𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞; eugene roe ✔

PART TWELVE

This book is mature and stated as mature, but either way in this chapter and following chapters, there will be mentions of suicide, drug exploitation, self harm and many others. TW.

Word count; 1,660

Valentina

"Sascha." I said quietly. "Please, go settle the room."

"With what? That there are-"

"Do not argue with me Sascha. Go."

The woman turned on her heels, strutting off to her tearoom. I caressed the canister with my thumb, brushing it over the imprinted label. Inside Teo's room, Eugene was still working away, now scribbling down a few things in his notebook. He pressed the back of his hand to Teo's forehead, then searched for his pulse with his index finger. Through the window of the corridor which overlooked the street, I saw Liebgott wander, back in the direction of the house we returned from.

"Miss Fritz- sorry- Valentina." The medic cleared his throat.

When I turned, he was stood directly in front of me, finger curved around his upper lip.

"Your brother, uh, Teo, has suffered from a reaction of some kind. A, uh..." He pressed his lips together for a second, unable to put thought into words. "An overdose, I think."

I bobbed my head, "I know."

He nodded, "I'm going to need you to tell me what he took."

Rapidly, like an instinct, I held out the canister, "Papaver somniferum."

Eugene gently retreived it from my hand. He examined it, his eyes widening in realisation.

"Valentina-" He sucked in a breath. "Do you know what this is?"

"No." I bit onto my cheek. "I know what it does."

"It's a killer is what it is." He almost reprimanded, continuing to read the label. "One thousand and fifty miligrams, Jesus Christ!"

I flinched at his exclamation.

"D-Do you know how many he took?"

I shook my head. Then, carefully, I met his eyes. Teo made me promise to never tell another soul, but surely this was the outlier. I had to.

"No." I said. "But this is not the first time."

Eugene's pupils curved, shining against the outdoor sun, absolutely horrified.

"It must be six, maybe seven months now." I said. "Except, he did not take enough to be like this. He could still move, even if it meant to the basin. He rarely left it - how much he threw up."

Eugene understood me, more than I thought he would. This was of a matter which involved intention, something Teo had endured for longer than I could know.

"Valentina, it's a miracle he is alive." The medic pinched the canister in front of me. "This was a hundred tablets of one thousand and fifty miligrams of pure opium. Now there's twenty five left."

A dark red filled my cheeks, my eyes swelling. In this, I was a child, being told off by a parent. I hadn't predicted how he would react, thinking it would be just like how I saw him elsewhere. I hadn't predicted that all of my faith was now in this man and all he could do was test fate - overdoses like these can't be cured by a simple wet cloth and back rub. He was angry because he couldn't yet comprehend why someone would put themselves in danger like this and he didn't want to be put to blame for the worst case scenario.

"My God." He dropped his hand, rubbing his eyebrows with his thumb and forefinger. "Tell me, Valentina, and I need you to be honest with me."

"Why would I not be?"