The enabler.
“Unbelievable. Are you a junkie too? Did you do this to him? Did you make him this way?” he added.
“No! I swear! I tried. I tried every day! I promise you that! I never wanted this. I never wanted to see him like this!” I sincerely replied, my eyes filling with tears.
“Why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped him. We’re his fucking family,” Jacob chimed in.
“He didn’t want anyone to know. He was in recovery for four years, I didn’t think he would relapse and when he did, I didn’t know. The day I found out, I left. Okay? He was lying to me too. I haven’t spoken to him in two-and-a-half years. I swear I didn’t know it was this bad.”
They all jerked back, stunned by my revelation.
“He didn’t tell you? That we weren’t together?”
“He works all the time, Briggs. We knew you guys were having problems, and he told us you went back to New York for a while, but we figured you still spoke and were trying to work things out. You never answered or returned any of my calls. Austin never specified and we just figured…” Alex paused, frowning. “Oh my God. How did I not know this?”
“Austin is really good at making you believe what you want to see,” I simply stated.
“You!” Austin’s dad yelled over everyone, pointing a finger at me. “Did you do this to my son?! Is he in there because of you?! Why didn’t you tell us?! Who the hell do you think you are to hide something like this?! We’re his parents! We deserved to know what was going on!”
“I know I—”
“We treated you like you were our own, like family. How dare you lie to us?” he added with the same fierce tone.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I wallowed, my heart pounding out of my chest.
I didn’t know what to say to them, which only pissed me off further that Austin never told anyone. The shit-storm was falling all on me. Once again his poor decisions were all my fault.
“Get out,” his dad gritted through clenched teeth, aggressively pointing to the emergency room doors.
“Joseph,” his mom coaxed, looking up at his face and then back at me with sympathy in her eyes.
“You don’t belong here. You never did,” he ordered not paying his wife any mind. “My son is fighting for his life because of you. Now leave before I have you escorted out,” he heaved with anger.
“Me?! How about you?! For always treating Austin like he was never good enough. For being a piece of shit father, and not wanting to accept your son for who he wanted to be. Everyone in this room, including myself, is partially responsible for him being in there,” I honestly spoke, unable to control the truth.
His grimaced. It was quick, but I saw it. “I won’t tell you again. Get the—”
“That’s enough,” Dylan interrupted me, speaking up for the first time since they all arrived.
All eyes were on him, including mine. Realizing quickly that this wasn’t going to end in my favor. I shook my head, turning to leave, defeated.
“I knew,” Dylan declared, making me stop dead in my tracks.
I winced, knowing the truth he was about to share with everyone.
“I’ve always known. He’s been struggling with addiction since the car accident.”
I shut my eyes, taking a deep breath, slowly letting the air escape from my lips.
“Briggs is right. She saved his life more times than any of you could ever possibly know. She deserves to be here more than any of us. I’m sorry, Briggs. I spoke out of anger on the phone. If it wasn’t for you, we would be planning a funeral.”
I spun around to face them once again. Each one of them looked at me. Hatred was replaced with shame and remorse. I was so grateful for Dylan coming to my defense. He could have let them continue to rip me to shreds, but he stepped up, throwing himself under the bus. Aubrey kissed him, pulling him into her arms.
No one spoke after that. No more questions, accusations, anger. We all took a seat awaiting the doctor. They all had someone with them, except me. My someone was lying in a hospital bed, possibly dying.
Even though there was so much to say, it took a backseat.
All we could do now was wait.
Chapter 39
<>Austin<>
I was in ICU for twenty-four hours before they transferred me to the detox unit, where I went through being medically withdrawn from the drugs. If there was anything to be thankful for, it would be for not dying and not having to experience the withdrawals awake. Since I OD’ed and technically died for a split-second, I had to have a sitter with me twenty-four/seven. It was hospital protocol, to make sure I wasn’t suicidal. I was mostly in and out of consciousness for the majority of my stay. They kept me sedated enough to where I barely felt any discomfort, just exhaustion.
I dreamt about Briggs mostly, except she wasn’t how I remembered her.