The Guidebook To Sobriety

Chapter 12

"And what about you Atlas? How are you feeling?" Amir asked as Thor looked away idly.

Atlas shrugged. "Tired, I guess? Other than that I'm fine." He glanced over at me and then at Indigo with a barely concealed smirk. "Probably not as tired as Teo and Indigo though, I heard they've been up all night."

I concealed my smirk, casting a subtle glance in Indigo's direction to see her reaction. 

She seemed as unbothered as ever, not even a twitch appearing in her eye as she turned her gaze on Atlas.

"I think you should get that checked out," she said.

"Get what checked out?" Atlas asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Your brain."

I chuckled. "Burn."

"That's what I'm at this complex for," Atlas shot back, looking rather pleased with his comeback.

"On that note," Amir said with a roll of his eyes, once again interrupting our important side discussions. "Nellie?"

"The pain comes and goes, but the feeling of fatigue is a constant blanket over me," she murmured, looking down intently at the floor.

"Do you think this is literal bodily fatigue or a feeling that is dominantly being produced by your mind, an illusion, so to speak?"

"I don't know," Nellie responded after a brief pause, a look of disappointment settling on her face.

"It's normal to be unable to tell the difference, don't be discouraged. I just wanted to pose the question and let you start thinking about it. This topic reminds me to encourage you guys to participate in the activities offered on 'free' days like this when no games are planned," He said, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.

"Uh, what activities?" Atlas asked, voicing the entire room's thoughts judging by our faces.

"The activities mentioned in the br-...right. The brochure that none of you read past the first two pages." He let out an exasperated sigh. "On these free days, there are activities like yoga, a gym, and even a reading club. Idle hands are playthings for the devil as my grandmother would say, and this is especially true for people attempting to change their life around like you lot are."

He had a point.

"Won't activities just make me more tired?" Nellie asked.

"Being tired is natural, healthy even. It's a sign your body is asking you to rest and providing that rest allows your body to recharge. Now, the mental fatigue I suspect you're experiencing is a bit different. Simply sleeping isn't always the answer for this issue; in some cases, it requires physical exertion or activities you consider fun or worthwhile that will ideally lead to physical fatigue and allow for that nice resting state the body craves."

I glanced at Indigo. Could mental fatigue be the explanation for her insomnia? Shouldn't she be mentioning her insomnia to Amir?

Indigo met my gaze and seemed to understand my unsaid questions because, after a brief pause, she shook her head slightly.

I shrugged. Wasn't my job to play therapist.

"I guess," Nellie said, still sounding unconvinced.

"As I said with Thor, we'll go more in depth as we progress," Amir said before turning his gaze to me. "How about you, Mateo? You've been pretty quiet recently."

The usual, life's pretty shit and it became shittier when I lost the one thing that numbs me and makes everything borderline manageable.

"Not too bad. I'm just not in that much of a talking mood," I said instead.