Ok, this chapter will go kind of fast, but not. It might not make sense, but whatever. It will start the next day after Alex, Jay and Emma's little escapade and end a few days later.
Love Ridden
Chapter Twenty-five
The Night Life
Jay woke up alone in Emma's bed. He slowly sat up and looked around the room. Random clothes were scattered all over. CDs were piled in every corner. Empty alcohol bottles were carefully placed on the window sills. Beer cans were piled in a pyramid in front of the bed. Jay shook his head and got out of the bed. He realized he was naked and searched for his boxers. He found a pair and put them. He left the room and walked downstairs. Emma was sitting on the couch, watching some cartoon. Manny was in the kitchen. Emma didn't even hear him. He decided to talk to Manny. He walked in to the kitchen and sat at the table.
Manny smiled at him, "Rough night, Jay?"
Jay laughed, "Yeah, you can say that."
Manny put a cup of coffee in front of him and sat down across from him, "She looks like death, doesn't she?"
Jay sighed, "Yeah. Why didn't you tell me?"
Manny shrugged, "I never really noticed. At first I figured she was just depressed because of you leaving and everything. But, she's never let a guy leaving control her life so much. I don't know what's wrong with her."
Jay sipped his coffee, "Well, I don't think I'm much help. I took E with her last night."
Manny rolled her eyes, "Good job, Hogart."
"Manny, don't." He sighed, "Have you seen her arms?"
Manny shook her head.
"She looks like a science experiment."
"How so?"
"She has cuts and scars all over her. Covering her."
"Great."
"Does she do anything besides drink and do drugs?"
"Yeah, she sits in front of the TV right when she wakes up. Showers, then goes out."
Jay turned in his seat and looked at Emma, "She's lost weight."
Manny nodded, "I never see her eat. I never hear her complain when we're almost out of food."
Jay sighed and got up, "I need to go somewhere. I'll be back soon. Try to not let her leave."
Manny stood up, "Where are you going?"
"To try to get help. Just keep her here, ok?"
"I'll try my best."
Jay gave Manny a quick hug and headed back upstairs. He found the rest of his clothes and got dressed. He quietly left the house and got in to his car. A few minutes later he pulled in front of Sean's apartment. He got out and walked to the door. He knocked. Sean answered the door right away.
"Jay? When did you get back?"
"Yesterday. Emma's in trouble."
Sean opened the door more and let Jay in, "And you're just realizing this?"
"Don't give me any shit Sean. I need your help."
"How?"
"Remember when we helped that friend of yours from Wasaga who had the drug problem?"
Sean nodded, "Yeah, Anna. We locked her in a room for like 5 days and made her quit cold turkey. It sucked. I almost got my arm broken."
Jay sighed, "Well, we gotta do it again."
"To Emma?"
"Yep."
"Never thought that would happen. When do we do it?"
"Tonight."
Sean grabbed his coat, "Let's get what we need."
Jay and Sean left. They drove to the store and got bottles of water, buckets, cleaning supplies and caffeine pills. A few hours later they went back to Emma's. Emma was asleep on the couch when they got there. Jay, Sean and Manny went to her room and cleaned it. They took everything breakable out. They found all of her drug stashes that she had in there. They moved everything out, they just left the mattress in there. They filled up some of the buckets with water and piled up a bunch of towels and sheets. When they were finished, Jay carried Emma up to her room. Sean was explaining to Manny what they were going to do. She understood and left to get pick up some food.
When Emma woke up, Jay and Sean were sitting on the end of her bed.
Emma smiled, "Oh, so now you want a 3 sum with Sean?"
Jay shook his head, "No."
Sean wouldn't look at her.
"So, then what's going on? Where's all my stuff?"
Jay sighed, "Consider this rehab, Em."
Emma rolled her eyes, "And why should I?"
Sean looked at her, "You have a problem. We're going to either help you get over it, or make you."
"I don't have a problem. I can stop the drugs anytime. And stop drinking."
