Kathleen Carroll
Mrs. Loughlin
Honors Freshman English
5 October 2015
One Moment
Everything can change in an instant. Olivia tried to wrap her mind around that thought as she stared at the blank ivory wall of the room Matt was in. Although some things took place over a period of time, ultimately it came down to just one moment.
Matthew had always been more than just Olivia’s older brother; they were best friends. Throughout their childhood, they had always been there for each other: standing up for each other, helping each other, and even lying for each other.
All of that changed when he swallowed his first opioid painkiller.
Even three months ago, Matt had been a normal 17-year old boy (if such a thing even existed). He was a …show more content…
They had prescribed him Vicodin to treat pain. The attending physician handed him a small orange canister with five white pills inside - a five day supply.
And ten minutes later, a nurse came in with a second tiny container with five more pills inside. “Just in case you need them.” She winked.
The last day or so that Olivia spent in the hospital with her brother seemed normal. They chatted and for the first time ever, she let him control the remote; she spent the next three hours watching a football game, getting up every so often if Matthew needed a blanket or more water from the nursing station.
He hadn’t been in pain since the day of the operation, thanks to the painkillers. Three days after Matthew’s surgery, he was discharged. As she pushed his wheelchair down a series of pristinely white corridors, Olivia began to relax. Everything would finally go back to normal.
On Matthew’s first day back in the house, Olivia sat with him in the breakfast nook. For the first time ever, he didn’t look like the Matthew she had grown up with; his skin had an almost white shade to it, as if he were a vampire, and his lips had a faint blue tint to …show more content…
“Look, I know you like to write, and writing is a lot of inventing. But I don’t appreciate you making up stories about my son. I raised him, and I know that he knows better than to do what it is that you’re hinting at.”
“So you’re not even going to acknowledge this?” Olivia’s eyes widened at her mother in disbelief. She identified the feeling in the pit of her stomach as her emotions changed from sympathy for her brother to anger at her mother.
“Give him a few weeks. Just wait and see. This is all in your head.”
“Just listen to what I’m saying.”
Olivia’s mother glared at her. “Only someone who was sick in their head would do that!”
Olivia stared at her mother. “Just because he made a bad decision doesn’t make him a bad person.”
Her mother huffed. “Give him two weeks. He’ll be fine. Just you wait and see.”
Two weeks went by in a blur of more and more excuses from Matthew about why he was skipping school and church and work and baseball, meanwhile his contact with his sister was becoming less and less.
Olivia walked in the door from swim practice at about eight-thirty on Wednesday night, about two weeks after her brother’s surgery. She sat down to finish her homework, and had gotten about two pages’ worth of her required reading for the night done when Matt walked
Mrs. Loughlin
Honors Freshman English
5 October 2015
One Moment
Everything can change in an instant. Olivia tried to wrap her mind around that thought as she stared at the blank ivory wall of the room Matt was in. Although some things took place over a period of time, ultimately it came down to just one moment.
Matthew had always been more than just Olivia’s older brother; they were best friends. Throughout their childhood, they had always been there for each other: standing up for each other, helping each other, and even lying for each other.
All of that changed when he swallowed his first opioid painkiller.
Even three months ago, Matt had been a normal 17-year old boy (if such a thing even existed). He was a …show more content…
They had prescribed him Vicodin to treat pain. The attending physician handed him a small orange canister with five white pills inside - a five day supply.
And ten minutes later, a nurse came in with a second tiny container with five more pills inside. “Just in case you need them.” She winked.
The last day or so that Olivia spent in the hospital with her brother seemed normal. They chatted and for the first time ever, she let him control the remote; she spent the next three hours watching a football game, getting up every so often if Matthew needed a blanket or more water from the nursing station.
He hadn’t been in pain since the day of the operation, thanks to the painkillers. Three days after Matthew’s surgery, he was discharged. As she pushed his wheelchair down a series of pristinely white corridors, Olivia began to relax. Everything would finally go back to normal.
On Matthew’s first day back in the house, Olivia sat with him in the breakfast nook. For the first time ever, he didn’t look like the Matthew she had grown up with; his skin had an almost white shade to it, as if he were a vampire, and his lips had a faint blue tint to …show more content…
“Look, I know you like to write, and writing is a lot of inventing. But I don’t appreciate you making up stories about my son. I raised him, and I know that he knows better than to do what it is that you’re hinting at.”
“So you’re not even going to acknowledge this?” Olivia’s eyes widened at her mother in disbelief. She identified the feeling in the pit of her stomach as her emotions changed from sympathy for her brother to anger at her mother.
“Give him a few weeks. Just wait and see. This is all in your head.”
“Just listen to what I’m saying.”
Olivia’s mother glared at her. “Only someone who was sick in their head would do that!”
Olivia stared at her mother. “Just because he made a bad decision doesn’t make him a bad person.”
Her mother huffed. “Give him two weeks. He’ll be fine. Just you wait and see.”
Two weeks went by in a blur of more and more excuses from Matthew about why he was skipping school and church and work and baseball, meanwhile his contact with his sister was becoming less and less.
Olivia walked in the door from swim practice at about eight-thirty on Wednesday night, about two weeks after her brother’s surgery. She sat down to finish her homework, and had gotten about two pages’ worth of her required reading for the night done when Matt walked