Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
“Fuck, no, I didn’t.” Because if I had, that shit wouldn’t have happened. “My parents told me they were still sending her. Even Alli told me she was still going.”
“Alli hasn’t been to see a doctor except to get prescribed medications in three years, Axel.” I clenched my jaw. “It explains why she spiraled. She went without the help she needed. But you and Julian made a very good choice to send her here. She needed it.”
I dropped into a chair at the kitchen table. I was furious with my parents. I couldn’t believe they had done this to her. Alli could have killed herself due to her lack of therapy, and my parents never let her express how she was really feeling. I was honestly the only one she confided in.
Made fucking sense though that she had stopped. And like an idiot, I had only assumed that she had finally found the right treatment plan.
Until my parents had reached out to me and told me they were worried about her.
Maybe if they had sent her to get the help she fucking needed, this shit wouldn’t have happened to her.
“Christ.”
Dr. Gresham sighed. “I’ve been trying to introduce her to some outlets since she’s never seemed to have one. She’s a fan of writing poetry.” He sighed. “It’s some pretty dark poetry right now, but she always feels a bit better after she writes it. She’s going to get better, Axel.”
“Thank you,” I told him, meaning the words from the depths of my soul.
“My sole purpose is to help people. And after being part of Meghan’s healing process after how destroyed she was, I knew I was capable of helping anyone. So, you can thank her, too, Axel, because I never knew what I was capable of doing until her.”
I smiled as I thought of Meghan. She really was fucking magnificent.
“I thank her every day, Dr. Gresham, whether she realizes it or not.”
“Knowing Meghan, she’s blind to it.” He laughed. He was right about that, though. “I’ll hopefully be calling you in a couple of weeks to set up visitation with Alli.” My heart swelled with hope. I missed being able to talk to my little sister. “But you can rest easy now, Axel. She’s getting better.”
“Thank you,” I told him.
I hung up the phone and looked up at Julian when he stepped into the kitchen. “So?” he asked, referring to my conversation with Dr. Gresham.
I grinned. “She’s getting better, Julian. She’s finally responding to treatments.” I clenched my jaw when I thought about my parents though, the smile falling from my face. “But come to find out, my parents stopped sending her to therapy sessions three fucking years ago.” I shook my head. “They only sent her to the doctor to get her medications refilled. She’s probably been taking the wrong dosages of everything all this fucking time.”
Julian’s eyes flashed with rage. He had always looked at Alli as a little sister of his own. “Take a little while to breathe, Axel,” he said despite the anger in his eyes. “Calling them when you’re this pissed won’t solve anything.” He nodded his head towards the bedroom. “I have a virtual session with my therapist, but our woman needs someone to cuddle with.”
I nodded, knowing that having Meghan near would calm me down enough that I could begin to wrap my head around what was going on. “Hope your session goes well.”
He shrugged. “Just need to get some shit off my chest. But I’ll be good.”
I arched an eyebrow at him, stopping myself as I moved to leave the kitchen. “What’s going on, Julian?” I asked him.
Julian had always been like a brother to me, even more now since we were both with Meghan. It was shocking to me that he openly admitted he had some shit on his mind, but I knew he was changing and growing just as Meghan was, learning to be open about how he was really feeling.
He sighed. “I want to marry her, Axel.” My heart dropped to my feet. He wasn’t kicking me out of her life, was he? She wouldn’t be able to handle that.
Fuck, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“You’re not going anywhere, bro,” he cleared up when he noticed the worry that flashed across my face. “She needs you. I’ll never take you from her.” I breathed a slight sigh of relief. “But me wanting to marry her complicates things.”
I shrugged. “Not really.” I couldn’t lie and say that I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be the one to marry her, but she and Julian were different than her and I. He was always meant to be her husband, the first father of her child. He was meant to be her first everything. And I was okay with that, surprisingly.
“How the fuck is it not complicated, Axel?” he asked me. “How the fuck do you think this is going to feel to her? She’s just come to terms with the fact that she’s carrying my baby, and not yours, too. This shit here—she’s not ready for this, no matter how much I am.”