30 minutes later, when McCoy had emerged from the bathroom, he had showered, shaved and put on clean clothes. Dr. Abraham was just finishing putting the final touches on a hasty cleaning job that had largely consisted of removing all the alcohol bottles and fast-food containers and bundling the rubbish into the disposal chute. Abraham pulled one last half-full bottle of bourbon from where it was laying half-way tucked underneath the couch and tossed it before turning around to look at his friend. McCoy looked better than he had when he first saw him, he had cleaned himself up, but the neglect he had shown himself in the past few months showed. His face was worn-out and thin, his clothes hung off him, a testament to too many "liquid" meals, and he had a general air of exhaustion. Abraham' forced a smile as he looked at his friend and said "Let's go"

McCoy looked around the café they were in feeling uncomfortable in the crowd of people. There were too many people, humans and other races who were, ordering beverages, eating and fooling around on data pads. He hadn't left his apartment in over a week and then it had been to buy more alcohol, he wasn't ready for this. He started as something ran past his table, it was a little girl. He watched as the little girl, who looked a lot like Joanna ran up to a man and pulled herself up into his lap , the women sitting next to the man laughed and tickled the girl. The scene reminded him of when he and Jocelyn used to take Joanna out. McCoy turned away from the sight blinking furiously, why did he crave another drink all of a sudden?

"Leonard?" Abraham's voice pulled him back from his reflection

"Hmm?" McCoy replied glancing at the neurologist who was pulling apart a large pastry, the girl's giggles filled the background, cutting into McCoy. He remembered how Joanna would giggle, when he picked her up and swung her around.

"I was saying, do you have any plans?'

"No... Not really" McCoy said distractedly, thinking unless getting drunk every night, so you didn't have to deal with reality counted. He glanced over at the table as the girl climbed down and started scrambling after a ball she had dropped. Her tongue tucked in the corner of her mouth, just like Joanna had when she was concentrating on something.

"Leonard, I was thinking, and I want you to hear me out" Abraham said continuing, not noticing his friend's attention was elsewhere.

" Okay" McCoy said vaguely feeling an almost physical pain, watching the girl as she grabbed for the ball and it rolled farther way, a lock of hair had fallen into her face and she brushed it away impatiently with the back of her hand, just like Joanna.

"I have some connections" Abrahams said oblivious to the fact that McCoy wasn't even paying him any attention. "And I think-"

"Damn it, can't you control your kid!" McCoy yelled losing it, he stood up, knocking his chair backwards, as the girl who was still chasing after her ball, bumped into him as she tried to pick up her ball which had rolled near his foot. All heads in the café turned to look at him, and the noise level dropped precipitously. " People should be able to F-king go somewhere without someone's F-king kid bothering them" he shouted, the girl looked startled then started crying, her face screwing itself up just like Joanna's, McCoy looked down at her and muttered "Sh-", then strode out of the café, all of the patrons staring at him.

Abraham hastily dropped some money on the table as the mother went to console the girl while simultaneously trying to prevent her husband from following after McCoy. The noise in the restaurant went back up as all of the patrons started talking about McCoy.

"What a jerk"

"Somebody should tell the manager and that bastard shouldn't be allowed in here anymore"

"Hey, somebody needs to tell your friend to get an attitude adjustment before he gets his ass kick-"

Abraham was outside the café before the man could finish the rest of his comment, he looked around for McCoy who was nowhere in sight. After searching everywhere, He finally found him almost two hours later staring out over the edge of a bridge, one hand resting over the edge, the other holding an open half-full bottle of whiskey. As Abraham watched Dr. McCoy took another swig.

Abraham walked up to his friend; McCoy turned around and glanced at the neurologist, and said "Come to chastise me?' his voice was surprisingly sober for the quantity of alcohol he must have drank. Before the neurologist could reply, McCoy had continued reflectively, glancing at the bottle he held in his hand "you know… I just can't seem to get drunk"

"Give me the bottle, Leonard" Abraham said softly, holding out his hand.

McCoy looked at the bottle briefly considering, and Abraham thought he would refuse, then he passed it over to the neurologist, with a sigh.

"I'm a failure as a husband, as a father, everything" McCoy said turning towards Abraham his voice miserable, his shoulders slumped.

Abrahms looked at McCoy and recognized that he was drunk, only he hadn't drunk himself into the stupor that Abraham suspected he had taken to medicating himself into. Instead, he had only drank enough to change his mood into its current depressive state. Abraham wondered what McCoy would have done on the deserted bridge if Abraham hadn't found him when he had, in McCoy's present mood who knew what he had been contemplating.

"Come on Leonard" he said as he started walking

McCoy followed behind dejectedly

20 minutes later they were both seated on a park bench, Abraham had gotten them both coffee and opted to drink it outside to avoid any scenes like earlier.

"Leonard you can't go on drinking yourself into oblivion everyday" Abraham said

McCoy made no reply his fingers toying with the rim of his cup.

"You want to get away, and alcohol isn't the way to do it"

"I wasn't try-"McCoy began gloomily

" You were" Abraham said firmly " I have an idea and I want you to hear me out, Starfleet is looking for doctors, you could apply, I've got some connections you could get way from this whole situation, start over"

"I don't want to go into space" McCoy said

"Then what the hell do you want?, you want me to leave you alone and let you drink yourself to death or get so low that one day you kill yourself?" Abraham said angrily

McCoy had no answer for the doctor.

"Plus" Abraham muttered half-way under his breath "you could get away from that bitch, I hear she's trying to get alimony"
McCoy opened his mouth to ask how Abraham knew that then stopped, people in the medical field were the worst gossips.

"I can understand how Jocelyn feels" McCoy said utterly depressed. "I never took her feelings into consideration, I wasn't-"

" Damn it, McCoy she's really pulled a guilt trip on you hasn't she, that bit- has got you believing that it's all your fault that she didn't have the common decency to just divorce you, .she cheated on you in your own house, took all the money, disowned her daughter and she's got you feeling guilty!" Abraham's took a sip of his coffee and said "That lying, manipulative, little bit-"

Abraham glowered darkly into his cup for a moment before saying

" Look Leonard unless you make some big changes, you're going to wind up a drunk, homeless bum on the street, you know it, I know it" Abraham continued " you need to get away from here, get away from all these places and people you know and start completely over, and Starfleet is your chance"