Chapter 1

                                    

                                          
Faith POV: 
                          
The halls of this place are wide, and pale, the walls almost as white as the laminate flooring. My heels echo as I near the end of the hall, where the office holding a lot of pain lies. My head tells me to turn around and rush out the door before anyone realizes that I'm here, but my heart knows I have to do this. I touch the door handle, my fingers lingering on the knob. I offer myself a chance to run, but force myself in anyways. 
                          
The shrink smiles at him, before looking at me and seeming surprised. He stands, reaching out and shaking my hand, before motioning to sit down in the seat beside him. I hesitate, avoiding the urge to look at him at all costs. I set myself down, as the room falls painfully quiet. 
                          
"Thank you for coming today, Faith." The shrink says. I nod quickly, feeling like I could throw up. I stare at the shrink, not wanting to look at the man sitting beside me. "I know it took a lot for you to come, so it really means the world." The shrink adds, making me nod once more. "Alright, so I guess will start things off by giving you an update. Tim's been clean for eight weeks now, and his withdrawal symptoms are starting to subside. Depending on his evaluation next week, he might be released at early at next Saturday." He continues, making my stomach sink. "Now, I know I explained briefly over the phone about what we're doing in sessions like this, but I'll just reiterate what this is for." He reads off of his sheet for a moment, while I try to numb myself ahead of time. "During this process, we find it important for our patients to heal wounds with people they've wronged or upset during their period of usage. As you may have heard, we've already gone through this with Sara, Kim, and your daughters. I know you've been hesitant to come, so again, I want to thank you for doing this for him." He says, before looking at his notes. He clicks his pen a couple of times, glancing up at Tim. "I want to start with the last time you two saw each other. Faith, can you explain that night to me?" He asks, making me cringe. 
                          
"Where do you want me to start?" I ask in return, feeling my hands twitch simply at the brief mental visit I have to make to the forsaken memory. He glances through his notes, meaning Tim must've already given him and play-by-play.
                          
"From when Sara called you." He answers, forcing me to take a deep breath. I look down at my knees, trying to gain the courage to discuss it. 
                          
"I was at home, sitting down with a glass of wine and listening through demos for a new album, when Sara called. She was kind of frantic, and kept repeatedly saying 'he left'. She said that she'd found a stash of his, and decided to call him out on it. He apparently took the stash and left, which made her panic. She asked me to go try to find him, because he normally would trust me when he was in states like that, and she was also pregnant so it wasn't a risk we wanted her to take. I drove out to downtown Nashville, where I knew he'd be. I found him huddled behind the record store we reconnected at." I release, feeling my heart pound. Flashes of the memory come across my eyes, making me shiver. "He was on a completely different planet. He had a needle still stuck into his arm, and it still had some drugs left in it... So I pulled out the needle, and helped him to the car. He was lying back, and I kept shaking his knee to make sure he was alive. Then he just started singing, like he was singing along to the radio, but nothing was playing... He was just singing my songs, which kind of took it out of me." I confess, before trying to ignore the emotion connected to the memories. 
                          
"What happened once you reached the house?" He asks. I stare at him, clenching my jaw tightly, in fear of what's about to come out of my mouth. 
                          
"I called Sara, and told her that I'd take him in for the night, since the kids were over at their house. I then helped him inside, and led him up to my bedroom since it had an adjoining bathroom in case he got sick. He laid himself down, and seemed fairly exhausted, so I pulled off his shoes and put a blanket over him, before turning off the light. I went to the guest room, and sat up for a while... I just... I kind of came apart, I guess. I'd never seen him so... so far away while right in front of me. It was terrifying." I admit, before biting my lip. I stare off for a second, praying he doesn't want me to delve any further into the night.