While I'm Alive

They had spent all night driving around, looking all around town for Norman. They looked at the school, at Emma's house, even at Bradley Martin's old house. Alex had sent out a missing person for Norman and that was all they could do for now.
"Norma? Hey, wake up." Alex says gently, shaking her awake.
She sits up and looks around with confusion before realizing she was in the passenger seat of Alex's car which was parked outside of her motel.
"What? Did you find him?" Norma asks, sitting up and looking around frantically.
"No. No, I'm sorry. I think you should go inside and get some sleep. Dylan and I will keep looking for him." Alex tells her, his hand resting on her thigh.
Norma leans back and shuts her eyes, sighing with sadness. Her hand reaches up to cover her eyes as her chin trembles.
"We're going to find him. Okay?" Alex tells her, unbuckling his seat belt. She shakes her head, trying to hold back her tears. She blames her emotions on her lack of sleep. Alex gets out of the car and walks around to open her door. He gently pulls her out of his car, cradling her tightly against his chest.
"I won't stop looking." he whispers into her hair. Her hands grab his shirt tightly as she begins to cry. She had never felt so helpless.
"Yeah I did leave this number. He's been missing since last night." Dylan says into his phone as he walks out of the motel office. Norma and Alex look over at him curiously.
"Is he there with you?" Dylan asks.
"You found him?" Norma asks, stepping away from Alex toward Dylan.
"Is he okay?" Dylan asks, ignoring Norma.
"Yeah, he-he's my brother. Uh what-what town are you in?" Dylan asks.
"Oh thank god, thank god!" Norma says with relief.
"Where is he? He must be so scared. Can we go get him?" Norma asks.
"Hold on. Hold on." Dylan says to Norma before listening to the phone.
"Yeah, yeah, um...I'm sorry, could you hold on for a second?" Dylan asks before turning to Norma.
"He's in Willamette County in the hospital." he tells Norma.
"How long as he been there? Is he hurt?" Norma asks. Dylan ignores her, listening to the phone.
"What're they saying? What's happening?" Norma asks.
"Excuse me, hold on one sec." Dylan says to the phone. He puts the speaker against the palm of his hand.
"Someone found him lost, talking to himself. He's in a psychiatric unit." he says before putting the phone back up to his ear.
"What?" she asks with disbelief.
"We're on our way." Dylan says, hanging up.
"Okay. We're gonna take your car." Norma tells Dylan.
"No, we can't do that." Dylan tells her.
"What difference does it make?" she asks.
"We can take my car." Alex offers.
"I'm not going with you." Dylan tells them.
"What?" she asks with surprise.
"I'm going to Portland. Emma's lung transplant is this morning." he tells her. Norma's expression softens as she nods.
"O-Okay. I hope she's okay." she tells him, kissing him on the cheek.
"Me too. Be safe, Norma, okay?" he asks.
"Mm-hmm." she says with a nod, watching him get into his car and drive away.
"Don't worry." Alex tells her. She nods, still gazing at the back of Dylan's truck as it disappears down the road.
"You ready to go?" Alex asks, drawing Norma's attention back to him.
"I-I don't think you should come with." she tells him gently.
"I just...I don't know how Norman would take it. And he's already so overwhelmed, I just-"
"It's okay, Norma. You don't have to explain it to me. You go. I'll...I'll call you. Or you can call me." Alex says, feeling embarrassed for having invited himself. Norma senses his unease and grabs the back of his neck, her fingers brushing the ends of his hair.
"I'll call you as soon as I find out what's going on. Thank you, Alex." she says with a smile. He nods, not being able to make his mouth say words because he was too lost in her bright blue eyes that stared passionately into his.
She leans up and closes the distance between them, placing a soft kiss on his lips. His hands sit gently on her waist, his thumbs rubbing her hips.
"Don't be gone for too long, Mrs. Bates." he mumbles against her lips. She smiles and pulls away slightly to look into his eyes.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Sheriff." she replies before pulling away completely.
"Uh, just curious, how long do you think we should keep this a secret from Norman?" Alex asks.
"I...I don't want to talk about right now, Alex." she tells him in a tired voice.
"Okay. But we can't keep pushing this away-"
"I know. I know. Just...not now." she tells him, opening her car door. He nods, digging his own keys out of his pocket.
