Chapter 6

When Karen was finally released, she took to her bed, unable to leave it. She went in to a deep depression and supplemented it with alcohol and cigarettes. She was hard, and cold, and deeply, emotionally hurt. Nathan had a hard time connecting with her and she was often irritable. But her moods were so changing, he never knew what to expect. Some days she would be happy, other days she was easily put in to a rage. He wasn't sure he liked this unstable condition she seemed to be in.

One such day, Nathan came home to find Karen drunk out of her mind, lying on her bed. He went to her, kissed her forehead, and took a bottle of gin from her. "You don't have to stick around." She sneered, seeming to be half awake.

Nathan looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"Well I thought you didn't want commitment, and now that there's no baby, there's nothing keeping you here." She sighed, reaching for a cigarette.

"You keep me here, Karen." He was heartbroken that she thought that.

"Yeah right, me and my drinking." She rolled her eyes. "Do you honestly want to stick around and watch me drink myself silly?"

"No, of course I don't want to watch you get drunk every day. I don't like it at all."

"Then why are you here?" She asked, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"Because I love you Karen. I thought that meant something." He was beginning to get angry.

"You're lying. You don't love me. You only said so because I was going to have your baby. And now there's no baby, no relationship."

"Whoa, I never said that. And have I left you yet? No, I've stuck around to watch you get all liquored up everyday since you've gotten home from the hospital. I've sat with you every morning when it hurts. Hell, I sat with you in that hospital every waking hour of the day. How dare you tell me I'm lying when I say I love you." He stepped back. "And you know what, if you honestly believe that there is no relationship, then fine. There's no relationship. I'm gone. I'm leaving Karen; I can't watch you drink yourself in to a deeper depression. It's not healthy. You need some help. And obviously I'm not cutting it." With that he walked out the door, leaving Karen speechless.

She didn't know what to do with herself. Tears formed in her eyes, realization settling in. She had just lost another great thing in her life. She struggled with what to do next. Should she roll over and sleep? Call someone? Reach for the almost empty gin bottle?

In the end she curled up in to a tight ball, crying like a baby, not sure what was going to happen tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day after that.

It was Grace that came to her rescue. After not hearing a word from Karen after she was released from the hospital, Grace began to worry. She wondered if Karen was all right. She hadn't come to the office, not that Grace had expected her to. So after work one night, Grace stopped in to say 'hello'.

What she found next scared her. Rosario had a worried expression on her face as she answered the door. As they mounted the stairs, Rosario expressed her fears about what sort of state Karen was in. Grace was frightened when they finally reached Karen's door. Rosario quickly opened the door and let Grace in. Grace timidly stepped in. Karen was nowhere in sight. However a slight movement on the bed, made it clear where she was.

"I'll take it from here." Grace whispered to Rosario who nodded and then left. Slowly Grace walked towards the bed. When she got there she found Karen all tangled in the sheets. She was wearing a silky black nightgown, which was falling off her shoulders. Her hair was unkempt and her make-up smeared. "Karen?" Grace asked, stroking the raven haired beauty.

"Gracie. Help me." Karen looked scared, fearful. She was practically shaking. Tears were welling in her eyes. Grace untangled her from the sheets and pulled her to her.

"What's happened Karen? I thought you were hanging in there." Grace whispered, stroking Karen's hair out of her face, which was warm. She wondered if she was sick, or just hot.

"Nathan left." Karen's voice was muffled as she relayed this news to Grace, as her face was buried in Grace's chest.

"What?" Grace asked in complete surprise. "Why?"

"I thought our relationship was over. I was drunk out of my mind, we fought and he left." Karen looked up. "I messed up."

"No, no, honey." Grace shook her head, holding Karen even tighter to her. "You were depressed. I would be to if I lost a child."

"Shh." Karen didn't want to talk about it. Frankly she felt awful about losing the child. She felt like she had led Nathan on, in some sort of twisted way, and then let him down when she miscarried. That's why she was so unsure of the relationship. She was afraid he would just walk away, and he had. But she had provoked it. Now she felt awful and she just wanted to be comforted and not be alone.

Grace's steady rocking back and fourth was helping considerably, and soon Karen's tears were stopped. Grace gently laid Karen back against the pillow and then climbed in to the bed beside her. Karen rested her head on Grace's shoulder like a little child would to her mother. Grace wrapped her arm around Karen and the two sat, neither sure what to say, but feeling oddly comforted by the other.

It was awkward, especially for Grace. She wanted desperately to start a conversation with Karen, but she didn't want to hit on anything Karen didn't want to talk about. So she decided on something safe.

"Are you feeling okay?" Grace asked, lightly pressing her lips to Karen's forehead.

Karen nodded, taking on the persona of a little girl. "I feel okay, I guess. A bit hung over, though."

"Were you drinking a lot?" Grace asked, not sure if that was a subject she should broach. She felt slightly responsible for Karen's down hill fall because she hadn't been there for her. She should have tried harder to go and visit her; she'd procrastinated, put it off, figuring Nathan was capable of handling Ms. Karen Walker. But she was wrong. Nathan obviously hadn't stopped her from drinking her self in to oblivion.

Karen nodded again. She reached out and gently rested her hand on Grace's thing, gently stroking it, playing with the material on Grace's pants. Grace looked down at Karen's hand and watched as it mindlessly traced along her jeans. Without looking up, Karen asked, "Gracie," Here she squinted, but the squint went unnoticed for she was not looking at Grace as she spoke. "Will you help me?"

"Of course, sweetie." Grace jumped on this opportunity. She knew what she needed to do. She needed to get Karen off her alcohol rampage and try to get Nathan back. Well Karen would have to try and get him back, but Grace would sure try and help her.

"Thank you, Grace." Karen whispered, settling in to Grace's side once again, pointing towards the television. Grace nodded and took the remote from the side table, flipping the TV on. She knew she would have to watch Karen's every move, getting Karen off of alcohol was like…well there really was no comparison. But first step was first. Alcohol free and then get Nathan back.

TBC...:D. Thankies for all the reviews guys. Let's see if we can get more. Lol. And the next chapter might not be up for a lil' bit.