He was breaking and not at a rate any of them had seen before, each step he took was a step closer to relapse and complete mental breakdown. Since Jack had left they'd done their best to keep him on the straight and narrow but in reality it hadn't even slowed down the speed of the inevitable. The truth was that Brian Lane was losing the little sanity he'd had left and fast.
They may have been a group of people who shared a common interest and happened to work together at first but over the years they'd became a tight knit group of friends. God know's that they'd each been through their fair share of issues over the years but when one of them had a problem the others would get together and act as an umbrella to shield each other from the storm overhead. They'd dealt with the truth about Sandra's father, Gerry finding Emily, Jack proving that Hanson had killed his wife and Brian's last relapse. When they'd lost Jack it had been like losing a limb that was vital to everyday existence and now Sandra and Gerry feared losing Brian and another limb of the UCOS body.
They sat in a small cafe, the new usual after work meeting place, drinking tea and coffee chatting like they'd used to, apart from everything was different. When Brian had began to show signs of relapse it was thought better if they stayed away from the pub and therefore Brian would be away from temptation. So far it had seemed to be working but the lack of alcohol as a way to cope was making him more irritable and his OCD even worse than normal. They could only just deal with his behaviour but they were supporting him because after all they were his friends and friends stick around and support each other no matter what the circumstance.
Brian was like the donkey in Buckaroo, one more thing added and he'd snap, that thing could be the smallest most unimportant thing, it wouldn't matter. With his best friends by his side he could fight onwards with the battle with mental illness because Sandra and Gerry were fighting alongside him and would continue to do so it he became to weak to fight for himself.