Hybrid Theory: A [Linkin Park] Spinoff.

I've Kept The Door Wide Open.

[Month and a half later. Chester's point of view.]

I sigh as I walk into Eren's hospital room, completely unsettled by the silence of her body, mixing with the steady beeps of her heart monitor,"Hey Eren."
No answer. Again.
I pull a chair up to the side of her bed,"I don't know if you can hear me, but Eliza keeps looking in your bunk for you."
Still no answer. Why am I thinking she'll wake up any time soon?
I sit down, clearly at wit's end,"They said you didn't overdose on cocaine...but I can tell it wasn't the painkiller that you O.D.d on."
Eren lifts her head, turns it to the side, and drops it back onto her pillow.
I sit straight up,"Eren?"
Her right hand searches frantically for mine.
I take her hand,"Eren. Hey. Calm down. I'm right here."
Her grip on my hand tightens painfully.
I hold back a sharp cry,"Eren! I'm right here!"
She opens her eyes,"Ch-chester?"
I smile,"Hey."

[Eren's point of view.]

I look at Chester, my mind attempting to make sense of what happened,"Where am I?"
"Don't fight so hard. You overdosed on coke. I'm right here. I won't let anyone hurt you."
I look at him, my mind foggy,"I don't remember anything."
He smiles slightly and takes me in his arms,"Don't fight so hard. They said that there could be serious brain damage."
I sit there, feeling like there's something I should remember, but at the same time, whatever it is is right outside my mental grasp.
"You okay, Eren?"
I stammer,"I feel like there's something I should remember...but it keeps getting farther away from me..."
"Just relax. You need to let your body adjust."
I slowly lay back down, "Chester. I honestly don't remember anything after I walked into the bathroom.. who found me on the floor?"
"Eliza did."
I sit straight up,"Oh my God!!" I rip the multiple I.V. tubes out of my arms and hands,"Where is she?" I'm on my feet now, despite my screaming muscles.
Chester looks at me,"She's with the others. Why?"
I pull my boots on and sprint out the door.
Chester runs after me,"Eren. Wait! I still have to sign you out!!!!"
I continue running until I come to the glass doors leading to the parking lot.
He comes up beside me, breathing heavily.
I look around, unsettled that I can't find the bus,"Where's the damn bus?"
"Staying... in... hotel...three blocks..down."
I sigh and start walking.

[ Flashback. Eren. Five years old. December third. Midnight.]

A soft knock at the front door.
"I got it!!" I smile and run to the door, completely unaware of the pain that stands on the other side.
My mom leans against the doorframe between the kitchen and living room of our small house trailer.
I open the door, the soft December wind blowing my autographed Xero blanket around my ankles,"Hi!!"
A young woman with shoulder length hair kneels down in front of me, the light snow sticking to the shoulders of her fire department uniform shirt, "My name is Alyssa Hashimoto. I regret to inform you, that as of eleven-thirty, December third, Mark Wakefield was killed in a car crash."
I drop to my knees, the sudden reason for the woman's visit hitting me hard,"He's.....dead?"
"Yes. He was ejected and thrown."
My mom sobs heavily,"Oh. God, no. Not Mark!"

[A voice. I think it belongs to Chester.]

"Eren? You okay there?"
I look at him, still able to feel that heavy December wind,"Yeah. I'm fine."
"Your lips say that you are. But your eyes say that you have something on your mind that you don't want to deal with."
I shake my head and continue walking, quickly breaking into a run, trying less to outrun Chester, and more of trying to outrun my past.
Chester sprints after me,"Eren. Wait up."
I stop, looking at the cracked sidewalk, my voice flat,"What?"
"Are you okay?"
I fight back tears,"Yes. I'm fine."
He takes me in his arms,"Hey. I can tell that you are fighting yourself over something...."
I look at him,"A flashback. I had a flashback. Okay!?"
Chester smiles slightly,"All I did was ask. You didn't have to flip out."
I sigh as I feel a few stray drops of rain hitting my bare shoulders,"This is the summer of the rain. Even if I feel I can't stand another minute. Made the gun to run and end this. But I never look back and I forget it."
His voice floats on the air, gently filling my ears,"I know, all of this will soon, be gone. You don't really have to prove, them wrong."
I smile, now oblivious to the cold, heavy rain falling around us, "The sunset creeps behind street lamps, chain-link, and concrete."
"A little piece of paper with a picture drawn, floats down the street until the wind is gone."
I close my eyes and burry my head in his chest,"Then the memory now is like the picture was then. When the paper's crumbled up, it can't be perfect again."
Chester smiles,"We better get going. I don't want you to catch a cold."
I shiver slightly,"God. That rain is cold."