I looked at her and was about to unload a whole lot of attitude when Brad came over and sat next to me and Erik. He didn’t look nearly as exhausted as the two of us did. For an ex-boy band member, he was in surprisingly good shape. Probably all that touring and dancing he use to do, or running around after his young girlfriends.
“I’ll stay back also,” Brad said.
“Me, too,” Kimber added.
That was when I started to feel bad. I looked at Melanie and I saw the total disappointment in her eyes. By saying I didn’t want to climb to the top, I had basically given everyone else permission to quit. That wasn’t at all the message Melanie, or I, wanted to teach people who were going through treatment.
“Actually, I think I will do it,” I said as I gathered up some superhuman energy. “I’d really like to see this thing through. I mean, I got my butt up this far.”
“It’s a pretty amazing view up there. I’m glad you’re seeing it through to the end.”
Melanie was younger than me, but she looked at me with a proud mother’s eyes as I gingerly followed her and Stan toward the rocky climb that would finish up our hike. I did let Melanie and Stan go first, purely because I knew it was going to take me a while to actually navigate the rocks and pull my butt up to the top.
“Are you going or do I need to grab your ass and push you up there?” Erik asked from behind me.
“Don’t you dare touch my ass,” I replied and shot him a stern look, and then a smile.
I was happy that he had decided to join the final hike to the top, and sure enough, both Brad and Kimber stood up behind him. Peer pressure could do both good and bad things, and in that moment, it had pushed everyone not to give up and to finish our hike to the top of the mountain.
There wasn’t any more talking as we all navigated the rocks and concentrated on getting up to the top. Even though there were others around us supporting us, the work had to be done alone. It wasn’t a dangerous climb, but the rocks were steep and I had to go slowly or I would have slipped.
Suddenly, the metaphor that Melanie had used was totally in focus for me. This hike was truly like what treatment was like. We could have a great support system around us, but in the end, it was our own actions that would bring us to the top of the mountain. And as I pushed myself up that final step and stood at the top of the mountain looking out a
t the amazing views, I was a total mess. Tears flowed down my face and I used my parka to wipe them away, hoping that no one else had seen my blubbering.
“It’s pretty powerful, isn’t it,” Melanie said as she gave me a hug.
“Yeah, thanks for pushing us.”
“You’re a leader to these patients, Cassidy. Always remember that your actions can guide others.”
Wow, Melanie was profound in her words. I hadn’t known her all that much since she had started working at Paradise Peak, but she knew about my past. We had talked on a couple of occasions and I remembered thinking she could never really understand addicts, since she hadn’t been one herself. But as we stood there, looking out over the city of Aspen and relishing our accomplishment, I realized she probably had a much better understanding than even I had.
I didn’t feel like a leader, though. I could barely maintain my own sobriety, so feeling responsible for helping others get sober seemed a tad bit overwhelming for me. But I would deal with it. I would deal with anything I had to in order to keep my life moving forward and on a good path.
Two years before, I could have easily killed myself with all the stupid life decisions I was making. It felt good to be finally making some decisions that were better for me. I even considered going on another damn hike with Melanie some time – but perhaps when the snow had melted and the weather was better.
Our bodies were sweating from the amount of work we were doing, but the sweat was making us cold because of the weather. It was certainly time to get back down to the treatment facility, and maybe even have some hot chocolate.
“Now can we go back down? My balls are falling off,” Brad said through his shivering teeth.
We all laughed and together started our trek back to the facility. It was much easier to get back down than it had been to get up there, and I enjoyed that part of the trip the best. I could hike down mountains all day long, I thought to myself.
BILLIONAIRE IN REHAB PART II
Chapter Six
Erik
“I’m not bringing your breakfast in there, so if you want to eat, you’re going to have to crawl out here,” Cassidy said from the doorway.
“Come here.”
“No, you’re probably naked or something. I’ll be out here. If you want to talk to me, you’ll need to come out here.”
“Ugh, you’re killing me.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the drugs leaving your system. Don’t blame that on me,” she replied as she got farther and farther away from my room.