Doctor's Orders

34. Stitches, Part 2

When I saw Ian at work the next morning, he gave me a friendly hug. He really had an incredible heart. 

"Hey," I said. "How good are you at giving advice?" 

"Not bad. Why, what's up?"

"I don't have time to explain it all here, but maybe you could come over and hang out tonight? Suffice it to say that Harry apologized for everything."

"Ohhh." Ian's eyes went wide. "Sure I'll come over. I gotta hear this story."

I pushed his shoulder playfully and got to work. The day went rather quickly, for which I was grateful. I was dying to fill Ian in on Harry's odd behavior. And it occurred to me that much had happened since I had last spoken to Bridget. I would invite her as well. We'd order pizza and talk for a few hours before I had to hit the sack to pull another twelve tomorrow. 

Come for pizza tonight? More to tell about the doctor. I hit send and it was barely out of my phone before she sent her reply. 

I'll bring the beer.

Ian came home with me, and Bridget came knocking only fifteen minutes later. 

"Hey," I said, hugging her. "You remember Ian, right?" 

"Of course," she said. "You were at Navy Pier with some other folks from the hospital."

"Yeah, that's me," he said. He leaned in to give Bridget a friendly hug. We all sat down and cracked open our beer while we waited for the pizza. 

"So, what happened?" Ian asked. I tried to sum up everything I told Bridget the morning before. 

Ian sat back and put his hands behind his head. "That's a sorry ass drunken apology," he finally said, laughing. "But I maintain my original theory. He still wants you. He's just being a fool about it."

"No offense, babe," Bridget added. "But how do you know he's not just settling because his ex left him again?" 

"Oh!" I said excitedly, "That's the part you don't know yet. He broke up with her. He said that she kind of bullied him into giving her a second chance, but then he remembered all the things he didn't like about her. And he swore they didn't sleep together." I looked between them, weighing their reactions before I continued. "He also said he was sorry, like truly sorry. His exact words were I fucked up."

"Yeah he did!" Bridget shouted with laughter.

"Let me finish," I said, putting my hand up as a stop sign. "He said that he understood if I didn't want anything to do with him, but he said he couldn't live with himself if he didn't try to make things right with me." I threw my hands up and finished. "I'm so confused. I want to believe him, but I honestly don't know what to think." 

Bridget and Ian regarded each other as if they were communicating without words. Then they both looked at me. "He loves you!" They both shouted, and then laughed that their words came out simultaneously.

"No," I said, pushing the air in front of me as if I were physically shoving the words away. "Even if he did, how can I trust him? I mean, his behavior is erratic and he's drunk half the time." Um, shoot, maybe I shouldn't have said that last part.

"Like how often?" Ian probed. 

"Well, for sure the day after we saw him on the beach with Logan. A couple times before I went home Labor Day weekend. Maybe once when I called him, but I'm not sure."

"Then you need to tell him no more drinking, especially when you two are trying to talk things out," Ian suggested firmly. "It doesn't help your relationship at all, and it doesn't do wonders for his career, either, if he gets carried away. He's playing with fire."