Page 29 of Two Wrongs

“The fuck you’re not. You almost died. If Wren hadn’t found you on the floor of the bathroom you’d be dead right now. Tell me, how long did you wait for me to leave to get high?”

“Where is she? I got her papers, so is that it? She did her duty, and left?” There are bags under his eyes, and his skin is pale. He tries to look angry, but he’s too weak to pull off more than irritation.

“Can you blame her?” I ask. We’ve both done a lot of damage to her, not that he knows the extent of it.

Liam rolls his head to the side. “Can you just go?”

I lean back and prop my feet on the bed, and settle in for a long stay. “I’m afraid I’ve left you alone a bit too much. Maybe if I’d paid more attention it wouldn’t have gotten this bad.”

He turns back to glare at me. “You sound like the doctors. I’m not an addict. I just get pain sometimes, and I accidentally took too much. Sorry I missed work, but I was tuning up my car and tweaked my back. It happens sometimes since the accident, and I thought the alcohol was out of my system. It was a mistake, but I don’t need to go to rehab. I just need to actually take care of my back.”

I drop my feet off the bed. “I’m glad to hear that. You had me worried. You can stick to the office tasks while we find you a doctor who can really take care of your pain so this doesn’t happen again.”

“You don’t really believe that load of bullshit, do you?” Wren asks from the doorway.

My mouth falls open. As far as excuses go, this one is believable. He’s shown no signs of addiction.

“I can see that you do. But, answer this for me, if this was a one time thing, what has been going on with him for the last six months? He’s barely been sleeping, irritable, hiding things. If he’s not using, why did he steal from you?” she argues.

Liam takes a deep breath, and his shoulders slump. I’m not sure if it’s guilt, or resignation because he’s been caught. “She’s right. I want to believe you, but there’s a lot that doesn’t add up,” I finally admit.

My son has a petty streak, a bit of my spite I’m not proud to have passed on to him, and I can see him preparing to unleash it. “We couldn’t have just had problems? Maybe my dad was right, we got married too young, and I got bored. I know I handled it wrong, but you’re not blameless here. You stopped paying attention to me.”

“Enough, you’re not going to blame this on her. I didn’t raise you like that,” I rush to defend her.

His eyes narrow on me, and I worry he knows. “You’re defending her now? I thought this was what you wanted? She’s leaving me. I screwed up, and she’s bailing without a fight. You said we didn’t have what it took to make a marriage work, and I guess you were right.”

“Isn’t he?” he speaks to Wren. “There’s nothing I can say or do to make you stay.”

Her eyes find mine, and I know she’s about to sacrifice herself. I’m not sure how I know other than that’s how she is. Wren always puts others ahead of herself. She breaks the connection and focuses back on Liam. “If I said there was, would you get help? There’s no chance for us if you’re using drugs.”

Liam plucks at the blanket, avoiding looking at either of us. “If you stay, I’ll go to rehab.”

Wren nods. “It’s not fixed. We will deal with your cheating, but if you want a chance this is the only one I’m going to give you.”

He exhales, and relaxes back against the bed. “I’ll fix everything, baby, I promise.”

I clench my teeth. Helping my son is all that matters, but them being together is going to be hell to watch.

* * *

“Wren wait up,”I shout after her when she walks out of his room. I feel like a piece of shit making an excuse to my son so I can go chase after his wife, but I owe her something.

Her steps speed up, and she hurries out the door. I grab her arm, and spin her around. “Where are you going? You rode here in the ambulance.”

She jerks her arm out of my hold. “I’m perfectly capable of walking.”

“Five miles? Don’t be ridiculous, baby bird.”

Wren whirls around and points her finger at me. “Don’t you dare call me that! I did what you wanted. I’m getting him into rehab. I get what happened between us, whatyouinitiated, was a mistake, but you don’t get to pass me off to your son one minute and chase me down the next.”

Her words hit a wound, and I lash out like I always seem to with her. “He’s your husband, and you took vows. Those should mean something.”

“They really should have. It would have been nice if they’d kept my husband from fucking some random woman on our anniversary.” She’s screaming at me, but I can handle it better than her tears.

“Shit,” I mutter to myself. “I’m sorry. I’m worried about him, and I forgot to think about you.”

She shrugs and sniffs, trying to fight off tears. “Well, so did he.”

---