"I would like transport to be provided by the facility," Adriana heard Bruce saying as she came into his office. She had finally returned home.
He couldn't see her; his chair was facing the windows behind him.
"7 a.m.." Bruce went on. "Correct. Understood. I will have the forms faxed over to you within the hour. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. Goodbye."
Bruce spun his chair around and placed his phone on his desk. He looked up at Adriana, not expecting her to be there. He stood and she took off the surgical mask she had been wearing to cover her lower face.
"You're back," he said to her after he was standing.
'You too," Adriana said to him.
Bruce looked at her, feeling devastated. What had happened before he left felt like a bad dream. All he felt was pain, physical pain. And he needed his fix again. It didn't matter. He would suffer through it.
"Where did you go?" she asked him.
He felt some relief that she still seemed to care. Perhaps there was a chance. But the answer to the question was so obvious that it made him feel hopeless again. She did not trust him at all.
"I met with my supplier," Bruce confessed.
Adriana nodded.
"And did you make a a purchase?" she asked.
"Yes," he told her.
"And did you..." she blinked and looked away for a second and then looked at him again. "Use what you purchased?"
"Yes," he stated the obvious truth.
"Okay," Adriana said and seemed to relax. "Thank you for telling me the truth."
Bruce couldn't see how she could believe that he would lie to her now about something so clear and undeniable. He could see that she had no confidence or faith in him, and had expected him to lie even after he had been exposed.
"We...obviously have a lot to talk about," Bruce said to her, waiting for her to agree.
"Yes," she said finally. It seemed like she was struggling with this conversation more than he was, which he did not understand. He had been the one in the wrong, undeniably. "I have to tell you something and it's-"
She paused mid sentenced and seemed to be collecting herself. Bruce felt he would go to pieces. But he remembered Alfred's words. Dignity. He needed to maintain it. Even if she was to leave him, he loved this woman. He would remain dignified, even though all he wanted to do was fall to his knees and beg her to stay.
He watched her take a few breaths.
"I'm..." she said and it looked like the air had been sucked out of her lungs. She looked as devastated as he felt. "Bruce...I'm so sorry..I-"
Again, she struggled to speak. He decided to speak first.
"Adriana," he said. "I also have something I need to tell you, if I may."
She wiped her eyes quickly and nodded.
"I was just on a call with the inpatient rehab facility," he said to her. "I need you to know that, no matter what decision you have made...I will be returning to rehab tomorrow. And I need you to trust me again, to know that I will be honest with you. If not for us, then for our son's sake. So, I am giving you my word, here and now. I am swearing to you that no matter what happens, I will be returning to rehab tomorrow. That is a promise. It won't be easy to explain to our son, but it is happening. You have my word."
