How to Spend a Night in Jail

Lost in Himself

Much has happened since P's admission to River Edge Inpatient on Monday, April 22.  He remained in the facility for 5 days, was detoxed and dismissed to me one week ago today.  The Nurse Practitioner who treated him there added one medicine to his regimen, an anti-psychotic called Saphris.  It caused night terrors, so after only two days on the therapy, P refused to take it.  

No one could blame him.  On Sunday night, he woke out of a terror and came to my bed, threw his arms around me and trembled and wept like a baby.  I got up with him and we sat together for two hours until he was calm enough to go back to bed.  I slept but he did not close his eyes until Monday night.

He began sneaking around and drinking.  I did all I could to discourage him, but as I have said before, I am not in the detox business.  I knew that he was treating his mania and that it would only exacerbate his symptoms.  One drink is never enough.

On the Tuesday after his dismissal, I went to pay his probation fine.  (I dropped P off at an AA meeting on the way.  They refused to take the payment, saying he was a week late in appearing.  I explained that he was in River Edge the week before, but the clerk didn’t care.  She had rules to follow.  I was instructed to bring Parrish back on Thursday to see his Probation Officer, Mr. Côté, in person.

On Wednesday, I began urging Parrish to stop drinking.  Knowing that he would go to jail of he were caught with alcohol on board, I didn’t worry too much.  When we arrived, Mr. Côté scolded P for not appearing the week before and didn’t seem to care where he had been.  He allowed me to be heard and I explained what was going on.  I told him about the difficulty getting in to see a psychiatrist at River Edge and assured him that I am doing everything I can to find the help Parrish so desperately needs.  

Mr. Côté picked up the phone and asked for “the box.”  When it arrived, he opened a breathalyzer and had P blow.  He blew 1.83, three times the legal limit for blood alcohol.  My mouth dropped and I shook my head and wanted to cry like a baby. 

“What are you going to do?”  

“Mr. Gray, you understand that I can lock you up for 45 days, do you not?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Because your mother is here to support you and she is actively seeking help for you, I’m only going to keep you behind bars for 24 hours.”

I heaved a sigh and looked at P.  I wanted to say something to him but I couldn’t figure out what.  I simply stared at him.

“Mrs. Schlottman, I am ordering you to bring documentation of Parrish’s active treatment at River Edge.  Since you have an appointment on Monday, bring Mr. Gray back here next Thursday with the required documents.  You should come at 2:00 so you there won’t be a mob in the waiting area.”

“Thank you, Mr. Côté.  We will be here with everything you need.”  

While he called a bailiff, I took P’s belt and tie and left the building and got into my car and drove home.


© 2013 cjschlottman