Page 117 of Outside The Wire

I rolled my eyes as I followed him into the bedroom and allowed him to go through all my things just like he did when I got here. It didn’t matter that I’d been with him every waking minute of the day aside from bathroom breaks. He wasn’t leaving unless he knew for certain there were no pills anywhere in sight. It was one of the stipulations they had for bringing me to see Asher.

“Bathroom’s clear,” Chase said, flipping off the light as he walked out.

“So’s the bedroom,” Patrick announced.

“Well, I’m glad you’ve cleared the rooms.”

“Do you want us to order you some food?”

Chase’s offer was nice, but I wasn’t sure I could eat a thing. “No.”

“I’ll order something anyway. Bad habits and all.”

God forbid I fall back into any of my old ways. “Fine.”

I strode over to the bed and grabbed my toiletries. What I needed was a hot shower to wash away the complete heartbreak I felt crushing me. In the past, I had crutches to turn to, but now I had nothing. After a year of therapy, I had to learn to cope on my own. There were no pills, no alcohol, but most of all, no Asher.

That was the hardest one to deal with. He was what kept me going in the center. The thought of seeing him again, letting him know I was whole and ready to be his wife, was what pushed me through those hard days. What was going to push me through tonight?

I dressed in some comfy clothes after getting out of the shower and wrapped my hair in a towel, then headed out to the living area to check on the food.

I gasped in surprise when I found Patrick lounging on my couch in way too little clothing. “What are you doing?”

“Getting comfortable.”

“For what?”

He flipped to another channel, but didn’t bother looking at me. “For bed.”

“You have your own room.”

“Yeah, but Chase was being a girl about the whole thing. He was worried you were gonna go all crazy girl on him. It was either him or me. I figured you’d want me over him.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Uh-huh,” he muttered, completely ignoring me.

“Can you at least put some pants on?”

“I’m afraid pants are really uncomfortable to sleep in.”

“Patrick!” I snapped, hoping to grab his attention, but he barely glanced my way.

“Did you need something?”

I walked over to the chair and flopped down, feeling the world crashing down on me.

Patrick sat up, sighing heavily. “Is this one of those times you need to talk?”

“Why? Are you going to give me a shoulder to cry on?”

“I could. I don’t know if it’s very good, but I could try.”

I stared at the wall, running through that kiss over and over in my head as I chewed my thumbnail. The smile on his face, the look of shock when he saw me, the way he stormed out without even saying two words to me.

“It’ll be okay, Jade. He’ll come around,” Patrick said softly, trying to cheer me up.

“Will it?” I swiped at the tears already spilling down my cheeks. “He didn’t even want to look at me.”

---