Jay laughed, "Just like you stopped eating?"
Emma stood up, "Guys, come on. Let's just go downstairs, have a few drinks and see where the night takes us."
Jay stood next to her, "No. Not going to work that way. This isn't going to be fun. At all."
Sean stood on the other side of her, "We've done this before. You're going to have headaches. You're going to get sick. It's going to suck. Horribly. But, in the end, it'll be better."
Emma laughed, "Fine. Whatever."
XXXXX
10 hours later
Sean was holding Emma down with both of his hands. Jay was on the other side, wiping her head with a damp cloth.
"Just let me go, ok? One drink, please!" Emma was screaming.
"Em, no. You can't." Jay yelled back at her.
A few seconds later Sean was on the ground. Emma pushed him off of her. Jay jumped up and put his hands on her arms.
"Jay, let me go! This is so illegal!"
Jay laughed, "Ok, so go tell the police that I'm holding you hostage to clean out your system!"
Emma let out an aggravated sigh and slammed her self down on to her bed.
Jay walked over to Sean and helped him up, "You ok, man?"
Sean rolled his eyes, "She has no muscle on her, how is she so strong?"
Jay laughed lightly, "She knows what she wants and she won't stop until she gets it."
XXXXX
8 hours later
Jay was sitting in corner, watching Emma sleep. She has only been sleeping for less than an hour. Sean was downstairs eating. Jay had just finished cleaning up all the vomit. He sighed and leaned his against the wall. He hated seeing Emma like this. She was hurting and he was helping cause her pain. It would be for the better though. After a few days, the cravings would slow down and eventually stop. Well, he hoped.
Alex had stopped, looking for Emma. Manny explained to her what was going on. Alex freaked out at first, but after she found out that Emma was really hurting herself, she calmed down. She was now downstairs with Manny, cleaning more sheets.
Emma started to toss and turn in her sleep. Jay got up and walked over to her. He kneeled down and put a damp cloth to her forehead, "Shh. It's ok, Emma. I'm right here. You're ok."
She slowly opened her eyes, "Jay, please. It hurts. I can't handle this."
Jay held back his tears at the sound of her pleading voice, "You can. You have to do this. I'm right here, ok? I'll help you."
She reached for his hand, "Just one pill? There's some in the basement, behind a loose brick."
Jay sighed, "Anywhere else?"
Emma nodded, "Inside the couch cushions. Behind the spices in the kitchen cabinet."
"That's all?"
"Ask Alex. She might know where there's more. I just need one."
Jay stood up and walked to the door. He opened it and yelled for Sean.
XXXXX
15 hours later
Sean, Manny and Alex searched the entire house for Emma's stashes. They had a box full of drugs. They flushed everything down the toilet. Sean was with Emma now, while Jay slept down stairs on the couch.
"Sean, how much longer?" She whispered to him in a hoarse voice.
"A few hours or days. It all depends on you. It's only been about 34 hours, Em. These things take long."
Emma sighed and rolled on to her side, "It feels like I've been in here for weeks."
Sean sighed, "Yeah. I know. It'll get easier. You just have to relax and think of other things."
"How do you guys know this stuff?"
"We did it before."
"To who?"
"Jay and me met this chick Anna. She was amazing. She ended up with the wrong crowd. She would always say to us, 'If I ever end up selling myself for drugs, stop me. Save me.' She even explained to us have to sweat out addiction. Which is what you're doing."
"Where is she now?"
Sean shrugged, "No idea. She left town a few months later. Never heard from her again. She was probably ashamed."
Emma leaned over the bed and got sick again. Sean sat next to her and held her back. When she was done, he gave her a towel to wipe her mouth.
