Scared

Chapter 17

Cries and screams were coming from a bedroom on the second floor.

Brian Epstein, boss of the Liverpool Institute, ran up the stairs towards the room.

He entered it, gasping at the sight.

John Lennon, the youngest patient, was laying on the bed, screaming.

His thrashing limbs were tightly held down on the bed by two large burly men.

Another nurse had gotten closer with a syringe, making John shout even more.

"No, no, no! Don't do it! Leave him alone!" screamed Brian quickly getting closer.

John didn't like to be held down and it was obvious he was scared.

At that shout, his big eyes posed on his face, his crying never tapering off, his eyes still wide and scared.

"Mr. Epstein, we have to calm him down. It's just a bland sedative" justified the nurse, but she had walked back from the bed.

Brian quickly walked towards John, dropping on his knees. Immediately, the two nurses let go of their arms, and John rolled down the bed, curling in Brian's arms.

"I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared" whimpered the boy like a broken record, body trembling.

Brian hugged him gently, "Do you want me to call Paul? Or your aunt?" he asked softly, to not spook him further.

"They don't want to see me" mumbled the boy, face still buried into the man's chest.
Brian was taken aback from that, but didn't think it was true.

Sometimes, John would act like that.

"No, John, I'm sure they want to see you. C'mon, I'm calling them both, alright?" he insisted.

It took some time, but John nodded.

There was something off though.

His eyes looked dull, he was pale and shivery.

He touched his forehead. A bit warm.

He hummed, lifting John on unsteady legs, putting him down onto the bed gently and walking out to call John's loved ones.

Brian looked as both Mimi and Paul were reassuring John.

The poor boy looked completely out of it. His wide eyes were looking everywhere and he was talking with broken words and sentences.

"John, calm down" whispered Paul, brushing his fringe away and shushing him softly.

Paul was very worried. John looked very sick.

He was pale, eyes so wide and scared. He looked disillusioned.

"But...I want to go..." his voice was getting feeble, his eyes still looking completely out of it.

He was still shivering in Mimi's arms, but he was staring at a corner of the room.

"You...you want to go where, Johnny?" asked his aunt softly, concernedly.

"I want to go with the white rabbit... y'know, he's gonna take me to wonderland!" he quickly started laughing, sounding high pitched and scared.

The two older ones, along with Brian, were starting to get scared.

"Did...did you take something weird, luv?" asked Paul, still kneeling in front of him.

His eyes posed over his face and Paul shivered. There was something scary in his expression.

"What if...what if I die?"