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It has been six months since I first brought him here, and I have to admit: Relessen is working. Kaleb has been free of all his cravings since he started taking the experimental drug, and life has finally started returning to normal. He even managed to meet a woman this past month, and from what it sounds like, he couldn’t be happier with his life right now.
I still believe that this solution is too good to be true, but for him to have not relapsed after six months is a win, and I will take that any day. I had my brother back, just like I had always wanted. We’ve been spending more time together recently and joined a local morning running group. He doesn’t look like the sickly drug addict that he once was, and now, we look more like the twins that we were before any of this ever happened. He was always more good-looking than me, and I am actually quite proud of that fact.
Today, at the testing facility, they are going to perform a full physical on him to determine if he is ready to taper back even further off the drug. Right now, he is taking it once a week, and back when he started, it was every day.
After what felt like an hour, Kaleb reentered the lobby from the back hall, and I stood from my chair.
“All good news, I hope?” I asked as he approached me.
“Better than that.” He chuckled and patted the back of my shoulder. “Let’s get home and tell Mom and Dad their son is cured.”
“They tapered you back even further?” My eyes widened as we stepped out of the building.
“Yeah, one pill every two weeks unless something happens.” He shrugged and licked his lower lip.
“Then I think we should celebrate tonight. Do you want to call your girl up, and we can all go out?” I rounded the car and opened the driver’s side door, sliding inside.
Kaleb got into the passenger side and closed the door as he settled into his seat.
“Sure, where do you wanna go?” He asked, pulling out his phone to call her.
“Anywhere, it’s up to you,” I replied, buckling my seatbelt and starting the car. “It’s your night tonight. You’ve officially gotten your life back.” I couldn’t help but beam as we discussed his test results on the drive home.
I finally had my brother back. Now, all I needed was a woman of my own, and life would be perfect.
One Year Later…
Beep… Beep… Beep…
That’s the only sound I hear anymore. The last week has been the constant sounds of machines beeping in my ears. Kaleb had been in and out of the hospital for months with inexplainable symptoms ranging from randomly passing out to seizures, and now… now he was in a drug-induced coma.
Beep… Beep… Beep…
His girlfriend, Emily, has been standing at his bedside the entire time we’ve been here. Holding his hand and talking to him as if his subconscious could hear her words. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. I sat in the corner of his hospital room, bent forward, my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.
Beep… Beep… Beep…
What happened? How did we get here? I didn’t understand what was happening to him. One minute, he was fine, and the next… he was falling apart by the day. Two weeks ago, he could barely keep any food down. Any attempt at eating was followed immediately by throwing up the entire meal. And then, last week, he stopped eating and lost his appetite altogether.
Beep… Beep… Beep…
A few days ago, he had collapsed in the kitchen with another seizure, and I called for an ambulance immediately. When they got to our house, they were able to stop the seizure but said they needed to get him to the nearest hospital and place him in a medically induced coma for the time being until they could figure out what was wrong with him.
Beep… Beep… Beep…
I haven’t slept since we arrived at the hospital, waiting for him to be woken up and put back together. I shot up from my seat, fisting my hands, and punched the wall under the mounted TV. The plaster dented under the force, and Emily was startled by the sound. My knuckles had split, and there were streaks of blood where my fist had met the wall. I cursed as I stood there, staring at the damage I had done.
Beep… Beep… Beep…
That fucking beeping. I ran my hands through my hair, tugging hard at the strands as tears filled my eyes. Emily stepped away from Kaleb and touched my shoulder from behind. I was breathing heavily from the stress and eventually dropped my hands to my sides.
Beep… Beep… Beep…
“I’ll be fine, Emily… Go back to him.” I murmured, not moving, still facing the wall.
“Atlas, you need sleep.” She spoke softly.
“So do you, but you don’t see me telling you what to do.” I snapped.
