A Neat Mess

44 Threads of Betrayal

It was almost a week after his conversation with Pip when Ben realized he hadn't heard back from either of Pip or Adelle. Only Sam had informed him that she would be with Jenna for the weekend and promised to check if it was okay for Ben to visit. Ben was fairly certain the real reason Sam didn't want him there was because of the man she had been spending time with at the hotel.

He knew he needed to put an end to the abuse by taking Sam to court. He dialed Adele's number. Surely she must have the results by now.

"Hey sweetheart. How can I help?"

"I was just wondering if you got the DNA results back for the two hair samples I sent the other day."

"I thought I sent them already? It must have slipped my mind. If you give me a second... I need to check my emails. Won't be long..."

"Do you remember what it said?"

"Hmm! I'm pretty sure it wasn't a match, or... wait! I found the results. Sending them your way now. You got them?"

Ben had his laptop open in front of him. "Yes, got them. Thanks. Bye."

Ben sat there, staring at the attachment without opening it. He knew it wasn't a DNA match, which meant someone else had been in Sam's bed. He looked at the framed picture of Jenna on his desk. He desperately missed her, and Sam wasn't letting him see her. Ben clicked on the attachment, and the results appeared. It took him a few minutes to process what they meant. He held his head in his hands for a while, the weight of reality pressing heavily on his chest. Inside, it felt like he was screaming at the top of his lungs, but not a sound escaped him. You fucking bitch, he thought.

He was still staring at the page when the phone rang. This time, it was Pip.

"Hey Ben, I just received the lab tests. I think we need to talk in person. Can you come see me as soon as you can?"

"What is it, Pip?"

"Just come over when you can. It's... complicated."

Whatever the lab results were, Ben didn't think they could change much. Still, it was better to hear what she had found, so he decided to head over. There was no way he could concentrate at work anyway.

Ben waited at the clinic for half an hour before Pip was free to meet with him.

"We already knew this is no common medication so I asked a friend of mine from college who works for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies, so I sent her the sample to check in their advanced lab."

"So she knows what my wife is taking?"

"She knows what's in the pills, yes. And it's weird, she told me. It seems like she's on a drug trial."

"Does she have cancer? What's in the medicine?"

"No, that kind of meds. It's a mixture of different substances. One of them is used to control violence, but at a lower dosage than what's typically used for violent patients. Then there's something really strange. Actually, you might be able to help us figure out when she started taking these medications."

"What is it?"

"Progestogens, antiandrogens, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues—also known as GnRH—plus antipsychotics and serotonergic antidepressants (SSRIs). It looks like someone's been crushing these pills together and mixing them. Unusually high in dosage, So must have been on them for a while to get up to this level and I am guessing added uppers so she could get out of bed and carry on with their daily life on this amount."

"In English please, what are they used for?"

"Many, many reasons but one of common side effects of these medications is plunge in libido, so you might be able point out when there was a change."