XXXXX
7 hours later
Emma was screaming at Jay, but Jay was trying to shut her out. She was blaming him for all of her problems. Sean was trying to hold her back. She was swinging her arms at Jay. He just let out a scream and grabbed hold of her arms. He slammed her on the bed and sat on top of her. He held her arms down, "Emma! Stop! Just stop! I left because I had to! I couldn't handle it! I never forced pills down your throat. I never slid a blade across your skin. Stop blaming me! Blame yourself! Say it! Say it's your fault!"
Tears started to pour down Emma's eyes, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! I knew what I was doing, I just couldn't stop myself. I would just blame you. I blamed it all on you!"
Jay got up and punched the wall, leaving a huge hole. Sean just stood there and watched, not sure of what to do.
Jay pulled Emma up by her shoulders, "You're better than this. You can get over this. You have to."
Emma let more tears fall out and wrapped her arms around Jay. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Emma fell asleep. Jay laid her back down and stood up. He walked over to Sean, "This fucking sucks man."
Sean nodded, "I never thought I would see her like this."
Jay glanced over at Emma, "She needs to eat. I'm going to go get her some bread." Jay left the room and walked to the kitchen. Alex was sitting alone at the table.
"How is she?"
Jay walked to the counter and grabbed a few pieces of bread, "How couldn't you notice all the cuts? Why didn't you say anything when she stopped eating?"
Alex stood up, "It is not my fault, Jay!"
"I never said it was your fault! I want to know how you didn't notice!"
Alex started to cry, "I just figured it was her way of dealing. She would tell me she had no sense of control in her life anymore. I thought controlling what she ate made her feel better."
Jay sighed, "I need to bring this up to her. She needs to eat. Get some sleep."
Alex wiped her tears, "I'm sorry."
Jay nodded, "So am I."
XXXXX
13 hours later
Emma had finally stopped vomiting and was keeping down food. She was in her room for almost 55 hours. Over two days. Jay was sitting on the edge of the bed while she was sleeping. She was sleeping for about 5 hours. Sean was laying on the floor, sleeping. Jay sighed and stood up. He walked over to a pile of dirty towels and threw them in an empty bucket. He walked around the room looking for any other towels that may have been thrown. Once he found all of them, he sat back down. He touched his cheek and let out an ow. Emma had slapped him and when she did, all of her nails dragged across his skin. He had a bruise on his chest from where she kicked him after he tried to stop her from running out of the room. Sean looked worse. He had two black eyes from elbows. He also had a fat lip from Jay's head slamming into his mouth after Emma had kicked Jay in the chest.
Emma was paler than before. She had bags under eyes and chapped lips. Her hair was knotty and nails were chipped from her biting them. Her clothes were stained and she smelled like sweat. All of the scars and cuts she had on her body, now had a fresh coat of dry blood over them. She scratched at all them until reopened and bled. She did it unintentionally.
Last call everybody step up for another
The ring of the bell gives a yell
To the crowd that's behind you
Did she sweep you off your feet
Are you deciding not to leave without her
Without her tonight
Break down all the chairs on the tables
And my minds on you
Give up and Get into the van and go away again
Because the things you leave in the last town
Are getting out of hand
Im sorry
Im sorry about it
At least you lived to talk about it
At least you got your health
At least it made you feel alive
Oh well, you wish you weren't right now
Tap out when the weight on you're shoulders comes down on youYou're gasping for air, and its just not fair
He gets to be with her
Here you sit trying hard,
To forget something your thinking of
Im sorry about it
Do you miss her so bad it hurts
At least you lived to talk about it
At least you got your health
At least it made you feel alive
Oh well, you wish you weren't right now
You're all caught up
After sleeping for days
Makes up for nights you spent awake
It will take awhile to see that smile
That's laid dormant since she's gone
You're all caught up
After sleeping for days
Makes up for nights you spent awake
It will take awhile to see that smile
That's laid dormant since she's gone
At least you lived to talk about it
At least you got your health
At least it made you feel alive
Oh well, you wish you weren't right now
Song: The Night Life
Artist: The Starting Line
Next chapter will most likely be a few weeks after this. Hope you guys liked this chapter.