He remains silent for a long time. Maybe a lifetime. It feels like forever before he finally speaks again. “Leave him.”
“Linc, that’s not the answer. I have to help him.”
He leans forward, invading the space between us with purpose. “To me it is.”
“I really need you to be my friend right now, okay?”
His green eyes hold mine as he contemplates my request. Then he nods. “Why do you think he’s on drugs?”
I swallow hard in an attempt to prepare my troubled heart. “He’s been more aggressive lately. Agitated.” I look down at my fidgety hands, tears welling up in my eyes. “He’s been calling out sick to work, sleeping during the day then staying out all night. He’s losing weight, and I can tell something isn’t right. I don’t know what to do.”
Linc’s face pinches with pain.
“Has he…has he ever put his hands on you?”
“No,” I reply, unable to look at him.
Dean hasn’t hit me but his anger and fits of rage are terrifying enough. Last week, he pushed me hard against the wall when we got into a heated argument about money. Hard enough to make the sheetrock crack. Then he was on his knees, crying, begging for me not to leave him. I didn’t know what to do. I could see in his eyes, how much he needed me and how sorry he was, but it didn’t change what he did.
I’d never felt so lost or unsure, and I’m afraid that if I don’t do anything now it will only get worse.
“How long has this been going on?”
“About six months.”
“Fuck, Sylvie. Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“Because I keep hoping it will get better. Despite how you feel about him, he is a good father. He may be jealous and a little possessive but he just does it because he loves me.”
He scoffs. “Do you still love him?”
“Yes, I love him. I love him very much.” I release a defeated sigh, sagging back into the seat. “I just don’t know how to help him. He won’t open up to me and now he’s starting to shut me out completely.”
Silence consumes the air between us but the way he’s looking at me says it all, it has my heart breaking and yearning at the same time.
“You need to confront him,” he says, his jaw locked down tight. “Give him an ultimatum. Either he gets help or you’re gone. You deserve better than this, Sylvie. You both do.”
The pain that’s been locked in my chest erupts like hot lava. I bury my face in my hands as sobs rack my body. “I’m so scared, Linc.”
He says nothing as he lifts the console between us and pulls me into his arms attempting to glue my broken pieces together.
After several long moments, I lift my head, and his rough thumbs wipe away my tears. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. You’ll get through this.” I nod, bringing my hand to cover his. “I’m here for you, Syl. No matter what. Until the day they put me in the ground, I’ll always fuckin’ be here.” His lips press the promise to my forehead and my heart cries out in relief.
Clinging to his strong body, my gratitude is a whispered ‘thank you,’because there is no other possible way for me to express what this man means to me.
“No need to thank me for something I was born to do.”
Past
“Where the fuck did you find that?” Dean asks, his fists clenched at his sides. The wooden box on the table is filled with syringes, a rubber strap, empty plastic bags, and a bunch of other garbage I know he uses to get high.
“Where do you think I found it?”
His eyes flare with rage, his pupils the size of pins. A shiver sneaks down my spine, fear causing my hands to tremble. “Why the hell were you in my shop, Sylvie? You have no fucking business being in there.”
Dean paces the floor, running a hand frequently through his dark hair while taking long pulls from his cigarette.
I’d taken Caroline to my parents’ house to spend the night so I could confront him. This is our relationship, no one else’s. And I had a feeling confronting him in front of anyone else would only make him angrier and less willing to be honest about his problem.
