Chapter 175: Homeopathic Methods

Edrick “Oh, good. He’s waking up.”

The first thing I noticed when I came back to consciousness was a splitting headache pounding in my skull. When I finally cracked open my eyes, squinting against even the dim light of my bedside table, I saw three figures bent over me. And, judging from the hardness under my back and the position I was lying in, I quickly realized that I was laid out on the floor rather than my bed.

“Wh...What happened?” I muttered, noticing the distinct feeling of nausea rolling around in my stomach as though I had had too many drinks the night before and was now hungover.

“Shh. You’re alright,” a male voice said. My eyes slowly came into focus, and the blurriness in my vision faded enough for me to see that my doctor was standing over me with a concerned look on his face and his stethoscope in his ears. Behind him, I could see Selina standing there with her arms folded across her chest and disappointment in her eyes. On my other side, Moana was staring intently at me and was holding my hand so tightly that it seemed as though her life depended on it.

“Well, you’re lucky you’re a werewolf,” the doctor said with an exasperated sigh as he finished listening to my heartbeat and put his stethoscope back around his neck. “That many pills could have killed a human, but you won’t have any lasting damage.”

I furrowed my brow, feeling a bit confused. Last I remembered, I went to bed the night before after taking some sleeping pills. But oddly, everything felt much fuzzier than normal. I had never felt this way from taking my sleeping medicine before, unless...

“Did I take too much?” I asked, blinking rapidly to refocus my eyes.

Selina scoffed. “Too much? Too much!” she reprimanded. “You took the entire bottle! What on earth possessed you to do something so horrible? If it weren’t for Moana finding you this morning, you would have left two children without a fathe—”

“Now, now,” the doctor intervened, noticing the baffled expression on my face. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Edrick... Do you remember how many pills you took last night?”

I shook my head. It was starting to come back to me, but it was still fuzzy. “I think I might have gotten up a few more times than I meant to,” I said. “I don’t remember, though.”

The doctor let out another sigh and nodded slowly. “So it wasn’t intentional?” he asked. I shook my head again, and everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief. The doctor pursed his lips thoughtfully before answering. “It’s not uncommon. If you take too many at first, you can forget how much you took before. It can be quite dangerous, and it does lead to accidental overdoses. Like I said, you’re lucky that you’re a werewolf and not a human. I’m guessing that your wolf had to put you into a bit of a dormant state in order to stop the poison from getting through your bloodstream.”

“It’s true,” my wolf said in my mind. “I kept trying to stop you, but the pills made it so you couldn’t hear me.”

So that was what happened. I was relieved and thankful that my wolf was there to stop it.

“Thank you, doctor,” I said, sitting up with ease. “I promise it won’t happen again.”

The doctor looked at me for a moment, then laughed and shook his head. “Of course it won’t happen again. I’m discontinuing your prescription.”

My eyes widened. “You’re what?” I asked, feeling anger already beginning to bubble up inside of me. “I need my medicine. You don’t understa—”

“Edrick, I’ve already given him your stockpile of pills,” Selina interrupted. When I looked over at her, she was frowning deeply at me. She looked both exhausted and angry. “You’re not taking them anymore.”

I passed my hand over my face and shook my head incredulously. This couldn’t be happening; I needed my medication. I paid the doctor out of my own pocket, and he couldn’t take my medication away.

“I’m not a child,” I said angrily. “You can’t just confiscate my own medication that I paid for.”

Suddenly, Moana, who had been silent this entire time, spoke. “Edrick...” Her voice was weak and shook a little bit. When I looked over at her, she was looking up at me with tears in her eyes. I realized then from the look on her face and the way that she was gripping my hand that she must have been so terrified when she found me lying on the floor that morning, and it made me feel like a major jerk for allowing that to happen. “Please listen to the doctor. That medication is dangerous.”

I stared silently at Moana’s soft face for a few moments. She looked haggard and terrified, and the longer I looked at her, the more I became angry with myself for letting her see me like that. Maybe she was right; if that medication was dangerous, maybe I shouldn’t take it. I didn’t want to scare her like that ever again.

Finally, I let out an exasperated sigh and turned back to face the doctor.

“Fine,” I murmured. “I won’t take the medication anymore. But, doctor, I need something for my sleeping problems. Isn’t there anything you can do?”

The doctor simply shrugged. “I’m afraid not,” he said gently. “I’m sorry, Edrick. I wish I could do something for you, but I think that you’re just going to have to find alternative methods for sleep. There are all sorts of homeopathic herbs and teas. You could try yoga or meditation before bed; I’ll give you some recommendations, if you’d like.”

I shook my head. “That won’t be necessary,” I replied, feeling myself go a bit numb at the prospect of being without my medication.

Suddenly, I felt Moana’s hand tighten even more around mine. When I looked over at her, I felt myself soften once more at the sight of her. She seemed to give me a knowing look, as though she knew that her presence was the only thing other than medication that could make me sleep. And she was right. Thanks to her, I knew that I wouldn’t need medication or any other homeopathic methods to sleep.

But as my memories of the previous night flooded back into my brain, I remembered the awful things that I had said to her. I had told her that I would never marry her or anyone, and I had revealed that I knew that she was my mate and yet I still didn’t plan on marrying her, despite the baby in her belly. It wasn’t really what I meant, but I had still said it because I was frustrated and angry that I had lost control around her, and because I was scared of committing when the thought of a mate bond made me sick.

All of this happened because of me — because I took her for granted and pushed her away. I was a real jerk for that, and I didn’t know how I could ever make it up to her.

Moana was my only true sleeping pill, and I had hurt her badly with my horrible words. I only hoped that she could forgive me.