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This happens sometimes. He forgoes the medication when he knows he plans on drinking his weight in alcohol, but it’s a slippery slope. One missed dose leads to another and we get moments like this.
I tack it onto my mental list of things to keep up with until he’s back on routine—along with this ridiculous dare—and cross to my own desk where my phone is sitting on the charger.
There’s a message from B waiting for me, but that’s not the conversation I open.
Me: He’s had another slip. Lunch at The Creamery? On me?
Less than five minutes later, I have a reply.
Blair: Shit, yeah. I can be there at one. Thanks for taking care of him, Atlas.
Panic squeezes at my chest, but I push it down and breathe it out.
My problems can wait. Shiloh needs me.
And I need him to be okay.
Chapter 5
Atlas
“Any idea how long he was off them?”
I set the hot brownie plate and a mug of more-creamer-than-coffee in front of Blair in the lounge area of The Creamery.
“No. He seemed fine until this morning. I’m hoping just a few days.”
We don’t have any pending orders at the moment, so I wipe my hands on my apron and take a seat beside him on the hideously orange leather couch.
Blair rubs his eyes and picks up his coffee. He blows on it, takes a sip, and then stares down at it with a heavy sigh.
“What medications are they trying him on now?”
“Um, I think they’re trying a new dose of Lithium and… I’m not sure which antidepressant.” They’ve cycled him off and on different ones so much, it’s hard to keep track.
“He needs to talk to his doctor,” Blair says, setting his coffee back down and burying his face in his hands. “I should have enough for a session if he can get in sometime within the next two weeks. I’ll book some extra cleanings to make up for it.”
I shake my head. “We’ll split it. It’s partially my fault. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t gone out drinking.”
“Drinking definitely didn’t help.” He shoots me an apologetic look when I flinch, and his hand searches out mine where I’m drumming my fingers against my knee. “I don’t expect you to be his keeper. We all make mistakes, Atlas.”
“He’s my best friend,” I say, gripping onto his hand and squeezing.
“He’s my brother. He’s also his own person. Get him to make that appointment. We’ll keep an eye on him the next two weeks until the mood stabilizer kicks in. If they can see him soon, maybe they can give him a fast-acting in the meantime.”
The bell above the door dings as someone comes in, and I nod, throat running dry. I pull away and stand, missing the contact with how unsteady I feel.
“It’s not your fault, Atlas.”
I sigh and head back behind the counter. While I was worrying about sex, talking to strangers, and apparently being attracted to Blair, Shiloh needed me.
I promised to take care of him.
“Feels like it is.”
Blair decides to stick around through the lunch shift to study, and while I’m worried about Shiloh, being reminded that he has Blair in his corner helps settle the knot of anxiety in my stomach.
It also means that my mind wanders back to B, which also splits my focus to the other night with Blair. It hasn’t happened again. I’m as attracted to Blair as I’ve always been, but nothing about him makes me want to bone.
