Paranoid (A Beatles Fanfiction)

I Can't Lose You

The next few days went by slowly. Recording stopped and tours were put on a halt. No one was allowed to see George for at least three days, by hospital rules. Since he was in the psych ward they had to wait for Doctor Graves' say so on when they could come back. It was now September.

John stayed in his and Cynthia's room mostly. Only coming down to eat, use the bathroom or because he heard Julian get into something. Cynthia suggested giving Paul and Ringo a call. Maybe invite them over. But John just said he needed time to think and would close the bedroom door.

Paul just wandered around his house, pacing the floor, ignoring Jane's calls and ignoring really any calls that came. He worried. Constantly. He tried watching TV, writing, playing. Anything. But nothing seemed to be able to get his mind off George.

And Ringo...Ringo was a mess. It had been by the second day he finally left his house and just wandered the streets of Liverpool late one night, drunk out of his mind in an attempt to forget all that happened. The air was cold and snow was starting to come down hard. He had intentions to go to Highland and visit George through hell or high water until a car pulled up beside him as he staggered down a black-ice covered road.

The window rolled down on the car window and the face of John Lennon appeared. It took Ringo a moment to register who it was but he soon caught on. "John, what the hell are you doing? You can't drive!" Ringo slurred.

John shrugged his shoulders. "Well Brian went and done a check on us today, y'know, see how we're doing with all this and he went to your place and checked. Found you weren't home, called me and so I figured you'd be out and about." Ringo stumbled a bit on the side walk, attempting to talk but tripping over words and the black ice beneath him.

"Come on." John reached over and unlocked the passenger side door and stepped out of the car to help him. "Get in. Watch out for the ice." John grabbed Ringo's arm and he shook him off. "I can walk me-self, John." Seconds later after stepping off the side walk, Ringo slipped and fell, hitting his head on the edge of the side walk. "Yeah, you can't. C'mon, Ritchie." John grabbed him from under his arm pits and pulled him up. He dragged him to the passenger side and plopped down in the seat. "There ya go. Now you're stayin' at mine tonight." "'M fine, John. 'M fine." John rolled his eyes, slamming the car door and mumbling, "Sure you are, Rings. Sure you are."

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The next morning came and Ringo woke up in an un-familiar bed with a pounding ache in his head. The sunlight from the shallow curtains shined right in his face, causing him to be even more uncomfortable. He wiped his eyes and mouth and slowly got out of bed; making it only as far as the doorway of the un-familiar room until nearly falling.

A few moments later, the door opened and in came John. Ringo was still leaned against the door frame, holding his head in his right hand. "Morning, sunshine." John had a glass of water and two pills in his hand. Ringo greedily grabbed them away from him and downed the pills. "God what happened?" He moaned as he walked back to the bed.

"Found you wandering the streets drunk during a snow storm. I actually drove out to get you. Almost got my ass busted by a cop so be grateful." Ringo moaned and drunk more of the water. "What day is it?" he asked. "Thursday." the room fell silent. "So it's been four days since..." "Yup." John finished. Ringo sighed and wiped his hands over his face. "God it's been four days since we've seen him."

John sat next to him on the bed. "Yeah. I called at Highland to see if we could visit him soon. Doctor Graves is with him right now and they said to call back later. So I'll call about 3:00." "Wait, what time is it?" "1:00. I called at 8:00." "Oh my God, I slept that long?" "You were smashed, son." The room fell silent again.

John patted his knee and said, "Well, the shower is all yours. Brought some clothes from your house. Paul is down stairs as well. Brought some books and stuff from your place too." John got up to leave only to be stopped. "Wait, why is Paul here? And why did you bring all my stuff?" John cleared his throat. "Well, after last night, Paul and I agreed to keep watch after you. So Paul is staying and so are you. Sent Cynthia and Julian on vacation with Mimi and the Asher's." "John, you don't need to watch me like a five year old." "I'm not watching you. I'm just making sure you don't do something as idiotic as that again." "John I was fucking depressed, okay? My best friend is in a nut house and I needed something to get him off my mind for a while." "He's not in a nut house." John was raising his voice more and more. "He just needs help. He's not insane. He's getting help." "Then why are you worrying about me and not him? He needs help. I don't." John screamed, "Because I don't want the same thing to happen to you!"

You could have heard a pin drop. John was breathing heavy and his chest moved up and down fast. "Because I can't afford to have something happen to you right now, okay? Neither can Paul. No one can. Do you not realize the hell we are going through now? And you just decide to get drunk to forget it? We need to remember this shit, Ringo! We need to keep our eyes and ears open just in case something like this happens again. When Brian told me you left, I was worried to death. Do you know how scared I was? How scared Paul is? He showed up here as soon as we got home. I called him and he brought your stuff and his. We can't get drunk or do something reckless to comfort our selves right now. Right now, we need to keep George in mind. If he's just going through a hard time or if he's going insane, we can NOT give up on him. Do you hear me?"

Ringo was about to open his mouth when they both heard foot steps coming up the stairs. Paul appeared in the doorway, ghost white and lump in his throat.

"Highland called, George is allowed to see us."

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