Thank you for your support everyone! Here's the last part.

Inner Demons

Part 6/6

by Megan

As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

The sound of Charlie's gentle breathing filled the otherwise silent living room. Fast asleep on the couch, Charlie lay on his right side looking more peaceful than he had in weeks. His brown locks had tumbled down over his face hiding the colour that had returned to the previously too pale skin.

Even though Don was dismayed with the fact Charlie was sleeping on the couch and not in his own bed, he didn't have the heart to wake him. Don had argued with Charlie about it, but by the time Don had run out to the car to grab his brother's prescription, he was dead to the world. Don opted to cover Charlie with a blanket and keep his noise level to a minimum, though he seriously doubted anything would rouse Charlie from his deep sleep.

As he sat and watched Charlie sleep, he replayed the scene from the doctor's office over in his mind. After helping his brother into the office, the nurse had taken one look at the distress emanating from Charlie and ushered them immediately to a room. The doctor on call had not been the one who had treated Charlie originally, so they'd had to wait while he pulled Charlie's chart and consulted with Dr. Haberson over the phone.

To say Dr. Haberson was upset was a serious understatement. After learning Charlie had been doubling his Percocet dose, and because he'd been on it so long, the two doctor's had decided on a course of action that had surprised Don.

A quiet moan interrupted Don's reverie, and he focused on his younger brother. "Charlie? You okay?"

Blinking owlishly at him, Charlie nodded. "What time is it?"

"After six."

"You mean I've been asleep since ten this morning?"

"I'd say that's cause you needed it, Buddy." Standing up, Don walked over to Charlie and offered him his hand. "I made you some soup. Come on."

Charlie's hand in his was warm and strong. The exact opposite of the way it had been earlier in the day. As he followed Charlie into the kitchen, he felt himself finally starting to relax. While he was still shaky, Charlie's gait was much improved. Only occasionally would Charlie reach out for the wall to steady himself.

Placing his hand on the small of Charlie's back, Don guided him into a chair and went to serve them both a bowl of soup and slice of bread.

"Smells good," Charlie remarked.

Don smiled to himself. "I'm glad you think so. All those... minutes I put into making it were tiring."

Charlie watched Don fill both bowls to the rim. "No, no. Not that much, Don. I'm not that hungry."

"Charlie," Don started as he placed the full bowl in front of his brother. "You heard what the doctor said about taking care of yourself."

"I know," Charlie replied.

"You'd better take one of these before you eat as well." Don placed a prescription bottle on the table beside the bowl of soup.

Charlie eyed the bottle warily. Of all the things he'd expected the doctor to do, this wasn't one of them. Because he had been doubling his dose and had been on the drug longer than necessary, he had become physically addicted. At Charlie's sullen expression, the doctor had elaborated. He was physically addicted, not mentally. A true drug addict abuses pain killers when they are not in pain. In his case, his body had become used to high levels of the drug, and when that drug was suddenly stopped, his body rebelled. Given the withdrawal was relatively minor, the doctor had thought it best to put Charlie on a low dose of the narcotic and reduce it slowly. That way, instead of his system being shocked by the sudden discontinuation of the drug, it would adjust to the decreasing dosage until no more was needed.

At least this way he didn't have to experience the withdrawal symptoms that could have lasted as many as five more days. No more nausea, runny nose, excruciating pain, nothing. All he felt was an all-consuming need to collapse anywhere, but preferably somewhere warm and soft, and not move for a week. There was also an ache in his hip, but that was nothing compared to what he'd been feeling earlier.

Charlie didn't know what was worse. The fact his inability to ask for help had led to this, or that he had been about to do something incredibly stupid and illegal. The past few weeks were a blur to him. A seemingly distant memory hazy around the edges from pain, exhaustion and little food.

"Charlie," Don started as he watched his brother eat. "I want you to know that in the future, you can come to me with any problem, all right? Anything at all. I promise I won't judge you or give you a hard time. This was close. Too close. I'd hate to see anything happen to you that could have been prevented with a conversation."

"I suppose any problem I have in the future couldn't be any worse than this, huh?" He smirked as he said this.

Don smiled back. "I suppose not. I know I haven't been the easiest person to get along with." Charlie snorted, but Don continued. "I know we didn't talk for a long time there, but I want that to change. Promise me, Charlie. Promise me that you'll come to me with anything. Or Larry, or Dad, or even Terry. You have a lot of people that care about you."

Charlie looked at Don and saw the raw emotion on his face. His brown eyes were openly conveying his concern, something he didn't do often. There was no disgust over what had just occurred; no judgment. This was genuine, and Charlie wasn't going to screw this up.

"I promise, Don." He looked Don directly in the eye as he this, and saw one thing he almost never saw on his brother's face. Faith. Faith in him.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You don't think given that this equation is inversely proportional to x, that y would still hold true?"

"Possibly, but the student failed to take into account all the variables. It should look like this." Larry took the pen from Amita and demonstrated his point. They both sat at his desk, grading papers and amicably debating the smaller details of each students work. A soft knock at the door caught their attention, and two pairs of eyes gazed curiously at the new comer.

"Charles!" Larry exclaimed, rising from the chair to greet his friend. "Come in, come in. Amita and I were just grading papers. What brings you by our little gathering?"

"Well, I thought I'd drop by and let you know I'll be returning to teach day after tomorrow."

"That's great!" Amita replied. "And look at you, no cane."

Charlie raised both hands in the air as though demonstrating they were indeed empty. "That's right, I'll be ready for the hundred yard dash in no time," he joked.

Larry watched the interchange between the two, a smile gracing his lips. He hadn't seen the younger man in a while, and it was amazing what a few days off had done for him. He positively glowed with energy, his brown eyes bright with the knowledge that shortly he'd be in front of the class once again. There were still faint smudges under his eyes and his clothes were a tad loose, but on the whole he looked good.

"I trust that Amita, myself, and your impressionable young students are safe from anymore displays of strong emotion then?" he asked, a knowing gleam in his eye.

Charlie paused, a pained expression briefly crossing his features. "About that. Larry, Amita, I owe you guys an apology. My behaviour over the past few weeks was inexcusable."

"You don't have to apologize, Charlie. We know you were going through a rough time and weren't yourself," Amita patiently stated.

"But you don't know the exact cause for my behaviour. How can you forgive me so willingly? I treated you guys horribly." He'd made Don promise not to tell anyone about what had gone on. Even Larry and Amita.

"We're your friends, Charlie. It's what we do for one another. It doesn't matter that we don't know the details. All that matters now is you're better."

Feeling the emotions in the room starting to get strong, Charlie smiled and made a quick conversation change. "So, can I give you guys a hand?"

Pulling up a third chair to the desk, the three of them fell into the familiar pattern of debating, teasing, and teaching each other, much like they had many weeks earlier.

The End

Megan - December 2005

I know a few of you have asked for either a sequel, or for me to expand the story. I can't see that happening in the near future because I couldn't think of anything else to add that wouldn't drag the story out unnecessarily. I do, however, have another story in the works.

Also, for those of you who are interested, I have an alternate version of Chapter 5 posted in my LJ. The link can by found in my profile listed as my homepage.