Drew's Descent

Special Smashwords Edition

Drew’s Descent

by

DeeDee Dupree

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

DREW’S DESCENT

Special Smashwords Edition

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Copyright © 2011 DeeDee Dupree. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Cover Art Copyright © istockphoto.com/4540036/cokacoka

Acknowledgments: Jason Dupree and Tayler Creighton

Editing Help By: Jaci Marino, Garrilind Alexander

Additional Book by DeeDee Dupree: When the Scars Heal

Visit the author on facebook

Author email: author.deedeedupree@yahoo.com

eBook published and distributed by: http://www.smashwords.com

Prologue

Drew Armani loved the coolness of the air; so crisp, rigid, and so unlike the temperature in Louisiana, his current place of residency. Riding the ski lift in Salt Lake City, Utah, he couldn’t wait to hit the snow filled slopes. Although it no longer felt like home, things seemed simpler here. Drew had returned to Utah for a brief holiday visit with his family. He had no intentions of staying in a town that held so many bad memories. Life in Utah was his past. Even returning to his hometown now, Drew felt like an outsider. Salt Lake City was just a beautiful place on a map now, no longer home.

Drew held many regional ski championship titles. However, all of that seemed like a lifetime ago. He had not skied competitively in years. Although he had tried to find different hobbies that could provide him with the same highs as skiing, so far he had not found anything that even came close in comparison. What could be classified as severe depression– or perhaps something more, Drew had been dealing with ultimate lows and only meek highs for quite some time.

So far, Drew’s path had not crossed the one person he most hoped to see while in Utah. Oddly enough, she was also the exact person he feared seeing the most! The very thought of coming face to face sent his mind racing. Drew knew this visit to Utah was going to be life changing. All the therapy and counseling in the world could not prevent the tragedy that would soon take place. Not even Drew himself could foresee the unspeakable acts that would take place over the next four days.

Standing at the top of the mountain, Drew hesitated as he took in a deep breath of cool air. He watched as his every breath appeared to make tiny smoke clouds in the air. The chilly wind blew his dark hair delicately across his forehead. He lowered his woven cap and adjusted the tinted glasses on his face. Drew dug his poles into the snow and shoved off down the mountainside.

Drew felt exhilarated as he cut back and forth through the snow. As he made his descent, his thoughts raced back to the tragedy that had taken him away from the sport he loved with such an immense passion. Although Drew knew he would never ski at the level he did before, at that moment, it was like the past two years never happened.

Chapter 1

Approximately two years prior to Drew skiing down this familiar mountainside, his life changed considerably with the death of his best friend, Alex White. Alex was killed in a horrific car accident one evening, as he rode as a passenger through icy, unmanageable road conditions. Alex, Drew and their mutual friend, Alyssa, were driving home from a ski tournament when their vehicle was struck by a large semi-truck carrying wood timbers.

Exhausted from the long ski tournament, Alex laid leisurely across the backseat of the car. He irresponsibly failed to buckle his seatbelt. Upon impact, Alex was thrown through the side glass of the vehicle landing in the icy road. As the large truck jackknifed, the back end of the truck ran over Alex’s frail, lifeless body.

The image alone haunted everyone who witnessed the night’s horrifying events for years to come. Drew’s life changed dramatically from that moment on. He was unable to move on with his own life and felt resentment to those who could. Drew turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with the devastating loss. If only temporarily, the drug induced numbness was welcomed in comparison to his new reality.

Drew replayed the accident over and over in his mind. He often wondered why his life was spared, while his friend’s life was taken in such a heinous manner. Drew could visualize the accident as if it were yesterday. He remembered watching the white snow fill quickly with the dark, red blood.

Drew never could understand how Alyssa went about her life as nothing had happened. She continued to compete on a professional level, as Drew’s contempt and sense of loss grew greater each day. The loss of his friend was devastating; the three of them had been so close. Not only did he lose his best friend Alex, but he felt as though his friendship with Alyssa also suffered from the strain and adjustments of life after the accident.

Drew served as a pallbearer at Alex’s funeral while Alyssa was unable to attend due to a ski tournament. Drew felt incensed over her decision. Immediately after the funeral, Drew called Alyssa only to receive her voicemail. I can’t even believe how heartless you are being! You are not the person I thought you were. Your best friend died and you can’t take one day off to go to his funeral! I hate you, Drew yelled, wiping his anger soaked tears from his face. Hearing Alyssa’s recorded voice on the answering machine was the last time he had any type of communication with her. As far as he was concerned, the Alyssa he knew died alongside of Alex.

