“Maybe I do.”

“Tommy...”

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be. We had a good thing, but it’s over now.”

“You... Alex...”

“Take him. Take him and just go. Leave me alone.”

“I’m not leaving you, Tommy,” she said as sobs shook her petite body.

Once upon a time, her tears would’ve moved him. “Then I’ll go.”

“No. You’re not going, and neither am I. We’re a family, and if you won’t fight for our family then I will.”

“Knock yourself out.” He reached for the bottle.

She grabbed it from his hand, and it went flying, smashing into the glass coffee table and shattering it.

The sight of her surrounded by shards of glass cleared the fog in his brain, making way for a moment of clarity. “Don’t move.”

As tears continued to rain down her face, she whimpered.

Standing, he reached for her and lifted her up and off the floor.

Christina wrapped her arms around his neck and curled her legs around his hips. She trembled violently, her tears wetting his face.

“You’re okay. I’ve got you.” His heart beat fast and hard as fear sliced through the numbness.

“Please don’t let me go, Tommy.” Her chest heaved from the strength of her sobs. “I’d never survive it.”

He tightened his hold on her, blinking rapidly to stop tears that suddenly couldn’t be contained. His chest ached as the dam broke, flooding him with a barrage of emotions he was unequipped to handle. Fear and grief and love and despair... All of it poured forth as Christina clung to him. He’d never cried like this before. Not when his grandparents died or when he found out he had a son he didn’t know about or when Arnold was killed right in front of him.

Something about the sight of Christina surrounded by broken glass had done what nothing else could. It had broken him. Leaning against a wall, he slid down, taking her with him, until they were on the floor. She never let go, holding him through the storm the way she had from the beginning.

He had no idea how long they were there before he found his voice. “I... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things. I didn’t mean—”

Cradling his face in her hands, she kissed him and wiped away his tears. “We need help, Tommy. We can’t do this alone. Please. Before we lose us...”

He hesitated but only for a second. “Okay.”

* * *

SAM SHOT OUT of bed, going from asleep to running in the blink of an eye when she heard Scotty cry out. Fearing another vomit-astrophe, she steeled herself as she turned the corner in his room and found him sitting up in bed, weeping.

“Buddy, what’s wrong? Are you feeling sick again?”