Shane: Bette….Bette….

Bette doesn’t move.

Shane: Bette….(finding her curled on the couch)….it’s just me….

Bette: I can’t….

Shane: Don’t…we don’t need to talk…I’ll just sit here.

45 minutes later

Shane: I can leave or I can stay…whichever will make you more comfortable.

Bette: I can’t….

Shane: I’ll stay.

1 hour and 15 minutes later

Shane: I spoke to Alice. I know you camped at her doorstep for the last three days. I know Tina won’t take your calls.

Bette: I can’t…

Shane: We will figure this out. For now, how about a shower and some food.

Bette: I can’t…move.

Shane: I know.

Bette: I can’t breathe.

Shane: We will figure this out.

Bette: She hates me.

Shane: We can’t focus on how Tina feels. You can’t control that.

Bette: I hate myself.

Shane: Now, that is what we need to focus on. We need to understant how you could do this to yourself.

Bette: How could I do this to Tina. To us.

Shane: The best way to find that answer, is to understand how you could do it to yourself.

Bette: I don’t have the answer.

Shane: Yeah, you do. We all have our own answers. No one else really does. No one else knows you as intimately as you know yourself. You just don’t want to have that tough conversation with yourself.

Bette: I can’t do it myself.

Shane: You talk, I’ll listen.

30 minutes later

Bette: I need her.

Shane: In what way.

Bette: It is the only place that I fell any peace.

Shane: So, all the times, when you are not with Tina, you are not at peace.

Bette: Right.

Shane: That’s a problem.

Bette: Not if I have her.

Shane: That’s a problem. You don’t have her.

Bette: I know.

Shane: No…, I mean you never ‘have’ her. You just get to enjoy her.

Bette: I need her.

Shane: In what way.

Bette: For peace.

Shane: You are going to need to find peace without her.

Bette: You mean, you mean… you don’t think that she will come back.

Shane: Whether she comes back or not, you are going to have to be able to find peace without her. It is too much of a burden to put on someone. Too much of a need.

Bette: How can yu need someone too much.

Shane: I’m not saying that you shouldn’t love being with her. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t look forward to being in her presence. I’m saying that when you ‘need’ someone ‘too much’ then you start not thinking clearly — you start thinking in terms of ownership…your decisions are based on your needs…You forget that this person is not you…she is not just an extension of yourself…is not just an accessory…that she has her own needs that are separate from your own.

Bette: I guess I haven’t been thinking too clearly.

Shane: No *****.