In a huff, Dan stomped off to the kitchen, took down his Willie Randolph Big Gulp cup, and peed in it. He threw it down the drain of the sink and rinsed the cup before stacking it in the dishwasher. He came back down the hallway. He still needed to brush his teeth and was thinking of knocking again when he heard a crash and a rattle. It sounded like the door to the shower.

“Dad?”

“I’m fine!”

“What happened?”

“Go to bed.”

And Dan cracked open the door. His father was between the toilet and the tub, trying to pull himself off the floor. His left leg was pinned back at the knee. The shower door had been punched out of its track and dangled from the top rail. Dan moved toward his father as Pat’s head lurched down into the toilet bowl and he vomited.

“Good God, Dad.”

Pat retched again and again, hovering over the bowl and ignoring Dan for a long time. Eventually he looked up, his bloodshot eyes welling with tears, and motioned to Dan to help him up. But then he gagged again, and this time there was nothing but bile and spit. When he was done, he gasped for air and, with trembling hands, started to push himself off the floor.

“I’m sorry, Dan,” Pat moaned. “I think it’s the flu. I can’t keep anything down.”

Dan struggled to pick his father off the tiles. Pat tried to stand, but his legs were numb and he almost fell back into the tub. He braced himself against the sink and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

“Should we call a doctor?”

“No. I’ll be fine.” The blood returned to Pat’s legs, and the numbness started to tingle away. He took a step closer to the sink to wash his hands and face. He bent over and gulped water from the faucet. His skin was crawling and his head felt like it was bleeding from within, and just then Pat realized he had purged the booze out of his system.

Dan took a deep breath. “Can you walk?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.” Dan was trying to whisper and not wake his mother.

“Get out of my way.”

Pat stepped out of the bathroom and then had to turn back and throw up in the sink. Nothing, just dry heaves now.

“Okay, that’s all of it.” He was shaking and red faced as he hobbled down the hallway. “Just need to lie down and die.”