Chapter 20 - Silas asks if he was sick
Silas was seven when he finally asked directly:
“Was North Ridge a hospital?”
“Sort of. A treatment center.”
“For sick kids?”
“For kids who need more help than they can get at home for a while.”
“Was I sick?”
“No.”
Immediate.
“You were having a hard time with some things.”
“Missing Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Missing you?”
“Yes.”
“Is that sick?”
“No.”
He thought.
“Grandma said it was.”
“Grandma was wrong about that.”
“Did she think I was bad?”
“I think she believed you needed stricter help.”
“That means bad.”
“Not necessarily.”
He frowned.
“Did you think I needed to go?”
“No.”
“Would you ever send me somewhere?”
Hard question.
“If you were seriously ill and needed treatment I couldn’t safely provide at home, I would get you the care you needed.”
His face changed.
“Even if I said no?”
“Sometimes parents have to make hard medical decisions.”
He looked frightened.
I continued immediately.
“But not because you miss me. Not because you cry. Not because you ask to go home.”
There.
The distinction.
He relaxed.
“What if I’m annoying?”
“You are frequently annoying.”
He laughed.
“Do I go away?”
“No.”
“Good.”
The concept of residential treatment did not need to become evil.
That mattered too.
Some children genuinely need intensive care.
May you like
Silas did not.
Millicent’s abuse of the concept did not make treatment itself shameful.
