Recovery

You deserve so much better.

Destine.

Panic. That's the only emotion that all the others led up to. Have you ever been in a situation where you were equally angry, sad, anxious, confused and desperate? I felt everything, the adrenaline and the terror and the thought of the worst thing that could happen, all at the same time. My brain couldn't focus on one thing for more than three seconds, and I'm sure the alcohol in my system wasn't helping.

I was rushing to the front door, hoping Matt didn't take off yet. If I could just talk to him, ask him to give Eve another chance, something. I needed to at least try. Eve is my best friend, I know her better than she knows herself. If I knew one thing about her, it would be that she didn't mean a single thing she just said. That's just her, how she deals with pain. She shuts down and pushes everyone far, far away. If I didn't talk to Matt, if I didn't try, what kind of friend would I be?

I frantically opened the front door, and was immediately attacked by the bright glow of a gorgeous Florida sunset. While my eyes took their sweet time to adjust to the sudden change, I slammed the door shut behind me.

"Matt? Matt wait please, I need to talk to you." I yelled out blindly.

While I listened for a response, my surroundings started to come into vision. I saw Matt's squad car parked at the end of our driveway, but I couldn't see if he was inside. Taking a quick turn to run down the driveway after him, I slammed into something warm and hard. Stumbling back a few steps I looked up, while rubbing my nose back into it's intended place.

"Damn, are you okay?" Matt said, placing his massive hands on my small shoulders helping me regain my balance.

"No Matt, you don't understand! I'm the farthest from okay right now. And what's fucked up is, where I'm at right now doesn't even come close to how bad Eve is." I choked, forming tears in my eyes. "Please, give her a chance. I know she can change."

"Destine, I care about Eve too. But she can't keep acting like this, without any consequence. What you're doing right now, is only enabling her. She has to face what her reckless behavior comes with, and I have to do my job. I'm sorry Des." Matt argued.

"You don't know her like I do! She's in a lot of pain, and this is the only way she knows how to handle it. You can't expect her to change how she thinks in the matter of three days! Nobody can do that." I yelled, letting my desperation take control of me.

"Destine, she has a serious problem and she needs serious help! Maybe she can get that with some time away from everything. Maybe it will be a huge wake up call for her to finally get her shit together, I don't know. But making excuses for her all the time is only making her think she's untouchable." Matt scolded, turning away from my pleading eyes.

"You can't imagine what she's been through, Matt. If you had any idea, if you knew her like I did, you wouldn't even be considering this. She had counseling today. Eve had to talk about things she's kept buried inside for years! It had to have been so painful, Matt. Please, if you care about her at all, give her some time. I'm begging you." I cried, letting tears stream down my face.

"Me giving her a second chance would be a huge risk on my part. Even if I did think she could change, I'd be risking my career. Would you be willing to do the same? Do you have that much faith in her? You heard her Des, she said it herself, she has nothing left. Why would I bet my life on someone who doesn't care about her own?" Matt gestured to the house where Eve was. His voice cracking from the recent strain on it.

I wiped my tears off my face, and took a long shaken breath. "How can she believe in herself if no one else has? She's a lot stronger than you think. I know she can do better, but she needs people to have her back and stick by her. It's going to get a lot harder for her before it gets better. You can do what you want Matt, but I'm not giving up on someone who desperately needs me in their darkest hour."