You are a drug and it is quick

Chapter Seventeen

He was alive. He had a concussion, two broken arms, several fractured ribs, and required surgery which involved screws and plates in his leg, but he was alive. As soon as Abigail got the phone call, she was on the next flight out to Portland, as Adam was being airlifted back to Maine for his recovery.

When she arrived at the hospital late in the evening, she was completely worn down. She had only just gotten back to Tulsa after intensive travel, only spent one night in her own bed, hardly slept at all, and then found herself on another plane. Combined with the emotional distress she had been going through since the day before, she felt as though she were a hundred years old.

Regardless of her exhaustion, she stumbled into Adam's dark hospital room after speaking briefly with his doctor, only to find him sleeping. He was likely still feeling rather dopey after the surgery he had received overnight while still in Tulsa. She flopped herself down into the chair next to his bed, watching him stir as she wondered to herself what kind of repercussions would come from a recovering drug addict taking pain killers. She made a mental note to ask the doctor about that later as she reached across the bed and gently took Adam's hand in hers.

"Baby?" He grumbled, opening his bruised and cut eyes to peek at her through his haze.

She decided to let that name slide this time, instead whispering "I'm here" and squeezing his hand.

"You came."

"Of course I came."

"I messed up, Baby." He tried to sit up, wincing in pain before giving up and laying back down. "I got drunk. I wrecked a rental car...."

"I know." Abby sighed. The police had filled her in on everything. He had well over the legal limit in his system, and driven straight into a telephone pole.

"Did I hurt anyone?" He asked hesitantly.

"Only yourself. But you could have killed someone, Adam. You could have killed yourself. What were you thinking? I thought you were clean?"

"I was." He sniffed. A tear rolled down his swollen cheek. "But after you rejected me, I didn't know how else to handle it. I jumped into the car and I drove around, trying to calm down. But I couldn't. So I ended up at a bar..."

"You can't turn to a bottle whenever something gets you upset. You have to learn new coping mechanisms."

"I know...but...you turned me down. At that moment, I didn't really care about my own well being. I don't care about anything if I can't have you."

"Don't say that! That's not fair. You can't put this on me." Abby shouted, suddenly feeling angry.

"It's the truth! But you're here now. You're in Maine, with me."

"I'm only here because you got hurt, Adam. It doesn't mean anything. Who else is supposed to look after you when you get out of here? Your junkie friends?"

"Did you tell your boyfriend?"

"Well...no..."

"So, you flew across the country to nurse your injured husband back to health, and you didn't tell your boyfriend? Are you sure it means nothing?" For a doped up, groggy hospital patient, he sure was coherent enough to know how to piss her off.

"Ex husband, first of all. Secondly, I didn't tell him because I had no time. As soon as the police called me I was packing a bag and heading for the airport. He's on tour and he's really busy so I just haven't spoken to him yet. Or anyone, for that matter."

"And you think he's going to be okay with this?"

"Of course." Abby responded with far more confidence than she actually felt inside. "However, if you're gonna be an asshole than maybe I should just go back home and leave you alone to fend for yourself. They release you tomorrow and you have an expected six week recovery time, so good luck with that..."