my Idiot Brother pranked my girlfriend by replacing her narcolepsy medication with a fake Placebo she fell asleep while driving crashed and had to be hospitalized but my parents sided with my brother about 2 years ago at a family gathering my brother made an insensitive joke towards my girlfriend about her narcolepsy and she called him out on it he felt offended and as Revenge pranked her by replacing her narcolepsy medication with fake placebos the very next day my girlfriend got in her car and due to the fake medication fell asleep behind the wheel thankfully nobody was
in front of her but she crashed into a guard rail at an estimated speed of 40 mph she was rushed to the hospital and that's when I got a call informing me what happened the police said she was facing jail time for reckless driving and I soon got the call from my brother he said he felt guilty for what happened and would like to say sorry I had no idea what he meant so I questioned him and he stammered he eventually admitted to swapping the medication out and I absolutely went off on him my girlfriend
was fighting for her life and facing prison all because felt offended after being rightfully called out I immediately started brainstorming ways to prove my girlfriend's innocence so I started contacting every family friend at the Gathering to ask if they had seen anything luckily for me someone said he saw my brother Jack messing with my girlfriend's meds but he didn't see him actually doing anything this was evidence that could be credible while my girlfriend was in hospital I took her meds and sent them to get tested and it was proved that these meds were indeed not
her narcolepsy meds they were just sugar pills when my girlfriend woke up I told her everything and to say she was traumatized was an understatement luckily for us my girlfriend got out of jail time but somehow my brother did too after the whole legal dispute was settled I was torn between disbelief and rage regarding what my brother did it was one thing for him to make his usual off-color jokes but to actually sabotage my girlfriend Jessica's medication that was a level of hate I never would have expected from my own brother but as much as
I wanted to believe it was a sick joke or some kind of mistake the truth was staring me in the face and I couldn't ignore it I remember the moment it all clicked it was late at night and I was sitting in the living room with Jess she was still shaken from the accident the bruises on her arms were fading but her eyes still looked terrified we were talking about how she could have fallen asleep despite taking her medication as prescribed and I could see the fear in her eyes she feared not being able to
trust her own body anymore I still didn't want to believe that my brother did this to her but there was no denying the truth he was angry that she had called him out in front of everyone so he decided to teach her a lesson a lesson that nearly cost her her life that night I couldn't sleep I kept running through every memory I had of Jack I thought about the times we'd spent together as kids the stupid pranks we pulled on each other the arguments that always ended with us laughing but now all I could
think about was how he could have unived the woman I love all because he couldn't handle being called out for his behavior the next day I decided I needed to confront him I couldn't just let this slide lied I needed to hear from his own mouth why he did it and if he even understood the gravity of what he'd done so I drove over to his apartment my heart pounded in my chest from nerves and anger the entire way I didn't know what I was going to say but I knew I couldn't let him get
away with this when I got there Jack opened the door with his usual grin like nothing was wrong but as soon as he saw the look on my face his smile faded he knew why I was there I immediately asked him if he messed with Jess's medication he didn't answer at first he just looked at me and his eyes darted around this was the first time in this whole debacle I had confronted him like this because every other time I was too busy either staying at my girlfriend's hospital bed or trying to prove that he
did it I never had the time to just confront him like a man he stood there blankly then sighed and admitted what he'd done he said he wanted to scare her and make her think twice before mouthing off again he hadn't just scared her he almost took her life from her he claimed that it wasn't supposed to go that far and eventually apologized but I couldn't take it anymore so sorry didn't cut it I told him what he did was unforgivable he told me I was selfish for cutting him off for one mistake and tried
to convince me that I was overreacting I couldn't keep him in my life after this I turned walked out of his apartment and slammed the door behind me I didn't trust myself to stay in that room for another second without doing something I'd regret as I drove home my mind was racing when I got back to our place Jess was waiting for me her eyes red from crying I sat down next to her and told her what I just did she didn't say much she just just nodded and stared at the floor I could see
how much this hurt her and how betrayed she felt it wasn't just the fact that Jack had tampered with her meds it was that someone she trusted someone who was supposed to be family had done this to her that night we decided we needed to step back from everything from Jack my family and all the drama we needed time to process what had happened and figure out how to move forward we agreed to cut contact with Jack completely there was no way we could have him in our lives after what he'd done but cutting ties
with Jack wasn't as simple as we'd hoped when my parents found out what had happened they were Furious not at Jack but at us they called me to come over to their house to talk and I brought Jess with me before I could get out a word they started fussing they couldn't believe we were turning our backs on family over what they called a stupid mistake they kept saying that Jack didn't mean things to go so far and that he was upset and made a bad decision they even suggested that Jess was partly to blame
for pushing him by calling him out at the reunion they said that she should have handled the situation after after the reunion one-on-one if it mattered so much to her I couldn't believe what I was hearing my parents were trying to defend Jack and make excuses for him when I tried to explain how serious this was how close Jess had come to dying they just brushed it off telling me I was overreacting they even said that the jail time she would have faced wouldn't have been long enough for her to get a record they demanded
