Better

Chapter 5

This first thing I thought of when I woke up was Tanner. The second thing, was Heroin.
The pain surging through my body was worse than it'd been yesterday. Within seconds, I was convinced that I was actually going to die. I couldn't breathe properly, and I felt too weak to move. All I wanted was drugs. If I could just get high, it would stop hurting.

Tanner wasn't beside me anymore. So I had no one telling me that I was going to be okay. But I was used to that. So much of me was begging to just find a way to go back to the city; to just get high again. And I probably would have done it if I wasn't basically paralyzed. I couldn't make myself stop shaking enough to even sit up. So I just layed there, curled in a ball, retching from the pain for hours.

I hadn't had the power to question where Tanner was. I figured he'd gone to work. I was just happy he wasn't here to see me like this. By noon, my body had started to numb itself. The pain didn't really burn now. But I could still feel it surrounding my bones. I'd managed to flip onto my back. That way I could breath better. After spending a good hour staring at the ceiling, I heard the door open.

"Keaton?"

I didn't bother to look up. The voice didn't belong to Tanner, so I wasn't interested.

"Are you okay?" They asked me.

"I haven't died yet." I sighed, "That could go either way."

"Well, Tanner sent me over to check on you."

"Who are you?" I asked, making myself look up.

"Chris Dunn. Tanner's cousin."

He was an average guy; not fat, but not really fit either. I could see the family resemblance. He had the same coloring and a similar nose. But he was no where near as pretty as Tanner.

"And I guess you know I'm Keaton." I sighed, "Tanner's... friend."

I watched him smile at that. I could tell he knew something.

"Are you hungry?" He asked next.

"I can't get up."

"Have you tried?"

"I don't want to."

"Come on." He said, "Tanner said you haven't eaten in like two days."

"It's actually been like a week." I admitted for some reason.

"Fuck, man." Chris laughed, "I didn't know drugs could make you go so long without eating."

"I'm a fuck up. I know."

"I never said that."

He walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket off of me. I let him grab my hands and pull me up. It hurt, but not as much as I'd expected. So I made myself get out of bed, stole one of Tanner's hoodies from his closet, and let Chris take me to his car. We drove into town and stopped at a diner.

Chris went inside and got us a table while I sat outside and smoked a couple cigarettes. I usually didn't smoke. But I needed something to try to replace what I really wanted. Tobacco, however, is nothing compared to Heroin.

"Hey, kid, can I ask you something?"

I hadn't noticed the waitress come outside for a smoke break. She was an older lady, who looked like she'd had her share of addiction. Picking scars in her cheeks, yellowed teeth. I knew exactly where this was headed. So I just nodded and let her continue.

"How many days have you been off?"

"Two." I told her, assuming she meant 'How many days have you been withdrawing?'.