Chapter 49

“Bronx, what do you mean? N-no one told us when they said you needed rehabilitation.” Doctor Khe takes a step back from me. “Why would you do that? What happened?”

“I didn’t know why she left. I thought she abandoned me and I was mad and drunk and… I… I want her to hurt as badly as I was hurting.” I rub my hands over my face and force back tears. “It’s too late. I’ve killed both of us. She’ll never forgive me. There’s no point in me being here.”

A feeling of despair blankets me. My shoulders feel heavy, forcing me down until my forehead is resting on the ground. This is what I’ve feared, but it’s what I deserve. The pain I have been running from, the one deep in my gut that spreads like acid through my chest, bubbles up and makes up for all the time I spent numbing myself to stop feeling it. The fire it creates is not consoling the way the one liquor creates is. The more it builds, the more it burns a hole straight through me. I grit my teeth and let the growl from deep within me ro