"It has been 30 days," Bruce said to his therapist. "Today is my 30th day here."
"Yes it is," Dr. Abbey Bright said to him. "Congratulations on 30 days clean. That is an amazing accomplishment."
"Thank you," Bruce said to her, even though he was not in need of congratulations. He wanted to go home.
"I can sense that you're anxious to return to your life," she said.
"Yes, I am," he said.
"I want nothing more than to see you off," she said. "Back to your family, confident that we have done everything that we can for you here. "
Family. It had been a month. Bruce had spoken to Adriana and Arsenio nearly every single day that he had been here. But...family. Did he even still have a family? He felt incredibly alone. He and Adriana never spoke about Jack but Bruce could tell that Adriana was now deeply involved with him. She was in love. It was never mentioned but it was obvious.
Arsenio, in his innocence, spoke of Jack often. Jack had been coming to visit with him several times a week. Bruce felt like his entire life, everything he had to live for, was slipping away. He needed to go back home.
"What more can you do?" he asked Dr. Bright. "I am clean. I will never touch another opiate again. I am dealing with my pain. I don't feel the desire to use anything. In my opinion, your job is done."
"Bruce..." she said. "If I may...offer my opinion?"
"Of course," Bruce said to her.
"What we are doing here...more specifically, what I am doing here," she said. "Is offering therapy. Trying to get to the root of the problem. To make sure that before you leave here, that you understand why you began to use opiates. "
"My regular physician visits here and checks in with you and the rest of my treatment team," Bruce said. "I'm sure you have spoken to him about my physical ailment. I have extreme physical pain. And opiates are physically very addictive. That was the root of my problem."
It was simple, and obvious, Bruce told himself.
"I believe your pain is more than just physical, Bruce," she said. "And I want to make sure that, before you leave, we've really examined other things in your life that may be ailing you. Because when you do leave, you will not leave with just physical pain. You will return to everything else in your life. And everything else...may lead to temptation. Not only to dull the physical pain, but the emotional as well."
"So, you believe I have emotional pain," he said. "Don't we all?"
"We do, to a certain extent," she said. "But here we should speak freely, to ensure that you understand your own pain and where it comes from. And how to cope without medication."
"Right then," Bruce said. "Whatever I need to do to get out of here as soon as possible. What do you want me to talk about?"
"Let's discuss your wife," the doctor said.
Bruce pressed his lips together.
"I assume you have seen the news," Bruce said. "Yes, she is leaving me. I am in the midst of a divorce."
"This is not about the news," the doctor said. "You do not discuss your wife and typically prefer to change the subject whenever we discuss your family and home life."
Bruce looked away.
"Bruce, this is not an accusation or critique," she said. "I am just letting you know how things seem from my perspective. Would you rather not discuss Mrs. Wayne for some reason?"
