Sméagol's Redeption

Chapter 67

"Did he say why he wanted it back?" asked Damian.

"No," Lea sniffled. "He just kept saying he needed it. I tried to remind him of what it put him through, and..." She began to cry again. "I didn't mean to hurt him. I've never seen him so mad."

"Oh, Sweetie." Bri sat next to Lea on the couch, and put her arm around her. "He's not mad at you. That's not him talking. That's his addiction, just like all those times I got mad at Damian, because of my eating disorder. It wasn't me talking. It was ED." ED is what Bri named her eating disorder voice. "Gollum and Sméagol are fighting their own 'ED,' and that ED is the ring. But, when they get mad at you for trying to help them, it's not them talking. It's their addiction."

"I didn't mean to hurt him," Lea wept.

"You didn't hurt him, Lea."

"I'm scared I'm gonna lose him."

"I know, Sweetie."

"Believe me," said Damian. "I know exactly how you're feeling right now."

"We hurts her," Sméagol wept. "We hurts our baby."

"It's okay, Sweetie," Aini said warmly.

"No, it was me," Gollum sniffled. "I made Sméagol do it, and I got angry at Lea when she tried to stop us."

"Gollum, Sweetie, listen to me," said Aini. "Lea only tried to stop you, because she's worried about you. And, she's only worried, because she loves you so much."

"We knows," Gollum wept, "and we hurts her."

"Don't beat yourself up about this, Gollum. I know you didn't mean to hurt her."

"No, we didn't means to."

"And, I know you love her."

"Very, very much, but she will never forgive us."

"Never," Sméagol wept.

"I'm really scared," said Lea. "I'm scared that he'll find the ring. I'm scared of what it'll make him do. I'm scared it'll make him hurt me, or that he'll leave me for it. I'm scared that something'll happen to him while he's out looking for it. I... I can't..." Lea suddenly began to hyperventilate from a meltdown sneaking up on her. "I can't lose him!" she sobbed hysterically. "I ca—I can't—I can't lose him!"

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Damian said calmly, putting his hand on Lea's shoulder. "We're not gonna let that happen."

"No, we're not," said Bri.

"Nope, because we're gonna get in my truck, and go looking for him."

"Don't worry, Sweetie. You're not gonna lose him. Okay?"

"O—Okay," Lea panted.

"Come on," said Damian. "Let's go."

"Okay." Lea stood up from the couch, but suddenly began feeling very dizzy and weak. "Oh, shit," she said, "I don't feel so good." She took one step forward, but collapsed to the floor.

"Oh, shit!" Bri panicked. "Lea?! Lea, Honey?!" She knelt by Lea, and saw that she was unconscious. "Damian, call 911!"

"Gollum, Sméagol, Lea loves you," said Aini, "more than anything in this entire world. She loves you so much. She would do anything for you. She will forgive you. She won't just give up on you after one little disagreement."

"We aren't the first one to walk out on her," said Gollum. "Too many have abandoned her before."

"Which is why you need to go back to her."

"She won't trust us anymore."

"Yes, she will, because you did not walk out on her. You had an argument. Some things were said that you wish you hadn't said, and you did something you wish you didn't. But, if you don't go back to her, you will have walked out on her, and you'll regret it."

Just then, Aini's phone rang.

"Oh, it's Bri." She picked it up. "Hello? What?! Okay, i... No, you don't have to. He's here. Yeah, he's okay. Okay, we'll be right there. Okay, bye." She hung up, and put her phone in her purse.

"What is it, Precious?" asked a worried Sméagol.

"They're on their way to the hospital. Lea collapsed."

"What?!" Gollum panicked. "Is she alright?!"

"I don't know, but we need to get down there now. Come on."