The Story of Griffin Hawkins

Chapter Fifteen

2013 Copyright All Rights Reserved

Unedited, first draft

Chapter Fifteen

Week Four

Monday

            My weekend had consisted of three things: working, drinking, and sleeping. After the party on Thursday, I worked Friday morning, and then drank Friday night, then slept until work the next day. That pattern continued until Monday and I was drained. I was lying in my bed, watching a movie, when my phone buzzed on the mattress next to me. Alexis's face popped up on the screen.

            "Hello, Alexis." I answered monotonously.

            "Hey, Cay." Her voice replied tersely. "You ignored my phone calls all weekend."

            "I was busy." I lamely replied.

            She scoffed, "Busy doing what? Sleeping?"

            "I was working."

            I could hear her roll her eyes over the phone. "Well, I was calling to tell you about this genetic mutation that has dad completely freaking out. Granted, it totally is from his side of the family, but let's not tell him that. He's prideful, he doesn't want there to be a genetic mutation that came from him and what male would?"

            "Okay?" I would have liked for her to get to the main point of this entire conversation before I aged.

            "I made an appointment with a new psychiatrist, Doctor Elmi, and after talking to her she decided to get some blood work for a few things. One of those things is called the MTHFR gene, or as I like to call it-the mother fucker gene. Our MTHFR gene is mutated. And because of this, our bodies aren't processing the enzymes to make proteins our bodies need. Having the mutation is behind certain vitamin deficiencies like B6 and B12." She explained.

            "Which are?"

            "A deficiency for B6 and B12 are the reason why we sleep all the time and still feel fatigued. Make an appointment with this psychiatrist and tell her you want to get tested for the mutation. Also, don't you have ADHD? I believe it's the cause behind that as well. Maybe you can get medication for that when you go back to school to help you focus."

            "This is so confusing." I admitted.

            "It is, so just ask the psychiatrist I'm sure she can explain it better than I can." She paused and I heard noises in the background. "I've got to get back to work. I just wanted to call and tell you to make an appointment, okay?"

            "Okay, I'll call her." I was going to...eventually.

Tuesday

            Tuesday rolled around before I knew it. That meant I was getting ready for my appointment with Dr. Harris. She gave me a warm welcome as we stepped into her office and I took a seat on the couch, in my usual spot.

            "How was your week?" She started, taking her seat with the pen and paper read to go.

            "It was good," I shrugged lamely. "I got dinner with my dad Thursday night."

            "How is your relationship with your father?"

            I shrugged again, "Now that my parents are divorced, I rarely see my dad. It's not easy to talk to him, I'm used to going to my mom for anything." I paused. "I noticed recently that my parents are telling me they love me and hugging me more."