by T. K. Chapin
Out at the car, he delicately placed her in the back seat and shut the door. Taking a look at the house once more, he shook his head and pulled out his phone. He called the police and told them about what was going on inside the house. With the dusting of white powder covering most of his room, plus the underage children, Champ would be a chump in a prison somewhere soon. Then, he got into the car and put it in reverse to leave.
Chapter 27
HER EYES HURT, HER HEAD hurt, and every muscle in her body cried out in a deep and agonizing pain. Peering around the room, she didn’t recognize her surroundings right away. It didn’t look like Champ’s bedroom. She sat up and promptly threw up in a metal pot by the bed. She continued to throw up until she was dry-heaving. Afterward, she then realized she was in Chet’s cabin, in his bedroom and in his bed. Confusion swirled about in her mind endlessly. Her headache worsened and she turned and saw a glass of water on the night stand. There beside the glass were a few ibuprofen. She grabbed both and took them, then collapsed back into the pillows.
Waking again sometime later, she felt a little clearer-headed and she was able to slide her legs over the edge of the bed. Nearby, a foot away from the bed, was a metal chair, and on top of it, the metal pot she had thrown up in earlier, but it was cleaned out. Still confused, she set her feet on the floor and stood up. Her legs ached and she tried to stretch them. It helped with the muscle aches, but only a fraction. She staggered toward the door. Her legs weakened, and she grabbed hold of the dresser, clutching on for dear life. After a moment, she was stable enough to walk again. She proceeded out of the room and down the hallway, nausea keeping her movements slow.
As she entered the living room, she saw Tyler sitting on the couch. He set his Bible down and rose to his feet. More confusion poured into her thoughts. Why am I here? How did I get here? Why do I hurt all over?
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Tyler looked relieved to see her up and about.
“I feel like death. Why am I here?” Olivia’s head pounded and the bed called her name, but she needed answers.
He moved around the coffee table and closer to her, but she took a step back.
“You’re here because you’re alive. And you’re going to get sobered up and get your daughter back.”
“She’s gone forever, Tyler. My parents took her.” Thinking of Champ, but more specifically about the drugs, she shook her head. “I need to leave.”
As she tried to go for the door, she stumbled, but Tyler was able to move quickly and caught her in his arms. She peered up at him, barely able to concentrate.
“No, you’re staying here with me. You need to get better.” His voice was even more comforting than she remembered, but it didn’t touch the agony she was in.
“I hurt all over and I want to die. You don’t understand. All I need to do is get a little in my system and this sickness and pain will go away. Just a little bit, I promise.” Just make it all stop, Olivia begged herself in her mind.
Tyler didn’t respond right away and instead helped her over to the couch to sit down. “You don’t really want to do that, Olivia.”
A sardonic laugh escaped her lips and she shook her head. “You don’t know what I want.”
“Can I get you a glass of water?”
“No, you can get me out of here and back to Champ’s house where I was before you thought it’d be a good idea to take me away against my will.”
“Okay.” Tyler stood up and grabbed the keys off the coffee table. “You can go back to the drugs and just be a zombie until you inevitably die. Molly has two capable people in her life to care for her. You’re right. She doesn’t need you.” He was walking to the door to open it, disappointment evident on his face.
A light flickered beneath the pain in her muscles. She did want her daughter. She wanted to see her and be with her. Tyler knew what she wanted even more than she did.
“I want to see Molly. Take me to her first.”
He sat back down and set the keys on the coffee table. He turned to Olivia and took both of her hands into his hands. “You can’t do that right now. But if you get yourself cleaned up and back on track, I know for a fact that they’ll let you see her and eventually have her back.” Compassion lit up his face, love shone through his eyes, and his voice held the truth.
Her heart started to ache. The pain was far worse than all the pain in her body at the moment. She let herself fall against the back of the couch cushions as she wept. “No. They’ll never let me see her or take her back. I’m done for as a mother!”