Reaching the end of the mountain, Drew remembered how the cheer of the crowd sounded. He had not felt such accolade or sense of achievement in some time. Although he was still successful, nothing would ever replace his love of the sport, the snow, the fans and the admiration of his peers.

Six months after Alex was killed; Drew was still unable to cope with the loss of his friend. He dropped his career completely and decided it was time for a change of scenery. Drew packed his things and headed to a much warmer climate. After a long two days, and one thousand eight hundred and forty miles later, his travels landed him in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Driving through the new city, Drew was surprised how flat and green everything appeared. The similarities to Utah were few at best. Turning into his new subdivision, he gave an appreciative nod of approval. Upon entry, a huge waterfall flowed over marble stones which had the subdivision’s name etched skillfully across the center stones.

Pulling into the driveway of his new home, his cousin Tyler came out to greet him. Well that was fast, Tyler stated, approaching the driver’s side of Drew’s car. Drew let out a long sigh as he got out of the car. He stretched his aching back from side to side. Drew extended his hand to Tyler. The two men shook hands, trading smiles and a pat on the back. Tyler was fully aware Drew had been suffering with depression for some time. He hoped this change would help him snap out of it.

Drew and Tyler were close in age and inseparable as children. Tyler was more of a big brother to Drew growing up, being slightly older in age. Looking at the two, you could recognize instantly they were related, however, their lives had taken very different paths. Tyler held the title of Doctor, whereas Drew’s success story ended when he quit skiing. Both young men came from families with unlimited resources. Wealth was all they had ever known. Recently, Drew was content living off the remainder of his lucrative skiing endorsements, as well as his family’s money.

Tyler had decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a Doctor. Shortly after hurricane Katrina, Tyler moved from Utah to Baton Rouge when the population nearly doubled in the city. Tyler enjoyed Louisiana and decided to make it his permanent residence even after the city recovered from the devastating hurricane.

It was Tyler that reached out to Drew with the offer of moving to Louisiana. Weeks after Drew had been there, Tyler noticed the extreme mood swings and terrible bouts of depression Drew exhibited. He took the initiative to set Drew up with a colleague he could talk to in confidence.

Claire... I mean Dr. Lawton will be great for you, you’ll see, Tyler said, trying to push Drew in the direction of talking to a psychologist.

I trust your judgment. I will go if you think I can benefit from it. Clearly, I’m not getting better on my own, Drew admitted, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Good, I’m glad. I will leave the number and directions to her office on the table. See you tonight. Tyler grabbed a pen from his briefcase, jotting down the pertinent information.

Within two days, Drew found himself sitting in the lobby of Dr. Lawton’s office. He felt nervous anticipation begin to well up inside of him. He thumbed through magazine pages unable to focus on any of the words or photographs. Just as he decided to cancel his appointment, he heard his name called. Mr. Armani, Dr. Lawton can see you now, the nurse stated, motioning Drew to follow her through the large wooden doors.

Dr. Lawton smiled at Drew as he walked in. She could definitely see the resemblance between Drew and Tyler. Their strong Italian heritage came through with their dark eyes and hair. Dr. Lawton knew Drew would not be hard to look at, but from what Tyler had told her, Drew was definitely a man with troubles. Have a seat, she stated, pointing to a sophisticated brown leather chair.

As apprehensive as Drew was, he knew total honesty and being as open as possible would be the only way he could get the help he desperately needed. He wanted his life back. Hopefully, Dr. Lawton could be a catapult in helping him obtain his goal. Drew hoped he could find the strength to open up, but knew it would be no easy task.

Drew began his sessions with Dr. Lawton describing the turbulent months since the accident. Dr. Lawton could sense Drew’s hesitation to speak directly about the accident. For the meantime, she was not going to push. Let’s start by telling me about your life since the accident. Dr. Lawton adjusted her position in the chair.

Well since then, I started drinking, along with some mild drug usage. I was thrown out of every dive bar in Utah for alcohol-fueled fights. Overall, I was just becoming a menace to society, Drew admitted. He was partially laughing, but she detected his uncomfortable tone. Dr. Lawton offered a smile before looking down at her notepad, jotting down notes. He was quick to let Dr. Lawton know that alcohol was no