Recovery Read Online Free

task he hadn’t even heard the door open.
      “I’m self-medicating before I work on the last songs for our album,” he said with a wry smile.
    Reed released a deep sigh as he sank into the seat opposite him. “What happened, Max?”
    “Oceane.”
    “You saw her today?” Reed asked as he leaned forward. “Where?”
    “At the old apartment, she read a poem at open- mic night and I couldn’t resist.” A small smile curved his lips as he recalled her words.
Down a dark tunnel he travels in search of a sliver of light
I keep a candle light to call him home in the night
The demons that he battles drag him down with their lies
    “So what went wrong?” Reed asked.
    “Nothing. That’s the problem. One minute it was like I had her again and then reality set in and it was time to go.”  
    Maxim ignored the fact that his sniff of indignation sounded more like a sob and turned his eyes back to the horizontal rows that would make him forget the ache in his heart.
    “All she asks is you stop this shit and you can go home. You talk a good game about how much you love her, but the only one that keeps the two of you apart is you.”
    “Don’t you think I want to stop?”
    “Doesn’t look like it from where I stand.”
    The sight of his best friend’s face twisted into a sneer was too much to handle on top of Oceane’s rejection. So he turned back to the table. With a finger placed on the side of his nose he inhaled the white power that controlled his life, willing the high to hit.
    “You need to stop this shit before you lose everything! We got signed to do a record and now it’s like I barely know you,” Reed said as he stood. “I’m worried about you, Max; you need to get a handle on this.” His voice was full of uncertainty and guilt. Almost as if he was an accessory to a crime he didn’t want to commit. It’d be funny if it wasn’t such a sad situation .
    Max ran a shaky hand through his tousled hair as he swiped at his nose. Calmness he hadn’t felt ten minutes earlier was taking hold. “I’m fine, we only have two more songs left to finish and then I’ll stop.”
    “I wonder what those songs will cost you Max,” Reed whispered. He turned to leave the living room with a sad shake of his head.
    “Reed always worries too much,” Max mumbled to himself.
    His mind raced a million miles a minute as his heart accelerated and he picked up the guitar. Skilled fingers flew over the strings as he was taken to a place that seemed separate from reality. The notes arranged themselves into complex riffs and harmonies he knew would blow his bandmates’ minds.
    ****
    When she woke to find the side of the bed beside her cool, the pain rushing in cut deeper than she’d anticipated.  Sobs shook her frame as she pulled her knees up to her chest, mourning the loss of a potential new beginning. In search of reassurance she grabbed the cell phone that rested on her nightstand to call her sister.
    “Hello,” the sleep worn voice said as O calmed herself enough to form words.
    “Aurelie.”
    “Oceane, what’s wrong?” Aurelie asked, her voice more alert.
    “I saw Max last night.”
    “Did he do something crazy? Was he high out of his mind? I told you, he’s not the same boy we once knew, you have to be more careful—”
    “No, he didn’t do anything that’s the problem!”
    “O, you don’t make any sense, honey.”
    “It was like I had the old Max back, he was witty and gentle, and his lips were so soft I never wanted to stop kissing him, but I had to—”
    “You kissed him! What were you thinking, Oceane! You can’t give him false hope. I love Max as if he was my own brother, but he’s in a bad place right now and if you let him he’ll drag you down with him.”
    “And if I turn him away and he winds up dead? I could never live with myself if that happened. Hell, I barley deal as it is.”
    “We’ve talked about this, none of this is your fault and you can’t make him do anything until he’s