“Hey Teddy, haven’t heard from you in a while. Everything going good out there?”
“Yup, more than good. Fantastic. Amazing. Awesome. Indescribable.” Okay, if I had to label how Teddy sounded right then, he almost sounded…gleeful? Definitely strange. Normally, he was more of a laid-back type of guy. Not much excited him.
“But listen, I only have a minute before rehearsal. I was wondering if you could make it out to Vegas in a couple of weeks. We have a concert coming up and I figured it would be sweet if you could come out. What do you think?”
“I don’t know bud, you know I would love to, but Leah…Leah’s still not herself. I haven’t even been able to get her to leave the house. Do you think she would really agree to go cross country?”
He blew out a breath through the phone. “Sorry that I haven’t been there bud, you know I would if I could. I’m sure it’s hard that you had to go through this mostly alone. At least you have your mom around to help out; she’s such a great lady.” I pulled the phone away from ear, checking the caller id to make sure I was really talking to Teddy Sampson. The same Teddy Sampson who had a tally for how many women he had ‘banged’ on his headboard.
“Maybe you just need to kidnap her ass. Drug her coffee or something and drag that wife of yours onto a plane. She just needs a reality check, dude. Whatever you need to do, I want you here.” And there was the Teddy I was looking for.
“I’ll see what I can do Ted, I’ll let you know.” We hung up after a couple more minutes of catching up. I pulled into the driveway, preparing myself to have a talk with Leah tonight. We couldn’t keep living this way. Caleb was staying at my mom’s house for the night, so he wouldn’t have to be around to hear it.
“Leah,” I called out as soon as I walked through the front door, but of course I didn’t get a response. The house was dark and quiet, like usual when Caleb wasn’t around. I pushed open the door to our bedroom and found her curled up in her usual spot.
Even depressed as hell, she was still the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. Her messy curls peeked out from the covers that were pulled up to her chin and her dark lashes fanned against her smooth dark skin.
Her eyes popped open the second I slid on the bed next to her. She stared at me for one second, like she wanted to say something, but quickly looked away. Her wide gray eyes were what had changed most. Instead of being bright and alive, they were cold and lifeless, devoid of any emotions.
“We need to talk.” I rubbed a hand down her back through the thick comforter and she shivered slightly. At least I knew I still had some kind of effect on her.
“Chase, I’m really not in the mood. Can’t it wait till tomorrow?”
“No, it can’t, Leah. Because I know exactly what will happen, when I bring it up tomorrow you’ll just push it off again and the next day you’ll do the same thing. Do you really like being like this?” I waved my hands around the dark room that depressed me after a minute of being in the room. She probably hadn’t left it all day.
“I know what you went through, what you’re going through, is hard, but I think you need help. We both need help on how to deal with this in a healthy way and you know damn well this isn’t healthy.”
“Chase, I just don’t feel like trying. You don’t understand…”
“Stop, Leah. You’re going to hear me out. No arguing.” I had barely ever raised my voice to her, but this time I couldn’t control it. She was like talking to a brick wall. “I think we both need to go to counseling. Katie said it helped her when she went through…when she went through the same experience. The doctor had suggested it before.
“Really, I didn’t think we would need it, but now I do. You barely talk to anyone, you don’t eat, and you lay in bed all day. Think of what you’re putting Caleb through. He needs his mom around. Do you really want him to go through life without a mom to raise him like you had to?”
She didn’t respond to anything I said and I stood up to pace the floor. “Leah, I can’t keep going on like this. I know you’re hurt and so am I, but sometimes shit happens in life. I’m sorry if that’s a bad way to put it, but I don’t know how else to say it. We can either let it eat us alive or move on. So I think you need to decide what you want, Leah.
“Are you going to lay here lifeless for the rest of your life or are you going to do something to change it? Because everyone around you is living, life is going on without you whether you like it or not.” I knew my words were a bit harsh, but maybe that’s what she needed right now. Nothing else seemed to work.