Page 83 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

She kept telling herself that it wasn’t her business. The medications she had found in John’s place was his thing to deal with, and he would tell her if he wanted to.

And yet … she wanted to know.

Siena typed in Lithium, and hit the enter button. The first thing to come up was the metal element, but she scrolled down past that, and clicked on the medical information. She already kind of knew what the drug was used to treat—mostly being that it was a psychiatric medication. Clicking on the link that directed to a medical page dedicated to the drug, she found a list of disorders that Lithium was specifically targeted to.

She clicked on the back button, and came to the Google page again. This time, she added psychotherapy and Lithium into the search bar, and then hit the enter button. The first thing to come up on the page was some article on the correlation of the medication lithium being best used in conjunction with therapy.

The following pages that came up in the search continued to use the same disorder again and again in the preview texts.

Bipolar.

Major Depressive Disorder.

Mania.

Siena clicked on a link, and read down through the information. Just as fast, she went back and clicked on another. And then another.

Back on the search bar, she added in new keywords—other meds she remembered from the cupboard. All over again, the information seemed to lead straight to a cocktail that suggested Bipolar.

A huge part of her wanted to close the browser down because none of this was supplied by Johnathan. He had not told her these things, and she didn’t even know for sure if this was what he was dealing with behind closed doors.

Another part of her wanted to … understand.

If this was a part of his life, and something he was managing privately, she wanted to know more about it.

So, she went back to the search bar again. She typed in, Bipolar, and hit enter. She read through signs and symptoms, and how it was managed. Information came up on things like mania, cycles, and the depression that so often trailed those dealing with the disorder.

She found accounts from people who explained what their mania had been like for years before it was finally properly diagnosed. Not to mention, the things they had done to those around them during the spells, and the way their lives had been upended in the struggle for help.

Some of it was frightening.

Some of it was uplifting.

A lot of it was hopeful.

A bipolar diagnosis for a lot of people seemed to be a relief. An actual confirmation that yes, they did feel things differently, and see the world and themselves in a different way. They processed emotional events or feelings at a different pace, and most of the time, at a far greater intensity. It didn’t mean they were crazy, but rather, had to use different treatments and methods to manage the aspects of bipolar that negatively impacted them.

Siena just kept reading. She kept looking for more information, and a better understanding. She was a good thirty minutes into reading before voices directly outside the office finally made her blink away from the screen.

“So he’s fine with letting all of that go on, then?” Kev asked.

“Guess so,” Darren replied. “It’s that opening he’s been looking for, you know what I mean?”

“Yeah, it just might be.”

Siena moved to click the exit button from the browser just as her two brothers walked in the office. She just got the browser closed as Kev rounded the desk, and jerked his thumb for her to move out of his chair.

His gaze darted to the accounts on the screen that had replaced the browser. Siena gave a silent sigh of relief that the browser closed in time. She didn’t know how she would even begin explaining something like that to Kev.

“Move your ass,” Kev said.

“I still have work to finish up, Kev,” Siena told him.

Her brother shrugged like he didn’t give a damn. “Take a break, or something.”

Siena’s brow furrowed. “Since when do you want me to take breaks?”

“Yeah, well, Dad reminded me to keep you fed,” Kev grumbled as he began closing out the accounts on the screen. “There’s a plate waiting for you in the kitchen, and somebody stopped by to see you, I guess.”