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Chapter Twenty Nine
I wake up to Spencer staring at me intently and I give him a breathy laugh before he kisses me deeply.
"Good morning, love."
"Good morning to you too. How are you feeling?" I play with the hair on the back of his head, twirling it around my fingers.
"Rough. But I'm in good spirits. What time do you have to be at school?"
"First class starts at 8:15."
"Let me take you?" He gives me the puppy dog eyes.
"Only if you take me out for coffee," I tease.
"It's a date. Hurry up and get ready. It's 6:30." He playfully swats my butt and peels himself off of the bed.
...
Spencer took me out to our favorite coffee shop and now he not only drive me to school but he insists on walking me to class. He's carrying my bag in one hand and has the other arm sling over my shoulders. I feel terrible because he's still limping along in the boot. Granted he's gotten really good and maneuvering it around and he can actually walk faster than I can. We are on a bench outside of the hall I need to be in and he kisses my forehead.
"What time do I need to pick you up?"
"One. We need to be across town by two. You have an appointment with the orthopedic to see if you need PT. Oh and on the way we need to stop and check in with your sponsor."
"Do I have to go to the doctor?"
"Yes. No buts. It's my job to get you better. Now, go home and get some rest."
"See you at one." He cranes his neck and gives me a chaste kiss before walking away. I watch him for a moment and suddenly he turns and calls back to me.
"Love you!"
"Love you more!" I grin and turn to walk the rest of the way back to class.
...
I'm headed to my 11:00 and Amber joins me as usual.
"Hey! How's things going?"
"Pretty good," I smile at her, still on cloud nine from last night. My mind drifts as I think about it. Spencer can really use his mouth.
"I saw you with Spencer this morning. When does he get the boot off?"
"We're going to the orthopedic for a follow up today."
"Oh good. I wonder if they'll have him do any physical therapy."
"They probably will, considering the extent of his injuries." I say matter-of-factly.
"What do you mean, considering the extent of his injuries?..." she looks at me funny and I try my best to back pedal.
"Uhm...I mean...how about you call me tonight I don't wanna talk about it here..."
"Okay...if that's what you want."
...
Spencer stalks out of the rehab center and slams the car door shut behind him. I'm right behind him, though I hung back to apologize for his behavior. When I get in the car and start to drive away, he blows up.
"Can you believe that guy!"
"Spencer, he was just doing his job."
"So his job is to treat me like a criminal?"
"All he asked was to see your arms I hardly think-"
"Shut up and let me think," he snaps. My throat is thick with emotion but I don't react.
"And I'm not fucking deaf, by the way. I heard what you said to him."
"I only apologized for you acting like a petulant child."
"A petulant child?"
"Yep."
"Care to elaborate?"
"No not really." I make a sharp right turn which catches him off guard and his head pops on the window.
"What the fuck? Where are you going?"
"Home. Take yourself to the doctor."
"Ashleigh I-"
"Shut up. We can talk later when you're done with your hissy fit."
"Fine."
...
I'm sitting on the couch, trying to focus on studying when Spencer comes through the door, slouching. He goes straight for the couch and plops down, his head falling back and looks up to the ceiling.
"Spence?" I close my book and sit up, touching his shoulder but he swats my hand away.
"No. Don't fucking touch me! Get away!" I jump, horrified but I quickly realize that he's either hallucinating or dreaming when he speaks again.
"Dad...no. Please. Don't. Who?...no!" He jumps up off the couch, startled.
"Wha...what happened?"
"You tell me."
"How...I was in the car..."
"You walked in the door. Staggered is more like it. You okay?"
"Yeah...I'm okay. I'm not feeling too good."
"Maybe you should lie down..."
"Yeah..."
"What did the Ortho say?"
"PT starting tomorrow."
"Good. Maybe that will help with your moods too."
"I'm going to bed if you're just going to sit there and bitch."
"Spencer I wasn't bitching I was just-"
"Save it, I'm going to bed." He holds a hand up, silencing me. This feature also pisses me the fuck off.
"While you're at it, you can fuck yourself tonight. I'm meeting amber."
"Have fun." He rolls his eyes and stalks into the bedroom.
...
When I get down to my car, I am disgusted. There's an empty bottle and a needle laying in the passenger seat. He shot up.
...
A/N- I would like to say that, while I know parts of this are hard to read, I feel as if it is necessary. In no way do I want to gloss over how difficult and painful addiction is. I promise that it WILL get better. Just hang in there. As always, thanks for reading and please review!
