Berlin Seeds by Nick Buckets

Author:Nick Buckets [Buckets, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 47

IT WAS QUARTER TO EIGHT NEXT morning when the aroma of fried bacon roused Olaf from his sleep. He saw Fiona cooking it on the other side of the apartment. She was dressed up and ready for the day. He got up and collected his jeans from the floor. His muscles hurt as if he had trained the entire night.

“Good morning,” Fiona said when she saw him getting up. “I’m preparing breakfast—you’re not vegetarian or anything like that, are you?”

Olaf laughed. Walked over to her, grabbed her and kissed her for a long time. She had a scent of a citrus fruit, maybe grapefruit.

“The bacon will burn,” she whispered, and slipped from his arms.

He headed to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. Looked in the mirror. His face looked exhausted, although he felt nothing like it. He felt alive and full of energy. And hungry. Hungry for life and for bacon.

As he was opening the door to exit the bathroom, he noticed a shelf above the washing machine. Fiona had crammed it with dozens of medicine packs, band aids and various pills. Looked like a mini pharmacy. He was about to leave when he spotted a familiar little bottle. Grabbed it and searched for the name tag on the bottle, hoping it would be something else. It was not something else. He shook it and heard pills hitting against the plastic, the bottle was half-empty. Put it back and went out.

Fiona had set up a breakfast table with a freshly brewed pot of coffee. She was serving the eggs when Olaf walked over.

“You didn’t have to do this,” he said.

“No, but I wanted to.” She emptied the pan and put it in the sink. “Besides, I thought you might need some energy for the day.” She smiled at him. “You were protecting me the whole night, after all.”

He devoured the eggs, which tasted superbly. Fiona was glowing, her eyes were shining. It was a damn fine situation, the perfect way to kick off the day.

There have been countless moments where he wished he had kept his mouth shut. This was one of them.

“I noticed you take Lamictal.”

If the statement surprised her, Fiona showed nothing of that. “Not anymore. It’s like my safety net. It calms me to know that it’s there, although I haven’t used it for months.”

Olaf nodded, munching on the last pieces of the perfectly fried bacon.

“But now I’m curious. How do you know about Lamictal? And don’t tell me pharmacology is your secret hobby.”

He thought about it for a moment. “I knew someone who had been diagnosed with chronic bipolar disorder. Lamictal was one drug the doctor prescribed for her. Did little good, if you ask me.”

Fiona had stopped eating. She put her elbows on the table and looked him straight in the eye. “Was she close to you?”

He shrugged. Smiled a tired smile. “We were married.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You were married?”

“Are you surprised?”

“I don’t know. It’s the last thing I was expecting to hear.

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