Strange

Sober

You heard them still talking but you couldn't make out any of the words. Then, the two men walked towards you and Banner asked, "Morgan...have you had any drugs?"

You questioned trying to play it off, "Drugs?"

Stephen became angry, "Morgan, you know damn well what drugs are...did you take any?" You shook your head but he asked, "So if we ran some tests, you would be clean?"

Oh no.

This really isn't good.

You looked down and still tried to play it off by shaking your head. He didn't buy that though and said, "Bruce, will you run some tests on her...starting with a drug test."

He nodded and slowly walked towards you with a needle and began to roll up your sleeves. You were still in and out of it but when you remembered the scars on your arm, you quickly stopped him. He looked at you confused and said, "Morgan, this is going to be just like last time. Okay?" You gave him a pleading look but he still rolled up your sleeves. You knew you wouldn't be able to escape this so you surrendered and braced yourself for what was about to happen.

As he rolled up your sleeves, he was in shock at the scars on your wrist. Stephen, standing behind him, took a glance at your arm and then looked at you shocked and extremely confused. Banner looked back at him as Stephen asked, "Morgan?" You let a tear fall out of your eyes, you looked at the floor ashamedly as he continued sympathetically, "We'll talk later, okay?"

You nodded still crying as Banner pulled out the needle and began to take your blood. You flinched as the needle entered your vein and as he took it out. Then he walked away and began to test your blood. Stephen sat down next to you trying to think of something, anything to say to you, but he was lost at words. He knew something was wrong with you, but he had no idea. He had no idea of how low you really were.

About thirty excruciating minutes, the drug test came back. Banner slowly walked towards the both of you and sighed, "What drugs did you take?"

You looked down but Stephen sternly said, "Morgan, what drugs did you take?"

You let out a quick sob and said, "Hydrocodone."

Stephen stood up in shock and put his hands to his head before angrily saying, "That was in my room...did you-" You nodded as you sobbed and he went to Banner and said, "Can you put in an IV to get her sober."

He nodded and a few seconds later, you had a clear straw going into your arm, pumping you full of IV fluids. You eventually fell asleep due to the amount of stress you had just been through. You had no idea what to say to Stephen for the reasoning behind all of this. You felt bad. You knew he was doing his best to take care of you but you were so low and tired. You needed a fix.

You woke up about two hours later hearing Banner and Stephen talking. You then heard footsteps walk up to you and begin to take the IV out of your arm. Then, you looked up to see Stephen standing over you and saying, "Are you ready to go?" You shook your head no but he lightly grabbed your arm helping you up, "Yeah, let's go. We need to talk."

You let a tear fall as you slowly got up as he opened a portal to the library in the monastery and walked through. He stood facing a chair with his arms crossed signaling you to sit down in the chair. He stood there for a bit trying to find the words to say. Eventually he just sighed and asked, "Why?"

You looked at him confused and said, "I don't know."

He then said sternly and said angrily, "No, there is a reason why you did it. Tell me why."

You began loudly, "I don't know!" You paused and looked down and got quiet, "I was just tired-"

He paced angrily not letting you finish, "Tired? What do you mean, tired?"

You cried and yelled, "I'm tired of everything! The nightmares, the constant sadness, I'm tired of hurting!"

He then yelled at you, "THEN WHY WOULD YOU CUT YOURSELF IF YOU'RE HURTING?"

You sobbed back, "IT HELPED WITH PAIN! I DIDN'T HAVE TO FEEL THE NIGHTMARES AS MUCH!"

Then he sharply said, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT ANY OF THIS? ABOUT THE PAIN YOU WERE FEELING?"

You cried, "I COULD'VE FIGURED IT OUT ON MY OWN! YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!"

He looked at you in utter shock, "HAVE I NOT TREATED YOU LIKE A DAUGHTER MOGAN? I HAVE GIVEN UP EVERYTHING TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!"

You sobbed and said under your breath, "Then just let me go."

He looked at you shocked and said, "You know I can't do that. Even under my care you're on the path to becoming a self-destructive junkie!"

You yelled back, "THEN WHY WON'T YOU LET ME?"

He shouted back, "BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT YOU! DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT?"

You looked down at the ground and sobbed, "I KNOW! I'M JUST TIRED OF EVERYTHING. I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!"

He then looked at you shocked, "YOU SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST TOLD ME! YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD ME THAT YOU WERE FEELING SUICIDAL! THAT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO LIVE?" He eventually paused and calmed his voice and said, "You know I could have helped you, right?"

You nodded and said, "I didn't want to tell you."

He then asked, "Why?"

You cried, "I was scared...I thought you would be mad at me and that you would send me back to the bad men."

He sighed and said, "I would never be mad and I especially would never send you back to that place, you know that right? I'm just disappointed that you lied to me." He then continued, "So why did you do it? The drugs?"

You looked at the ground and mumbled, "I thought it would help me relax. That it would distract me from the constant pain that I'm always in."

He said in a calming voice, "You know that wouldn't have helped in the long run, right?"

You nodded and sighed, "I just thought- the drugs felt good when I got them the first time and I didn't have any nightmares when I had them. I just thought it would help. I didn't think any of this would happen-"

He slowly walked towards you and urged you to stand up as he just hugged you. He held your head with his hand towards himself as you buried your head into his chest. You began to sob into his chest. You had felt so lonely lately and to just feel cared for, it made you crumble.

You cried as your voice broke "I'm sorry Stephen."

He lightly chuckled and said, "Call me dad."

You chuckled back as your voice broke, "I'm sorry dad."

He then said, "You have nothing to be sorry for M. You were feeling down and I didn't help you. Just next time, tell me okay?"

You nodded and said, "Okay."

He then said, "I love you."

You answered back, "I love you too."