter Nineteen
Point of View: Narrator

The Carter family was one hard group to track down, as Dr. Haseltine found out. They were even harder to synchronize free times with. Somehow, despite the trouble it took, he had gotten all of them to agree to come to visit on Nick's ninth day at Oak Groves.

Aaron and Angel, the twins, showed up first around ten o'clock in the morning. The nurse showed them in to the room that looked like a living room but was really a patient therapy area. Angel was standing by the window looking out at a garden far below with tulips growing up toward the sun, while Aaron texted madly on his phone, sprawled across the sofa.

They were joined next by Bobbie Jean, who sat down by Aaron's feet on the edge of the sofa, clutching a little white dog whose head was sticking out of a big book bag on her shoulder. Her long fingernails were scarlet and stood out against the dog's pale fur. Aaron pulled his knees up to make room, but said nothing by way of greeting. Angel said a stiff "hey" in answer to Bobbie Jean's own stiff "hey", and they waited otherwise in silence for the others.

Next to show was Robert, who looked like a sun-aged version of Aaron, with blonde hair that stood against his tan in an almost fake kind of way. His blue eyes, however, definitely belonged to Nick, and he popped his knuckles, awkwardly looking at his kids, unsure what to say to them. Angel had given him a hug, after squealing, "Daddy!" when he walked in, but neither of the other two had really reacted to his arrival. Again, all Bobbie Jean had to offer was a stiff "hey".

Jane came next. She and Robert regarded each other civilly, yet there was a heavy sheet of ice that dropped between them, and they didn't even bother trying to pretend they were interested in shaking hands. Jane stood on the opposite side of the room from Robert, and Bobbie Jean went to stand closer to her, talking in hushed tones, wondering what point all this had. "It's not like we're going to magically heal him," she muttered to her mother, rolling her eyes.

Dr. Haseltine entered the room, Nick towing behind him, staring at his sneakers. Leslie hadn't gotten there yet. Dr. Haseltine looked at his watch as they all sat down in chairs, the entire family looking at Nick as though he were something in the way of their prior plans, and glancing at their watches or cell phones, checking for the time.

"While we wait for Leslie," Dr. Haseltine said, "We may as well begin by introducing ourselves. My name is Floyd Haseltine, and I am Nick's psychologist here at Oak Groves. My job is to help Nick figure out why he depends on alcohol to make him happy, and how to overcome that so that he can be healthy and happy." He paused. "Since you all know each other, I won't ask you to go into long detail, I'm just interested in knowing who you all are."

"BJ," said BJ, first, who was on Nick's left.

"Aaron."

"Jane, his mother."

"Angel."

"I'm Nick's father, Robert, sir. Pleased to meet you." Robert stuck out his hand and half stood to shake with Dr. Haseltine.

"Did I miss anything good?" came Leslie's thick, floaty voice. She sat in the only remaining chair - between Nick and Bobbie Jean, and looked around.

"Introductions," answered Aaron, rolling his eyes.

"And you are?" asked Dr. Haseltine.

"Leslie," she answered. She glanced at Nick for a long moment, then looked away, her eyes having landed on the fading spot on his temple where the stitches had been taken out. It turned her stomach. Of all his family members, Leslie was easily the one most disturbed by the story that had been on the news for the past two weeks about Nick's accident and the disappearance into Oak Groves.

"Thank you for joining us, Leslie," said Dr. Haseltine in a friendly tone. He looked around the room. "You seem like a very nice family," he commented.

"Thank you, doctor," said Jane in a breathy voice. "We've always been so close. I couldn't believe the news when my baby was hurt. I wanted to come to him so badly before this..."

Aaron scoffed.

Nick was staring at his hands, silent, chewing violently on his lip.

"Aaron?" said Dr. Haseltine, "Is there something you'd like to say?"

"Yeah," Aaron said, "Just that what she just said is a total load of crap."

Jane looked at him, offended. Angel rolled her eyes, "Don't even look surprised," she snapped.

Leslie leaned back, sighing dramatically, and Aaron pulled his cell phone back out and started texting again.

"You were always absent," Robert said, agreeing with Aaron's statement, "That's what broke us apart to begin with."

"Stop it," Nick whispered.

Nobody heard him, though, and one by one the other members of the Carter family worked themselves up more and more, flinging insults and remarks at each other. Dr. Haseltine watched as Nick became more and more agitated the longer this went on. "Stop it," Nick whispered again, his eyes fixed to a spot on the carpet. "Stop it. Stop it."

"You were never there," Aaron was yelling, not even looking up from his cell phone. "Yet you always act like you were super mom or something..."

"I was always there, you lacked nothing," she yelled, her voice rising.

"Only because of Nick's paychecks from the band," shouted Bobbie Jean loudly, turning against Jane now, too.

"Stop it." Nick's voice was pleading, but they still ignored him.

"You worked him like a fucking horse," she added, her voice matching the volume of Jane's denials. "That's how he ended up in the stupid band to begin with!"

Dr. Haseltine was just about to speak up and bring the argument to a halt when Nick struggled to his feet, cast on his knee and all and screamed, "STOP IT! Jesus, I can't take it when you people fight! So just STOP IT." He dropped back into the wheel chair and returned his gaze to the carpet. Appropriately reprimanded, the other Carters sat there, looking sheepish, passing glances between each other.