“Yeah, it was just a couple of scratches.”
He rolled his eyes. “Tell that to Nix. He threatened to kill me if I ever touched you again.”
Noah blinked. “Seriously? That’s funny, considering he won’t touch me at all.”
Oh, boy. “Listen, I’m no expert on much of anything where relationship stuff is concerned. But give him time, man. He thought he was straight all his life, you know?”
“And then I came along,” Noah agreed miserably. “Sometimes he’s so sweet, and the rest of the time he acts like I have the plague.”
Micah searched for a way to give the guy some perspective. “Say, imagine if you’d suddenly found out your Bondmate was a woman, and you’re gay. You never thought you were wired to have sex with her, but your wolf can’t stay away and you gotta boldly go where your little gay self hasn’t gone before.” Noah made a horrified face, and Micah laughed. “See? So give the poor bastard a break—you feel me?”
The nurse bit his lip and then nodded. “Okay, I’ll try harder, for Nix.”
“You’re doing fine. Just be patient.” Micah glanced toward Mac’s office. “I’m late. Guess I’d better get in there.” Micah offered the other man his hand, and they shook.
“Good luck.”
At the door to Mac’s office, Micah knocked. It was partly open, and he heard her call for him to come inside. He stepped in, closing the door behind him, unsure what to expect. She greeted him with her usual warm smile and pushed a lock of curly brown hair behind one ear.
“Micah. Sit down and tell me what’s been going on with you lately.”
“Have you spoken with Nick?”
“Should I have?”
Then he guessed the answer was no. He shrugged when inside he felt anything but nonchalant. “I’m having some trouble with my meds.”
Her face grew serious. “What seems to be the problem?”
“The doses are lasting for shorter and shorter periods of time, and I’m getting more and more . . . anxious. Easily upset. I’m taking more pills than I should,” he admitted. “And, frankly, I’m craving them.”
“I see.” She frowned. “Myst isn’t supposed to be a habit-forming drug. How long is the benefit lasting with each dose?”
“Maybe two hours.”
“That makes it seem hardly worth taking. Have you noticed any side effects?”
“Nosebleeds, sudden migraines, and mood swings. I, um, lost control and attacked Noah in the main building a couple of hours ago,” he said quietly, shame heating his cheeks.
Mac’s brows rose. “He didn’t mention it to me when he came in.”
“He said it was only a few scratches, but still. I can’t quite believe I lost it like that.”
The doc sat back in her chair and studied him for a moment. “Okay, one of two things is happening. Either myst is not compatible with your system, thus the nasty side effects, or you’re simply becoming inured to it and it’s not working anymore. Either way, those aren’t ideal scenarios. I’m going to order some blood drawn, run a few tests just to make sure nothing strange shows up. Zan stopped by after the demon attack and mentioned he thought he detected some sort of anomaly in your blood, so it’s best to look.”
Fantastic. “Okay.”
“How are you feeling, by the way? How’s your chest?”
“Sore, but healing.”
“All right. In the meantime, I want you to wean yourself off the meds gradually. Think you can do that?”
“I can try.” Knowing how bad his need for the drug had gotten, though, he had his fears. “Why not just go cold turkey?”
“I’d like to save that as a last resort. Even then you’d do that here, under supervision.”
“Like detox.”