AN: Happy New Years!! Because I have no life and apparently no need for sleep I decided to type up this chapter for you guys 'cause I love ya! My gift to you, hopefully you like it!
Also, for those who may be wondering when the heck Lasercorn will come into the story, I'm sorry, but it won't be for a few chapters. Hopefully within the next two, but they'll have to be two LONG chapters! I'll see what I can do!! Enjoy and feel free to review,
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At first Ian was amazed the nurse he made small talk with twice even remembered his name, then what she said sunk in. Josh was alive; he had beaten the odds and pulled through after being taken off life support. Perhaps it was good Ian wasn't able to kill himself. Maybe he hadn't lost everything; in that moment he almost forgot Anthony and Matt were dead, he almost forgot how he was able to see them when he first woke up. All he thought about was the fact that his friend was a couple floors above him probably without a clue as to what happened.
Dr. Takahashi appeared to be just as shocked and immediately left to check for himself. "I have to see him!" Ian announced as he pulled the wires from his arm and jumped out of the hospital bed. Before he could take a step three male nurses came towards him telling him to sit back down. When Ian refused they used force and pushed him back onto the bed. Two held Ian down while the other reinserted his IV to pump morphine into his system and sedate him. As the whole image grew hazy he saw his mother being pulled away begging them not to hurt him.
___________________ Joshua's room_____________________
Joshua wasn't sure what was happening. All he knew was that he was in the hospital, his arm was broken, and apparently none of his family or friends could be bothered to be there for him; just a nurse that was paid to sit there and watch over him. After several confused and slightly offended minute sitting in his bed by himself a doctor finally entered the room.
"Hello Mr. Ovenshire," the doctor said as he looked at the monitors Josh was hooked up to. Then he proceeded to check Joshua's eyes with a small flashlight he seemed to magically pull out of thin air. "I'm Dr. Takahashi. Your nurse tells me that you know what year it is, but no specifics like the date, correct?" Joshua nodded and opened his mouth to speak when a pretty young Japanese girl cautiously walked in.
She was in a red and white dress; clearly she was some sort of hospital candy striper. Joshua wasn't even aware that program still existed. "Father," she complained to his doctor, "I'm bored. You haven't given me a real job and when one of the other doctors try to you give it to someone else. I signed up to volunteer because I wanted to actually help."
However that was all a lie, she had no interest in the medical field. She just wanted to please he parents and show interest in what her father did. "Mariko, I'm with a patient." Dr. Takahashi replied without even turning to look at his daughter. But that answer didn't plead her so she pushed farther. Finally Dr. Takahashi relented, "I actually do have an important job for you. There is a boy in room 243 that I need to be brought up here to this room. Can you remove the cords and wheel him up here?"
The girl nodded as she turned on her heel and left to complete her job. When she got to room 243 she found the teenage boy he father was talking about. Seeing that the only thing he was still hooked to was the IV she began slowly lowering the dosage to wake him up.
"Welcome back dummy!" Anthony said as Ian opened his eyes. Ian sat up and looked around. He found Matt was sitting across the room, curled up like a cat, sleeping in a chair across the room. Anthony got up and sat down on the side of Ian's bed.
"So, have I gone insane or did you two not die?" Ian blatantly asked. This whole situation, while it was good to see Anthony and Matt, was bugging him and confusing him more and more. A
The smile Anthony was wearing slowly faded, "No, we defiantly died, but for some reason you can see us." Ian scooted over so Anthony could lie down beside him, head in the opposite direction. He gladly accepted and crossed his legs, trying not to kick Ian in the face.
"So," Ian said staring at the ceiling, "What's dying like?"
Anthony sat up a little to look Ian in the eye and laughed a little, "Not as bad as you'd think," He replied, "there were sharp pains for a while before and then it slowly started to fade away. I haven't felt anything since; that's the weird part. It's like your limbs are constantly asleep, but it doesn't come with the horrible tingly feeling like it does when you're alive."
Ian nodded, "And the same for Matt minus the pain because he died on impact?" Anthony just looked at Ian like he w s an alien, "You know, cause he died right when you guys got hit." But Anthony's expression didn't change. It was like he didn't know why he was dead. Then it hit Ian, Anthony actually didn't know why he died.
While Ian didn't really want to be forced on the emotional rollercoaster the story put him through he forced himself to. Anthony was his best friend, he deserves to know what killed him; no matter how much pain it put Ian through. By the end of the explanation Ian's eyes had become misty and Anthony was silent. Ian knew Anthony was starting to have a panic attack so he quickly tried to change the subject, "Hey Sohinki!" he called over to Matt, who jumped in shock as he opened his eyes. Then Ian remembered his most important piece of news, "Oh, by the way, Joshua's awake! He's going to make it."
Before he could get a reply from them or say anything else Ian was pulled out into a whole different world. "About time you woke up," a Japanese girl, about his age, said as he rubbed his eyes and frantically looked around the room only to find that, once again, his friends weren't there.
"Um, who are you and what are you doing in my room?" Ian asked, trying not to sound rude.
"Oh, sorry! I'm Mari; my dad's your doctor. Anyway," she said as she swung a wheelchair around to Ian's bedside, "He wanted me to bring you upstairs to see some other guy. Hop in!" Ian decided not to question her because he really needed to see Joshua. As he got out of the bed he grabbed the back of his hospital grown to keep Mari from getting mooned as he sat down.
As she wheeled him to the elevator something in his mind made a connection, "Hey Mari, what all was I hooked up to?"
"Just morphine," She replied indifferently.
As they got in the elevator Ian decided he had to find out why he was able to see Anthony and Matt, "Mari, can you do me a favor. It's really important; you just can't let anyone, especially not you dad, know about?" She nodded carefully, not sure what she was getting herself into, "Can you find out if morphine causes hallucinations or anything like that? I can explain everything to you later; I swear, I just have to know. Please?" Ian begged.
Mari wasn't sure what made her trust this complete stranger. Whether it was simply because she wanted to actually do something at the hospital or if it was because of how desperate and trustworthy Ian's crisp blue eyes looked. "Okay, I'll Google it or something before I come to take you back to your room." As they walked up to Joshua's door Ian thanked Mari. Then she opened the door.
"Ian!!" Joshua exclaimed in relief that he finally saw someone he recognized, "Why are you in that wheel chair?"
