Kara says, “I want to remain a part of her life too. I want to make sure Cindy as well taken care of, whether that is by Sylvia, JJ or possibly by Daniel and myself, is not as important as her well-being.”
Uncle George smiles saying, “You are going to make a great mother Kara, and you are going to be a great father Daniel.”
I look at Uncle George and say, “I feel the same way about them. However, to make this work Sylvia will have to cooperate and the sooner we can talk to her and convince her this is for her benefit and Cindy’s benefit the more I feel she will work together with us.”
Uncle George looks at Kara then me he says, “Could you meet with her tomorrow afternoon. I know that short notice, but next week school starts again right?”
I shake my head yes. Kara says, “It should be good for me too.”
Uncle George replies, “I will make the arrangements in the morning, be ready by 1 o’clock.”
The next day at 1 o’clock finds Kara and me in a visiting room at the state women’s correctional facility. We had completed visitor paperwork, before getting passes and then escorted into a small room. This is the minimum-security prison for the state. We go through a metal detector, and patted down, before allowed into a divided room, a glass wall with a telephone handset separates the room.
Sylvia brought in and seated opposite us. The guard moves back closes a door behind Sylvia sliding a bolt from the outside enclosing Sylvia in her visiting booth. The guard only goes back to the station near the door to this section.
Sylvia and I pick up the phone to begin our conversation. I began, “Good afternoon Sylvia I would like to introduce myself. I am JJ Meyer for the next few months I am Cindy’s foster father. This is my sister-in-law Kara Akins she and her husband Daniel will be your sponsors. If you accept our proposal they are prepared to offer you employment, as part of your parole.”
Sylvia is blinking rapidly and one of her eyes looks strange, it is not wondering it looks slightly droopy. I have seen fighters who have taken a strong blow to the head have similar looks, similar to a concussion. Other than the obvious, Sylvia is an older version of Cindy. The orange prison jumpsuit hides her body well, and no true detail other than the fact that she is not overly heavy is discernible.
I hand the phone to Kara. Kara begins, “It is come to light, that during your criminal activities before your imprisonment that you involved Cindy. That will not be prosecuted at this time, or even brought up to the parole board, but Cindy’s well-being needs addressed. When you start your parole, because of these facts you have limited visitation rights to Cindy that will expand over time. This will allow two things, for Cindy to remain in a stable environment and guarantee that you will not again involved Cindy in any criminal activity. If you do, not only your parole be revoked, it will terminate your visitation rights and parental rights. That is not something we wish to see because it would be devastating to Cindy.”
Kara said that exactly how Uncle George worded it, it is not going to be part of her parole but he will order it if need be. We have paperwork prepared for Sylvia to sign agreeing to that voluntarily. By the agreement, her parental visitation expands much faster than if we had to have it ordered. Is not something we want to begin a fight about, but Cindy’s well-being must be paramount.
I am not sure because Sylvia seems even paler now than when she walked in. It could be the strain of the conversation we are having affecting her. It looks like something worse to me. I try to get the guard’s attention, but it seems to be elsewhere. Sylvia slumps backwards obviously in great distress. Her chest ceases to rise and fall, and I fear I am witnessing her death, from either stroke or heart attack. I begin to slam on the glass, hoping that would bring the guard and emergency help. The guard is oblivious to what is occurring. It has been at least thirty seconds and still Sylvia has not taken a breath. Kara runs to get another guard from our side hopefully to bring emergency help.
Again, I slam on the glass and the guard still is unaware. Now in desperation, I use all my strength and the glass cracks down the center; I pull the halves away as alarm sound. I go across and begin CPR. A guard comes from our side, seeing I am performing CPR he ignores the broken glass and comes across to begin two person CPR. Sylvia had a pulse, but she had stopped breathing.
I inform him, “Possible stroke, I found a pulse but no breathing.” He places his fingers over her carotid artery to monitor her pulse. I give two more breaths. He shakes his head yes, and I began a five count until the next two breaths.
A second guard is calling for emergency aid from the prison clinic, and three more guards rush in obviously one is very high-ranking. Using his key goes through a doorway finding the guard doing something on his iPhone, he slaps him in the back of the head to get his attention. Now his ear buds drop as his face goes white.
Emergency help arrives within a minute. Handcuffed, I give no resistance while walked into the outer waiting area. Kara is upset seeing how I am treated, not realizing I broke down the glass to begin CPR.
