The Devil's Backbone

Chapter 11: Drunken Confessions

        Violet finally got Doc inside the hotel room. It had taken a few minutes because he was quite a bit heavier than she thought he was. She flopped him down onto the bed and sighed. 

        "I wish you'd stop drinking so much... It's not good for you and neither is this gambling! You told me you would find a job as a dentist... join a practice or open your own, Doc." Violet huffed another sigh and turned her back toward the window to draw the curtains shut before she began unbuttoning his waistcoat. He couldn't very well sleep in it.

        "We're not stayin' here," He slurred, running his fingers through her hair. Violet froze.

        "What... do you mean?" She whispered. Her eyes were wide with shock. She wasn't quite sure she understood what was happening.

        "Th' doctor said I'll live longer if I go South." Violet backed up and slid down the wall. 

        "Live... longer...?" She whispered to herself. He was sick... Violet had known it for awhile but...

        "It seems I've contracted the consumption," He said as he lay back in the bed and laughed a little bit. It was a drunken laugh that said that even though he was quite articulate in this state he was still very very drunk. 

        "You.... Doc... you lied...." Tears came to Violet's eyes. She was trapped between being angry at him for lying to her and her devastation at him having contracted tuberculosis. 

        Violet shook her head and ran out the door, leaving an intoxicated Doc behind her. Her vision was blurred with tears as she ran to the edge of town. She collapsed in the brush and curled up there. She just... needed to be alone for awhile.

        Meanwhile, Doc stared at the door she'd left through for several minutes before his eyes fluttered shut and he fell asleep in the bed.