His Safety Net

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

       As I was packing up my belongings, I couldn't help but do it really slowly. As it turned out, I did a lot of progress in this program so I only had to be here for two weeks. And I didn't know if I even wanted to leave yet.

       Of course I wanted to be back at home. I was just afraid that without all the professional help I had here, I would relapse again, despite the family counselling that was supposed to help both me and my family with my recovery.

       My cell phone suddenly beeped with a message, so I took it out of my pocket to see who it was. It was Jerome, telling me he was going to be here soon to pick me up. Meaning I wouldn't be able to procrastinate packing my bags for long.

       Mom and Dad couldn't be the ones to pick me up since they had a lot of appointments at the clinic. Ryder couldn't pick me up as well since he had school.

       I told them that I was perfectly fine waiting until Ryder was done school for the day or my parents were done work, but Jerome said that he would come pick me up. I pointed out that it would mean skipping school, but he told me it wouldn't be the first time.

       Or the fiftieth time.

       Or the last.

       I tried talking him out of skipping school to pick me up, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. I was happy he was coming early to pick me up, to be honest, even if I was a bit iffy about leaving.

       Though one reason why I did want to leave was because the program ended for Thea a few days ago so she already left, and she was the only one I felt comfortable around. We did exchange numbers and she was texting me every day to see how I was doing, but it wasn't the same as her being here.

       I ended up finishing packing before Jerome showed up, mainly because it actually wouldn't have taken me long to pack if I wasn't procrastinating anyway. I kept all my clothes in my suitcase when I was here, so I just had to pack up my necessities. 

       Once I was all packed up, I dragged my suitcase out of the bedroom I was staying in. Right as I did, Dr. Bahar led Jerome into the room. Jerome gave me a smile when he saw me. "Ready to go?" he asked.

       "Yeah," I said. "I'm... all ready..."

       "Nolan, you're going to do great at home with your recovery," Dr. Bahar said, sensing my hesitation to leave. "You did amazing in this program, and I know you'll do great with your recovery. I'm not going to lie, it's going to be a long and sometimes tiring journey, but you can do it. And in case something does happen, you're always welcome back here. We even offer appointments if you need it without being registered into the program again."

       I nodded. "Thanks. This program was definitely something I needed."

       "I'm glad to hear that," Dr. Bahar said. "Well, you are officially free to go."

       I was happy to leave, but still a bit hesitant as I followed Jerome out of the hospital. "So do you want to head straight home or do you want to go do something?" Jerome asked as we got to his car.

       "You should be in school," was my reply.

       "Yes, but I'm already skipping so there's no point of me heading there," Jerome said. "So home or something?"

       "Do you have a something in mind?" I asked as we got into his car. He started it up, but he didn't pull out of the parking lot yet because I still didn't make a decision about where we were going to go.