Over the river

I woke Saturday morning - having slept 12 hours - realizing I was getting sicker, rather than better. Stephanie took my temperature (101 degrees) and then took me to the doctor, where I eventually laid down and fell asleep on the floor during a two-hour wait. The staff there said I have flu A, which is a virus. But they said 101 is not super dangerous and I should take Tylenol for that and prescribed some medication to speed up healing. While I was still at the doctor's office, Stephanie went ahead and left - an hour early - to go to see Vincent, which has a twice a-week family vistation from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. There was a traffic jam on I-65, and so she went around on the Sherman Minton bridge, which she used to take every morning on her way to work. She still got there early and waited until 2:30 p.m. to go into a big room and sit with Vincent at a table. Vincent said he was bored. He was actually thinking enough about his future to wonder if all this would make it hard to go to college or get a job (I think theThursday's problems might pose more of a college admissions challenge). Since he'd been there only since Friday, he hadn't seen an individual couneselor. He had done some group therapy and started taking medication. He wondered if the medication made him sleepy but then again going sleepless Thursday night may have contributed to that. Being without his cell phone (which of course helped get him into trouble in the first place) and allowed only to talk with his friend 10 minutes a day (on their phones) are both bugging him. Some of the facilities the Web site touts (rock climbing, treadmill) aren't working. Vincent did play basketball. He rebuffed somebody threatening him by saying - don't you know they're watching us? He said everyone else there is crazy - he's the only normal one. He also said that some people prefer being there than being at home (apparently not him). Apparently they have an elaborate point system - much like what we'd done at home at some points in the past, and Vincent is at the highest point level. If you lose all of your points, you get transferred to an even more secure facility. (Vincent also said the food is a step above school cafeteria food (though the menu sounds pretty similar.) I've been thinking that this would be my one opportunity to visit Vincent, but who knows? We haven't talked with anyone involved in Vincent's treatment since Friday morning. Hopefully, he'll be able to do some one-on-one counseling Monday.

-- Perry