Free Blue Twilight by Jessica Speart Page A

snuggle against Santou only to find he was no longer under the covers. Then I heard the thrum of the shower. The pipes behind the wall squeaked in protest as Jake turned off the water.
    Adding his pillow to my own, I stretched my arms and legs, luxuriating in the extra few minutes to remain in bed. Then I caught sight of the scotch bottle on the floor, and remembered how I’d found Santou stoked to the gills on drugs and booze last night.
    Jake slowly limped back into the room wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. An angry scar snaked out from beneath the terrycloth and ran down the length of his left leg. He followed my eyes with his own, probably having already looked at it a million times himself.
    “I thought maybe I’d tell people that I got it fighting the war in Iraq. What do you think?”
    “Maybe so,” I said and smiled.
    “Talk about a downer. Terri told me yesterday that my scar’s going to clash with the red Speedo I was planning to wear this summer,” Santou caustically joked.
    “So, how’s your head this morning?”
    “Still there, as far as I can tell. Why?”
    “Because I thought you might have tried to kill off all your brain cells last night.”
    Jake looked at me without a word.
    “The pills and booze? It’s got to stop.”
    “Maybe you’ve just got to learn to live with it,” Santou peevishly snapped. A second later, he hung his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, chère. It’s just that they help me get through the day. Believe me, you don’t know what it’s like.”
    “What I do know is that it’s been nine months since the crash. You should be off painkillers by now. For chrissakes, Jake. Face it. You’ve become addicted. It’s time you change doctors, start seeing a physical therapist on a regular basis, and clean up your act.”
    “And maybe you should let me handle this in my own way and try being a little more patient. You have no idea what I’m going through, and this sure as hell doesn’t help.”
    “Fine. I just don’t want to come home one day and find you dead on the floor, because I damn well don’t intend to mop up the mess.”
    Santou glared as he grabbed his clothes off the chair and stormed out, slamming the bedroom door behind him.
    “That went well,” I muttered to myself, and headed into the shower.
    I stood under the water and let it beat down on me, conflicted by two entirely different emotions. Part of me felt guilty that Jake was in this quandary, while the other part wanted to smack him hard across the head.
    Okay, so maybe tough love wasn’t the way to go. I took a deep breath and decided to give patience a shot. Quickly drying off, I dressed, and opened the bedroom door, determined to make up.
    “Don’t shoot. I’m coming out,” I joked. “How about if I make us some breakfast?”
    But there was no answer. I walked out to find that Santou had already left the premises.
    Maybe he’s complaining about me to Terri.
    I decided to pop upstairs, knowing that Terri was expecting me this morning.
    Though I knocked on his door four times, there was no answer. I finally resorted to using the key.
    Terri was asleep in bed with his eye mask on. I sat on the edge and gently shook him awake.
    “Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. You don’t happen to have Santou under the covers there, do you?”
    Terri lifted his mask and grudgingly opened one eye. “Why? Has he gone AWOL?”
    “Let’s just say we had a little disagreement.”
    “Terrific. What about?”
    “I came home last night and found him knocked out, having downed a hefty cocktail of pills and scotch. Not even an earthquake would have rocked his world. I told him this morning that he needs to get professional help, because I don’t intend to scrape his dead carcass off the floor.”
    “Good going, Rach. That was very sweet, and a surefire way to win him over.” Terri snorted.
    “All right, I probably could have been a bit more diplomatic. But I also wanted to get my