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As Vera talked, she noticed a vacant look on her son's face. A sick
feeling knotted her stomach. She didn't need a doctor to tell her what was happening.
How many times had her husband, Arnold, had that same expression? Alarmed, Vera picked
up the phone and called Jerome.
"Jerome, it's your brother," said Vera. "It's happening."
"I'll come after I finish this report," replied Jerome, in his detached
clinical voice.
"But, it's your brother!" pleaded Vera.
"I know who he is," Jerome answered tersely. Before Vera could say another
word, he hung up. Vera sat on the couch beside Chuck and tried to keep him as calm
as possible. Two minutes later, Jerome appeared in the doorway. It was just like
his father-- only it wasn't. It was Chuck.
"He'll come out of it in a while," assured Jerome, sitting in a chair facing
the couch. Vera, who was bursting with news, told Jerome everything that had transpired
that morning.
"How old is Charlie?" inquired Jerome, thoughtfully.
"Fifteen. Why?" asked Vera.
"She's old enough to find her way. And if she isn't-- if she hasn't shown up
in forty-eight hours, then I'll go look for her myself," declared Jerome, getting
up.
"But, it could be too late!" exclaimed Vera.
"A policy that's good enough for the police is good enough for me," replied
Jerome.
"But, Charlie is missing now!" panicked Vera, unaware that she was exciting
her son. Chuck, in reflex to his daughter's plight, suddenly jumped to his feet and
bounded across the living room to the front door. With no comprehension of what he
was doing, he attempted to run through the closed door. The next moment, he lay sprawled
in front of the solid wood door, dazed by the blow. Vera gave a cry of distress as
she ran to her son's side.
"I don't think anything's broken!" Vera announced, as Chuck sat up and
looked around. "Help me get him to his feet." The thing was easier said
than done, for as soon as Vera and Jerome tried to help Chuck up off the floor, he
flailed his strong arms and legs wildly, making it dangerous for them to go near
him while he was this disturbed. Whenever a man of Chuck's strength and size becomes
uncontrollable, things grow serious rapidly.
"Stay away from him," instructed Jerome, when Vera again attempted to approach
Chuck. While Vera watched helplessly, Jerome went to the phone and called Henry Gillis,
a trusted doctor who had several patients in Mullen Overholt. Since it was impossible
to move Chuck away from the front door without meeting crazed resistance, the doctor
had to enter the house through the back door. Dr. Gillis shook his head sympathetically
when he saw Chuck.
"So young," he observed sadly. In order for the doctor to administer the
sedative, Jerome had to pin his brother to the floor by putting his weight on Chuck's
chest.
"Has he had an episode like this one since arriving?" Dr. Gillis asked.
Vera and Jerome both replied no. "It's most likely the strain of his daughter
being missing," he concluded. "Until she's found, if you can't keep him
calm, give him these," said the doctor, handing Vera a small bottle of medicine.
"I'd like to see him in my office before the week is through. There's a drug
that could improve his memory."
Now under the calming influence of a sedative, Jerome helped Chuck to his room and
lay him down on the bed. Like a small child, Chuck tucked his legs under his chest
and drifted to sleep. |
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