Road Doc
Chapter 21
“VEGAS!!! Oh my GAWD!!! I can’t believe I’m actually here!!”
“Okay, Suzy, you know I love you dearly, but could you please stop screaming every five minutes?” Theresa said, laughing at her friend. “You sound like a teeny bopper or something!”
“I’m sorry. I just can’t believe I’m here, you’re here, the....oh gawd....the Backstreet Boys are here and YOU, my bestest bud in the whole wide world WORKS for them!! Oh my god!!!” Suzy couldn’t help but squeal.
Theresa rolled her eyes and laughed.
Suzy cleared her throat, straightened her clothes and smoothed her hair.
“There. I’m fine now. Just had to get that out of my system” Suzy said in a very proper voice.
“Promise?” Theresa laughed, as the van they were riding in pulled up to a huge, lavish hotel.
Suzy looked at the hotel, looked at the all access backstage pass in her hand and looked at Theresa with a pained expression. “I promise” she said smiling. “I think”
The two women talked as they made their way to their room on the top floor of the hotel. As they walked down the hall they passed Nick who was on his way down to the casino.
“Hey Doc” he said with a bright smile and a wave.
After he had gotten on the elevator Theresa looked over at Suzy who’s eyes were bugged out and she looked as if she were about to explode.
“Don’t you dare” Theresa said with a laugh.
Suzy took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again.
“This is going to take some getting used to” she confessed.
“What is the big deal, Suz? I didn’t think you even liked their kind of music.” Theresa said as she began to unpack her bags for the five night stay in Las Vegas.
“Well I don’t. I mean, I didn’t. Hell, I didn’t even know who they were until you got this job. After that I started surfing the Internet and....well....DAMN, they’re hot!!”
“You are such a teeny” Theresa teased.
“Seriously though, they’re music is great. I don’t know why I didn’t start listening to them a long time ago” Suzy said, flopping herself onto one of the large beds.
“Five words” Theresa said. “New Kids On The Block”
Suzy clutched her chest and rolled off the bed onto the floor. “You realize I’m still scarred over the fact that Donnie never wrote me back” she said dramatically.
A knock at the door brought them out of a huge fit of laughter.
“Well hello there” Suzy said in a sexy voice as she opened the door.
Theresa looked up to see AJ standing at the door, his hands thrust deep in his pockets, his eyes covered by a pair of dark sunglasses.
“Hi” he said, walking into the room cautiously. “Doctor Franklin, can I have a moment of your time?”
Theresa looked at AJ and then to Suzy, who was standing there looking completely
awestruck. Suzy tore her eyes from AJ’s ass to see Theresa looking at her.
“Uh, so yeah. I’m going to head down to the casino. Gonna see if I can win me a little booty” she said with a sly smile, her eyes moving back down to AJ’s behind.
Theresa smiled and shook her head.
Suzy left and AJ sat down on the corner of one of the beds. Theresa studied his moves, noticing how nervous he seemed.
“What can I do for you AJ?” she said coolly.
“We need to t-talk” he said quietly.
“Okay” Theresa said, sitting down as far away from him as she could.
“Look, what happened...you know....what I did to you. I-I-I want to say that I’m s-s-sorry” He said.
“Okay” Theresa said, waiting for him to continue.
“I get stupid sometimes....okay, so I’m stupid all of the time...what I mean is that I get really drunk sometimes and do stuff that I don’t mean t-t-to do.” He said, taking his glasses off. His eyes were rimmed with red and it appeared that he’d been crying.
“You think that being drunk is a reasonable excuse for what you did to me?” Theresa asked harshly.
“No. I don’t” he said, getting up.
Theresa startled at his standing up and AJ couldn’t help but notice.
“See! You are scared to death of me now. And it’s all b-because I...”
“I’m not afraid of you AJ” Theresa said matter of factly.
“Look” he said, pulling a chair up to sit next to her. “I’ve got a problem. I know I do. I didn’t know. But I know now.”
Theresa looked at him with confusion on her face.
“I didn’t know, or at least didn’t want t-to admit that I-I did” he said, trying to explain. “What I did to you....God....I would never do that t-to a w-woman. I just get really fucked up sometimes and black out. I-I mean, I don’t p-pass out, I just forget w-what....I d-don’t know what I’m d-doing.”
Theresa understood what he was saying. She had studied drug and alcohol addiction in medical school and knew full well that one of the signs of alcohol abuse was periods of ‘lost time’.
“AJ, I have tried very hard to convince myself that what you did wasn’t intentional” she said after thinking for a moment. “I’ll make a deal with you”
“Anything” AJ said, a hint of hopefulness in his voice.
“I’m willing to forgive what you did. But I will tell you I’ll never be able to forget it.” she began.
“I know, and I’m sorry that...”
“Just wait.” Theresa said, interrupting him. “I’m going to forgive you. But you have to promise me that you’ll stop drinking”
AJ laughed a cynical laugh.
“AJ, I mean it. You have to stop drinking or something like this could happen again....or something worse.”
AJ was silent for a long time, obviously lost in deep thought.
“I don’t know if I can” he finally admitted, his voice shaky.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help you, AJ” Theresa said, her voice full of emotion.
“Doc, you hate me now. I don’t expect you to do something like that for me after what I did to you” AJ said quietly.
“I don’t hate you, AJ. You hurt me very bad, both physically and emotionally. But part of me still wants to help you get through this.” Theresa said. “You have to let me help you.”
AJ began to cry. He had been an emotional wreck since the night Howie had attacked him and it was all coming to a head as he sat there next to Theresa.
“Now look. Don’t cry, okay?” Theresa said, realizing just how serious AJ’s problem was. “This isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to be hell, and you need to know that. But I know....I know in my heart that you can beat this”
AJ wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and looked up at her.
“How can I ever thank you for....”
“Don’t thank me AJ. Just beat this, okay?”
22