Page 172 of The Broken Keys

“Do better?” I step toward him, curling my hands into fists. “You don’t get to come into my house and tell me how to take care of my girlfriend.”

“Someone has to.” Jaxon doesn’t retreat an inch. “Shecould barely walk when I brought her home. She was slurring her words and couldn’t focus on anything.”

“Her headaches have been brutal.”

“The headaches are her brain trying to process trauma.” Jaxon steps closer to me. “Covering them up with pills isn’t healing, it’s masking a problem that needs medical attention.”

“Her fucking doctors prescribed those.” I slam the bottle down on the kitchen island. “I’m following their instructions.”

“Their instructions are wrong. You know that, but you’re letting her take the lead, anyway.”

I clench my jaw. “I’m trying to balance her pain management without triggering her anxiety about the accident. It’s a fucking tightrope, Jaxon.”

“Then maybe you should call her doctors and tell them to prescribe something safer.” His chest heaves. “Or are you too worried they’ll take you off caretaker duty if they know you’re compromised?”

“Compromised?” Heat boils in my gut. “I love her. Everything I’m doing is to protect her.”

“By setting her on a path that could end terribly?” Jaxon crosses his arms. “That’s not protection, Cash. That’s negligence.”

I surge forward until we’re chest to chest. “You don’t know what it’s like living with her right now. Every decision is impossible. Push too hard and she breaks. Don’t push enough and she stays stuck. I’m doing the best I can.”

“Your best isn’t good enough.” Jaxon pushes me back. “She needs medical intervention, not a boyfriend who’s too afraid to set boundaries.”

“Boundaries?” I stabilize myself and bark out a bitter laugh. “You’re the expert on that now, aren’t you? You kept your entire relationship with her a secret for years. Don’t lecture me about doing what's right.”

His expression hardens. “She asked me to keep it private. I was giving her the respect she deserves. You’rekeeping her medicated to maintain the fantasy that she chose you.”

The accusation lands like a blow to my face. My blood races through my veins and I have to step back before I do something I’ll regret.

“Get out.” The words scrape my throat raw.

“Not until you agree to handle the painkiller situation.” Jaxon doesn’t budge. “She’s going to build a tolerance. She’ll start taking more to get the same relief. If you can’t see that pattern, you’re being willfully blind.”

“I see it, Jaxon. I’ve been monitoring how many she takes.”

“You can’t do that when she’s at work and has access to them by reaching into her purse.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

There are a few beats of silence as we glare into each other’s eyes.

“Cash, I know you love her. But loving someone means making hard choices even when they hate you for it.”

I sink onto a stool, exhausted from the weight of everything. “If I take them away and the headaches get worse, she’ll suffer.”

“And if you don’t take them away, she could…” Jaxon moves closer but doesn’t touch me. “Don’t play with this kind of fire, Cash. It’s not worth it.”

The moment stretches between us, heavy with everything we’re not saying. My therapist’s words echo in my head about sabotaging what I want most.

“Fine.” I drag my hands through my hair. “I’ll talk to her doctors tomorrow and get them to prescribe something non-addictive for the headaches.”

“And the pills she has now?”

“I’ll get rid of them tonight.” My throat tightens. “She’s gonna be pissed.”

“Better pissed than dead.” Jaxon picks up his laptop andtucks it under his arm. “I’ll check in tomorrow to make sure you followed through.”

“You don’t trust me?”