Hero Who Become Fugitives or Cures or Causes an Epidemic

Cards Against Normality — Prompt:

Everything happens for a reason. Usually that reason should be your hero. Look for ways she can take the reins of the story.

There’s nothing wrong with a “passive” hero as long as her passivity alters the course of the story. (By her doing nothing, something changes.)

Consider reversing the cause and effect. What if your hero robs a bank because she’s a fugitive? What if your doctor causes rather than cures the epidemic?

Medicine already started an epidemic with opioids. In working for my state in the alcohol and drug abuse division, I saw what happened when the fugitive drug dealers decided to come into my state to make money.

Because the plan was to offer heroin for high grade and low cost to get people addicted. Then to cut the heroin and raise the cost, it did encourage other fugitives who had become addicted.

Our state had information that this would be happening. What can you do to put a stop to something so vile. Even with notice. Not enough was done. Could we have done more? Yes. Always. Some may say, there were not enough people working to stop it from happening.

Medical people, and law enforcement are hero’s to many. They are human also. They can only do so much. Family and friends will die. Their’s will too. Many people have died! They did, and will continue to.

The doctor’s were ordered to report numbers of prescription opioids they were prescribing. They stopped prescribing, and people with chronic pain or new injury pain were forced in many cases to move to heroin.

After heroin it is fentanyl and other opioids.

What would I do with chronic pain? I would hope to not have to be on opioids. People that start on oxycodone have difficulty getting off of them sometimes. I have known a few.

Here is the fiction story:

Sally worked for a family services program as a case manager. She helped many families struggling to make ends meet. She was one of those everyday heroes that people come to depend on in life.

One day Sally was in a car accident, and she now was living with chronic pain that couldn’t be fixed.

Because her doctor had done all that he could, and the pain was still there and it was something she would have to live with, he prescribed pain medication.

After living and working with the pain medication, all of a sudden, her doctor stopped filling her prescriptions. She got a new doctor. The new doctor read her chart and said he would give her a temporary prescription to ease her off her medication.

It didn’t work, so she went for a second opinion. When she arrived, she overheard the word drug seeker mentioned and thought the comment was made about her.

She was told that she would need to find other ways to deal with her pain, and they recommended acupuncture, massage, Reiki and other alternative healing methods.

She had a friend that she would go to periodically and get relief, but it wasn’t enough. Over the counter medication wasn’t enough. She needed something stronger to be able to work and support her daughter. She was out of sick leave and couldn’t afford to take time off of work.

A friend of hers that she had only recently started to date had a friend that was a dealer, and he brought over something for her to try. It wasn’t long before she was addicted. It was a diverted pharmaceutical or liquid morphine.

It was addicting and before long it was something she could not do without.

Sally died from an overdose of liquid morphine.

Author’s Note: I am trying out these cards as prompts to help me with writing fiction.

To turn the story around, Sally could kick the addiction with help and go on to help others with their addiction. And that happens every day!

First published by Mercury Press on medium.com