that I fix me and Jack's relationship and even told me to apologize to him in the end Jess and I decided we couldn't stay in that toxic environment any longer we packed our bags and moved to a different city a few hours away we were far away from the memories and the drama and wanted to build a new life together it wasn't an easy decision but we knew it was the right one the first few months were tough Jess was still dealing with the physical and emotional Trauma from the accident and I was struggling to
come to terms with the fact that my own family had turned against us we leaned on each other a lot during that time and eventually found comfort in knowing that no matter what we had each other eventually Jess started seeing a therapist to help her work through the trauma it was a slow process but I could see her getting stronger every day she was learning to trust herself again and I was learning too how to be there for her and support her without trying to fix everything during those months I didn't hear from Jack not
a single call text or email and honestly that was fine by me after everything that had happened the silence was a relief it gave me the space I needed to focus on Jess and our future without the constant reminder of my brother hanging over my head I thought maybe Jack had finally understood that what he'd done was unforgivable that there was no coming back from it then out of nowhere I got a call from him I was at work in the middle of a meeting when my phone buzzed in my pocket I looked down at
the screen and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Jack's name flashing there for a second I just stared at it frozen I hadn't expected to hear from him especially not after all this time the last thing I wanted was to deal with this in the middle of the day I let it go to voicemail i' done everything I could to shut that chapter of my life to put it behind me but there he was trying to claw his way back in when the meeting finally ended I slipped into an empty conference room and
pulled out my phone there were three missed calls from Jack and a voicemail waiting for me my hand hovered over the play button hesitating I wasn't sure if I was ready to hear his voice again or if I could handle whatever excuse or apology he was about to throw at me but curiosity got the better of me and I pressed play he said he was sorry and wanted to explain he sounded very desperate but the more messages he left the more I felt the walls I'd built around myself starting to crack Jessica and I felt
like we were healing and since we were in a new city we didn't have to worry about Jack messing up our new lives in the end I let the calls go unanswered and the voicemails piled up in my inbox it was the hardest decision I'd ever made but it was the only one I could live with so I silenced my phone and got back to work life moved on and so did I and as the days passed the calls slowly stopped my parents on the other hand were relentless they kept calling leaving messages about how
I was tearing the family apart and how I needed to come to my senses and make amends with Jack in the end I had to make a hard decision I blocked their numbers and cut off all contact it hurt like hell but I knew it was the only way Jess and I could move forward we needed to focus on ourselves and our healing without the constant pressure from my family slowly but surely things started to get better Jess was progressing in therapy and we were adjusting to our new life in the city we found a
nice apartment and made some new friends we talked a lot during those days we made a promise to each other that we would always be honest and always communicate no matter how hard it was that promise became the foundation of our relationship the thing that kept us strong even when everything else felt like it was falling apart of course there were times when I missed my family holidays were especially hard knowing that everyone was together while Jess and I were alone but I knew that going back wasn't an option A year passed then two and
slowly the pain started to fade Jess and I found our Rhythm we traveled explored new places and made new memories and with every new experience the past felt a little further away but just when I thought we were finally in the clear something happened that brought it all rushing back it was a cold day in December when I got a letter in the mail from my parents I almost didn't open it part of me didn't want to know what they had to say but curiosity got the better of me the letter was long filled with
apologies and explanations but the gist was this they wanted to see us talk things out and try and re build our relationship at first I didn't know what to think I wanted to believe they were sincere and that they'd finally come around and understood why we'd had to leave but another part of me was skeptical was this just another attempt to sweep everything under the rug and pretend nothing had happened Jess and I talked about it for a long time she was supportive as always telling me that whatever I decided she'd be there with me
in the end I decided to give it a shot I wasn't sure if I could ever truly forgive them but I was willing to hear them out we arranged to meet at a small Cafe in the the city where Jess and I had made our home I was nervous as hell my heart pounded as I walked through the door but when I saw my parents sitting there looking older and more worn than I remembered some of that anger melted away the conversation was awkward at first my parents apologized for not supporting us and not understanding
how serious the situation was they admitted they'd been wrong to side with Jack initially it wasn't everything I needed to hear but it was a start and in that moment I realized I didn't need their approval or their understanding to move move forward Jess and I had built a life together a strong beautiful life and that was enough but if my parents were willing to be a part of that life then maybe we could find a way to move forward together as we left the cafe that day I felt lighter like a weight I didn't
even know I was carrying had been lifted off my shoulders Jack never reached out again and I'm okay with that I didn't need another apology from him and I didn't need him in my life