Adrien glared at her for a moment longer, then huffed and turned away. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought he was sulking.
Still, with her stomach feeling the way it was, she started to worry that she wouldn’t be able to eat anyway. She didn’t dare move from the window as she turned around, and saw Adrien lift the spoon and start eating. Her nose wrinkled and her stomach churned, but he didn’t seem to mind the smell. Or he was too drunk to care about it, anyway.
Maybe…that’s not all it is.
She watched him a little more carefully. He finished eating and left the bowl on the table, then leaned back on the couch. One of his hands moved to wrap around the bottle of alcohol, another one of whiskey it looked like, he hadn’t opened it, but hugged it to his chest, almost as if in comfort.
He was showing signs of feverishness, she was sure. His breathing was heavy, his eyes were half-lidded. His cheeks were dark, and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. She wouldn’t dare try to go near him after the last time, but he looked weak. Every few seconds, she saw his lips twist in a grimace.
Adrien was clearly in a lot of pain.
Camila startled when Adrien suddenly lurched up. He stood, heavily placing the bottle of alcohol on the table. She held herself stiff, wondering what had triggered him, but he didn’t come her way. Instead, he turned and walked further into the house. Even though he was clearly drunk and sick, he moved surprisingly well.
She didn’t dare relax.
Adrien wasn’t gone long. A minute later, he came back, clutching something in his hand.
“I was hoping not to use this yet,” he muttered to himself. “I can't guarantee when I’ll get more…”
She saw him set whatever it was on the table, then reach into his back pocket for his wallet. He took out a bill, then put the wallet back.
Camila watched him set everything up, but it didn’t occur to her what it was until a moment later. He had white powder in a small plastic bag that he poured onto the coffee table, then using the bill, separated the powder into several long columns, and rolled up the bill. One end of the rolled up bill was at his nostril, the other end touching to one column of white powder.
He… couldn’t be…
Oh, but he was. He’d clearly had it on him for a while, and he was using it now. Adrien wanted to try and compensate for his weakness and exhaustion with cocaine.
Camila was completely horrified.
What the hell is this bastard doing!
This was bad. This was going to be really bad for her. There was no saying what would happen once he started taking drugs, on top of his drinking and his infection. She didn’t know the effects of cocaine, but she did know drugs could make people irrational.
Adrien was insane enough as it was. Him getting crazier didn’t spell out good things for her. She would have to be even more careful now.
Camila didn’t know how many days it had been, probably more than a couple weeks. But in all that time after she’d been taken captive, she had learned to manage her steady nausea enough that she could pretend to be sicker than she actually was. She didn’t always feel it, but the days it didn’t happen were rarer. Thanks to the smell, though she hadn't felt it much the past couple days, it was coming in full force. With Adrien taking drugs now, she knew she was going to have to be careful.
Meanwhile, Adrien was continuing to slowly fall apart in both health and rationality. The drugs certainly weren’t helping, and she knew it was a good idea to stay away from him. There were times when she was in her room, and she heard him talking to himself or yelling at someone she was pretty sure wasn’t there.
He hadn't hurt her, but she was sure it was because he was getting distracted by his own thoughts. Not that he forgot her completely.
Camila ended up genuinely taking care of him to make him more dependent on her, coaxing him to let down his guard. Until she had the remote, she wouldn’t try to run. She wasn’t in the best shape herself, so she knew she wouldn’t get far. The best case scenario, was if she managed to get his phone and call for help while he was unaware, then find somewhere to hide out, or incapacitate him somehow. She just had to stay well until someone came.
Soon, she would be going home.