A/N: I apologize for the mood whiplash, but I felt it was important to show the effects of Jack's crash. That way, the chapter I'm planning for after this one will make more sense.
After a long day of meetings, Carly opened the front door of her house.
"I'm home!" she shouted, as Japanese culture dictated she do even if she knew the house would be empty. There was no answer…maybe the house was empty. Had Jack maybe taken the kids on an outing? Good for him if he had!
Her hopes were shattered, however, when Rosie tiptoed into the front hall.
"Mommy? Daddy's sick," she all but whispered.
Oh no. This again? Carly had hoped that he'd finally been on the mend, since the past few weeks had been relatively good ones for him. Even worse...this had happened on the servants' day off.
By now, Jack had recovered as much as was possible from his physical injuries. He could even walk short distances with the help of a cane. This had gone beyond the doctors' expectations, so Jack had every reason to be proud. But his emotional wounds were another story. Naturally, he'd taken the forced end to his career hard…but no one anticipated it would be this hard. He'd become an entirely different person after his accident, and not for the better.
Her heart in her throat, Carly ran into the living room, only to see something that had become very familiar. Jack was lying on the sofa, staring blankly off into space. Erika was perched on the edge and keeping vigil, but there was no sign that Jack noticed this. He'd obviously been drinking again. How dare he let the children see him like this? She knew he wouldn't actually drink in front of them, but he'd made no attempt to, say, go to the bedroom, close the door, and sleep it off.
Carly was especially worried about how this would affect Rosie. Erika and Jackie both had strong constitutions, but Rosie seemed so frail. The frilly dresses she was fond of wearing and those huge brown eyes emphasized this even more.
"Both of you…go to your rooms," she ordered in a quiet voice. Rosie didn't need to be told twice, but as usual Erika stubbornly remained until Carly threatened loss of TV time.
And now Carly didn't know what to do. In the past, she'd already tried yelling at him, reasoning with him, and even bribing him. She had reached the end of her rope, and she really didn't want to do this, but she saw no other options. If this kept on, one day soon the children would find him and not be able to wake him up.
"Tomorrow I'm signing you up for rehab," Carly said, in a firm tone that belied how terrified she really was.
No answer. Carly sighed.
"Why do you insist on doing this to yourself?" she asked sadly.
After a pause, Jack muttered, "What's it matter anymore? I'm worth nothing."
This was definitely going to be an uphill battle…but Carly was determined to win it in the end.