Amicum an nomen habeas

It would be February 16th before I would hear from Doug again. In the meantime, I was startled that I had been left hanging on Friday night while he chatted with "Dick", the good doctor, in an effort to clear up the misunderstanding and that my instant messages from the weekend went unanswered. I was concerned, naturally, but relieved mid-day on Monday to see an email in my inbox after returning from a business luncheon meeting.

To my dismay when I opened it, instead of the typical warm and caring salutation and enquiry of my day so far, there was just one solitary sentence followed by a hyperlink. "At the risk of offending you, please have a look at the following link..." Sure enough the link was to a clinical description of BiPolar Disorder.

My heart sunk and I felt so sickened that my hands trembled as I drafted the subsequent instant message. "Hi Doug, I'm sorry, I don't understand. What's this all about?" An hour passed before I received notification of yet another email in my inbox. This one a little more lengthy, explaining that he and the good doctor had discussed me into the wee hours of the morning and had arrived at the conclusion that I needed to find help, and "sooner rather than later".

"Dick" was one of us ~ a member of the "Famous Five" ILW clan. Could it be that I had always considered "Dick" a friend, and he wasn't? And more importantly, what could have been discussed about me that would cause Doug to think this way of me?

A friend or one only in name.