“It’s only been three months, not three years, Olivia. You can do this. They want you to do this.”
A wave of aches washed over her body. Her hand pain became apparent too. She sat upright and let her head fall to the side and looked into Tyler’s eyes. “You don’t understand a thing, Tyler. You don’t get what happened to me.”
“Tell me what happened.”
Olivia’s heart felt heavy as memories flipped through her mind. The needle in her arm, the pain in her hand going away. “Champ didn’t just give me drugs. He took my pain away. He did it when you and all the doctors couldn’t.”
Tyler grimaced. “It wasn’t real.”
“Yes, it was real! My pain was gone, and now . . . now, I hurt more than ever, thanks to you.” Olivia shook her head, more tears coming down her cheeks. “Why didn’t you leave me there to die? Why’d you come, Tyler? Huh? Why’d you come? Why do you hate me so much?”
He stood up without a word and walked into the kitchen. He opened a cupboard, then she heard the faucet turn on. Returning a short while later, he handed Olivia a cup of water. “Take sips when you can. If you get hungry, there are leftovers in the fridge. If you need anything, come outside and call for me. I’ll be cutting firewood.”
He went over to the door and put his coat on, then left. Olivia felt restless, but at the same time, exhausted and in pain. She wanted so desperately to just get a little bit of heroin in her system so she could feel okay again, but she knew there was no chance of getting any unless she left this cabin and property. After Tyler left, she forced herself off the couch and began to search for her cell phone or a phone of any kind to call Champ, but she found none.
As a cold flash came on a short while later, Olivia crawled back into the bed in Chet’s room and covered up with all the blankets on the bed. The chill in her body could not be touched no matter how many blankets she layered on. So, after a few minutes, she pushed herself out from the covers and went down the hall to the bathroom. Turning on the shower as hot as she could stand it, she climbed in and let the water wash over her. Finally, relief. As she stood in the shower and let the steaming hot water rain down over her, she stared down at the drain, thinking about how all her dreams and hopes in life had been washed away. She wept. All the withdrawals she was experiencing at the moment were nothing new to Olivia. She had gone through the same thing the last time she came off heroin in her youth. She hated Champ for what he had done to her by jamming that needle into her arm like that, but then again, she didn’t. A part of her still wanted to go back, just so she could feel okay again.
“Olivia?”
Her annoyance inflamed at hearing Tyler’s voice, and she cursed, then yelled at him. “What do you want? You obviously know I’m in the shower. Do you have a habit of just walking into bathrooms when people are showering?”
He was silent for a moment.
“I made you some eggs and toast. Just wanted to let you know.” His voice carried zero attitude with it, and it only drove her anger toward him deeper. Tyler was holding her hostage in that cabin against her will, and he’d made sure she had no way to contact the outside world. Not only was her phone nowhere to be found, but the land line in the cabin was shut off, and the Internet didn’t work on the computer in the living room.
She got done in the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. Exiting the bathroom, she went down the hallway and out to the kitchen where Tyler was sitting at the table eating.
“Hey. Are there clothes here I can wear?”
His eyes were wide, obviously distracted by her lack of clothing and only a towel wrapped around her delicate frame. He paused for a second. “Yes, there is a closet full of your clothes in Chet’s room. I hung them all up for you. Other items that don’t hang are in the dresser.”
“My clothes?”
He nodded, finishing another bite of his egg. He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Your mother gave them to me.”
“My mother knows I’m here with you?”
“Yes. She’s rooting for you to get better, Olivia. We all are so you can get Molly back and get your life on track again.”
She didn’t speak a word but left the kitchen feeling annoyed and headed down the hall toward Chet’s room. As she entered the room, the pains all over her body that had vanished in the hot shower came back to existence. Wanting to be done with it, she took the picture of Chet and his wife off the dresser and chucked it against the wall so hard the glass shattered and the frame fell to the floor.
