Life After You

Kelly had cried non-stop for three days since Jeremy's departure and had be comforted by Marilyn, who reassured her that everything would work out. As always Marilyn knew what to say and when the right time was to say it. She has gone off her food and had taken a few days off work from the practice, a personal situation that needed to be dealt with. Susan had been fantastic and gave her the days off as paid holidays, providing she looks after herself. Susan knew about Jeremy and Kelly because he had told her. She knew that the departure would be tough on both of them and helped any way she could, including showing up on her doorstep with a bottle of wine and a huge box of chocolates. It had surprised Kelly how attached she had become to Jeremy and she misses him like crazy.

Every hour feels like a life time without him being with her. Not being able to speak to him or see him was one of the clinic's strict rules, believing that it could harbour the progress. Hearing or seeing a loved one would perk the patients up, but when they left again the reactions might do more damage.

*****

Settling into a strange and foreign routine didn't happen for Jeremy until the third week of his stay. His room is comfortable, a small en-suite bathroom with a variety of soaps and shower gels at his disposal. Most of the patients come from well off family's, allowing them to have the very best treatment for their dependencies or addictions.

Jeremy sat alone at breakfast and meal times, choosing to sit out in the gardens or return to his room once he had been given medication
and therapy for the day.

He stares at the ceiling tiles, the
ones he had counted numerous times the first few nights he couldn't sleep and he wonders what Kelly is doing. He wants to feel her beside him, against him.
Without her he feels lost and alone in some desert. Mentally he's counting down the days until he can see her.