Thirty minutes later, JD and Mom walked back into the room. I was finishing pulling on my clothes when they came in. The pants felt too tight and I had to struggle to get them over my hips. My head throbbed every time my body shifted and wiggled to pull them up. They were surprised to see me up and moving around already.

"What did the doctor say?" Mom asked me, concerned.

"Probable concussion. They gave me a paper of what to watch for and said I couldn't be alone for 24 hours. They are getting the discharge papers for me now."

"Well, I'm glad it wasn't worse. We should call the police and press charges. They will probably be able to get you a restraining order against him. Of course, we need to take pictures of the bruises." Mom sighed

"I'm going to find that mother..." JD began.

"Both of you stop!" I moved my hands up. I was in no mood for a big brother rant or to start some sort of legal trouble over this. I had too many other things to worry about right now. My life had changed direction again over the last few weeks and I just wanted to take some quiet time for myself to reflect back on my mistakes, cry a little, and figure out how I was going to move on.

"We have to keep him from being able to get to you again." JD argued, upset with me.

"It's really over this time. We're done."

I took JD's hand and squeezed it. I meant what I was saying. He would never be back in my life. I had to let him go and close this chapter. Ezra would never understand it and he may even try to come back to me. Even if he could find a way to get himself better, I couldn't take the risk of him relapsing again. I had to do to him what his Mom could never do to his Dad. I had to walk away for him.

The nurse came back in and my Mom reached over to grab the discharge paperwork from her. I snatched it out of the nurse's hand before she could give it to her. The nurse gave me a strange look and I shrugged back.

"What was that?" My Mom asked with her eyebrows raised.

"I want to read it." I mumbled, inspecting the documents. I read over the papers and studied them line by line. I stopped and looked at the paper like it was a snake ready to bite. My body shivered as I read it a second time to make sure I could memorize the instructions. The paper was going to go in the trash. I did not need a reminder of what happened today.

"You guys can go get the car and I'll meet you out there. It looks like the doctor missed one of my prescription papers. I'll go to the nurse's station to see if they can get it for me."

"Peanut, I can get it. Which one was it?" Mom asked, trying to be helpful.

"I have it, Mom. It'll just be a second. The Tylenol they gave me is helping a little. I don't feel so shaky."

We walked out of the room and they headed towards the entrance as I headed towards the nurse's station to ask for my prescription the doctor was supposed to give me. While the plump nurse went and looked for the doctor, I overheard two female nurses talking about a guy who came in a little bit ago.

They were whispering, but I could hear every detail.

"You should see this guy. He has been repeating the same name over and over again. It sounds like Ray or Ry." The curvy one smiled. "I'm not sure what he is on yet, but they called it in saying he OD'd. You should see his piercings, room 112 if you get a chance."

My heart began to pound. It surely couldn't be Ezra.

The plump nurse came back with my signed prescription and said, "You know you can just buy this over the counter, right? It might be cheaper for you. If you do use the prescription call around, some pharmacies will give them to you, and you won't have to pay for them." I nodded at her, not really paying attention. I didn't really care about the money right now. My eyes drifted towards the direction of room 112.

"Where's the bathroom?" I asked, knowing which direction it was because of the sign on the hall with a pointing arrow, but I needed an excuse to move towards the room with the guy repeating a name that sounded like mine.

I had to be sure it was not him.

Deep down, I knew he would be in that bed when I walked in. I could feel him here. I just wanted to see him one last time. It sounded wrong even to myself, but I needed this to let him go for good. She pointed at the signs and gave me directions.

I smiled and thanked her for her help. I walked briskly to the end of the hall and stopped next to room 112 and looked around, making sure I was not being watched. I slipped into the room and closed the door behind me.

I walked past the curtain and stared in the bed. My eyes met the foggy blue bloodshot eyes and my heart stopped.

"Riley?" He whispered. From the look on his face, he must have thought he was imagining me here. "Am I dead? You're not really here."

Ezra had still not come down from what he took. I wished instantly he was in a better state of mind. I needed him to hear this and understand what I was saying. I hoped I could get through to him.

"Yeah, it's me." I said, moving towards him. His eyes were watering and darting from one side of the room to the other. He looked like a scared child. His large frame looked so small and weak in the hospital bed. How did he look so fragile when he was terrifying only hours ago?

