Page 138 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

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.

Siena knew it for sure then.

John was in trouble.

Siena was waiting by the door when John finally came up the walkway. His one-hour run, and the promise to bring home breakfast, had turned in to three hours. It was already closing in on noon. She tried not to be worried, but she was way past that point now.

She opened the door before he could even reach for it. His wide smile at the sight of her standing there said he didn’t see a thing wrong. Not with her, or with himself.

Siena knew that was half of the problem. At least for John.

“What happened to getting breakfast?” she asked.

John laughed. “Shit, I forgot.”

“Forgot?”

“Yeah, I got caught up with something else.”

“And what was that?”

John shrugged. “Saw somebody I recognize from way back. Before I knew it, we had been talking for a fucking hour.”

She stepped back, and he walked into the house. He barely even passed a glance at the mountain of boxes sitting in the hallway. It was like they weren’t a surprise to him, but he wasn’t interested in them, either.

“John, these came this morning,” she said.