Chapter Twenty-Four
Nick
Evie had fallen asleep before I finished her tattoo. I’d cleaned her up and carried her all the way back to my apartment. I hadn’t been lying when I’d told her that she tended to pass out on me. When she slept, she seemed to go into such a deep sleep it was sometimes hard to wake her. I made a note on my phone to ask the doctor about that today.
Evie was in my bathroom, getting dressed for our appointment. I’d gotten this physician’s number from Bleu’s mom. She was a nurse, and she used to work for a really popular pediatrician. She assured me that this particular doctor would know exactly how to help Evie. Apparently, a lot of people needed to be weaned off Adderall these days. It had been overprescribed and under regulated, according to some of the articles I’d read online. Kids had been given it, unnecessarily, and after decades on it they needed help to stop.
I didn’t want to make light of Evie’s pill problems, but I didn’t want her think she was one step away from a street corner crack addict either. She was given the Adderall, and she abused it. She needed help falling sleep, and she’d started abusing that too. The coke and the booze I couldn’t necessarily fault her for. She was in college; we’d all been there. Hell, two nights before I’d met Evie I’d gotten black-out drunk and puked on a police officer’s shoes. Luckily, he was one of my regular clients and he’d dumped me off at home instead of hauling me to jail.
I partied a lot less now than I used to. I worked a lot of hours, and if I hung out it was usually something pretty low key with Bleu or Hawkins, the other guy that tattooed at my shop. I’d only known him for about a year, but he fit in well.
“Ready.” Evie came striding into the living room, looking like a daydream. Her dress hung off one shoulder, exposing the tattoo I’d given her last night. And it stopped mid-thigh, showing the first one I’d given her. Her hair was piled in a knot on the top of her head and she wasn’t wearing much makeup. She looked fresher and healthier than I’d seen her in days. “Everything okay?”
“What? Yeah, everything is fine.” She’d caught me checking her out, again. All my game and suave went out the window where Evie James was concerned.
***
We were seated in the exam room, me on a chair and Evie on the paper-covered table. I could tell she was nervous; her legs were swinging and she kept fidgeting, making the paper crinkle loudly. This was the kind of situation where she’d normally take a pill to get her mood back to right.
The first time I’d met her, I thought she had a really calming presence about her. Poised, even. The pills had definitely taken a toll on her. When there was a soft knock on the door she sat up straighter in her seat. “Come in.”
“Hi guys.” An older woman with graying hair and a stark-white lab coat walked in with a bright smile on her face. “You must be Evie.” She held her hand out. “I’m Dr. Seaback.”
“Nice to meet you.” Evie’s smile was less bright, and tighter. “That’s Nick. He’s an overbearing friend of mine.”
Dr. Seaback laughed, holding her hand out to shake mine. “Well, it’s nice to meet you Nick, the overbearing friend.” I returned her smile and shook my head at Evie when she turned her back to find her chair. “Let’s see, we are here today to discuss taking you off your Adderall, is that correct?”
Evie nodded but otherwise kept her lips pressed together and her hands wringing in her lap.
“How long have you been taking Adderall, Evie?” Dr. Seaback sat the chart she’d been studying on the desk behind her and gave Evie her full attention.
“About a year and a half.”
“That’s not too long. I’ve had patients that have been on it for decades.” She sounded exasperated by the thought. “How many milligrams do you take at a time?”
Evie’s eyes darted to me, and then to her lap. “I’m on the twelve-point-five milligram pill. I started at five milligrams and then worked my way up over a few months.” Evie looked a little pale, but I wasn’t sure if it was nerves, or withdrawal, or simply because the thought of giving up her pills was making her ill.
“Okay, well, twelve-point-five is a pretty high dosage. Did your previous doctor tell you why they bumped you up to that?” Dr. Seaback wasn’t being mean, and she wasn’t being accusatory. But Evie started to fidget in her seat, tearing at the nail polish on her nails.
“I, uh, we stopped at ten milligrams for a few months but they weren’t cutting it. I couldn’t get everything done. I couldn’t concentrate.”
“I see.” The doctor moved closer to Evie, taking an even softer approach. “And how many times a day do you take your pill?” She knew. She knew without Evie having to say she had a problem that she was abusing the amphetamines.
“I don’t know. It depends on the day I guess.” She glanced at me again then back to the doctor. “Sometimes two a day, sometimes as many as four.” My heart broke as tears started to form in her beautiful brown eyes.
“Evie, you know that amount in your system in extremely dangerous, right?” Evie nodded. “I want to run a full blood panel today. I need to make sure that your liver enzymes are okay.” Evie took a deep breath and nodded again. “I can help wean you off of your Adderall, but it’s not going to be easy. Your body, and your brain by this point, depend on the dextroamphetamine. You depend on the chemicals you get from your pills and your body has stopped producing them on their own.” Dr. Seaback glanced at me briefly before continuing. “I’m also going to recommend that you see a therapist as well, to help you cope with this addiction.”
At the word addiction, Evie’s tears finally spilled free. She was breaking my heart and making me proud all at the same time.
I got up and went to stand beside her, taking her hands in mine.