Page 37 of One More Round

Gia struggles to regain her composure and I’m sure that by the way she is struggling with deep breaths that she is about to have a breakdown. I’ve seen them a few times before. And I know she used to have some anxiety medication, as a just-in-case precaution. She has always been prone to anxiety. When her mom first wanted her to go on it, she didn’t want to because it made her feel like there was something wrong with her. She thought it would make her too much like Todd.

I did a lot of research—well, as much as a 15-year-old boy could muster—and found that more than two million teens in the US suffer from some form of anxiety or depression. And that 40 million adults in the US suffer from anxiety. So, it’s freaking common. Reluctantly, she got the medicine but only took it when it was absolutely necessary.

“A twin? Gia. Why would you hide this from me?” Morgan asks still confused. I can tell by the way Dex has his arm around her and the look on her face that she is hurt and he’s trying to protect her even though there is no threat. And as much as I care for Gia, I understand Morgan’s pain and confusion. Gia will have a lot of explaining to do. But right now, I need to get her out of the spotlight and calmed down.

“I know Gia will explain everything, but right now, let's give her some time to process this,” I say to the group. I look around, and aside from Morgan’s obvious anguish, everyone else seems to be more concerned and confused.

“Come on, let's go back to your room,” I softly say into Gia’s ear. She barely nods as I guide her back to her room.

I close the door behind us and she makes her way to her bed. She sits down on the edge with her hands over her chest. Her breathing starts to become more rapid and shorter. Her eyes dart around the room and tears begin to flow down her face. I kneel in front of her and grab her head in my hands to force her to look at me.

“Gia. You need to breathe. Having an anxiety attack is not going to help you right now.”

“I … I … I …,” she stutters between breaths.

“Where’s your anxiety medicine? Do you still have that?” She nods her head and points to her nightstand. I head over to it but I don’t see any medication, so I open the drawer. There isn’t a lot of stuff in there, so it’s easy to find the small prescription bottle. I take a quick check of the label to see what I’m about to give her, Xanax, then empty out one into my palm. I hand it and the water bottle that was on her desk to her, and she washes it down.

I sit next to her and pull her back onto the bed. I wrap my arms around her and her head falls against my shoulder. Feeling her breath on my neck, I notice she is starting to calm down.

The tears are still pouring but at least she regains control of her breathing. I whisper more calming words and kiss her forehead. I’ve done this plenty of times in the past. I was always who she came to when she needed comforting. I’d hug her and tell her everything was going to be alright. My heart hurts for her knowing that once I was no longer in her life she didn’t have anyone. How did she deal with Todd’s issues? How did she handle her mom always making her out to be the one with the problems? Not having someone to lean on? Why didn’t she let Morgan all the way in? I feel bad for her, bad for the damage control that this whole mess will need. Lying to your best friend about such a massive part of your life, and for so long, is bound to have some fallout.

We lie there for a while. I’m not sure how long. But a small tap comes at the door and Gia is almost limp in my arms. I know she is awake, but the medicine has fully kicked in and she is as calm as she’s going to get.

I gently move her aside so I can get up and open the door. Ruby stands there with concern sketched on her face.

She holds out a phone while trying to look past my shoulder. “Her phone has been ringing. It took us a minute to find it. Her mom’s been calling.” She bites her lip and asks, “Is she OK?”

“Yeah, she took some medicine, she’s kinda out of it right now. She’ll probably fall asleep soon. I’ll come back out in a bit.” I take the phone from her as it starts to ring again. I start to turn away and close the door when Ruby grabs my arm.

“Simon. Thank you for being there for her. We had no idea, and she clearly needs someone right now.”

I just nod and close the door. Walking over to Gia, I sit down next to her, little hiccups of tears still breaking free from her eyes.

I place a hand on her arm and squeeze. “G. Your mom has been calling. I think you should probably call her back.” She wipes her tear-stained face while nodding her head and rolling over then scooting up to lean against her pillows. She takes the phone right as it starts to ring again.

With a deep breath she answers the phone. I rest my hand on her knee but I’m wondering if I should leave and let her have this moment with her mom. I move to get up and as quick as a cat, she darts forward grabbing my hand and pulling me back to her. She shakes her head and she moves to the center of the bed. So, I take the spot next to her.

She puts the phone on speaker and leans into me. Her mom is frantic, as is to be expected. She tells Gia about what happened, most of which the news report didn’t report.

According to some voicemails he left on their dad’s phone, he was having a powerful delusional manic episode. He thought he was being followed and that he was going to be sent on a top-secret mission. In his delusional state, he at some point knew he needed to get to a hospital but drove his car into the side of the building because he thought he was being followed. When he stumbled into the building, he started spouting off that he was being followed and at any moment he was going to have to start obeying his government-issued orders or he would be taken out. Since he reeked of alcohol the staff thought he was also high as a kite due to the things he was saying. He wasn’t high, though. They attempted to sedate him but that's when he started attacking some of the staff.

The fact that her mom already knows this much detail boggles my mind. Then she tells us that there was an extended play-by-play voicemail. Todd was so worried he was going to die he needed someone to know what was going on.

Her mom goes from hysterical to calm back to hysterical throughout the whole conversation. Gia says very little. I can’t believe that after all these years, Gia is still dealing with the drama that Todd leaves in his wake.

Mrs. Newman tells Gia that Todd is expected to be alright, but he is currently in surgery to remove the bullet from his left shoulder. She also informs Gia that she is expected to come home to visit Todd in the hospital within the next 24 hours. Out of all the information she has laid on Gia, this is the piece of news that causes her anxiety to skyrocket again. I put my arm around her and pull her in.

“I’ll go with you,” I whisper in her ear.

Because I will. I’m pretty sure after only a week of us back to being friends, that I’d do just about anything for her. Give me another week and I won’t even hesitate.

Gia hangs up with her mom and she buries her face into my chest. I don’t see any new tears, so that’s a good sign. I embrace her and slide us down on the bed.

The new position garners some excitement in my pants, which is ridiculous since this is clearly not the time for it. Her leg tangles itself over mine and … being this close—in her bed—this is new territory for us. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about our make-out last week, and I want it to happen again. Soon. If this whole mess hadn’t just happened to her brother, I’d be making my case for it to happen now.

“You’ll really come with me?”

“Absolutely.”

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