"Yeah. Fine." he says, sounding upset. Before Norma could say anything, he got into his car and started to drive away.
The drive to the hospital was rather long but Norma spent the entire time practicing what she might say to Norman and how she would act. She didn't want to seem too overbearing but she also wanted him to know that she cared.
When she walked in, the sight was worse than she had imagined. The lights in the halls were dim and the place was so full that there were patients in the hallway strapped to beds. Norma walks up to the receptionist area and knocks on the glass, looking for someone to help her.
"Hello?" she calls out, knocking on the glass again. She sees a hispanic looking woman appear behind the glass looking at her.
"I need to get my son. It's urgent." Norma tells the woman.
"Name?" the woman asks in a bored tone as she sits at the computer.
"His or mine?" Norma asks.
"His." the woman says as if it were obvious.
"Norman Bates." Norma answers. The woman types things into the computer before nodding and turning back to Norma.
"Ah. Well you can't get him. He's under 48-hour observation.
"Who's in charge here? I need to talk to his doctor right now. Come on." Norma says, hoping that if she pushes enough, they will just bend the rules a little bit and let her speak to Norman.
"Yeah, sit down. Take a seat." the woman says.
"Please." she adds as an after thought.
Norma sighs and slowly turns around taking the chair across from where she is standing. She glances around, taking in her surroundings. Each patient was strapped to a bed, some were asleep, some were pulling against the restraints, one was even singing. It definitely wasn't a place for Norman to be.
Her poor baby boy must feel so alone. He just needs his mother. After what felt like forever, a woman finally walks up to Norma.
"Norman Bates' mother?" the woman asks.
"Yes." Norma says, standing up.
"I'm the one in charge. You asked to speak with me?" the woman asks.
"Yes, that's right. I just-"
"Let's go to my office." the woman says, walking past Norma. Norma quickly grabs her things and follows this woman down the hall and into an office.
"Do you know how long i've been sitting out there waiting to talk to you?" Norma asks as they enter her office and sit across from each other.
"This is a county facility." the woman says from behind her desk.
"We're underfunded and overcrowded. If you want to complain to someone, call your county commissioner." the woman says blandly while she retrieves some papers. She spreads them out on her desk and looks up at Norma.
"Now, i've got a few questions for you about your son. He was found in a field in a state of unconsciousness and talking to himself. He was extremely agitated and violent. The farmer was afraid he might be dangerous. Have you ever known him to be dangerous?" the woman asks.
"No. No of course not. No, he is very sweet. One of the sweetest boys who've ever lived. He just...he has these blackouts." Norma explains.
"Who's his doctor?" the woman asks casually as she fills out the forms.
"He doesn't have one."
The woman looks up from the papers with surprise.
"He has blackouts and you've never taken him to see a doctor?"
Norma could feel the judgement in the woman's voice and she didn't like it. She wasn't a bad mother.
"He fainted at school once. They took him to a hospital. They ran some tests but didn't find anything." Norma says defensively.
"But he has regular blackouts."
"Well...I mean...it depends on what you mean by regular." Norma says.
"More than once a year?" the woman asks. Norma pauses, knowing she should've done something sooner. She feels guilty for not having taken Norman's issues more seriously.
"Yes." Norma says quietly. The woman stares at her for a moment longer before going back to writing on the papers.
"You know, I didn't let him get his driver's license." Norma says, attempting to repair her reputation this woman has of her.
"And he has no doctor. And he's never been tried on any medication?" the woman continues.
"No." Norma says, knowing she just buried herself deeper into the hole she dug.
"Are you a Christian Scientist?" the woman asks.
"No."
"Okay." the woman says, collecting the papers.
"Thank you for the information." she says, placing them into a file.
"Can I take him now?" Norma asks.
"No you cannot. He is under observation."
"Can I at least see him?"
"Not until he has been assessed." the woman says, placing the file into a cabinet.
"He is my son. What right do you have to tell me that I can't see my own son?" Norma asks, becoming angry.
"Your son is legally an adult who is quite possibly mentally ill and dangerous. The time for you to take care of him was before this." the woman says harshly.
