Chapter Seven: When Everything Changed
Something in Ryan changed that day.
She had seen me at my worst before — drunk, relapsing, unraveling — but nothing prepared her for the sight of me nearly dead on that couch, pills and whiskey running through my veins, Johnny Cash still playing in the background like a soundtrack to my self-destruction.
She always knew I struggled. She always tried to understand.
But that day, it became crystal clear.
This wasn’t just drinking.
This wasn’t just “Joe having a rough patch.”
This was life or death.
Something in Ryan changed that day.
She had seen me at my worst before — drunk, relapsing, unraveling — but nothing prepared her for the sight of me nearly dead on that couch, pills and whiskey running through my veins, Johnny Cash still playing in the background like a soundtrack to my self-destruction.
She always knew I struggled. She always tried to understand.
But that day, it became crystal clear.
This wasn’t just drinking.
This wasn’t just “Joe having a rough patch.”
This was life or death.
