Mike fumbled for his keys, finding them hiding in one of his pockets, and unlocked the door. He opened it, and walked in, shutting it behind himself.
"Jeremy, it's just me. Where are you?"
There was no response. Mike considered that he might have left, but he didn't humor the idea just yet. He proceeded into the living room where mummering from the TV was audible. he looked around at the small basic set up. One couch, one living table, one coffee table with a lamp perched on it, one reclining chair, and one TV across from it all. There was simple carpeting that they both hated, and a light on the ceiling. But there were no pills.
Mike groaned. He didn't remember where he had put them last.
Cutting through all of this, in a strait line from the entrance, there was a kitchen space. Then, to the left of that there was a door that led to the bedroom and bathroom. Mike picked up a remote from the living table, and cut the TV off. He then tossed it at the couch, where it landed safely on one of the cushions.
"Jeremy," He called out again. "Jeremy, come on. Where the hell are you?"
Mike was starting to feel inpatient. What was he doing? He knew that he wouldn't have left yet. He always left for work about a whole forty five minutes after he did. Something cold trickled down Mike's spine, and it seemed to spread throughout his body. Things weren't okay.
Mike stepped into the Kitchen, and he immediately spotted them. They were lying lazily next to the sink, and he snatched them up, wondering how he ever missed them this morning. He twisted open the cap, and popped a capsule into his mouth. Mike ran the sink, and used his hand to shovel a handful of water into his mouth. With a large gulp, he swallowed it down, and just knowing that he had taken the pill helped him calm down.
Mike shut the water off, and wiped his mouth.
"Jeremy," he tried again, "Jeremy, are you here?"
And again, there was no answer.
Mike made his way through the room urgently, and entered the bedroom. It was dark and empty. It was clean and the two twin beds on the opposite sides of the room from each other laid untouched. That wasn't right either. Jeremy always took a short nap after he left. Losing slight feeling in his fingers, Mike approached the bathroom door. He held his breath as he knocked lightly.
For a second, there wasn't any noise, but it didn't take long for him to get a reply.
"Y-yes?"
Mike let out a breath of relief. It was Jeremy's voice.
"Jeremy, why didn't you say anything when I came in?" Mike had his hand on the doorknob, but he hadn't turned it yet. "Is something wrong?"
"N-no, ev-ery-thing's-s f-fi-ine," Jeremy hiccuped and then sucked in air.
Mike's eyebrows furrowed as he began to turn the doorknob. "I'm coming in."
"N-no, don't-!"
But Mike had already walked in. He saw Jeremy standing there by the sink, face soaked, and eyes red. He looked terrible.
"M-mike, I told y-yo-u not t-o" he hiccuped again. "co-ome i-n!"
"Jeremy-" but he wasn't able to finish his sentence.
Jeremy's eyes shot over to a pill bottle on the counter, and Mike's followed.
"Shit," the word fell right out from underneath his breath. "Shit, Jeremy, no-"
He reached out to grab the bottle, and Jeremy tried to get it, too, but Mike got it first. He had hoped that he would find it full, but his heart fell into his stomach, like a stone into water. It was a weightless bottle of sleeping pills; it didn't rattle when he moved it; it was completely empty. There wasn't a single pill in the bottom of that bottle.