I switched to my burner phone, making a call to the doctor who had been removing the organs from the inmates at the prison. After a little haggling, we agreed on a price. He said he would send the paperwork over to the institution right away.
One perk that came with being a black market dealer was knowing the right people at the right time. I couldn’t take being away from Ripley a moment longer. I needed to see her for myself. To make sure she was all right.
Checking myself in was the best way to do that. I was done waiting. I was done being an addict. I was going in after my girl.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
AURYN
After packing a bag of my things, I did one last line of blow before flushing the rest of it. Watching it swirl in the toilet before disappearing punched me in the gut. This was a huge step for me.
I waited until I’d already driven myself to the facility before texting Stray to let him know where I would be. This was what I had to do. I didn’t want to give anyone a chance to talk me out of it. Not that I thought they would.
Maybe they would think I was jumping the gun here. Making a rash decision based on my need to see Ripley, and maybe I was. That was fine with me.
It took several minutes for me to psych myself up enough to go inside the building. Now that I was here, I was afraid of what that meant. Knowing that Ripley was inside was the only thing that kept me from turning around and going home.
Staring at the building looming against the sky, it all hit home. What a huge step I was taking. From this moment on my life would change. That’s what I wanted after all. Wanting it didn’t make it come easy though.
The front of the building didn’t look that daunting. Kind of like a giant house. Getting out of my car, I sucked in a deep breath, and made my way inside.
The intake process wasn’t so bad. I did have to hand over my cell phone since they weren’t permitted inside. There were several questions that I had to answer and forms to fill out. I was itching to get in and find Ripley.
First the orderlies took me to a bedroom on the fourth floor that I would be sharing with another guy. A middle-aged man sat on one of the beds reading a book when we entered. He glanced up, giving me a curious onceover.
“Kevin, this is Auryn,” the orderly who’d introduced himself as Ben spoke. “He’ll be your roommate for a while.”
Kevin nodded, offering me a smile. “Cool. Nice to meet you. I hope you don’t mind snoring.”
“It’s all good,” I said, tossing my bag on the small twin bed on the opposite side of the room. “I’m a pretty heavy sleeper.”
With his salt and pepper beard and black framed glasses, Kevin gave off comfortable dad vibes. I hadn’t anticipated having a roommate. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
“Try to get settled in. One of the nurses will get you set up on a program right away. Feel free to explore. The dining hall and entertainment room are on the main floor.” Ben paused to see if I had any further questions before leaving the room.
From down the hall came the sound of a man shouting obscenities. After a moment, I realized he was singing a heavy metal song at the top of his lungs.
“Don’t mind him,” Kevin said, absently flipping a page in his book. “That’s just Cory. He does that a lot.”
I’d already been told that I would be under a medically supervised detox. There was nothing keeping me here other than myself. I was free to leave any time I chose. Upon checking in, I’d been advised to attend group therapy. The nurse whorecommended it believed it would be good for me and my situation.
I sat on the edge of the bed, trying to wrap my mind around what I’d done. This was going to take some getting used to. Kevin seemed especially immersed in his book. Something by James Patterson. Even though I had questions, I didn’t want to bother him.
I was about to head out to get to know the place, and hopefully find Ripley, when Kevin suddenly slammed his book shut. He sprang off his bed, straightening the sleeve of his sweater.
“Time for group,” he announced. “Want to come?”
Not even a little bit. My priority was finding Ripley. I was about to decline when something within told me to go. To make the most of this while I was here. If I wanted to be the man Ripley deserved, I couldn’t half-ass this experience.
“Sure. Why not?”
I followed Kevin down to the second floor and into a room where several people had already gathered on chairs arranged in a large circle. A therapist sat at the head of the circle, waiting for everyone to get settled.
God, I wanted some blow. The need plagued me while I sat there listening to others introduce themselves. Talking about what had brought them here, sharing parts of themselves that were easier to discuss with strangers.
One woman had become a raging alcoholic in order to deal with her abusive husband. After almost drinking herself to death in a subconscious attempt to escape him, she’d come here. Knowing that she needed to take her life back before he ruined everything she had left.
I listened attentively, not able to relate, yet appreciating her candid honesty. Witnessing the way a weight seemed to liftfrom her as she spoke. Maybe there was some benefit to this group setting.
