The Depth Between Us

Part 13: Love's to Blame

She sat down on the little sofa, while Jay quickly made himself a cup of coffee.

"Dad, is something wrong? You brought me here without an explanation and I can see that look in your eyes." Kiera asked.

Jay couldn't answer her, but he sit next to her on the sofa. He takes her hands into his and held them tight.

"Kiera, I hate to break it to you, but the reason why your Mom hasn't reached out to you over the summer is because she has developed an addiction to pain medication to numb herself from Shane's abuse." Jay explained.

"What? No! What are you talking about?" Kiera asked as she started to cry.

"When we were moving your stuff out of the house, I found some medicine bottles in the half-bath near the kitchen. We brought your Mom in and she told us the truth." Jay explained.

"What's gonna happen to her? Is she going to jail?" Kiera cried.

"No, not all. Since she confessed and that she's receiving help from therapy, we were able to work out a deal." Jay explained.

Kiera curls up into a ball and cries into the sofa cushion.

"Kiera, look at me. Please." Jay said to her.

"Leave me alone." she said into the cushion, then continued to cry.

Jay walked out of the break room and faced his colleagues. He was at a loss for words because they already knew how that went.

"Yikes! I'd hate to be a fly on that wall." Adam said to himself.

"Jay, how about I talk to her? After all, I've been through the same thing." Antonio suggested.

"Have at it." Jay said to him.

Antonio opened the door to the break room and found Kiera still crying on the little sofa.

"I said to leave me alone, Dad." Kiera muffled.

"I'm not your Dad." Antonio said.

Kiera lifted up her teary face from the cushion to see Antonio standing there. He grabbed a tissue from the table and handed it to her as he sat down on the sofa.

"Remember when I told you that I can I see you as my own daughter?" Antonio asked.

Kiera nodded her head yes, then wiped her tears.

"The reason is because both of my kids got caught up in crimes that they were investigating. A while back, I injured my shoulder and the prescription medicine I was taking was the only thing that took the pain away. Unfortunately, it evolved into an addiction and my daughter ended up getting kidnapped because I made a deal with a drug dealer who was giving me pills." Antonio explained, while trying to keep his composure because he still feels guilty about it even though he got sober.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Antonio. I can't imagine how difficult that must've been for you." Kiera said.

"Yeah. So, I know how you feel when a loved one is involved in something dangerous." Antonio explained.

Kiera continued to wipe her tears.

"I always knew that she was keeping something from me, but I was too freaking stupid to figure it out." she said in frustration, burying her face in her hands.