Silence followed and Olivia sat on the bed. She needed to leave and get back to Champ’s house if she was ever going to feel better again. Resolving to make her escape that night, she went over to the closet and picked out an outfit to wear.
She waited for night to fall that evening and for Tyler to be asleep on the couch before she left Chet’s bedroom. Carefully, even though she was in pain, she sneaked out of the window in the bedroom. As she made it out, she tumbled to the ground with a painful thump. Landing on her shoulder, she cried out in agony as it sent shockwaves through her already aching muscles. Teary-eyed and still exhausted and in pain, she pushed herself up off the cold snow-dusted ground and started to walk over to Tyler’s car in the driveway.
She cupped her hands around her eyes and peered in. It was locked and the security light was blinking. Olivia let out a defeated sigh and peered at the snow-covered dirt road leading up to the main road that would lead toward the highway back to Spokane. If she could make it there, maybe someone would be driving by and be willing to give her a ride to the nearest gas station so she could call Champ. Each step up the snowy, muddied road was more painful than the one before it, but she pushed through the aching muscles. A quick hit with Champ would be all she needed, and then she could go get real help in Spokane. She just needed a little to maintain, a little to feel normal.
As she came up to the main road, she collapsed to her knees and puked from the pain. Wiping her mouth, she stood up and glanced both directions. She could see her breath and darkness in both directions. The only faint light was provided by the moon. The November air was chilly and the coat she had found in Chet’s closet wasn’t doing a very good job at keeping the cold out. She tugged on it as she crossed her arms and tried to keep her warmth as she waited for a car to come by. An hour passed without a car in sight in either direction. Each passing moment felt like eternity to Olivia.
Her eyes turned back to the road, and then finally, she decided to walk. She headed in the direction she knew she needed to go. Traveling down the side of the country road on the shoulder, she rubbed her cold arms to attempt to give herself more warmth. She felt miserable, alone, and in a great deal of pain.
As she rounded a corner a mile down the road, a car’s headlights shone behind her and she leaped with joy as she flipped around to face the car. She waved and jumped up and down with joy as best as she could, considering the pain was still present. Finally, someone had come to rescue her from this godforsaken cold winter night. As the car pulled off the road and she approached it, she came closer and realized it wasn’t just anybody—it was Tyler.
When she didn’t touch the door handle, he rolled down the window.
“This car is heated up really good, and there’s a fire in the fireplace back at the cabin. Get in and we’ll go warm up. We can chat, and I’ll make us some tea to settle your stomach.” Memories of their time together filtered through her mind briefly. She remembered their long talks together. They were special to her at one time. A moment passed, then a gust of cold air pressed against her cheeks, causing a burning sensation that led her to suspect that her coldness was shifting into the first stage of frostbite.
“Fine! I’ll come back, but I’m not sitting by the fire and having some tea and conversation with you. I’m sick and I want to die, Tyler.” She got into the car and slammed the door, tears trickling down her chilled cheeks. He flipped the car around and took her back to the cabin. As they slowed in front of the cabin and then came to a stop, she turned to Tyler.
“Why are you doing this?” She couldn’t understand this man at all. Who gives up their life for a time to help someone else?
“I love you, Olivia.” Tyler looked like he meant those words, but she didn’t know how.
“Yeah.” She laughed, turning her head as she directed her gaze to the cabin and crossed her arms. “Some love you have. Coming over to my apartment and accusing me of being a bad mom and a drunk.”
He was quiet for a moment. “I never said those things. You know, it doesn’t matter. I’m not trying to say I’m perfect here, and I’m sorry for any pain I have brought to you.” He shook his head and then bowed his head. Olivia assumed he was praying when he did that. Then, he turned to talk to her again. “Listen, I thought you were dead. Then I found out you were alive, so here I am. I am here to help you, and I’m going to do all that I can for you. If you run a hundred times, I’ll go after you a hundred times.”
