Life Without You

Chapter 25 - Rehab

"Your liver seems to be recovering, miraculously enough. I was expecting the worst," said the doctor, blinking twice at the results.

"Oh, thank you God!" Mrs Waltz clasped her hands in hope.

"Don't celebrate just yet. His withdrawal symptoms and craving for alcohol are still there. This will need to be purged once and for all else his liver will be damaged again. By then, it will be beyond recovery. He'll need to strictly keep to a healthy diet and avoid alcohol permanently."

After an intensive month, Leon was finally discharged.

News got out about him leaving the hospital looking in good spirits had fans expressing their relief. However, his recovery was far from over. Back in his penthouse, Vinny was busy packing Leon's belongings for his stay at the rehab. Everything had to be done quickly and in secret.

The news of Leon Waltz entering into rehab would cause a further blow to his already shattered public image. A long absence could stall his career. It was not going to be easy to kick this habit, but he almost lost his life, twice - first by the gunman, then by his failed liver. He was not going to let death knock on his door early again.

It felt awesome to be back after the long awful hospital stay, but Leon had to leave for rehab almost immediately since he did not want to delay any further the treatments necessary. Before he left his penthouse, Leon took a good look at himself in the large, wall mirror in his room. The disguise that Ryan styled on him proved how much he had learned from Camille.

He glanced around his comfortable surroundings one last time. The minibar filled with his favourite flavours of the finest wines kept in colourful wine bottles was calling out his name once more. He paced about for a while. Feeling his knees weak to the spell, he lumbered towards the minibar.

"No no NO!" Angel sliced in front of his brother, blocking him just in time. "We'll make them vanish - abracadabra!" His hands mimed a magician's trick.

Leon rolled his eyes. "Haha, NOT funny. Do you have any idea how much I spent on these? Enough to buy a small house across the street!"

"Exactly! That's why we're gonna sell them off. You need the cash," reminded Angel. Leon knew he was referring to his skincare company's debt. "They'll fetch a pretty good price knowing it's from your house."

Leon facepalmed.

"Here, have this instead," his mother offered him a fresh cup of freshly squeezed orange juice, hoping that it will distract him.

He gulped down the juice but it did nothing to quench the alcoholic cravings. No one around him understood how hard it was to kick the habit. Despite his family's close eye on him, he managed to sneak a small bottle of whisky in his haversack. After all, a little drop wouldn't hurt now that his liver was slowly recovering, despite what the doctor advised otherwise. He was already on a tight regime of healthy organic eats prepared by his mother and Beth stopped passing the soups to him after he was discharged.

Even if his mother's cooking was great, Leon still missed Ariel's cooking. Some of the soups from Beth somehow tasted eerily similar to how Ariel would cook them. He would need to get hold of those soups after rehab.

Vinny and Rico helped to load his bags into a car, and they drove off separately from the main car that Leon would later ride on, so as to avoid paparazzi suspicion.

A bodyguard was waiting downstairs, driving one of Leon's fleet of luxury cars.

"I'll make sure this place is pristine for you when you come back," Anna assured him in a motherly way and held his hand, almost teary-eyed. "Oh, it hurts me to see how much pain you've been through. I'm proud that you're taking the right step. Be brave, ok?"