Chronicles of the Anorexic, the Heroin User and the Sex Addict

Aftermath

ADAMS POV

I open the door to the apartment slowly, my palms sweaty the entire time. My footsteps feel like thuds as I come through. The guilt is rolling over me, like tidal waves crashing hard onto sand. I can't get my stomach to calm down. I hate Emma, but that isn't an excuse for what I did.

"Adam."

Her voice hits me, the pain similar to that of knives to my back. I turn around, not wanting to see the damage done to her face. I squint, my eyes refusing to open. I force them to acknowledge her presence. Her eye is a bit swollen but not bad, a few bruises line her delicate cheek bones, but the worst is her nose, which appears broken and almost black in color.

"I haven't been able to leave the house." She smirked, "Good job."

"Emma, i'm sorry, I really am." My voice sounds so desperate and childish. How do I apologize for laying my fist upon her?

She comes closer, until she is eye to eye with me. Although she is thin, she appears ever intimidating. Her lips turn into some sort of sadistic grin.

"Don't you ever lay your fucking hands on me. I'll be gone within a couple weeks."

Relief washes over me. Sure, I didn't want to continue living with her any longer, but the thought of her leaving without complaint is the best news i've heard in a while.

"Maddi will be back soon. Look, please don't be around when she's here. I want her to recover."

Her grin fades, "Still in love with her? That's your choice I guess. I think you should check the answering machine though."

She spins around on her heel, her hips swaying and she slams the bathroom door behind her. I hear her turn on the shower, water going on full blast. I look at the answering machine. The light said it had one message on it, but it wasn't flashing. That meant Emma had already looked at it.

I pressed play. My teeth grinded against each other a bit, a habit I had seemed to form within the last week. I wasn't sure what sort of message was going to play.

"Hi. It's me, Madison. Look, I wish so very much that I could tell you this in person. Unfortunatly, this is the best I can do. I know that i'm allowed to go home in a few days, but I am choosing not to. I know that you might not understand, but it's what I have to do. I want to get better. I will see both of you when I recover. Adam, please call me when you can, we need to speak. My mother has the number for my hospital wing."

Recovery? The thought of Maddi well and happy is more than anything I could ever dream up. Nothing would make me happier than to see her, so beautiful and glowing. I pick up the phone immediatly, not bothering to call her mother since I had already looked up the number when she first was transferred there.

"Hello?" The voice of a cranky nurse asks. 

I ignore it, smiling, "Can I please speak to Madison Parks?"

"You're going to have to wait a few minutes while I connect you." She doesn't wait for my reply, and I hear music as she puts me on hold.

What seemed like an eternity of elevator music passed, and I heard the phone click.

"Adam?" Her voice is soft and gentle. My heart skips a beat.

"Maddi? I'm so happy, this is going to be good for you I think."

"I know, Adam. And I really, really want to get better."

My smile widens even more, if possible.

"Which is why..."  She sniffles, "We have to break up."

My smile drops along with my heart, "What?"

"Adam. I love you but the thought of being with you is too much to handle right now. You cheated on me multiple times, and you use every day. I need to focus on myself. I'm sorry."

I try and search for something to say, but the line clicks again. She hung up.

I drop the phone, falling to my knees. This can't be real life. This can't be real life. It can't be.

 EMMAS POV

I let the hot water run down my back, enjoying the nice, comfortable feeling. I'd been in the shower for about twenty minutes, but I can't get out. Once I get out, I have to face reality. And right now, reality wasn't seeming so great.

Although I would never admit it out loud, I couldn't help but be upset that Adam and I were over. Not that we were ever together, in a relationship sense, but the scandelous sex affair had been the best thing in my life. 

With a sigh, I turned off the shower and stepped out, ringing the water out of my long hair. I threw it up in a towel and adorned another around my body. My nose immediatly crinkled when I looked into the mirror. My face was looking some some sort of disturbed blue berry, with the way the bruises mixed and melded together. 

I'd never seen myself look so ugly. I swore that i'd never leave the house until I was fully healed, but I had another doctors appointment. Apparantly they wanted to retest a skin sample. When the sample from my rash had been sent away to a lab, they thought they had seen something odd.

What could be so odd about a rash? It had already went away anyways. My skin was as clear as ever. My face, however, not so much. I tried to comb out and curl my hair to take as much attention away from my bruises as possible. Slinging my purse over my shoulder, I headed out the door.

I had nothing to worry about anyways. It had just been a rash.