“You have to go to work sometime. I’ll leave the second you do.”
“I’m not doing a thing in my life until I see you better. If you don’t want to be with me at the end of all this, I’m fine with that, but that little girl isn’t going to grow up without her mom.”
“Oh, whatever. You already told me she had capable people.”
“Yes, she does, but that doesn’t mean that’s the best fit. You are the best fit, Olivia.”
“Don’t you worry about my daughter, Tyler. I’m sure Bruce will take her when he gets wind of what has happened.”
“Bruce already said he is only interested in sending a check to your parents. He’s not interested in caring for a kid. He was annoyed at your mom for even asking when he’d already made that clear to you. As for her not being my daughter, I’m well aware. She isn’t my daughter in any sense of the word, but she is a child and she doesn’t have a say in any of this. Someone has to speak up for her. And, Olivia, if she did have a say, I know for a fact that she’d want you. You are a good mom, and you will get clean because you do love your daughter more than drugs.”
His directness settled Olivia’s nerves a fraction. Just like when he had met her, he was still seeing right through her.
“You’re right about me loving my daughter. I do with all my heart.” Olivia felt some strength return when she said those words.
“Then prove it by getting clean and getting her back before it’s too late and she’s damaged.”
With that, Tyler got out and shut the door behind him, heading inside the cabin. A shift occurred in Olivia in that very moment. She knew by Tyler’s words that this wasn’t about Tyler fixing her up so she could be the model girlfriend he wanted. This was truly about her getting better for herself and her life, but most of all, her daughter. She couldn’t understand why he was helping her, but a portion of her heart had now become grateful that he was. But as she got out of the car, anger returned as the pain in her body flared once again. She couldn’t let go of her desire to be pain-free and get drugs, and Tyler stood in her way of relief.
Chapter 28
TYLER WATCHED AS OLIVIA WALKED past him in the living room and went down the hallway to her bedroom. She slammed the door behind her. He flinched at not only the sound of the door, but at the state she was currently in. Tyler had done research when she was busy vomiting and in and out of consciousness the first couple of days. He read over all the withdrawal symptoms that were possible as she was coming off heroin. He knew it
’d be difficult for a while before it ever became easy, and at the end of it, he most likely wouldn’t be with her due to his connection to the past with her. He was fine with whatever the outcome was between them relationship-wise. This all was far beyond that now. This was a matter of life and death, and he wasn’t going to give up on her when everybody else had already done so.
Tyler had already slept a collective five hours that night. He didn’t need a wink more. Taking a split log from the pile beside the fireplace, he tossed it in and sat down in Chet’s rocking chair that sat near the fireplace, Margret’s only a few feet away. He had brought them in when the cold settled in, fearful that the weather would damage them.
After feeding the fire, he bowed his head and prayed. He had been doing a whole lot more praying lately, and he had a feeling it wasn’t going to change anytime soon. Olivia was worse off than he’d anticipated going into it. Originally, he had no idea she’d desire to leave, though he had read they tend to be obsessed with the idea of getting high during detox because they want to outrun their sickness.
After his prayer, he read the Bible. An hour passed and he returned the Bible to the coffee table and went to check in on her. Opening the door carefully, he peered in. She was asleep, but she was sweating and shivering at the same time as she held herself. He moved into the room and came up to her, pressing the back of his hand gently against her head. She felt warm. Tyler went down the hall to the bathroom and dampened a wash cloth with cold water and rang it out. Then, he returned to the room and laid it across her forehead.
He peered up at the ceiling and in a whisper said, “Have mercy on her, God. Please.”
The following morning, Olivia emerged from the bedroom while Tyler was sitting on the couch reading his Bible. When his eyes caught a glimpse into her sea-blue eyes, he smiled. Though she hadn’t been the most pleasant to be around lately, he knew the girl beneath the levels of addiction and was still happy to see her. He closed his Bible and set it down on the coffee table.