You'll Never Be Alone

Sober Up

Sober Up

Seth and I are back at a Motel, our stuff piled in the corner of the room. My hands are separating the money once again while Seth is out on the bed, his drugs kicking in.

I hated seeing him do this to himself. I wanted him to stop this, but he said he probably wouldn't unless it got bad.

When Seth tosses and turns on the bed, it grabs my attention. He starts to mumble something, making me set the money down and make my way over to the bed. Cautiously, I lightly touch his arm, feeling how warm he is.

At my touch, Seth's eyes snap open. He moves quickly in his actions, grabbing my arms and spinning us, pinning me to the bed as he breathes heavily.

"Seth, Seth, it's me. It's Katherine," I say worriedly.

"Katherine?" He asks, seeming to come back from his nightmare. His eyes look at what he's doing and quickly stands up, shaking his head. I sit up, looking at him shocked. Never had he been this bad before. "I'm so-so sorry," Seth says, his eyes showing his fear.

I stand, walking up to him as I say, "It's fine. Whatever you saw must have scared you pretty bad."

Seth rubs his face and sits down in the chair I was previously in. He looks tired and concerned.

"You've got to stop this, Seth. You're going to kill yourself."

"I know, I know. I just... I can't."

Making my way over to Seth, I kneel in front of him, setting my hands on his legs as I said, "Then let me help you."

Seth looks at me for a minute, his mind trying to process my words. He lightly nods, seeming to give me permission to help him. I stand and make my way over to the nightstand. I pick up the drugs and walk into the bathroom, flushing them down the toilet.

When I return to the room, I grab my bag and sit it on the bed. I dig through it before pulling out a belt.

"My ex-roommate and I helped her brother sober up awhile back. Half-way through, he started getting violent so we tied him to a chair." I move in front of him, holding up the belt and taking a deep breathe. "Better safe than sorry, I shrug,

"This is ridicules," Seth says, meeting my eyes.

"Only if it doesn't work," I add.

He sighs and puts his hands behind the chair, letting me loop up the belt. Once it's tight enough where it won't hurt him but keep him in place, I take the seat across from him.

I know it'll take a while so I start re-counting the money, separating it into two piles. One for him and one for me. The entire time, Seth watches me in silence. He watches every move my hands make, he watches my lips move as they count, he watches my eyes as they drag over each bill.

Years ago, I was sure I could be a banker with my love for counting money. Now, I'm only more sure I could be.

Once the money is all counted up and put away, I move to the bed and throw on the TV. Seth's back is to me, making it hard for me to see what he's going through. Part of mw is happy to not see him fully as he gets out of this, knowing how rough it can be.

My eyes are focused on the TV, some old episode of Golden Girls. But when Seth starts to thrash around in his chair, not even they can keep my attention away.

I quickly get off the bed and make my way over to him. He seems to be hallucinating and sweating, putting him through the harsh part of all of this.

"Seth, Seth. It's okay, it's not real," I say as he continued to thrash around. At one movement, he tips his chair to the side, causing it to call him back to reality. My eyes go wide as he breaths heavily, his body calming down some.