Silence Says | ✓

Chapter 9

The next day, Thursday, Toby took the last of his medication. Running out hadn't been a surprise — he'd known exactly how many days he'd had left — but it was a worry. His foster mum was supposed to come to visit after work on Friday and bring him more, he'd told her that was when he would need more, but... but he hadn't made sure she wrote it in her planner, he had been too busy being angry to stress its importance. It wouldn't have been the first time she forgot his medication.

Friday morning Toby woke up feeling anxious, and the later in the day it got the more anxious he became. It wasn't very logical. His foster mum got off work at five and the drive to the camp was at least two hours, so there was no way she'd be there any earlier than seven. It made no sense to be more anxious at three in the afternoon than he had been at nine in the morning.

It did, however, make sense for his anxiety to go up as seven passed and then eight. It should have been relaxing, laying in the curve of Noah's arm while they watched a movie, but all Toby could do was chew on his lip and tap nervous rhythms with his fingertips on the arm Noah had wrapped around him as he waited for his foster mum to come or not come. It was getting late.

Noah sighed and paused the movie. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Toby said just a little too quickly. He'd known the question was coming.

"Nothing, huh?" Noah asked as he took hold of Toby's tapping fingers and stilled them. "Toby..."

Toby scowled and shoved Noah's hand away. "Don't."

Noah sat up, releasing Toby. "If you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help."

"I didn't ask for your help," Toby grumbled, turning his face away from Noah.

Toby didn't want Noah's help because he knew Noah would just advise him to do what was sensible. To go to the office and have them call his foster mum or something. He knew that was the most logical solution, but he didn't want to go to the office. And what if they wanted him to talk to her on the phone? He didn't like phones.

"Fine, I'll back off," Noah said as he stood. He tapped the iPad against Toby's elbow until he took it. "Finish watching the movie on your own if you like."

Toby did finish the movie, or at least he held the iPad in front of him while it played. How could he enjoy it without Noah's arm wrapped around him?

When ten came around, time for bed, Toby had given up on his foster mum coming that night. His bedtime routine felt wrong, incomplete, without taking his medication. It took him a long time to get to sleep.

#

Toby woke up feeling okay, but wasn't surprised when, halfway through his morning shower, he started feeling twitchy and slightly nauseated. He'd missed a dose of his medication a few times before, so he was quite familiar with the sudden and extreme withdrawal symptoms. Ugh.

"Coming to breakfast?" Noah asked with a smile as Toby stepped out of the bathroom.

"No," Toby said, his voice taking on that tone that always got him accused of sulking. He flopped face down on his bed.

Noah sighed. "Toby, you really need to tell me what's wrong."

"No I don't," Toby said into his blanket. "I don't have to do anything I don't want to."

Toby felt Noah sit down on the end of his bed. "Okay, let me change that to should. You should tell me what's wrong. Did I do something?"

"No," Toby grumbled. "Go away."