The Butterfly Effect

𝖛𝖎𝖎 | 𝔞𝔠𝔱 𝔬𝔫𝔢: 𝔰𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔢 𝔰𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫

"Nathan!" Nathan's doctor, Dr. Paolucci, yelled as he walked in.

"Paolucci!" Nathan yelled back as he got up and hugged the doctor.

"How are ya doing, bud?" Paolucci asked.

"The symptoms are back."

Paolucci furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms. "Any specific ones that stand out?"

"Shaking legs, trouble concentrating, doing things before I even think them through." He listed off. "You know, the normal things for a guy with ADHD."

"Is the Ritalin that I prescribed for you working?"

"It's becoming less and less effective." He said. "I stopped taking it altogether last month."

Dr. Paolucci inhaled sharply as he scribbled something down. "That's not good."

"What?"

"Well, Ritalin is a stimulant drug. Stimulant drugs are not something you can randomly stop taking," he explained, "These symptoms that you think are back are probably signs of withdrawal."

"How come no one told me this before?" he asked.

"I told you about this when I prescribed it to you." Paolucci sighed. "The post-it that I attached to the paper said, 'Don't stop taking unless you've talked to me first.'"

"Well damn." He slightly chuckled but stopped when his mom gave him a death glare.

"What are the symptoms that you've been experiencing?"

"When I sit in a chair, my legs start shaking. And the trouble concentrating part, but that's normal for me now."

"So none of those are signs of withdrawal. I am prescribing you a new medicine, however." Paolucci picked up a paper that fell out of the printer.

"Adderall? Hell no." Nathan shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I had an Adderall prescription as a kid and experienced a horrific panic attack in fourth grade. I passed out and everything." He said and then laughed at the memory, earning him another glare from his mother.

"Weird," muttered Paolucci. "That's not in your records."

"Well, it happened so." He shrugged. "Doesn't Adderall give you anxiety?"

"High amounts of dopamine can result in a person feeling anxious, but a side effect of Adderall isn't anxiety," Paolucci said. "I'm going to have you try it, and if the results are positive, I'll adjust your dosage."

"Cool beans," He replied before hopping off the observation bed and kissing Dr. Paolucci's cheek. "Keep doing what you're doing."

"Get out of my office."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Beth's voice boomed through the house.

Nathan jerked awake from his slumber and scanned his surroundings.

Seriously, dude, how am I the only one hearing this?

Knowing Beth's situation with her boyfriend, Nathan suspected she was causing such a commotion at twelve o'clock in the morning.

"Why are you yelling right now?" an unfamiliar voice spoke. "Calm down. You're going to wake everyone up."

"Do not tell me to calm down!" A loud bang against the wall made Nathan jump and sprint toward Beth's room.

Nathan knocked, heard a faint 'come in' from Beth, and slowly opened the door. "Everything okay in here?"

A tear trickled down Beth's cheek, and she quickly brushed it away, forcing a smile. "Yeah. We're fine."