“Basically, Bunny,” I said, “I wanted to apologize to you.”
“For what?” she seemed genuinely puzzled.
“For how I acted this morning … or whenever it was that I woke up.”
“Oh that,” she said, looking away. “There’s no need to apologize. Everyone gets a bit out of sorts when they have a hangover.”
It was nice of her to say that, but I wasn’t about to let it slide.
“No, there’s more to it than that, Bunny. You tried to raise some valid concerns about my health and well being, and I gave you a rough time because I wasn’t ready to hear what you were saying. I guess I didn’t want to hear it. With everything else I’ve been trying to sort out, I really didn’t want one more problem to complicate things.”
I paused and shook my head.
“I just wanted you to know that since then, I’ve been thinking about what you said. I’ve decided that you may be right about my having a drinking problem. I’m not sure, mind you, but there’s enough doubt in my mind that I’m going to try to ease up for a while.”
I sat down on the bed beside her, and put my arm around her shoulders.
“Whether you were right or not, though, I wanted to thank you for your caring and concern. That’s what I should have said this morning instead of getting defensive.”
Suddenly, she was hugging me, her face buried in my chest.
“Oh Skeeve,” came her muffled voice. “I just get so worried about you. I know you’re in the middle of making some rough decisions, and I try not to add to your problems. I just wish there was something more I could do to ease things for you, but it seems that when I try to help, I just make things worse for you.”