The ease at which I was able to swallow all of them was disconcerting. But would a dozen be enough? I didn’t want to leave it to chance. I opened several more bottles, taken a dozen pills from each. It had only taken a few minutes to do so, and I didn’t feel anything yet. Maybe it had been foolish to expect the results to be instantaneous.
I waited. The need to pee came and went as I urinated in the diaper, toilet training another desire now rendered pointless. The effects of the medication came on so gradually that I didn’t realize them until they had reached their full force. My legs began to feel weary, as if the weight they were needing to hold up had tripled. A sudden clamminess overtook my arms, which were now hanging onto the counter to brace me. I could literally hear my heart pounding.