Astri laid down on the extra bed and listened to the silence. Quickly, her eyes became heavy and she tried to calm her mind down. She hadn't realized how wound up she had been over the past week. Just as she was at the edge of unconsciousness, her phone buzzed. Every single time I'm almost relaxed, she complained to herself. She waited for it to buzz again and signal that it was a phone call. But it only buzzed once. Huh. Must be a text. She looked at her phone and saw it was a text from Josh. What in the world does he want? Suddenly she sat up and gasped when she read the first sentence.
"I found a pill bottle in Jake's stuff. He's leaving for rehab in about an four hours. He can't stay here any more."
"No," she whispered and sat down on the edge of her bed. She hurriedly dialed Josh's number and didn't an answer. She threw her phone across the room and startled Edgar.
He threw the blankets off of him and jumped up, "What happened?"
Tears began to stream down Astri's face, "I have to go back, Ed. I have to go back."
Edgar sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap, "Go back where? What happened, honey?"
She buried her face in Edgar's chest and soaked his shirt, "I have to go back to Anchorage."
"What happened?"
"Josh found a pill bottle in Jake's stuff after he promised me he threw them all way." She looked up at him, "I have to go back. He's leaving in four hours. Josh is making him go today."
Edgar kissed the top of her head and nodded, "C'mon. I'll drive you to the airport after you tell Sig."
Astri nodded and numbly walked up the stairs to the wheelhouse. She knocked on the door quietly and waited for an answer as she continued to cry.
"Yeah," Sig growled from inside. He watched as the door slowly opened. He knew it was Astri and he waited to pounce on her. But when she walked into sight, he saw she was crying and looked distraught. His heart sank with the worst thoughts he had ever thought, "What happened, Astri?"
"It's not Phil, daddy," she choked out. "But Josh found a pill bottle in Jake's stuff after he promised me that he had thrown them all away. He's making Jake leave for rehab in about four hours."
"And you wanna go see him?"
She nodded and looked down at the floor in front of her feet, "I'll come back. I just need to go talk to him."
Sig nodded and walked over and pulled her into a hug. He felt her sigh and begin to cry again, "Go ahead and go. And if you wanna stay there, go ahead. I'll understand, baby."
Astri nodded and looked up, "What if Josh came back with me? Just to get a break? Phil is stable and we wont stay too late tomorrow since you guys have to get out of here and we have to get back to Phil."
He paused and thought for a moment, "Is John still in town?"
She nodded and wiped her face with her sleeve.
"That's fine then. Just be safe, okay?"
"I will, dad." She turned to leave and stopped at the top of the stairs, "Thanks, daddy. I love you."
"I love you too, kid."
Astri walked through the Anchorage airport and saw Jake and Josh standing off to one side of the room. Josh was glaring at Jake as his younger brother stared out of the window and avoided eye contact with any one. She quickened her pace, "Josh!"
He looked away from Jake and saw Astri walking toward them. He became calmer when they made eye contact. He bent down and picked her up in a hug, "What are you doing here, Astri?"
"I had to come see him," she said. She had already started to cry again.
Josh nodded and set her down and grabbed her hand. He cleared his throat to get Jake's attention, "Jake. Astri is here."
Jake thought for a second to just ignore him like he had been all day but when he heard Astri's name, he looked at her. She had red rimed eyes from crying and she looked like a mess. She's crying because of you, dumb ass! How could you do this after you opened your heart to her? Now she'll never want to be with you. Good job, Romeo. He locked eyes with her but neither one of them said anything.
Josh shifted his weight awkwardly, "I'm gonna go get a smoke. Jake, don't move a fucking muscle or I'll murder you right here in this very spot. Got it?"
Jake rolled his eyes and looked back at Astri. When Josh finally walked away, Astri instantly wrapped her arms around his neck and held on. He buried his face in her neck, "I'm so sorry, Astri."
"Yeah, Jacob, you are," she sobbed. "But you'll get through this. I promise. You just have to want to get through it." Astri took a step back and looked at him, "Why?"
He shrugged, "I just figured I'd keep them just in case."
"Right. And if you put a bottle in front of an alcoholic, they're gonna find away to get into it. They're gonna search you when they get there, Jake. There was no way for you to sneak those in."
He nodded, not really hearing what she was saying.
"You're doing this for Phil. And if they had found those, they would have called me," she waited to see if he was paying attention; he wasn't. "And I would have told Phil. Don't think I'm not going to tell him about this, Jake."
Jake snapped his head around and looked at her, "No, Astri. God, don't do that."
She straighten her back and stood as tall as she physically could, "Then you better to go this rehab and come back a changed man. You got that, Jacob Harris? If you walk back in to my life and I have just the tiniest suspicion that you're not one hundred percent changed and a better man, I'll send you right back before you'll even know what happened."
He stared at her with his mouth slightly open, "Who told you to say that?"
"No one," she hissed, "My father just came out in me and I know it scared you. Trust me, Jake, I can get my dad down here and slap some damn sense into you if I nor rehab can. You need to grow up and get a grip on life."
He nodded and pulled her into a hug, "Thank you, Astri."
"You're welcome, Jake," she whispered.
Josh walked up, "Well, Jake. Your flight is boarding."
Jake nodded and let go of Astri. He faced his brother awkwardly, as if he didn't know what to do. He pulled Josh into a hug, "I promise, bro, I'll come back clean."
Josh fought back tears, "I know you will, Jake. I know." He gave his younger brother one more squeeze and then pushed him toward the gate for his flight. Once Jake walked on to the place, he turned and faced Astri, "Now what?"
"I don't know, Josh," she said without taking her eyes off of where Jake had just disappeared into.