Babsie groaned.
"C'mon Babsie," Isaac coaxed, shaking her. "Wake up!"
"What is it?" she moaned.
"You have to get up. I just found Matt he," Isaac nearly choked on his words, "he's slit his wrists."
"He did what?" she asked sleepily.
"He's tried to kill himself. Come on Babs! Get up."
"Why would he do that?" Babsie said, sitting up slowly and yawning. "He's a happy chappie, and he's got everything to live for."
"Yeah, well, tell him that. I've called the ambulance."
"Ambulance? Why do we need an ambulance?"
"Because Matt's tried to killed himself. And he may yet succeed! He's slit his wrists and there's blood everywhere."
Babsie blinked at him. Isaac took this as a sign that she had finally comprehended what he was saying through her sleepy haze. He pulled her out of bed and guided her to the downstairs bedroom where Matt had been staying since his surgery earlier that December. The sight of blood woke her.
"Oh no! Matt? Matt!" she freaked.
"He's alive. I've called the ambulance," Isaac told her. "You go get dressed and I'll wake Natalie. She should know what's going on in case we're not back yet when everyone gets up."
"Okay."
Babsie rode in the ambulance with Matt when it arrived and Isaac followed in the car. At the hospital, the doctor assured them that Matt would live. He suggested moving him to the psych ward. Isaac and Babsie agreed.
Babsie was still wiping tears from her eyes in the car on the way back.
"I just... he wanted to kill himself? Why? Why? Why? Why? What did we do? Are we bad parents Ike?"
"I'm sure we're not bad parents," Isaac replied, determined not to even hint that the same thoughts were crossing his mind, a hard task considering how close the two were. "I mean, hey you know how much he loves running, and now he can't. And there was the surgery and everything... maybe he has problems dealing with it. I don't know, honey. I have no idea what caused Matt to do this."
"I don't either. That's what scares me."
There was quiet for a moment.
"I'm sure he's going to be fine," Isaac said at last. "The psych ward should be good for him. Get him out of the house and away from the... the family... I mean, we do have a lot of people in the house, so y'know, there is a lot of noise and even with them having their own rooms - mostly - there isn't a huge lot of privacy. It's all going to work out."
"I know you're trying to convince yourself too," Babsie sniffed.
"Yeah, well, I have to avoid getting emotional right now. I'm trying to drive here. Don't want us ending up in the hospital too."
Babsie gave another sob.