A little update. One of the responding officers called and we ended up having to go to the behavioral health center shortly after I posted. They closed the adolescent unit so we had to go down and discuss options. Nick was being held under guard in an observation room and had calmed down considerably. Many of the staff told me that he was behaving like a perfect gentleman. I spoke with the clinician on duty and she had called in an emergency outpatient clinician. Our options were few. Nick could be sent out of county (at least a 2 hour road trip) for the 72 hour hold, he could have gone to juvenile hall (but he didn’t hurt anyone and complied with the responding officers), he could have been placed in a group home… if he wasn’t a danger to others but a danger to himself instead, or if he could calm himself down and control himself, he could come home. The Clinician on Duty (her name is Chris and she’s a sweetheart) said that they would prefer to see if we could get Nick to a mental state where he would be safe to come home. She also said that after we were done talking I could go in and spend time with Nick.

They had three guards in that section of the center. Nick must have been bored out of his mind as all that was in the room other than furniture were some magazines. He told me that he read all of them. The older security guard was sweet and brought Nick dinner and was checking up on him to make sure he was okay. The Emergency clinician came and we began working with Nick. He really didn’t want to process anything that happened or to deal with the aftermath. We must have spent a good three hours working with him. We would get to a spot that looked good, but when we would explore another area further, he would begin to get angry and aggressive again. Finally after a ton of work (both myself and the clinician), Nick seemed to be finally working through it. Slowly he became more relaxed and was willing to accept all the consequences, no matter how much he didn’t like them. He was finally able to accept responsibility for his actions.

Nick was able to come home with us tonight. He is really mellow right now. I’ve told him that he is going to take a mental health day from school tomorrow. Because he is clearly in crisis, he will also have a clinician from the responding agency work with him over the next few weeks, both at home and at school. Mentally, I’m exhausted right now. I think I used every bit of whatever I have in me to deal with all the hard stuff up tonight. I know I am going to sleep hard. Dinner consisted of whatever we could get at the drive through. It was nearly 10 before we got home and I was just too tired to even do leftovers.

Sydney handled all of this much better than I anticipated. Spurg was really good in dealing with all of this too. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a much quieter and mellow day. I really could use it. So right now, we are all home safe and sound, calm and quiet. We are all going to get a really good night of sleep and if I sleep in a little, that would be great in my book.

I’m sorry if I sound a bit out of it. I’m just tired and running on leftover adrenalin right now, and I have a headache on top of it all. I know that it’s just a matter of time before my body tells me “That’s it. You’re done, it’s all over and you need to get some serious rest.” I plan on doing that in just a few minutes, I promise.

Before I go, I want to tell each and every one of you, Thank you. I’ve gotten and read all of your comments. I cannot even begin to express how much your words mean to me, or how much you have each touched me with your thoughtfulness and caring. Yes, they do come through your words, and even if you can’t give me a real hug, the virtual hugs were felt and just as much appreciated. Tonight I realize, even though I may have never met any of you, just how lucky I am to call each and everyone of you my friends. I love you all dearly for that. Really big hugs to you all.