Only In The Forest (A Continuation of the Forest Fic)

What Now?

"Where is that guy taking Josh?!" Tyler half screams. The bandage on his hand starts to come undone as he continues to hit the doctor.

Four nurses rush in and hold Tyler down.

"GET OFF OF ME" Tyler screams with tears running down his face. The doctor looks at the heart rate monitor.

"His heart rate is too high, give him a sedative." The Doctor says as he continues to put cream on Tyler's somewhat flailing leg. One of the nurses injects a sedative and Tyler starts to calm down.

"Tyler, Josh would be a distraction for when Dr. Paulson gets here." Just as she finishes her sentence, there's a knock on the door. Everyone turns their attention to the door to see Dr. Paulson walk in. He pulls over a chair and sits by Tyler's mother.

"How are you doing, Tyler?" no response. Dr. Paulson tries again. "Tyler, How do you feel?" Tyler looks at him and crosses his arms. "I was told that Josh is here." Tyler's responds aggressively, "Yeah! MY STUPID KNOW IT ALL PARENTS HAD A NURSE CARRY HIM OUT!"

" Well, the sedative did not really have an effect." The doctor says waiting to see how this plays out.

"Tyler, calm down," says Dr. Paulson in a soothing tone. He looks at Tyler's parents and says,"Where's Josh?" They look at the guy they had carry him out of the room.

"I brought him to the waiting area." The room is silent. "I'll go get him," he says halfway out the door.

"Okay. Tyler, how are you feeling?" Still no response. An awkward silence falls over the room. Dr. Paulson looks at his notes.

After a few minutes, Josh walks in with his escort. Josh pulls away from the man and walks in hesitantly and tries not to look at Tyler's parents. His vision focusing on Tyler. Dr. Paulson stands up and puts out his hand. Josh looks at Dr. Paulson's extended arm and shakes his hand. Josh looks at the floor.

"Hello Josh, I have heard a lot about you." Josh lets go of his hand and brings another chair up next to Tyler on the other side of the bed. Tyler smiles. Tyler and Josh's hands lock together once again. Josh holding his hand loosely because of the bandage around his hand.

"See! He was never a hallucination! I was NEVER crazy!" Josh looks at Tyler and says,"I am real." Dr. Paulson is speechless. Tyler's Mom gets up and hugs Josh. As she's hugging him she say,"Thank you for being real, Tyler wouldn't be here right now if you didn't happen to be there"

"Well, Tyler will you now answer my questions?" Tyler nods.

Dr.Paulson asks,"Why were you in the treehouse when it was on fire?"

Tyler doesn't want to say that he tried to kill himself because he didn't want to go back to therapy or to live without Josh. He looks at Josh and Josh nods. Tyler nods back and turns his head slowly to answer Dr.Paulson. Tyler opens his mouth and no words come out.

Josh steps in and talks for him, "He was trying to find me." the room goes quiet again. Tyler's mother stares at him with watery eyes. It makes Josh very unsettled.

"Why would he want to find you if he told you that you aren't real?" Says Tyler's mother in a skeptical tone.

"Well, you see ma'am, everyone told him that I wasn't real, so he started to believe that I wasn't real. He couldn't comprehend that he fell in love with a hallucination and that all his feelings were fake and just made up."

Dr. Paulson says, trying to lighten the mood,"This kid is doing my job for me." No one laughs. Josh looks at Tyler, satisfied with his answer.

Dr.Paulson stands up, unsatisfied with the feedback of his joke. The doctor that has been standing in the corner says,"Well, Tyler we're going to keep you here overnight so we can see how your burns do overnight. Then you can leave tomorrow."

Tyler watches Dr. Paulson walk out of the room. An eerie silence falls over the room because everybody is afraid to speak.

Tyler's parents both stand up and Tyler's Mom says,"Tyler, we have to go. I want to stay here with you but I'm assuming Josh would like to make sure you're okay?" Josh nods reassuringly. Tyler's parents leave the room and almost instantly Tyler and Josh spark up a conversation.

Josh is the first to speak,"Tyler, why did you light the tree house on fire?" Tyler answers,"I couldn't stand you not being there with me and you not being by my side and I was sick of life."

Josh looks down at the floor for a moment to think, then says,"You really love me that much?"

Tyler responds,"Yes, you're the only person that I care about." Josh stares into Tyler's eyes and Tyler stares right back into his mocha eyes. Then Tyler breaks the silence with,"Where are you going to sleep?"

Josh's expression changes then he says,"I'll sleep on the chairs." Josh gets up and starts to walk over to get another chair.

"No," Tyler says in his stubborn tone. "You will sleep on a bed." Tyler moves over a little and passes an open space next to him. Josh gets up from his chair and climbs into bed next to him. Half of Josh's body is hanging off the bed. He has one leg holding him up, on the floor. A nurse comes in and asks if we wanted the lights off and turned the lights off. The only lights sources are the lights on the machines that are blinking. Josh feels Tyler move closer to him. Once again, they link their fingers together. It makes Josh feel more secure. Tyler instantly falls asleep against Josh's warm body. Josh can't sleep, he is laying eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. He feels Tyler's steady breathing against his neck, it tickles, but Josh is afraid if he moves or flinches, Tyler will wake up. Josh also isn't very comfortable. Half his body is laying on a corner of hospital mattress and the other half is hanging off the bed. He has to push himself back up onto the bed once in awhile because he slips.

Josh doesn't care.

All that matters is that Tyler is here with him, and now everyone is caught up that he is real. It was just that no one chose to see him.

An hour after Tyler fell asleep, a nurse comes in to check on him. Josh tells her that he is doing fine. Josh was afraid she would wake him. He looked so comfortable, so happy, so at peace. Tyler was sleeping so he didn't have to feel the pain. Every hour, Josh noticed, the same nurse would come in and check on Tyler. Josh must have drifted off to sleep the last time she came in to check because the next morning, Josh wakes up to find the same Nurse putting new bandages on Tyler's burns. Tyler is sitting up, but their fingers are still linked together.

Tyler notices Josh waking up and says,"Good morning."

Josh says "Good Morning" in a groggy voice as he sits up next to Tyler.

Once the nurse is finished, Tyler's parents come in following a doctor. Tyler's mother comes over to the bed where Tyler and Josh are both sitting and puts some clothes on Tyler's lap. Josh gets up and follows Tyler's mom. They close the curtain almost like the shades for your window. No one really speaks. Tyler pushes the curtain aside and asks "Can I go home now?" The doctor replies with yes and hands Tyler's mother cream and a few more bandages. The doctor talks them through what they will need to do to properly care for Tyler's burns. Josh listens to, thinking that Tyler will trust him more than his parents.

Once they are finished, everyone walks out into the hall. Tyler and Josh fall behind Tyler's parents. They are walking really close to each other. With every step, they bump each other lightly. It doesn't seem to hurt Tyler so Josh doesn't move over.

"Do you like my sweatshirt?" Tyler says looking over at Josh as they walk

"Ye...."

"YOU CAN WEAR MY SWEATSHIRT"

"No no no no," Josh says and covers Tyler's mouth. Josh can feel Tyler's lips move into a smile.

"What?! You can" Tyler's voice is muffled. Josh moves his arm back down and grabs hold of Tyler's hand. They continue walking how they have been.

Tyler likes it when Josh bumps into him when they walk. It reassures Tyler that Josh is there. They walk to the waiting room where they check Tyler out of this hell hole and they leave the horrible place that others call a hospital.