Lithium, Chapter I

Lithium

Without a sound, Dustin rolled over, his feet landing smoothly on the cold hard-wood floors. He knew his family was still asleep, and at 4:45, he knew he should still be as well. Yet, things weren't that simple when you worked in an academy that opened at 5. He already knew he was pushing his luck waking up only 15 minutes beforehand, but he didn't really care.

So silently he made his way down the stairs with no attempt to muffle his footsteps; his ninja training made it first nature anyway.

When he wound up in the kitchen, he grabbed a smoothie to go and looked at the container on the table, its ominous presence making it seem so much taller and intimidating than it really was. Dustin knew that in reality it was only about 4 inches tall and a transparent orange color; but it didn't change the fact that its contents always drown him out. At least the "unhappy" parts.

"Dustin?" his dad called out.

He jumped. His guard had been dropped in his pensiveness and he mentally slapped himself for getting caught.

"Hey, morning dad," he greeted.

"Son it's 5 AM…why are you up?"

"Oh, I've got to get to work," he responded with a light smile, about to walk out.

"Did you take your medicine?" asked his dad sternly.

The yellow ninja could feel his heart sink.

"Ah…no, almost forgot," he covered, reaching for the dark shape of a bottle in the dim lighting.

"You can't afford to skip out on even one a day, Dustin," his father lectured.

"Yeah…yeah, I know," he replied, his voice not the perky one many were used to.

"Well, I'll see you when you get home," Mr. Brooks said as he began brewing a pot of coffee.

"Yeah, later," Dustin said, too wrapped up in his thoughts for more words.

"You always so late?" someone else asked him as soon as he was outside.

Dustin whirled around.

There stood Hunter in his Thunder Sensei outfit, a duffle hanging over his shoulder. He looked like he'd been standing there for a while, but his ever-present grin gave way to his nonchalant attitude.

"Hunter! Wow…where'd you come from?" Dustin asked, his shock obvious.

"How about a "Hey, I haven't seen you in forever and I'm really glad you're here?" he shot back, an eyebrow cocked as he walked closer, covering the distance of about 20 feet that stood between the two.

Dropping his duffle bag, he embraced his former teammate with a hug, then tilted his head up to look at him.

"Not here," Dustin whispered, pulling away some.

Hunter looked dejected.

Desperately, Dustin pointed toward his house; "My dad's in there, dude, you know that."

Hunter nodded, "Yeah, sorry."

A silence enveloped them until Hunter cleared his throat and asked; "So what's that?"

Dustin's eyes followed Hunter's index finger to his own hand that held his pills.

"Vitamins," he lied quickly, swallowing them.

"Vitamins?" Hunter questioned.

"Yeah…vitamins," Dustin responded somewhat coldly as he started walking, drinking his smoothie.

Hunter followed.

"Well, how've you been since I've been away?" Hunter asked.

"Managing, I guess. Life has kind of been flying, ya know?" Dustin replied, taking a few more sips of smoothie.

"I hear ya; the only reason I know what the day is today is because I've been—" he stopped short, blushing.

Dustin grinned.

"You've been counting them down, haven't you?"

Hunter chuckled slightly, "Yeah, something like that."

Another awkward silence tried to consume them, but Dustin spoke up.

"I've missed you, man."

Hunter looked to the side, meeting Dustin's eyes; "I've missed you too."

Dustin stopped walking, a streetlight shining right down on him making him look just a little ethereal.

"What's wrong?" Hunter asked.

"My mom died," Dustin replied numbly.

Hunter blinked several times, "Dustin I…I'm so sorry."

But Dustin showed no emotion, he only stood there, looking off into space.

Hunter made a move to hold him, hugging him and saying, "It's gonna be alright man."

Nothing felt off, though. That was Dustin's problem.

"I haven't cried. I just feel…empty," Dustin whispered.

"What do you mean?" Hunter asked.

"The pills I take; Lithium, they make me feel numb…kinda washed out."

Hunter blinked several times again.

"You're on Lithium? Who the fuck put you on Lithium?" he asked, his anger hard to conceal.

"My dad."

"Dustin, you don't need Lithium, you need time to grieve!" Hunter half-shouted.

"I dunno…do I act differently?" he asked.

"Well in these past 10 minutes, yeah, you have. But I haven't been around for 2 years," Hunter replied.

The Crimson teacher held Dustin at arm's length, looking him over. His hair was kept short, almost buzzed, which was odd for Dustin. His eyes seemed bright, but upon further investigation looked hollow to an extent. The lines that traced around his delicate eyes made him seem like he was wearing eyeliner or something of the sort.

"We'll get through this, I promise," Hunter said softly.

"I am through it…I just don't know why I don't feel anything at all."

Hunter shook his head slightly, cupping Dustin's face in his hands; "First we have to get you off these meds."

Dustin pulled back a little.

"I…I dunno Hunter," he stuttered, "Dad thinks they help."

Hunter looked confused, then he looked angry.

"Dustin, they do not help! They bottle up all your emotions until you're just a walking shell. They'll suck the life right out of you, Dustin!" he half-yelled.

"How do you know?!" Dustin shouted back.

"How do I know?" Hunter laughed harshly, "Dustin, they had me 1200 MG of that shit. How do I know? Lithium was what I ate, drank, and slept," he said.

Dustin was silent.

"Well…what if I don't want to feel the pain of losing her? I don't think I'm strong enough for that," Dustin admitted.

"I know it's hard, believe me, I do. But Dustin, trust me; if you don't live now, by the time her death is old news, you'll regret having never lived."

Dustin sighed.

"You're right…" he said.

Hunter reached for his hand, gripping it firmly but lovingly at the same time.

"I'll help you through it, I promise," Hunter vowed.

Dustin smiled thankfully; "Thank you."

"We'll learn to let the sorrow go," Hunter said, leaning in for a quick kiss as the sun began to peak its head above the surrounding buildings.