Kara began shouting, “Why is he in handcuffs, he did not do anything wrong. Your idiot guard was not paying any attention.”
The guard informed her, “He just broke into prison.”
Kara’s eyes go wide looking at me. Kara asks, “JJ is Sylvia still alive?”
The only thing I can do is shrug my shoulders, and say truthfully, “She stopped breathing. I started CPR until EMTs came and put her on a ventilator, and were monitoring her heart beat the last I seem.”
The high-ranking guard returns looking at me he asks, “How the hell did you do that? You breaking that Plexiglas is supposed to be humanly impossible.”
I shrug my shoulders and ask, “Am I under arrest?”
The guard lieutenant informs me, “We had enough time to look through the surveillance, and it looks like you tried for thirty-five seconds to get the guard’s attention before the young lady left. About twenty seconds after that you broke the divider, and begin CPR. Because you did not try to leave with the prisoner you will not be charged.”
I hand him the handcuffs. “So these are not needed.”
Kara begins giggling at his expression, but become serious very quickly. She looks him in the eye and ask, “What is being done for Sylvia?”
The guard lieutenant says, “She is being prepared for transport to the nearest medical facility capable of handling her condition. Our clinic here is not capable of handling a stroke case. Your friend here saved her life, according to our doctor. She is again breathing on her own, but will require monitoring.”
I ask, “Would it be possible that we are informed of any change to her condition?”
The guard lieutenant asks, “Are you related to Sylvia?”
I informed him, “I am JJ Meyer her daughter’s foster father, and this is my sister-in-law Kara Akins, she will be one of her sponsors.”
He gives me a shake of his head and says, “Before you go the Wharton wishes a word with you.”
He leads us into the administrative offices. They are off a hallway leading away from the waiting room. He knocks on a door, waiting for the reply he says, “If I had not seen the video I would never have believed anyone by themselves could break that barrier.”
A mumbled reply comes through the door in the guard lieutenant opens the door and ushers us in. In front of a large desk, he introduces us to the Wharton. “Sir, this is Mr. Meyer and Mrs. Akins they were involved with the incident involving Sylvia Conn.”
The Wharton is an older gentleman, possibly in his late 50s, judging from the amount of salt and pepper, showing salt more than pepper and the amount of wrinkles on his face. Extending his hand to me he says, “Mr. Meyer you are reputation proceeds you somewhat. When the incident occurred, I took the liberty of researching exactly who you are. You have a very interesting folder young man.”
I give him a firm handshake saying, “Thank you sir, I think.”
He chuckles and motions for Kara and me to set, he asks, “Would you care for anything to drink before I begin the business of debriefing you. Unfortunately it is necessary to get a statement concerning the events that occurred.”
Kara and I both decline with, “Thank you we do not need anything at the moment.”
Kara and I go over the events, I point out the observations I noticed, prior to breaking the barrier. Kara confirms my observations, and again ask to be Up-to-date on Sylvia’s condition. Once our statements are finished, the Wharton releases us; he does inform me that I may be charged for destruction of government property, a misdemeanor requiring that I pay for the damages.
I reply, “Send me the bill for the repairs. I will gladly replace the barrier. No need to involve paying lawyers to recoup the government’s losses.”
The Wharton chuckles, turning to the guard lieutenant he hands him five dollars. The guard lieutenant says, “I knew he was not going to buck on paying the repairs.”
The guard lieutenant walks us out, in the waiting room he says, “We will contact you if there is any change in Sylvia’s condition. By now she is at the hospital, if you give me a few minutes I can see if there is an update.” Kara and I set nervously waiting, when he returns his face is grim and I fear the news is not good. After a deep breath the guard lieutenant says, “They begin the work up as soon as she arrived, it is not a stroke she had. Apparently, it is some sort of tumor. That is all we know so far, but she will be remaining in the hospital for further care.”
Kara is white faced and shaking on hearing the news. With nothing to accomplish here we bid the guard lieutenant goodbye and return to our vehicle for the drive home. Once away from the correctional facility Kara turns to me. She confesses tearfully, “JJ I hate to say this, if Sylvia dies, it will be so easy to adopt Cindy. I never wished for anyone to die, I do not really now. It is just that I want to be Cindy’s Mom so bad.”
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