The Goodbye Storm (Rough Waters Series Book 1)

Author:Danielle Stewart [Stewart, Danielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-08-06T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Noah was a rock. The solid ground on which his wife could stand tall. He gladly owned the titles of problem solver and protector. But being a rock meant when thrust into the sea of despair he’d sink. He thought this pain was something he could endure and then eventually overcome.

Maybe he could outsmart it or distract himself from it, but up until this point nothing had worked. Nothing, that is, but the tiny bottle of pills rattling around in his pocket. When he took them he lost chunks of time and was probably sliding down a slippery slope. But they had the effect he needed. Numbing.

If he wouldn’t be allowed at work, and he couldn’t bear to be home, then he’d take the tiny pills along with a duffle bag full of his stuff and hide away. Checking into the hotel on the fringe of the city made him feel the best he’d felt in a long time. The room was neat and clean. The bed was comfortable and the shades could be drawn, making it impossible to tell if it was day or night.

The problem with being a doctor was sometimes you knew too much. He tipped the prescription bottle into his hand and watched the small oblong pills spill into his shaking palm. He knew the right concoction of these and a bottle of gin could put him out of his misery completely. It would quiet the guilt that circled his brain like bathwater being sucked down a drain.

Instead he plucked two from the pile and swigged them back with the bottle of hotel water he’d be charged nine dollars for. Closing his eyes, he flopped back onto the bed and let the medicine began to take effect. It could cloud him from his waking life, but sadly, the pills could not protect him from his dreams.

“Ray, why do you drag me to these things if you’re just going to complain how I act when I’m here?” Noah hushed his voice as his wife dragged him down the hallway toward an empty room. The house was nothing special, just cluttered with pictures of children and their artwork. He’d met Don and Sherry a handful of times, but he couldn’t remember how many kids they had or how old they were. Don was a podiatrist who always wanted to talk shop as though Noah’s job and his were one and the same.

“Maybe I hope when you get here you’ll be able to act like a normal human being. I suppose that’s too much to ask,” Rayanne scolded, but Noah knew her voice well. Even as she came down hard on him the edges of her tone were playful. She knew as well as he did Don was a bit odd.

“It’s New Year’s Eve,” Noah moaned and pulled his wife into his arms. “There are a million things we could do besides talking to Don and Sherry about their daughter’s impressive spelling bee results in the semifinals. We’ve made the rounds, we’ve chatted, now can’t we go?”

“It’s ten thirty,” Rayanne huffed.

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