Check out the new cover! I'm so excited about it!
Today's grammar lesson: think twice before you judge someone on their English. It's got nothing to do with your intelligence, and while effort helps, it's not usually the problem either. It comes down to your background, to things like whether English is your native tongue, whether it's your parents' native tongue, whether your teachers covered it well/at all, what you read, how much your own dialect's rules vary from standard English, and all kinds of factors that don't tell you anything about who a person is. If you won't hire someone with a mistake in their cover letter because you think they're stupid, lazy, or bad at communication, you'll end up hiring a bunch of people who look and talk exactly like you and discriminating unfairly against great candidates.
I look down on Esther and Scott from above. "I'm better," he insists.
"You're in remission. You know how fast that can turn around. When you fall off the wagon, you fall hard. The alcohol feeds the depression, the depression feeds the alcoholism, and in the end, it's as bad as being addicted to the disease itself. On top of that, you could keep doing everything right, stay 100% sober, have exactly the right prescriptions, self care, and support, and still fall back into depression. It's less likely, but you still aren't fully symptom-free, and even if you were, you'd still be at higher risk, and even if I knew for certain it would never come back, I'd still tell you to stay away from him."
I feel bad for Scott. Arguing with Esther is a losing battle. He holds his ground, though. "I thought about all that and worse a thousand times while I was sick. There's nothing you can say that I haven't already considered. Do you want me to feel hopeless?"
"I want you to be careful! He could break you without even trying."
"He did try. Just a few months ago. I pushed him, and he tried to break me, but he failed. I'll be okay."
"You pushed him? Listen to what you're saying. Mitch tries to hurt you and you talk about it like it's your fault—"
"Once in a while, things actually are my fault."
"—and second, what did he do? You can't use Mitch attempting to break you as a reason to take him back! Do you know how crazy that sounds? But you are crazy, aren't you? You're in some kind of love or something, and you aren't looking out for yourself like you should."
"That's not even part of the picture. Mitch isn't interested."
"But you are, and your judgement is impaired. Do you really think he'll stay if you get bad again?"
"I won't. He won't let me. And it feels different this time."
"You can't use him like some kind of cure. He won't fix anything, and when it doesn't get better, he'll leave again, and I don't want you to go through that again. I don't know if I'll be able to help enough if that happens."
"This has to mean something." There's something in his hand, but I can't see it from here without my contacts.
"It does. It's a huge deal, and I'm immensely proud of you for earning it, and I think it proves how strong you are and how much hope there is for you, but it doesn't mean you're infallible. You slipped after nine months, and you can slip after a year too. If anything, this should be a reminder of what you can do without him. You don't need him."
"He's Mitch. I'll always need him."
"No. You can do this. You don't need someone who leaves when you're in the hospital and comes back when you're stable."
"He's been trying to fix this for years."
"Listen, Scott, if you won't do this for your sake, do it for his." Esther, no. "Do you really think it will end well? Can you really stop yourselves from hurting each other?"
