Bare Yourself (Consumed)

Chapter Nineteen

Willow

Two weeks later, Tegan and I walk into the drug rehab facility Bryan is in. The day he showed up at Minnie and Logan’s place, we took him to the nearest hospital. They admitted him and assessed the situation. While Bryan and I were talking to a nurse, trying to find out what our next step was, Tegan was making phone calls. Apparently, he called his old sexual addiction group counselor and got recommendations for drug rehabilitation centers. He came back in the room to let us know there was a facility thirty minutes outside of town waiting for us to arrive. I was both shocked and touched that he did this, knowing he did it for me. His eyes were still hard anytime he looked at Bryan, and I didn’t blame him, I was just glad he cared enough about me to help him.

It was stupid on my part, and my only excuse was I was distracted, but the thought of the cost for a private facility never even crossed my mind as we all rode in silence. It was early evening, so the sun was just setting when we rolled up to the front of the building on a white gravel driveway. The place was huge and looked more like a resort than a place people go to recover from drug or alcohol abuse. There were lush trees, beautiful flowers, and the greenest and thickest grass I’ve ever seen, a basketball court and a tennis court in a fenced-off area, and also a volleyball net set up, along with croquet stakes in the ground, and even horses surrounding another stake.

I stood gawking at the place until Tegan tugged on my hand. When I looked over at Bryan, his face wore a look of fear. I let go of Tegan’s hand and turned to face Bryan. Grabbing his cheeks, I pulled his face down until he was forced to look at me.

“It’s going to be okay,” I told him firmly.

His face was wet with sweat and pale, his eyes still red and slightly puffy from crying earlier. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly. I felt the tremors running through his body with the grip I had on his cheeks.

He nodded. “Okay.”

It wasn’t until Bryan and I were filling out the paperwork—I had to do it for him because his hands were shaking so badly he couldn’t hold the pen—that I thought about the cost of a place such as this. I had money in savings, but there was no way it would cover it. My heart dropped. I wanted Bryan to be comfortable, because I know what he was currently going through, and the battle he was getting ready to face would be horrible.

I looked over to Tegan, who was talking to an elderly lady behind the counter. I was just getting ready to stand and tell him there was no way I could afford a place like this, when he turned and walked back over to us.

As if hearing the words floating around in my mind, he said, “It’s taken care of.”

“What?” I screeched, then looked around guiltily for being so loud.

Looking briefly at Bryan, who was sitting beside me on the edge of his seat with his hands shoved between his knees—he looked like he was ready to bolt—he grabbed my hand and pulled me several feet away.

“Don’t argue,” Tegan said, looking down at me.

I shook my head vigorously several times. “No, Tegan. I can’t let you do this. It’s way too much. We’ll find him a place I can afford.”

He smiled crookedly. “Sorry, baby, it’s already done. He’s paid up for four months.”

My heart dropped to my stomach, where it still pounded heavily, making me feel queasy. I stared at him, eyes wide, for several seconds.

“I can’t believe you did that.” I leaned closer to him and whispered, “You don’t even like him. Why would you do something crazy like that for someone you don’t know?”

His hand cupped the back of my head and his thumb swiped over my cheek.

“Because I know you’d want him in a place like this. And I want to give you what you want. I always want to give you what you want.”

I nearly melted on the floor at that point. If I weren’t already in love with him, I sure as shit would have fallen then. Not because he spent what I know had to be thousands of dollars on a man he detests, but because he did it knowing how much it meant to me.

When I told him I was paying him back every penny, he didn’t respond, but he did give me a look that said I was being ridiculous. He may not want to accept it, but Bryan is my responsibility, and I will be giving back what he spent.

The place looks just as fancy as the last time we were here as we walk across the eggshell-colored floor. We haven’t been back since the day we brought Bryan here. I wanted to come earlier, but Bryan asked that I give him a couple weeks before I visited. I think he didn’t want me to see him any more than I already had looking the way he did.

Tegan flips up his sunglasses to perch on top of his head as we walk up to the same lady that greeted us the first time we were here. Patty is her name.

“Hello, Tegan and Willow, right?” Her smile is warm and welcoming.

“Yes,” I answer, returning her smile, glad that she remembers us. “We’re here to see Bryan Bennett.”

She taps something on the computer in front of her, then stands and steps from behind the desk. “He mentioned you were coming today. I could see the excitement in his eyes when he told me.”

A happy fluttering feeling has my stomach in knots. I’m both anxious and scared to see him. But I’m ecstatic that he obviously wants to see me. I’ve spoken with him a few times on the phone and each time he sounded reserved, so I wasn’t sure how today would go. Him wanting to see me is a good sign.