AN: Look how lucky you guys are, another chapter today. I hope you like it and again, I'm not supporting drug use or suicidal thoughts. Enjoy.
Ian was emotionally exhausted after he finished explaining the horrid tale of how Joshua ended up in the hospital. Every time he told it the pain became real again, like it was the first time he was hearing it too. Dr. Takahashi opted to have Ian tell Joshua, hoping it would lessen the trauma such information would cause, but it seemed no one cared about how it made Ian feel. They must have just assumed that Ian was over it, that the initial pain and shock of it was over, but it wasn't
Joshua sat there, silently, taking in all this information. It was obvious he was doing his best not to cry, but eventually he gave up on that tactic, allowing the tears to flow freely down his cheeks. Ian forced himself to stay strong for Joshua, but even with that thought in mind he couldn't stop his eyes from watering as he watched the emotional rollercoaster his friend was being sent on. There was the initial shock where he didn't know what to do. Then he came to terms with the fact that Anthony and Matt were dead and never coming back. And finally the psychological pain; the massive amount of tears and cries of torture that start out loud as if he was trying to get the dead to hear him, until Joshua finally grew quiet and silently sobbed.
Then a whole different emotion took control of Josh's face. "So wait; I'm here beca- because of the a- accident. Then why are you here. I mean in the hospital gown and wheelchair." He asked.
Ian sighed; he had hoped Joshua would be so wrapped up in the details of the accident that he wouldn't think to ask about Ian's current situation. "I- well; you gotta understand... I was told all three of my best friends were basically gone. Then I had to clean out Anthony's room for his mom. I had reached a low I didn't think I'd be able to bounce back from. I'm still not sure I can, but I um, didn't have anything left..." Ian said. As his explanation went on he grew quieter until his voice was almost inaudible. Joshua looked at his friend in complete and utter shock. To think that the boy he once knew to be full of jokes and laughter had tried to kill himself sent him through a whole different kind of hurt. Josh pushed the sheets off of him as he carefully crawled to the foot of his bed near where Ian's wheelchair was; which was extremely painful due to his broken arm and dislocated knee, but no matter how much pain he felt, it was worth being able to rest his hand on Ian's shoulder and comfort him. Figuring Ian had already received the third degree from his mother he just sat there silently with him.
After a few more minutes of sitting in sad silence Mari returned to escort Ian back to his room. Instead, however, she took a seat next to Joshua on his bed and pulled out his file. "Hello..." Mari said as she skimmed over his name, "Jovenshire. What kind of name is that?"
Ian and Joshua snickered a little as Joshua pulled the papers from her small hands and pointed to his name, "Ya see, it's J. Ovenshire; the name is Joshua." He extended his arm to invite her to shake his hand.
As Mari accepted the handshake with a smile she said, "Well I'm still going to call you Jovenshire, okay Jovie?" He replied with a smile and a nod. "Ian, my dad wants me to take you back to your room to rest. You all done?"
Ian was about to nod when he realized he didn't even tell Joshua the biggest part. The fact that he could talk to Anthony and Matt! Then something stopped him; how would Josh feel about that? Ian thought to himself as he allowed Mari to take him out of the room and head back to his own. Would he be upset he couldn't see them? Before Ian could think any farther on the topic Mari spoke up.
"I Googled it," she said as they entered his room. She stopped his wheelchair by his bed so he could lie down while she closed the blinds to the large window that allowed the nurses to see into his room, "apparently morphine is a hallucinogenic! But it gives people who use it nightmare-ish visions; nothing anyone would want to be forced upon them. And apparently the most complaints of hallucinating came from a prescribed morphine called Oromorph. Now, onto your half; I want to know why I just spent an hour looking all that up."
Ian glanced up as he nodded, trying to read her expression. It wasn't everyday you told someone you could see your dead friends and it might have been because of drugs. He kept his explanation short and simple. That he had lost his two friends in a car accident and he was somehow able to see them when he was drugged up on morphine. Mari nodded, "They probably gave you the morphine originally because they pumped your stomach. They again because it was the only thing in the room and did it to knock you out without thinking about what they were plugging you into," She said.
As Ian finished speaking his lunch tray came in. The only edible looking thing was the hamburger, which he ate happily and offered the rest of his food to Mari. They sat around and learned that they actually had a lot in common. They liked the same bands, books, and TV shows; they even realized they went to the same school and had somehow never met. Everything seemed like they'd make a great couple in all actuality, but Ian just wasn't attracted to any of the girls at his school and Mari felt like a sister or cousin.
Eventually the dinner cart came around to collect the empty lunch trays and replace them with dinner. Again Ian took what he wanted and offered Mari the rest. Once they were done Mari stood up and grabbed the food free tray to take it out to the nurses' station. "Bye, my Dad's shift is ending soon and I need to find his to make sure I get home."
"Mari," Ian said as she turned the door knob. She turned around to see what he needed, "can you, um..." he said quietly as he gestured to the morphine IV. Reluctantly she nodded and hooked up the IV; she knew she shouldn't, but again his blue eyes worked their magic and forced her to keep him happy.
____________________________
"Ian, Ian honey," he heard his mother say softly into his ear as she gently shook her son awake. Ian had been right in the middle of a debate with Anthony and Matt about what was the best starter Pok\u00e9mon when he was forced back into reality. "Ian, the doctors discharged you, go get dressed so we can get you home."
Ian looked around the room in horror, his eyes quickly moving from location to location to see if an answer was hidden somewhere on the walls or floor. No hospital meant no morphine; no morphine meant no Anthony or Matt. That wasn't a jump Ian felt like he was ready for, "Mom, I need to see Mari right now!"
"Ian, are you alright?" his mother asked with concern at how afraid her son looked, "I don't know who you're talking about." He explained that she was Dr. Takahashi's daughter and that it was extremely important he talked to her before they left.
"I'll get dressed while you find her. Just have her sit in here or something until I get out. Please Mom." Ian insisted as he grabbed the clothes his mother had brought for him to change into while he pushed her out of the room to find Mari.
Once he had his plain blue shirt and worn-out jeans on he left the bathroom to see Mari sitting on his bed patiently await him. "I need another favor," Ian said as he slumped down in a chair across from her. Before she could say anything Ian lowered his head so his bowl haircut covered his eyes. "I'm being sent home... and I was wondering if you could get me some of that Oromorph, or whatever it was called, for me? I know we'd both get into a lot of trouble, but..." He said as his voice faded away.
Mari looked at him silently. She knew they would have almost any prescription downstairs in the hospital's pharmacy, but if she got caught her father would be furious. On the other hand, if she didn't help him who knows what Ian would be capable of doing? Would he become depressed and, even with Joven, and go suicidal again and actually kill himself? Mari thought to herself; she didn't want to know the answer. She stood up and nodded in agreement as she left to go to get Ian the Oromorph.
