30 Days In Rehab

Day 12: Friday

"So, how'd you get the busted lip?" Darren asks, rubbing his chin as I sit across from him. "Telara thought she could treat me like I was a bitch." I answer with a chuckle.

"And I'm guessing she won."

"It was a tie," I shrug, "I wasn't really trying to hurt her."

Darren's door bursts open showing Tee, Andrew, and an angry looking Dawson. "Wh-Why is he here?" I ask Tee, gesturing to both Darren and Andrew. "Why would you bring him here?" I ask, my eyes more on Andrew this time. Tee wrings her hands, "He wanted to talk to you... About him. And Darren is trying to stop him." I blink a few times, taking a deep breath.

My string is strong. My string is very strong.

I look to Andrew, "What is that you want to talk about?"

"Stephanie, it's not important right now--"

"Shut 'cho bitch ass up, she needs to hear this!" With that being said Darren and Tee bursts into an argument with Darren hopelessly trying to calm them down. Andrew steps around them and steps close to. His eyes show how exhausted and upset he is so I know what he is about to is going to hurt. "First of all, Steph, I'm glad to see that you're doing much better. For the record, I didn't agree with you being brought here too, but now I see that it is doing you some good." He begins. I nod in appreciation. "But I wanted to talk to you about Daniel and how he die--"

"Don't you say another fucking word!" Dawson shouts, pointing his finger over Darren's shoulder who is trying to hush him and get him to lower his voice. Dawson turns to Tee who squares her shoulders, prepared to continue arguing or possibly swing on him. "Telara, I told you that I would talk to her and tell her at the right moment." Shouts Dawson.

"She should hear it from him, Kenneth, this was basically his brother. She needs to know now!" She argues. "It may lessen the blow." "You don't know what kind of blow it will be!" Dawson shouts. "You do not know how it will affect her!"

"She's doing good; she'll be able to handle it!"

"Just because she isn't calling herself Humpty Dumpty doesn't mean that she is good! Just yesterday I got word that she was cursing Darren out saying she wasn't improving." Dawson brushes past Darren and tries to pull Andrew away from me. I swat his hands away and Tee grabs Dawson's shoulder, causing them to burst into another argument. "Andrew, finish talking." I demand.

"Andrew, don't say a word, Stephanie you do not need to hear this right now." Dawson says, looking over Tee's head. "If there's any time to tell her, now is the time." Andrew says calmly, "If this news affects her badly, she will still have 18 days to work through it. It's better to tell her now than to tell her when she's better and send her backwards."

Dawson scoffs, "What makes you so educated on the road of recovery?"

"I was in medical school; I know all about recovery."

"You know about the recovery of the body, not the mind, so stay in your lane. You may have been in medical school a while ago but right now you're nothing but a drug dealing thug." Dawson sneers. Andrew takes a step towards him, "Before I leave here today, this woman will know what happened to him. She will know the truth about what happened to Daniel."

"What do you mean the truth?" I ask, stepping in front of Andrew, catching his attention. "What happened to Daniel?"

"Andrew don't tell her!" Screams Dawson.

"Andrew just say it already!" Tee urges.

"I am telling you now Andrew that it will do more harm than good!" Dawson warns. Andrew is ignoring them, simply staring into my eyes, indecision now on his face. After a few seconds of Dawson and Tee continuously arguing over what he should do, their voices now almost background noises, Andrew takes a deep breath. "Daniel was murdered." He says lowly, most likely thinking that I wouldn't hear him. And he's right, I didn't hear him, at that moment Dawson screamed over him, drowning out his voice.

But... I can read lips just fine.

Pain spreads in my chest as fire rises in my throat and my hand flies out, gripping Andrew's arm. I choke, "What?" I push out. I release his arm and take a step away from him, my hand rising to my chest. "The jail released the footage; it was a rival of ours that found him. Daniel was distraught; he didn't put up a fight. He let them--"

"Shut up." Dawson commands, pushing past tee who smacks him on the back of the head. Dawson approaches me but I hold a hand out, stopping him in his tracks as I lower myself into my long-abandoned chair.

"He let them wrap the sheet around his neck--"

"Andrew shut the hell up!" Dawson roars, now chest to chest with an unmoving Andrew. Tee pushes through the boys and skids to my side, her hands rubbing my thighs, trying to comfort me. "He let them string him up--" Dawson's right fist moves, punching Andrew, knocking him to the floor. "He let them kill him Stephanie!" Andrew wipes blood from his lip.

Peeking up from the ground, she loses her breath. There he was, in all his glory. So much had changed about him that she didn't know how to take it all in. He was physically bigger; his arms and torso nearly ripping the shirt he was wearing.

He had cut his hair; it gave him an older look, instead of looking like a teenager. And his walk? His walk was no longer bouncing. He didn't bounce on his feet, no. He took steps of power, each step showing his confidence. He was no longer a little boy in a man's body; he was all man.

I completely lose feeling and slide to the floor, right into Tee's arms.

I look up at him and smirk, "Was' sup baby." I greet, loving the look of shock on his face once he hears a small amount of country in my voice. He smirks at me, his smirk turning into a grin as he looks down at me. He reaches down, his arms encircling my waist, pulling me up to his level.

"What did you say?" he teases, putting butterflies in my belly. I smile, wrapping my legs around his waist, "I said hi 'big daddy Daniel'." He chuckles, staring at my face. He leans in to kiss me, his eyes half closed.

My eyes open, finding Andrew and Dawson fighting on the floor in front of me. Tee is shouting in my ear for them to stop fighting and for them to take it outside.

Daniel, my Daniel, was murdered. He allowed them to kill him. This is my fault. Because of me, me speaking to the police, he grew to distrust me, making him put his hands on me. Because of me, he was upset with himself. Because of me, he came to the club to talk to me. Because of me, he went to jail. It was all because of me-- No. No. No. No. It is not my fault.

I watch as Darren and nurses break up the two men, keeping them a distance from each other. They shout angrily at each other, neither of them noticing what they have caused. I turn to Tee who is staring at me, concern in her eyes, "You will be okay, okay? I know that look Stephanie; remember what I told you at the club: no matter what you think, it is not your fault." Remember that." She whispers. I lay my head on her shoulder, coldness seeping into my skin.

"Everybody leave." I croak, my eyes looking at the dusty floor. "I want to be alone.