Free For the Love of Alex by J.E. Hopkins

hand tighter and then jumped. For a moment, she thought he was going over the roof, pulling her with him, but then she realized he was jumping towards her this time, to the safety of the roof surface. They held each other for a moment, and then the police burst through the roof door along with an EMT.
    Alex was taken to the hospital and stayed overnight until a psychiatrist cleared him. They found traces of salvia in his system along with other hallucinogenic drugs. His mind was in such an altered state that the doctors were surprised he didn’t kill himself. They commended Leah for saving him, but their words barely registered in her mind. She sat there trembling, remembering how close they both were to death that night. She couldn’t help but wonder if Alex would have been willing to kill them both that night.
    She asked him about that night the next day, but he had no recollection of any of it. He didn’t even remember the fight they had. It was like it never happened in his mind—but, in Leah’s mind, she would forever be scarred from the memories of that night.
    As Leah sat in front of her computer staring at her article, she acknowledged ruefully that these painful memories were far from over. They still filled her mind, and she often found herself reliving every detail of those horrid moments and imagining how worse things could have been—how much worse they could still be.
    Writing these articles was cathartic for her. It was her therapy. A chance for her to heal herself while helping others. She knew it might seem selfish, but this was saving her. Writing helped her see how much self-healing she needed. She was mentally and physically weary. Too many dark memories haunted her days and nights.
    These stories left her feeling raw and exposed, but they also forced her to think about her own behavior and the way she handled this situation with Alex. Sometimes she wondered if Rose was right. Was she the one destroying Alex? Was she his drug? Because there was no doubt in her mind that he was hers. She too was an addict, but her drug of choice was codependency.
    II
    “Great job with the article.” Marcus pulled up a seat next to Leah’s, a big smile brightening his face. “I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t know about half the drugs you mentioned. I must be old. You would think I wouldn’t be as shocked by all of this, but it still amazes me what people come up with faster than the government can legislate against it.”
    “That’s why awareness is the key more so than making the drugs illegal. I think so many of these kids don’t even realize what they are getting themselves into before it’s too late. Then they are trapped in the world of addiction.”
    “Sounds like you have some familiarity with this.”
    Too much, Leah thought, but she would never tell Marcus this. She would keep her personal life separate from her work.
    Alex almost cost her the part-time job at the restaurant. Although she still worked there a couple of times a week, her hours had lessened and her relationship with Bill had become strained. He still treated her cordially, but there was an awkwardness now that had never been present before. It wasn’t just Bill. The other servers looked at her with a mixture of pity and suspicion—a combination that made her want to scream. She hated their knowing eyes peering into all the cracks in her life and filling in the holes with their own theories about her problems when they didn’t have the slightest clue. She didn’t think she would be able to work there much longer.
    She couldn’t let this happen here. This job meant everything to her. It was her ticket out of perdition.
    Avoiding his probing question, she changed the subject. “Do you think the other managing editors will go for the story?”
    “Are you kidding? They love it almost as much as I do. This blog will likely get even more hits than your last, which means, my dear, you are a success. Congratulations.”
    Leah tried