Just Dust N' Bones, Baby

A Thousand Voices

Slash didn't know how long he was awake for now. He had fallen asleep last night, holding onto the Axl on his chest, who had his headphones on his ears all night, and his hand locked with Slash's. Axl still slept quietly, and had been for a long time, Slash didn't know how long it was, but he could see the sky beginning to lighten into gray dawn as the sun neared rise.

The quiet hum of Axl's cassette player had ended in the night as the side of the tape came to an end with a click. But by then Axl was fast asleep, and didn't flip sides, and so spent the rest of the night asleep with his headphones on and nothing playing in his ears.

It was a week day, and Slash was really just worried what time Stuart had to get up for school, and somebody might come in here and find them cuddling. Slash didn't care very much, but he knew, painfully well from the previous evening, that Axl cared a lot. So much to the point he was almost driven mad last night when there wasn't even anybody else in the room.

He needed to talk to Axl, about what happened last night. Slash still didn't know what went on, but it scared him a lot, and Axl seemed even more shaken up than he was. But he slept soundly through the rest of the night and to the morning.

Slash had woken up several times, moving slightly. Axl might shift a little in his sleep or mumble something from the movement, but he was still again in seconds, and he hardly stirred all night. Even on days where he didn't have a breakdown, he rarely slept so calmly, it was highly unusual for him. It was almost like the stress of the entire day, just took so much out of him it tuckered him right out. Poor baby must be so exhausted.

Slash tried to figure things out when he woke up, but he found no answers, and his brain was too worked up for him to possibly go back to sleep.

What freaked Axl out so much?

Was he talking to himself last night?

Did he think he was talking to someone else?

Is he hearing voices?

Has he heard them before?

Does he know that there was nobody else in the room?

Does he even know what was going on last night?

Will he remember the event at all this morning?

Was he maybe just half-asleep?

What did the voices say to him?

Was bringing him here a huge a mistake?

Am, am I even helping him at all?

Am I just making things worse?

Slash sighed. Maybe when we get home we can get him some medical help. I like to think that I can help him, but I mean, they have doctors and therapists and stuff FOR mental health kinda stuff. They wouldn't have them if they couldn't do their job and help people well, right? I can help him, but I'm not a professional.

Are they called psychiatrists or psychologists? Or therapists? Is there a difference? I don't know. Maybe I should ask Amy, she's a nurse, she might know.

...But I don't want to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, it's Axl's sister, I just wanna help him, not get more people involved if he doesn't want them to be.

Besides, we're in Lafayette for a reason. This is supposed to help him.

But... what if it's just gonna make things worse?

...No, this will help him.

If he thinks its too much, we can always just go back home. And what happens then will be tomorrow's problem.