Ray met Kat’s flight the next morning and was stunned to see that Brenda was right. A lot of things had changed in the last year and a half. Kat was much thinner now and she seemed tired. He hoped that calling her out here wasn’t going to be the wrong thing.

 “Hi Ray.” Kat said reaching up to hug him.

 “Hi Kat.” he said happy to see her there. “I was worried you might have changed your mind.”

 “I wouldn’t do that. I thought about it but I wouldn’t do it.”

 “Good to know honey. Let’s get your bags and I’ll take you over to your hotel.”

 Kat stopped him. “I don’t want to go to the hotel yet. If it’s as bad as you said, I just want to go straight there.”

 “I’m so happy to hear you say that. Let’s go.”

 Twenty minutes later, they both stepped out of Ray’s truck and headed towards the house. Right before they opened the door, Ray tugged on Kat’s arm.

 “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

 Kat shook her head no. “I’m not but no matter how much I prepare myself, I might not ever be.”

 Ray jut nodded and unlocked the door. He made his way down to the living room to see if AJ was still on the couch. When he didn’t see him, he motioned to the stairs and Kat followed him up to AJ’s bedroom. The door was closed and locked but Ray was able to pop the lock and get it open.

 Kat was shocked at the state of his bedroom. The blinds were taped shut and there were bottles of everything lying all over the floor. It smelled horrible and she could only imagine what the bathroom looked like. She noticed a large pile of clothes on the bed next to another large pile.

 Ray walked over to the bed and started digging through the mess. He found AJ buried under his covers barely conscious. He turned to look at Kat and saw her dialing her phone.

 “Who are you calling?”

 “911.”

 “What are you calling them for?”

 “Look at him Ray!” she yelled pointing at AJ’s limp frame. “He drank or took something and we need to get his stomach pumped before it gets worse.”

 She started giving the operator AJ’s information and the address. She motioned for Ray to head downstairs to let the EMTs in. After relaying the necessary information, she hung up and sat down on the bed next to AJ. She reached out and grabbed ahold of his hand.

 “I’m so sorry for all of this AJ. You’re going to hate me for doing this and for being out here but I don’t care. Please hang in there. Nobody wants to lose you.”

 She sat with him for another few minutes before the EMTs got there and loaded him up for the ride to the emergency room. Ray suggested that Kat ride in the ambulance and that he would meet her at the hospital once he had the house locked up. Kat agreed and climbed into the back praying the whole time that they weren’t too late.

 -----------------

 Ray called Marcus on the drive over to the hospital and told him what had happened.

 “Do you want me to call the boys?” he asked.

 “I don’t know. I think he’ll be fine once they pump his stomach.”

 “Well we should at least call Denise.”

 “I agree. The only problem is Kat.”

 “Huh?”

 “Do you want to explain why Kat is back here and why she’s at the hospital or do we let Denise just show up and find her there?”

“I didn’t think of that.”

 Marcus thought for a minute and told Ray that he would wait to call Denise until he had more information from the hospital.

 “You’ll call me as soon as you know something right?”

 Ray promised Marcus he would and then drove over to meet Kat.

 ----------------------

 It took about an hour before a doctor came out to the waiting room and talked to Kat and Ray.

 “He’s lucky to be alive. Ingesting the amount of alcohol that he had in his system is almost always deadly. He should be grateful to the both of you.”

 “When can we see him?” Ray asked.

 “Soon. We need to get everything out of his system and do a few more tests. I’ll have a nurse come out when he’s ready.”

 Ray called Marcus right away and then turned around. He shocked Kat by pulling her into a bear hug once the doctor left.

 “Thank you for coming out here Kat. You’re the reason he’s alive.”

 Kat shook her head and collapsed on the chair. “No, I’m not. I’m not the solution, I’m part of the problem.”

 “No you’re not Kat! If you hadn’t come today….”

 “Someone else would have come. There’s nothing special about me being here.”

 “Please don’t say that Kat.”

 Kat stood up and headed for the door.

 “Where are you going?” Ray called out and Kat stopped in the doorway.

 “Home. What good am I here?”

 Ray darted over to her. “Don’t leave until you talk to him. Please just give it twenty more minutes.”

 “He’s not going to want to see me Ray. I……”

 A nurse appeared in the waiting room and asked them to follow her to AJ’s room.

 “Now you have to go Kat.” Ray pushed her in front of him and followed the nurse down to the exam room where AJ was waiting.

 The nurse pulled the white curtain aside and they found AJ lying there looking awful with an oxygen tube near his nose and hooked to various machines and IVs. His face looked sunken and his eyes had massive darks circles around them.  Tears formed in Kat’s eyes and she was about to turn around when she saw AJ’s eyes open. Their eyes met and Kat was frozen to the ground where she stood.