My chest tightens watching him manage all that frantic energy.
"I need your help," Adam says.
Elowen is already nodding. "Okay.” She sounds so eager already. "With what?"
"My medication," he says. "I'm out of refills, and my doctor is on vacation for two weeks, and the pharmacy didn't have it and I'm…" He stops to inhale slowly. "I need your help.”
Something in Elowen’s expression shifts.
The softness of the afternoon drops away from her face, replaced by intense focus. "What's the medication?" she asks as she slides off the workbench.
"Verenthicin," he says. "Forty milligrams, twice daily."
A pulse of something sharp cuts from Elowen through our bond. It feels like something betweenrecognition and unease, and it flickers through my chest like a cold draft.
"Verenthicin?" she repeats, making sure.
"Yeah." Adam shifts his weight slightly. "It's for my autoimmune condition. I have Varenthis Syndrome.”
Elowen nods slowly, her eyes moving over his face. "How long have you been off it?"
"I took the last one yesterday morning," he says.
“Okay,” she says. “So a full day.”
"Yeah."
"Are you symptomatic yet?" she asks. "I know it’s a little fast, but any joint pain, fatigue, any fever?"
Adam blinks, clearly not expecting so many questions. "My joints have been a little achy lately," he admits. "I thought it was from my run this morning. And maybe stress.” His voice drops, like he feels bad admitting it.
"It might be," she says. "Or it might be the beginning of a flare." She looks at me briefly, then back to Adam. "Verenthicin has a half-life of about thirty-six hours, which means it's still partially in your system right now. You have a window before your levels drop low enough to cause significant symptoms." Her brow furrows. "We will need to find a supply before that window closes."
Adam stares at her.
"What?" she asks.
"Nothing.” He shakes his head slightly. "You just….you really know your stuff."
The corner of her mouth lifts. "They don't give you a pharmacy degree for fun. I've had this stuff drilled into my skull since undergrad. Now," her little smile drops, and her back straightens. "How long have you been on Verenthicin?"
"Since I was eleven," Adam says. "So,” he rolls his eyes up, thinking, “aboutfifteen years."
Elowen's mouth falls open. "Fifteenyears?" she says, clearly shocked.
"Is that not good?" Adam asks.
Elowen takes a breath, then shakes her head. "Verenthicin isn't meant for long term use," she says. I can feel through our bond that she doesn't want to alarm anyone, but isn't willing to soften the truth either. "It was designed for short-term hormone regulation. Six months, maybe a year at most." She holds Adam’s gaze. "Fifteen years of continuous use can cause a lot of complications.” She pauses. “You need a new doctor. A specialist.”
“Wait.” Perrin moves without a word, drifting closer until he's standing right behind Adam's shoulder, close enough that their arms are almost touching. "What do you mean by complications?"
“Hormonal imbalances, organ stress, suppressed biological function." Elowen's mouth pulls into a firm line, telling me this isn’t everything on the list. "It's a serious medication."
My hands curl into fists as I take everything in.
Fifteen fucking years of a dangerous medication, and that useless piece of shit Ellison never once thought to read the label on what he was prescribing to achild.
It takes everything in me not to drive straight to his office and burn the fucking place to the ground.
