Troubled Thoughts

ten

a/n: Hello... sorry you guys had to wait so long for this chapter... I actually had it finished ages ago... I just wasn't sure if I should publish it or not... we'll I'm doing it now! I hope you like it! Cause this story is slowly coming to an end... Not this chapter, but soon! Enjoy!

Joe

It took Joe longer than expected to find a good parking lot. Or maybe it just seemed like a long time to him because he wanted to get back to the hospital as soon as possible. Partly because he wanted to make sure that this guy, Mikey, was okay, even though he didn't really know him. But mainly he didn't want to leave Patrick and Pete alone for too long. He knew he couldn't have an eye on them 24/7 and he knew it wasn't his job either. But even though he just met Patrick he already felt responsible for him. Especially after he found him this morning.

He ended up parking his car in a side street, in front of a small comic book store.

Joe jumped out of the car and wanted to run over the street right away, but someone suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Hey! Watch out!" the man yelled as he pulled Joe onto the sidewalk.

The second Joe was fully off the street a car speeded past him. It would have hit him if he wouldn't have been pulled back by the guy.

"Wow! Shit!" Joe exclaimed once he realised what just happened, because all of this took less than a few seconds. "You just save my life, dude!" He turned around to look at the man.

He had shoulder-long brown hair and wore glasses. He was about the same high as Joe and carried a few comic books. He would've looked like a normal nerd if his arms wouldn't be covered in colourful tattoos. And if Joe had to guess the tattoos didn't just limited on the arms of the man.

"No problem." the man smiled shyly. His voice didn't really fit his appearance. It was a little to high for someone who was covered in tattoos like him. But to be honest, not even his appearance fit his appearance. "Just be more careful next time."

Joe scratched the back of his head. "Yeah... I should be. This morning has been pretty stressed. I'm just on my way to the hospital. There was too much going on in only a few hours..." he admitted thinking about all the events that took place this morning. He found a crying Patrick, learned everything about it complicated relationship with Pete, found Pete's address, got new hope for Patrick, visited Pete, found an overdosed man and his older brother... there really was a lot going on. And he still didn't eat breakfast. "But I don't wanna bother you with that stuff." Joe finally added. "Maybe I should get going... Thanks again."

"Wait!" the man said before Joe could turn away. "Actually I'm on the way back to the hospital, too. I was just getting something to read." he said and hold up the pile of comic books.

"Oh, uhm okay. We can walk back together if you want. I'm Joe by the way." Joe introduced himself. This wasn't just a morning full of events, but also full of new people. Patrick and Pete, though he's already talked to them before, Gerard and Mikey, and now...

"Andy. I'm Andy." the man introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, Andy." Joe smiled back at him.

They made their way back to the hospital as they continued talking.

"So what are you doing in a hospital then?" Joe asked once they crossed the road, safely this time.

"It's... my mother... she's got leukemia. She's getting worse but the doctors say she still got a few years." Andy said and kept his eyes on the ground. "I hope she gets better soon. I'm worried. She's everything I have."

"Sucks man." Joe just answered. He didn't expect such bad news and he was bad at finding appropriate answers to such things.

Andy just laughed a little. "Yeah, it really does. What about you? Who are you looking after."