Messed Up

Jon drove into the hospital parking lot at two-thirty in the morning, barely fifteen minutes after Stevie woke him at the motel with her phone call. While she waited for him to arrive, a large gray sedan delivered Senator and Mrs. Bellardi to the hospital entrance.

Stevie handed the computer to Jon, feeling only a little embarrassed about getting him out of bed in the middle of the night. Jon had gone back to the motel after getting the kids to bed. He insisted on coming over, something she had hoped he would do.

Jon read Wes' letter without a word, then set the computer on the console between them. "Tell me what you're thinking about all this," gesturing to the text still on the monitor. Stevie spoke softly. "I'm devastated about Wes. I had no idea he was so messed up inside. It's like losing Dougie all over again."

"We haven't lost him yet, Stevie," Jon said. "He's still alive." "But from the sounds of this letter he doesn't want to be. Wes gave up, Jon. How can he survive without a will to live? What does he have to look forward to?" Jon did not respond.