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If anyone had asked, Eddie would’ve insisted, adamantly, that she was not pacing the length of the living room while waiting for Jamie to return home with news of the City Council’s decision. She would’ve been completely dishonest, of course, but she would have insisted, nonetheless.
The program was a good one. She was certain of that. Mental illness wasn’t something its sufferers had any say in. She’d seen too many innocent people die because their minds didn’t work the same way as everyone else’s – something that was no fault of their own, and yet something they often still ended up being blamed for, when the reports went to the press. She remembered her mother’s stories from back home, of mentally ill children who spent their entire lives in essential prisons, faulted for their own genetic makeup rather than anything they’d actually done. That was what happened when mental illness was seen as something families were meant to be ashamed of. She did not want to be complicit in something even remotely similar to that happening on this side of the world, too.
The door opened and closed while she was in the middle of her pondering, and she nearly jumped out of her skin as her husband hung his coat on a hook in the entryway, dropped his keys in the bowl next to the door, and then made his way into the living room.
“So?” she blurted out the moment he met her gaze.
He blinked once. “Hi,” he said, offering a patient smile as he drew nearer, pressing a quick kiss to her lips.
“Hi,” she repeated impatiently. “So?”
“So…” He trailed off, smile growing larger. “City Council’s decided to continue the program. It’s still on a probationary basis, right now; they’ll reevaluate it in six months, but…”
“But it’s good news,” Eddie finished, nearly giggling with giddy relief.
“It’s good news,” Jamie echoed, sharing in her excitement. “You’re right. If they go about this program the right way, it could save a lot of lives.”
“It’s already saved at least one,” Eddie pointed out.
“It has.” Jamie smiled warmly. “Claire spoke personally to some of the deciding votes, you know. I think you’ll be seeing more of her, down the road.”
“I’m good with that.” She reached up to wind her arms around his neck, pushing up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “You did it,” she whispered proudly against his skin.
“Mm,” he shook his head in denial, “we did it.”
“Yeah,” she murmured, beaming up at him. “We make a good team, don’t we?”
He returned her grin. “The best.”