GtRO - Alderan's Spotlight 2018

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, or so the saying goes.
Shame that his daily indulgence of alcohol did little to keep the memories of his former doctor away.

Each swig of the bottle warmed him up, but Alderan still felt a chill that he couldn’t rid himself of. The warmth from the alcohol was nothing compared to the warmth Gertie could provide him.

Had provided him, he corrected himself as he tipped his bottle back, before she up and left him with little more than a note that only raised more painful questions than they answered. Well, no, that wasn’t entirely correct, either; she had left him with a turmoil in his heart that she had once quelled and nightmares that occasionally plagued his sleep. Maybe he had become obsessed with her. It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time he was obsessed with a woman, anyway.

But somehow, this felt a little different.

This was more than just desiring what she could provide him, be it her scientific knowledge, drugs, warmth, or companionship. It was difficult to identify what exactly this “more” was, but he knew it was there. He had felt it when he woke up to the empty space beside him. That difference had been present when he had peruse her note, each word pricking him with agony. It had drove him to seek her out, despite the time it took away from his experiments. And when he encountered that bartender with that sickening interest in her, it had snapped his remaining restraint.

It was almost laughable, just how she had permeated his life and rooted herself before he had realized it. What happened to the simpler days when she was just a partner he loved to tease and banter with? Gone. She had taken those days with her, just as she had taken away the peace he had come to know. Didn’t leave him with any answers he wanted, either.

Just left him by himself, with growing piles of empty bottles littering his place.

Another bottle. Another night alone.