"If and when we need you, we'll contact you." the woman says before walking out of the office. Norma stays in her seat for a moment, feeling as though she might cry.
She had to do something but she had no power. So she went to the one person who might have a chance to change something about the situation.
"Alex." Norma says, stepping out of her car in front of Alex's house. He had just walks outside and looked like he was heading for his car.
"What is it? What happened?" Alex asks with worry, seeing Norma's tear stained face.
"They put Norman on some sort of medical hold. They won't let me see him. They said that he's 18 and that I have no rights." Norma tells him.
"And you're here to see me because?" he asks. She could hear the attitude in his voice but decided to ignore it.
"I need you to get him out." she says as if it were obvious.
"Norma, I-I...Im not magical. I've got nothing to do with Willamette." he tells her.
"Yeah, but you're the sheriff. Don't you know someone? Can't you pull some strings? Threaten someone? Beat someone up in the parking lot?" Norma rambles on, feeling desperate.
Alex pauses, realizing how serious she was about this. She doesn't ever condone violence and definitely doesn't endorse it. Not unless she was really passionate about something.
"How longs the hold?" he asks.
"48 hours-"
"Okay then you're going to have to wait 48 hours." he tells her. She looks at him with disappointment. It was a look that he didn't like being on the receiving end of.
"Look, my experience is that, in the vast majority of cases, after 48 hours they're going to release him." he tells her confidently.
"Well, what am I supposed to do until then?"
"You wait on it and pray. If you do pray. I...gave that up a long time ago." he ends softly as if confessing a dark secret.
"I...I got to get to work." he tells her.
"Alex, wait. I...I did come to talk about something else." Norma says, stopping him.
"But it...if you don't have time-"
"I have twenty minutes." he tells her after checking his watch.
"Okay. I just...I do want to become public. But before we do that, I need a little bit of reassurance." she begins with nervousness.
"On what?" he asks.
"On us. I mean...I-I'm not asking for a proposal or anything." she tells quickly.
"If you're asking where my head is...I'm all in, Norma. As long as you are, I am too. I have been for a while. You may not be asking for a proposal right now but when we are ready, I can see one in the future." he tells her calmly. She opens her mouth with shock at how bold and open he is being with her. It was a new concept.
"Was that the reassurance you were looking for?" he asks. All she can manage to do is nod quickly and give him a soft smile.
"I really do need to go to work though. I'll talk to you soon though." he tells her, placing a kiss on the corner of her mouth before getting into his car.
When she arrives back at her motel, she is surprised to see an unfamiliar car parked out front of her motel. She pulls up in front of where the woman is sitting and parks her car, getting out.
"I-Is the motel open?" the woman asks.
Norma felt as if she had seen this woman before. Her features were very familiar but she couldn't quite place it.
"I just need a room for a few nights." the woman continues, noticing Norma's silence.
"Do you take cash?" she asks.
"Okay. Yes, of course. Come in." Norma says, walking toward the motel office. Norma flips the lights on and walks around the desk to retrieve the key and the guest book.
"I'm sorry you had to wait. I've been running the motel myself the last few days, and my sons out of town and the girl who usually helps me...well she needed some time off." Norma says, handing the woman a pen.
"You mean Emma?" the woman asks.
"Yes, do you know her?" Norma asks, surprised that she knew of the quiet girl.
"I...spoke to her in the village once the last time I was here. Nice girl." the lady says, signing the guest book before pushing it back to Norma.
"Yes she is." Norma agrees as she reads Audrey Ellis' information.
"Okay, Ms. Ellis. I'm going to put you in room five." Norma says, handing her the key she had grabbed.
"The village is about a mile; it's a beautiful walk, and I will be up at the house if you need anything." Norma says, grabbing her purse.
"All right. Thanks, Norma." Audrey says, making Norma stop in her tracks.
"How did you know my name?" Norma asks, knowing she never gave this lady her name.
"I just saw it on the card there." Audrey says, pointing to the business card. Norma chuckles at how paranoid she is being.
"Oh, of course."
"Have a nice evening." Audrey says, walking out of the office.
"Thanks. You too." Norma calls back as she locks the office. She glances back at Audrey, still feeling like something was off with this woman.
She is probably just being paranoid.
Perhaps she is going crazy.