Crash and Burn Pt 3

So now Mum's been in counselling. I've been going to this counselling group for kids with alcoholic parents, and Mahew has changed school. I hadn't known that kids at school were bullying him. If only I had known.

Things are different now. Before, we had no idea what to do and we thought that it didn't really hurt her, other that all the hangovers and personality changes we saw. But the doctor said that things could get worse the longer someone drinks. He told me and Mum that sometimes the liver can get really bad, that it can be life threatening. The number of times that I had actually thought Mum would die... she was already heading down the road to death. It shames me to even think about it.

I'm glad that Mum's getting better now. I don't know what we would have done if she had gotten liver cancer... or brain damage. There were other things the doctor said could have happened, like, hepatitis, cirrhosis, pancreatitis... If she had gotten high blood pressure, she could have had a stroke... or a heart attack...

For now, I'm just hoping that she stays on the road to recovery.

For once in a long time, everything is looking up. For once, Mum is actually remembering things, she's realising how much of a mess she's made things.

For once, it seems like everything is normal again.

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1 year later...

"Would you like a drink?"

I look at the waiter, and the glass of wine on his tray.

Go on... you know you want it. Why deny yourself a simple pleasure?

I thrust the voice out of my head. I don't want to head down that road again, the road of throwing up, of headaches, of unco-ordination...

"No thank you."

I know I can't do that anymore. I have my kids. I've hurt them before. I'm not going to do it again.

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The third and final installment. This is basically just the bit that I had to add on to fulfil the requirements of my assignment...

Thanks for reading, if you have.