Page 146 of Loyalty

Every room downstairs was the same. Clean, organized, and looking almost like a showcase. Not as though someone lived there, but as if it was ready for a buyer to come in and have a look around.

Cold, in a way. A lot of John’s personality was not actually on display in his home. Sure, he had things he liked here and there. Artwork, knickknacks, and different things. But little else. Nothing to say he had just spent a good eight hours walking around in his own home, and once again, cleaning it from top to bottom.

Eight hours, Siena knew, because yet again, John had not slept. Every time she spent the night at his place, or he at hers, she would wake up to find John roaming the halls. He might be scrolling through his phone, or watching TV. Sometimes he would be cleaning something, or staring out the window at nothing.

When she asked, he assured her that he wasn’t tired. Nothing he did belied that fact. He was full of energy, he kept going constantly, and he never missed a click. There was no sign of exhaustion in his eyes. He never even yawned.

So no, she didn’t think he was tired. At least, not physically.

Mentally, though?

Mentally he had to be exhausted.

And maybe that was the problem. Maybe his mind just wouldn’t stop. Maybe he couldn’t sleep because his mind wouldn’t slow down enough to allow his body to rest.

She was upstairs looking through the meticulously organized closet when she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. Quickly, she made her way down to the main floor, and didn’t bother to check the front door before she swung it open.

On the other side, a delivery man waited. He had a whole moving dolly full of boxes. Big ones, and small ones.

Siena did a quick count.

Fifteen boxes in all.

“Sign for these, ma’am,” the man said.

He held out a tablet and pen for her to write on.

“Are you sure these are for the right address?” Siena asked.

“Definitely for this address,” the man said. “I’ve been delivering here every day for the last week.”

Siena stilled. “Every single day?”

“That’s what I said, ain’t it?”

Siena signed for the goods, then allowed the delivery man to roll the dolly in, and set the boxes of things in the hallway. She didn’t even bother to say goodbye to the man as he left the house, and closed the door behind him.

She was too busy staring at the pile of boxes. This was the first time all week that she had spent the night at John’s house. She had been busy with work ever since the dinner with his family the week before.

Siena didn’t even think about it as she stared at those boxes. She didn’t consider that it might be a betrayal of John’s trust. She had promised him she wouldn’t overstep his personal boundaries, but this was worrying to her.

His mother had mentioned one specific thing that really stood out. One of his behaviors when he was dealing with mania was spending money. A lot of money. Sometimes, he didn’t even remember that he had spent it. The things he bought didn’t have to be needed, wanted, or otherwise.

It just had to be things.

In the kitchen, Siena pulled out a chair from the table, and dragged it to the fridge. Climbing up, she opened the cupboard doors overtop the fridge. There, she found his medications. By the looks of it, more medications than what he had the last time she accidentally stumbled upon them.

But this wasn’t like the last time.

Siena actually pulled out the medications from the cupboard. She looked them over. She read the prescription dates when they had been filled, and for some, she even opened up the bottles and counted the pills. One bottle had been filled a month ago, and according to how many pills had been prescribed, it should have been empty.

Yet, it was still half full.

Lithium, the prescription read.

Another prescription of Lithium she pulled from the cupboard had been filled the week before. And yet, it had not even been opened.

And another med that had just been filled was also not opened. Several, actually.