He frowned and scrubbed the back of his neck as an itch bothered him.
“If you don’t cleanse your blood of the drugs, you’re going to die.”
He was going to die? He raised his gaze to the captain.
“Drug cravings never end well. You’ll want more, and more, and more until you’ll have more morphia or cocaine in your veins than blood. Do you want me to help you get rid of your addiction?”
He knew what type of pain waited for him because every time the effect of the potion wore off, he experienced that pain.And yes, it felt like he was about to die, which was ironic. When he didn’t crave the potion, he wished to die, but when the pain struck and he feared he was about to die, he wanted the potion.
Captain Jackson stared at him. “I need to know ifyouwant to go through all this, and if you want to stay here. You’re a free man now. It’s your choice. As I said, I don’t offer you an easy path, but once it’s done, you’ll be healthy again. You’ll feel better. I promise. No more fatigue, confusion, or itchiness. But it is your choice.”
Choice.
The word echoed in his head like a mockery. He might have a very limited knowledge of the world, but he’d seen enough people using morphia and cocaine to know what those drugs did to the body, although he had no idea drugs would lead to death.
The captain was telling him that to be completely free and decide what to do with his life, he had to get rid of the drugs. Pain was nothing new to him. Death didn’t scare him.
He took Captain Jackson’s arm and nodded, hoping he would understand.
The captain nodded back. “I’ll do my best to help you recover quickly. But now, I’m going to tell you everything I’ll need to do to you, and you won’t like it.”
