I stopped for a woman dying on the roadside and lost my job for being late, but when I came back for my desk, my whole life changed. “What the hell do you mean you were helping somebody?” – usnews

But that day, I wanted the noise in my head gone.

The first glass took the edge off.

The second made me feel less humiliated.

The third made me sleepy enough that my anger turned soft and blurry around the edges.

I fell asleep on the couch in my work pants with the television muttering to itself and woke up later with a splitting headache and the taste of regret in my mouth.

Emily draped a blanket over me sometime while I slept.

A glass of water sat on the coffee table.

She didn’t lecture me.

Didn’t say a word.

That somehow made me feel worse.

That evening I told the girls Daddy was going to be home a little more for a while.

Maddie cheered.

Claire looked at me for a long second and asked, “Did something bad happen?”

Kids know.

I swallowed and said, “A rough day happened.”