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“Hi,” Ander says awkwardly and his friend, Troy, chokes out a laugh beside him. “Um, yeah, I’m here.”
Troy scoffs. “You’ll have to excuse him. It was a long ride.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” I smile. “We would like to get the intake process started as soon as possible so we can get you comfortable in your room. If you want to give me your bags, I’ll have Enzo take them to your room and we can get started on the paperwork.”
Ander nods hesitantly as he sets his backpack on the desk and Troy picks up the duffel bag and sets it down beside it. “I guess this is where I take off,” Troy says hesitantly as he turns to face Ander. He quickly brings Ander in for a hug and the whole thing looks awkward. I stifle back a laugh as I quickly check Ander’s bags for any drugs. “Take care of my boy. He’s hard-headed as hell, but there’s more to him than the cold exterior.”
“He’s in wonderful hands.” I give Troy a knowing look. “He’ll be a different person when we’re done with him.” Grabbing a notepad and pen from the desk, I hand it to Troy. “If you want to write down your name and number, we will keep you updated.” I turn to Ander, my gaze bouncing back and forth between his bloodshot blue eyes. “Is there anyone else that you want us to call for you too? We restrict all phone access until you are out of detox, so you won’t be able to talk to anyone outside of here until we feel that you are ready to. So, if there’s anyone else you want us to update, we can add them to the list too.”
He hesitates, the torment and anguish clear on his face as his mind races. Ander shakes his head, the sadness washing over his ocean blue irises. “Just Troy is fine.”
They say their awkward goodbyes and Troy leaves, even though it’s evident that he doesn’t want to. Treatment is a weird situation. It’s so hard to leave someone behind and it fucking sucks to be the one that is left. I lead Ander into one of the small intake rooms and we go through the mound of paperwork and routine questions that I’m forced to ask him.
It’s clear that he’s fucking blasted right now and struggling to follow along. “Look,” I say softly as I set down my pen. “We can always finish this another time. I think that we got the majority that we need to know for now and the doctors will work closely with you to develop a treatment plan. This is honestly just a formality type thing.”
Ander nods, but he looks like he’s about to pass the fuck out. I need to get him out of this room before something bad happens. I gotta get him to where Dr. Conrad is and someone who’s qualified enough to take care of him. I’ve seen a lot of addicts come in and out of here, but this kid is on a different level. He’s fucking lost at the bottom of the ocean.
I rise to my feet, walking across the room as I push open the door. When I turn around, Ander is still sitting in the same place, staring into space. “Ander.” I say his name, but he still doesn’t even register. “Ander?” I all but yell his name and he finally lifts his gaze to where I’m standing. “Are you ready to go to your room?”
“Right,” he mumbles as he slowly stands up. He looks unsteady on his feet, so I try to make the tour as quick as possible as I show him around. I know that it’s pointless because after detox, he’s not going to remember a fucking thing I’m telling him today.
I lead him down the main hallway where everyone’s rooms are, stopping at one on the right. I’m supposed to be taking him to detox, but I wanted to show him where he goes afterward. And honestly, a part of this might be for me too. I knock on the door, shifting my weight as I wait for it to open.
“What?” Killian demands as the door is ripped open. He glares at Ander with his bright green eyes. His expression instantly softens as he notices me standing next to him.
“Killian.” I clear my throat nervously, shifting my weight on my feet. “This is Ander. He’ll be your new roommate after he is done in detox.”
“Were introductions really necessary at this point?” Killian tilts his head to the side, looking back at Ander with a frigid stare. “He might not even make it through detox.”
I roll my eyes, inhaling deeply before an exasperated sigh slips from my lips. Leave it to Killian to be the brazen asshole. He directs his gaze back to me, pining his green eyes on me. “Come see me when you get off.” Without another word, he slams the door in both of our faces and I’m left feeling fucking frustrated.
Ander is supposed to be our buffer for now.
Fucking Killian.
Ander glances at me with one eyebrow raised. “He seems like a warm, fuzzy person. I can’t wait to share a room with him,” he mutters sarcastically, loud enough for me to hear.
“He’s—uh—yeah… that’s Kill,” I explain with a shrug. My eyes widen as my nickname for him hangs in the air. Shit. “Killian, I mean.” I can feel the heat spreading across my cheeks as I nervously gather my thick hair in one hand and pull them over my shoulder. I quickly scoot past Ander. “Come on, let’s go.”
Ander trails behind me as I lead him into the part of the facility that is more like a hospital setting. It’s quiet and white—everything is white and plain. There is no stimuli here and the lights are nice and dim.
“This is our detox unit,” I explain as I push open one of the doors. “You will be in a room here by yourself, but you will be under 24-hour supervision from the nurses and our doctors that are here. As I’m sure you know, detox is the most critical time and you need to be strictly monitored.”
“Yeah, this isn’t my first rodeo,” he grumbles as he follows me into the room. The room is as white as the hallway with a soft, white bed. A small TV is positioned on the wall, along with different monitors to monitor vital signs. It’s very clinical, but simple and silent.
“We’ve all been where you are before,” I remind him quietly as I walk across the room to another door. “What they’re doing here, it works, so trust me.” I pull open the door, motioning inside. “Here’s your bathroom with a tub, shower, and toilet.”
“Ainsley.” A deep voice fills the room as Ander sits down on the bed. We both look over and I smile and give Dr. Conrad a soft smile. He walks over to both of us, extending his arm to shake Ander’s hand. “Hi Ander, I’m Dr. Conrad.”
“So, since you just got here, we still need to develop your treatment plan, but I am able to give you some things to help take the edge off. As I’m sure you know, we use a completely different approach for getting clean. While you are in detox, we will use a mixture of different medications, but after detox, then we will only be treating with marijuana unless there is something that we need to use another medication for.”
Ander nods along and the exhaustion is obvious in his expression and his body. “Can I just go to sleep?”
“Of course,” Dr. Conrad nods. “You go ahead and get comfortable and one of the nurses will be in with your first medications. Have you taken anything that might interact with something? We need you to be honest, there’s no judgment here.”
Ander drops onto his side, his head hitting the plush pillow as if he hasn’t laid down in weeks. “Just heroin. A few hours ago.”
“Perfect,” he says, nodding to Ander before looking over at me. “Let’s go get what we can of his treatment plan started now.” Dr. Conrad glances back at Ander with a warm smile. “It was wonderful meeting you, Ander. I am so grateful that you are here.”
