Darkness and Hope

Chapter 67

I woke up with a giant ice stone clutched onto my body. My eyes opened wide as I felt this heavy and cold weight against my body. I got scared. I got really scared and I turned around to find James trembling. Wobbling like gelatin. His skin was pale and his temples were sweating and his lips were purple. He looked like a corpse.

"James!" I exclaimed horrified. I didn't know what was happening to him. "Baby what's wrong?"

"I am cold Ade. I'm so cold." He said with his jaw trembling. His teeth twittering as his jaw clasped one onto another.

"Come here." I said bringing him closer to my body.

James snuggled against me the best he could but after a couple of minutes he was still freezing. Not even my body seemed to warm his. That was not fever as his body was ice cold instead of being hot. He trembled all over without being able to stop.

"How long have you been like this?" I asked, running my fingers into his hair.

"I don't know. It started a couple of hours ago but it got worse." He said. "I almost didn't have any sleep." His voice failing as she shivered more and more.

"I am going to make you some hot tea. Maybe it will help. Maybe we should go to a hospital or something." I said. I let go of him and sat on the bed looking at his face. He really looked like a dead body. "James... you are scaring me." I said with tears in my eyes.

"Don't cry babe." He said. "Bring me some tea." He asked.

I kissed his forehead and got out of the bed. Before going downstairs, I searched for another blanket in the closet and put it on him and I tucked him really well so he could get warmer. Downstairs, I began to brew the tea but I was too frightened with his condition. I picked up my cell that was on the living room's table and dialed Deanna's number. I had an idea that was related to the alcohol and if it was she could help me. If it was not, I would drag him to the nearest hospital. Deanna could help me because she was a recovered alcoholic as well. She too had suffered from the same problems he did.

"Hello, sweat sister in law." She said happily on the other side of the line as she took the call.

"Dee..." I called her name in panic.

"Hey, what is it?" She asked changing her tone to a serious one.

"Your brother..." I began. I heard her breathing becoming heavier all of a sudden. "He got back to alcohol some months ago." I told her. I had to tell her the truth to know exactly what was happening to him.

"Oh no..." She said disappointed.

"Yeah... but listen. We're at this cabin up in the north of the state and he wants to get clean but now he's up there cold as hell and he's shaking all over and sweating. Only it's cold sweat. I don't know what it is..." I explained almost crying. "Can you help me?"

"How long since he had his last drink?" She asked. I thought for a while.

"48 hours I think." I responded.

"Then it's beginning..." She said as if she was thinking to herself.

"What is beginning?" I asked her quite innocently, I must say.

"It's abstinence syndrome Ade. He must have been feeling it for quite longer but now it's in its full force. You should take him to a hospital or something. There's medicines to stop those hideous effects." She said.

So it was related to alcohol as I thought. I knew it could also be dangerous to let him go through this alone. If anything happened, we were alone in the middle of nowhere.