**CW: Uses addiction as a framing device and written by someone with no first hand experience of it. I appreciate any feedback on how to describe it better if anyone sees issues. Also it’s a bit on the darker side in general and there’s not a whole lot of sex**
My life had been spiraling out of control, and losing my job was the final sign that something needed to change. After years of denying my addiction, quitting, relapsing I knew it was a problem I desperately need to fix for good. I love my wife Susan more than anything in the world, and we have a child on the way. Both of them deserved better than this, I made a resolution that they would get it.
I’d cut myself off, signed up for AA. But I needed to get myself together quick and get our finances back on track before the baby was due, and I couldn’t believe my luck when I found a new experimental implant being offered that was having very promising results. If I signed up to be monitored for the final study not only would I not need to pay for the treatment, but I’d be compensated for the time I spent in the checkups. Details were a little sparse, and they had to wait to finish validating the prototype before they could start the final study, but this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, I entered my phone number and a photo of my ID to be added to the candidate list.