"Benton Knight can be a stubborn, pigheaded ass," began his younger brother Lance, leaning back in the kitchen chair of Samantha and Frances Twist's house. That revelation seemed no surprise to the ladies, but him conceding it did. "On the other hand, while a rare event, he can also be kind and generous too. While I've only ever seen the stubborn side, his wife and my niece have never wanted for nothing in their lives, as far as I know. That might have spoiled Amanda, if she wasn't spoiled already, but thankfully Frieda's turned out like me, more down to earth and realistic."
"This is all public knowledge," pointed out Frances, before Lance continued.
"I was unplanned for by our parents, hence being a full decade younger than Benton. Sibling rivalry was one thing, but our... relationship bordered on outright jealously and hatred. Whether this was part of the early signs of being bi-polar or something else, I'll leave it in your paws to diagnose. I can tell you that as far back as I remember, Benton was already acting like a rich snob even before he graduated high school and college, despite the fact that our parents started out from more humble beginnings. Something he doesn't like to admit. He prefers the high society status and all the things it brings in life."
"While interesting background information, why tell me this?" asked Frances.
"Because... despite all the negativity I've gotten from Benton over the course of my life so far, even to the point where he tried to stage a hostile takeover attempt to steal Knight Media from me when our father retired," said Lance, stressing that word while referring to the fact their parents, as long lived weres, were actually still alive, "as family I still care about the big lunkhead," he confessed, with a lump in his throat.
"Benton will be the last to admit this, but he's scared," revealed Lance. "Earlier he confessed to me that he recently had three different dreams after Doctor Tora Tachibana showed him the feral ward. In the first, Benton was hunted down like a rabid animal and killed. In the second, he was locked in the feral ward stark raving mad when Frieda came to show him his new granddaughter. But in the third, Benton was happy, healthy, sane, and even got to hold his new granddaughter in the hospital."
"Sounds more to me like common dreams of fear and dread than prophecy," observed Frances.
"True," agreed Lance. "Obviously it's the last one Benton wants to see come true, but while he has the determination to try, whether or not he has the strength to succeed remains to be seen, and failure is not an option. Since a lot of weres fear the risk of public exposure, Benton is not allowed to leave Moon Lake until he can prove his condition has been stabilized for at least 30 days," added Lance. "There's no timetable to reach that goal since the Council is aware that, among other points, it might take time to get his medication dosage just right, but Benton must be healthy and without any incidents that would cause one to wonder about his status for a whole month before he's allowed to travel again."
"I see," said Frances, while going back over the scroll.
"Whether Benton's anger issues are also a part of being bi-polar or a separate issue is another thing you will have to determine, but do know that you have the full support of both the Elders' Council and myself. Whatever the outcome. And if you need anything that I personally can help with..."
Frances simply stared at her guest and nodded.
"There's also another reason why I wanted to deliver your scroll personally, beside my private offer to help," admitted Lance, which caused both Doctor Twist and her wife to look at him more closely. "According to Doctor Tachibana, while bi-polar disorder tends to run in families, it has also been known to bounce around and skip branches, if not whole generations of the family tree. While I appear to be disease free from what he's observed, I plan to have myself tested to make sure, and I'm going to urge Frieda to do the same."
Frances simply nodded her head and said, "I'm sure Tora went over the early symptoms with you. While I cannot speak for your niece, having only met her once briefly at a social function," not mentioning it was the same one where Benton Knight discovered she and Samantha were married lesbians and freaked out over the news, "causal observation tends to agree with Doctor Tachibana, although you both should be examined to make sure."
"Thank you," said Lance, leaning forward in his chair to be a bit closer to Frances, within reason. "I honestly can't imagine what Benton's been going through these last couple of days, with the diagnosis, Amanda being in the hospital, and everything else he's had to deal with; but I have no problem admitting it's been pretty stressful for me too. But I can't help feeling... guilty about all of this too."
"You mean like survivor's guilt?" asked Frances, while studying her guest more closely. "If that's what's going through your mind right now, forget it. By all accounts you're a good man and you have nothing to feel guilty about. As Doctor Tachibana explained, while we know some of the contributing factors, being bi-polar can be random in families, and having the disorder is not the end of the world, provided it is caught early enough and treated properly."
"But has it been caught early enough?" asked Lance in return.
"That unfortunately is a question that only time will tell," admitted Frances.