Chapter 194 - Helping Each Other

That night, Halia, Jackson, Trisha, and Oliver all slept soundly. It had been a tough day of pursuit; they had landed in London that morning, stopped over in France, and had now fallen asleep in Germany! 

It was springtime in Germany and the weather was pleasant. As the warm sun shined in through the hotel room window, Halia glanced at the man sleeping beside her and smiled with satisfaction. It had been a long time since she slept that well; she must have been exhausted.

Now that they had found Jaclyn and she was with Mia and John, and the human trafficking ring that took Jaclyn was now being investigated by the European branches of Interpol, for the first time in a long time, the couple had no cases in their hands. It was like they were on vacation and it felt good. Was this the life that Jackson wanted? Was this what he meant when he said he wanted to retire from the force and lead a normal life with her? If it was, then she was certainly looking forward to it.

Halia ran her fingers gently through Jackson's hair. She couldn't believe that this man was her fiance. How could such a handsome, kind and brave man be hers? 

Jackson gently opened his eyes when he felt Halia's touch and Halia quickly blushed as their eyes met.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" she asked.

Jackson shook his head and smiled. "I was already awake. I was simply resting my eyes."

He then leaned over and placed a kiss on Halia's forehead, "Good morning."

Halia buried her head into the man's chest and replied, "Good morning."

Jackson smiled. It was so good to wake up with this woman beside him. He couldn't wait to make her his wife and wake up to her every single day.

"I want to take you somewhere today," Jackson said as he wrapped his arms around his fiancee's waist. He had been to Germany a few times in the past and roughly knew about the things that Munich had to offer, but he had never been before.

"Where are we going?" Halia asked with excitement.

"You'll know when we get there," Jackson said with a mysterious smile.

...

Meanwhile, over in John's apartment, sleep was a very foreign concept. Throughout the night, John and Mia took turns watching over Jaclyn while she began to show signs of withdrawal.

Withdrawal symptoms normally occur within 6-24 hours of last use and last about 5-7 days with

a peak at 48-72 hours. It is a very unpleasant experience that has the potential to be life-threatening if not monitored carefully; dehydration being the biggest concern.

Common withdrawal symptoms include insomnia, headaches, runny nose, watery eyes, yawning, poor appetite, nausea, vomiting, sweating, goosebumps, hot and cold flushes, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, anxiety, agitation, restlessness, tachycardia, elevated blood pressure, cravings, and muscle and joint pain.

Because of these unpleasant symptoms, many people end up relapsing and using the drug again. Especially since sleep disturbance and mood changes could last for weeks and cravings persist for much longer.

For Jaclyn, the symptoms started showing at around 2am. She started off feeling chills, then her head started to ache so much that she felt nauseous. Eventually, she began to sweat and vomit.

Mia and John sat by her side and comforted her as she went through this tough experience. Under normal circ.u.mstances, John tried not to get family involved if possible. Sometimes, it was difficult for a family member to watch their loved one go through so much pain that there were incidences when family members surrendered and let their loved ones shoot up again. So, John had Jackson on speed dial, but he tried his best to control the situation without worrying him. He was a professional at his job and had saved many people in the past; Mia being one of them.

This was the first time that Mia was helping John and it was oddly satisfying. She had always been the one that was receiving help; this was the first time she was helping someone else instead.

2 years ago, John had saved Mia from heroin addiction. Since then, she never relapsed again. At that time, she was only 18 - John's youngest client ever - and she was seriously addicted. Usually, young people couldn't afford the amount of heroin that Mia used, but her brother had plenty lying around. She started off stealing a little out of curiosity, but as her tolerance grew, she began to steal more and more, until her brother caught her one day and realized she had a problem. He couldn't take her to a hospital or somewhere too public in case they discovered the drugs came from him, so he brought her to see John. It was probably the only good thing her brother had ever done in his life.

Unfortunately, after a year of being clean, Jaclyn slowly found that she had developed an alcohol addiction instead. At first, it helped her sleep, so she drank a little before bed every night. But then she slowly discovered that it eased her cravings during the day, so she began to drink during the day as well. For someone that was only 20 years old, this was a huge problem. That's how she ended up consulting John again.

But, alcohol was even harder to quit because it was simply too accessible and quitting wasn't as simple as abstaining for a few days. John had suggested multiple methods during this time, including medicine, meditation, sports, and even hypnotherapy, but none of them seemed to work.

However, at that very moment, as John stood in the doorway, he realized something.

John glanced at Jaclyn as she began to cry and watched as Mia comforted her. He didn't mention it to Mia, but it had been almost an entire day since she last had any alcohol. Even with all the methods they had tried in the past, she never got past 5 hours. 

John smiled to himself.

Mia thought she was helping Jaclyn, but in reality, they were helping each other...