"Hey Ezra," I kept my tone soft as I stepped closer to the side of the bed and placed my hands on the railing. I almost reached for his hand, but I knew that would give him hope. We were beyond hope at this point. I couldn't confuse the message.

"Where are we?" He asked, looking around at the light blue walls.

"The hospital, I overheard some nurses saying you OD'd." I said softly.

"Shit." He swore, closing his eyes and laid his head back. He seemed clear enough that he understood what I was saying. That meant he should hear me clearly this time.

"Ezra," I sucked in a deep breath. "You need to go get help. You can't do this on your own. You have tried too many times. Please go to rehab and get yourself clean. It won't change anything between us and what happened, but you deserve to find your happiness more than you know."

"You are my happiness. You are my life." He said, grabbing my hand. "Without you, I have nothing. I can't live without you. I love you."

"That's the problem, Ezra. This isn't love. Putting your hands on me is not love, telling me you can't live without me is not love, telling me I belong to you is not love."

"It's the only kind I know." He said, broken. The damaged little boy inside was pleading for help. I wanted to save him, but it was too late. He had to want to be saved. He had to do this for himself.

"I know that and that is why I have to go." I said softly.

"Riley?" He looked at me with tears in his eyes. "Don't leave me."

"Ezra, I can't stay anymore. We can't be together. This relationship is not good for either of us. We can't be healthy together. Sometimes loving someone the wrong way isn't enough to make something work. You have to let me go and you need to understand that. I know you love me, and I need you to promise me that you won't come back this time."

"I promise, beautiful." He whispered. His eyes flickered with a hint of icy blue and I knew he really thought he meant it.

"Goodbye, Ezra. Please take care of yourself." I said and leaned down to kiss his forehead. I ran my thumb over his skin and paused briefly at his eyebrow rings. He placed his hand over mine and closed his eyes.

I turned and walked out of the room with my head held high. The weight of our relationship, the back and forth, all the drama, lifted off my shoulders. I felt lighter than I had in the months since I had met him.

I was never going to forget him.

Ezra had made sure he imprinted himself in my body and soul. I silently thanked him for giving me the strength to walk away, even if he didn't know it. I wouldn't ever regret what happened between us and I would love him every day for the rest of my life. I loved him so much I had to choose myself. It was what he would have wanted in the end.

"Excuse me." I called out as I walked back to the nurse's station.

"Can I help you?" The plump one answered me.

"The guy in room 112, did anyone call his family?" I asked.

"Uh..." she paused, looking around to see if anyone could hear us. When the coast was clear, she said. "He didn't have anything on him when he came in. We don't even know his name."

"His name is Ezra Miller. I know him. His Mom's name is Luanne. I can give you her number." I pulled out my phone, jotted down her number on a piece of paper and handed it to her. "Can you please call her and let her know what happened?"

The nurse took the piece of paper with a confused look on her face. "Are you sure you don't want to call her?"

"I can't. Can you just tell her thank you for me?"

"Can I give her your name?" She asked.

"She'll know it's me." I said as I walked away.

About ten minutes and five wrong turns later, I found the hospital exit. JD had pulled the car up to the entrance and was standing next to the door to let me in.

"Did you get lost? I was about to send a search party after you." JD smiled at me.

"Haha...You know I hit my head, right?" I smiled back.

"Yeah, you were never really good with directions before that, so that's a terrible excuse." He laughed. "Seriously, you look better, Lil Bit." He said, taking my hand and helping me lower myself down into the car.

"I feel better." I told him before buckling the seat belt over my lap.

I turned my head back towards the hospital and smiled. This was the beginning of the rest of my life. I could do this on my own. I had to; I had no other choice. Ezra was not able to give me what I wanted or be the person I needed. I was hoping he could be that person for someone someday, but that someone would not be me.

The person I needed the most right now was in this car about to go home. It was time for me to learn to care for myself instead of relying on others. Part of the problem of having people around you willing to stand up to the world for you is you never really learn to fight for yourself. The battle was finally over and I had the wounds to prove it. They didn't bother me anymore. They were a reminder that I survived.

I looked back down at the discharge papers and smiled. Maybe I would keep them after all.

"Riley?" My Mom looked over at me curiously, watching me smile as I read them. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, but I'm starving." I said, looking up at her. "Can we get stop and grab some ice cream before we go home?"

"Lil Bit." JD laughed. "Ice cream is not food."

"It is totally a food group. Don't judge me." I laughed.