Life After You

Over the course of the next three weeks Kelly hadn't seen or heard from Jeremy Renner. He had missed his weekly appointments and when she called to check on him, she was met with an answering machine. Kelly had been Jeremy's psychiatrist for three years and helped him deal with whatever was going on in his life. She listened to his worries when he dared to show his vulnerable side. Never before had she seen Jeremy so deflated and upset. She's worried because she can't get hold of him on the phone, but given his past history, he's probably finding a friend with at the bottom of a bottle.
Jeremy's occasional binges never lasted more than three or four days. He has his head screwed on and knows that he has everything to lose if he continued to drink himself into a stupor.
Kelly checks her appointment book with a grimace. She is booked right up until seven and had planned to meet her sister for dinner. Caroline wouldn't be in the greatest of moods if she didn't get to eat until near enough nine.
Kelly writes on a post-it note and sticks it to her computer screen. A visual reminder to cancel her plans with her sister. She gets up and opens the door to her next client.
"Good morning. How are you?"

Jeremy staggers into the living room with a glass in one hand and a half-empty bottle of bourbon in the other. An unlit cigarette dangles between his lips. He lazily pours three fingers worth of the amber liquid into the glass, sloshing it around before drinking. His stomach churns as he gulps down another mouthful. Jeremy rubs his eyes with the heel of his hand. Today's hangover had been worse than all the rest. He had vomited before collapsing on the sofa, his intoxicated sleep dreamless and quick.