Saying goodbye is quite possibly one of the hardest parts of being sent away, especially when you don't know how long you'll be gone. Maybe a month, maybe six. You didn't know, and part of you didn't want to know. Part of you feared the prospect of knowing, because if you knew that you'd be gone for a total of four months and thirteen days, you would have cancelled your plane ticket right then and there and not gone at all. But you had to go, so you told yourself you were going for a month, and that's it. No more than a month. After a month you were going to sign the 72 hour release, and take off back home. Somewhere in the back of your mind you knew you were going to stay as long as you needed to, but you held on to the false affirmations. They definitely made you feel better about leaving.
You said goodbye to your brother first. He was one of your biggest supporters, your rock. Dave had given up a whole lot for you. After all, that's what family's for. He had spent months calling up your insurance company to get you into the best treatment center in the U.S., Skaia Trails Residential Rehabilitaion Center. ST for short, the lady at the main office had insisted you call it. ST was the place to go for help with any kind of addiction, ranging from alcohol to cocaine to meth to weed, you could get help there.
"You be good, Rose. I know you can do it," he had said, right before tousling your hair gently. You laughed and kissed him on the cheek, hopping into the drivers' seat of your Impala and assuring him that you would most certainly try, with no guarantees. Next stop, your sister's place.
Roxy Lalonde wasn't that much older than you, only four years. She lived in the city, which turned out to be not as close as you'd remembered it to be. It took about two and a half hours to get to New York City, and another half hour to find a place to park. You ended up parking in a coffeeshop lot and walking about half a mile to her building. You greeted the doorman with a smile and a little wave, and he responded with a tip of his hat. What a nice fellow. You took the lift up to the eighth floor and headed to her door. It took about three minutes for her to actually get to the door, and when she did, she looked like she just got out of bed. She was clad in only a pair of orange boxers that definitely did not belong to her, and a pink tank top. Her boyfriend, a charming young man by the name of Dirk, showed up behind her, hair a beautiful mess. He had on nothing but pajama pants, and you had a feeling that he had spent the night.
"Rose! Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you could make it!" she grinned, opening the door up all the way and stepping aside to let you in. You entered, nodding up once at Dirk. He gave a slight wave, nodding back. You two didn't talk much, and you don't think either of you minded. You sat down on the edge of the couch and the other two followed suit, sitting across from you on the loveseat.
"Hello, Roxy. You too, Dirk. You two must have been busy last night, judging by your attire and the fact that you both look like you just rolled out of bed." Roxy laughed and Dirk looked away, mumbling softly about how you should stop being nosy and get back to business. Rox nudged Dirk in the side.
"Yeah, we were reeeeeeal busy last night. But Dirky here was all outta-"
"Roxy." Dirk glared at her. You had to stifle back a laugh. Roxy was more... "out there" about her sex life than Dirk ever could've hoped to be. Not that he hoped to be inthe slightest. He absolutely hated talking about it with anyone but Roxy. Roxy took the hint from Dirk and ended her sentence there.
"But yeah, m'glad you made it here before flying out to Chicago. We're gonna miss ya, sweetiepie."
"I'll certainly miss you two as well. I'm certainly not excited about leaving home for such an extended period of time." Roxy nodded in understanding. She had gone off to California a few years before for her own alcohol problem, bless her soul. She knew exactly how it felt, and you were definitely glad to have someone close who knew the process.
"I made you a list too for when you get there, things to make sure to do and things to avoid doing." She handed you an envelope, stuffed full of little pieces of paper. "It was supposed to be a list, but I kept remembering different things after I ran outta paper, so I just made each one an individual sticky note. You can stick 'em all over your room at Skaia." You thanked her and put the envelope in your bag.
The rest of the visit wasn't all that eventful. The three of you (mostly you and Roxy, Dirk didn't talk much) talked for a bit more (and by a bit, you mean you were there for almost three hours chatting away), and then exchanged hugs and kisses before you took your leave. Roxy made Dirk walk you back to your car, after putting on streetclothes and combing his hair, of course. The walk was, as you expected, silent. You gave him a kiss on the cheek like you did with Dave, and he gave you one in return, before you jumped into your car and drove off. Next stop: home, where you could spend the rest of the evening with your lovely girlfriend, and, in a twisted turn of events, give her a lovely goodbye present that you know she won't forget.