Broken Walls

Don't Forget Your Meds

Sweat beaded on the sleeping man as he kicked off the bed sheets. Tossing and turning showed that the man was having a nightmare. It had been years since that had ever happened. Yet here he was having one. Faint mutters came from the man as he was trying to wake himself up. With one extra turn, he crashed to the floor next to the bed. A groan showed that he was finally awake. Back to silence. It was truly haunting him lately. His only friend.

On the ground, he didn't see a reason to go back to bed. He couldn't now. Afraid that he would get another nightmare and well he really could use a cold shower. As he got up from the floor, the bed was once again empty. No wonder no one had called out to ask if he was alright. It was just him again. Why would he be sharing his apartment anyway As he was about to go take a shower, the door bell rang. Eight was a bit early for visitors? Oh well he went to check who was at the door anyway. He couldn't be rude.

A smile grew while on the man's face as he saw who was at the door. He swung the door open and pulled Carlos into a hug. "It was all a dream. Oh how wonderful. I'm so glad you are here." It was a tight longing hug like Cecil hadn't seen his boyfriend in years.

Carlos froze there as he was being hugged. This was new. Usually he would get something thrown at him or get yelled at. So maybe what he was doing was helping. This would be wonderful, but science doesn't work overnight.

"Uh... Cecil, thank you, but I need you on the couch and you shirt off." Carlos spoke in a very professional tone.

Cecil let go of Carlos and nods before skipping to the couch and roughly tore off his shirt.  "Shall I lay down or sit up?" There was a huge grin growing on his face. He knew exactly where this was going. He just wasn't sure what position he was needed in.

A sigh came from Carlos as he followed the bubbly radio host. "Sitting up is fine." He responded. He pulled up the chair closer to the couch where Cecil was sitting.

 With the bag he had brought it in, he pulled out a bottle with greenish liquid and set it on the floor next to the chair. Thicker than water, but not as thick syrup. Cecil watched curiously. It wasn't rare for Carlos to take his work home, but this was something different. Once again, Carlos pulled out another bottle, but this one wasn't clear and didn't have any liquid in it. There seemed to be pill like objects inside the orange color bottle. This seemed to worry Cecil. Odd liquids and pills? Was he going to tested on?

"Carlos...what, what are those for?" Cecil spoke cautiously.

With that being said Carlos chuckled. "Cecil, we do this every week. Is everything okay?" He asked before reaching over to feel Cecil's forehead. It didn't feel warm, average.

"I'm fine and we don't do this every week though." That's what scared Cecil. He was starting to feel uncomfortable with his shirt off. 

"Yes we do." Carlos stated as he tried to feel for a pulse in Cecil's wrist. Average...for a radio host anyway. "Now okay, I need you too take one each day like we promised." He added before handed him the orange pill bottle. "We will know if you miss a day or take more than one." 

With a tilt of his head, Cecil looked confused at his boyfriend. "When did you become a doctor? You're a scientist." He wasn't sure if he should take the pills the bottle he was just handed or not. Something seemed off. Never had Carlos ever prescribed medicine for him. No one had ever done that and the fact that it was in an orange bottle seemed like they came from Strexcorp. That he didn't trust.

"Since always. You've known that. Now take one of the pills with this." Carlos wasn't enjoying answering these pitiful questions.  He knew that Cecil always knew these. He had stated them the first time they met.

"No." It was a sharp response from Cecil.

"No?"

"No. I'm sorry Carlos, but I'm not taking any weirdly colored drink with some probably Strexcorp meds."

There was a few seconds of silence, but it felt like hours to Cecil before Carlos made a noise. A laugh. "You think I would give you Strexcorp approved pills? Those are for the insane, which..." Carlos looked towards Cecil's eyes to figure out if he was or not. "I-Impossible."

Carlos had jumped out of the chair  and took a few steps away from Cecil noticing the purple eyes. He had swore last time he had checked on Cecil that his eyes were yellow, not violent violet. Had the pills he was giving Cecil reversed? No. It had been years since they had finally corrected Cecil. The couldn't have done this over a week, could it? Carlos needed to call back up if Cecil had these purple irises. 

Quickly, Carlos had called up a few of his co-workers to get some help. He was worried on what happened to Cecil. This was a scientific problem that needed to be tested. 

"Yes, I need a few extra hands here. Patient 72-12 is back to stage one. The pills have reversed his progress. No-- Look he has purple eyes! I promise you that-- No you listen to me, Lane.  I am your boss, so you get Victor and...yes bring those. I told you those will be needed for any Psychs." A sigh came from Carlos as he was going off on his co-workers.

To Cecil, he wasn't making any sense, so he decided to ask.  He was worried on what was happening. "Babe? What are you talking about?"

Hearing that 'babe' caused Carlos to stop talking to his co-worker. Babe was a word that couples would use as pet names, and Cecil wasn't dating Carlos. To Carlos' knowledge, Cecil's last relationship was with Earl ended a few months ago. Why he was being called babe by his patient wasn't something Carlos knew. Though all he had to do is tell Cecil that they weren't in a relationship. A doctor patient relationship was absurd and against regulations. "Hold on." He said before handing up the phone and turned to Cecil. "Cecil, you know that we aren't in a relationship. Never have we ever been in a relationship." He wasn't going to say they would never be in one just in case he lost his nerve.

There was a few moments of just silence as Cecil had thought that through. Carlos wasn't his boyfriend? No. He had been dating for a few months...right? Maybe it was longer, but he couldn't remember his memory was a bit fuzzy. All he knew was that he was dating Carlos. This wasn't the only thing that seemed off. Intern Shawn wasn't at the station like he was the day before, the lab next to Big Rico's was abandoned, and scientists weren't some forbidden thing to talk about.

As soon as Cecil was about to state his findings from yesterday, a sharp pain was produced on his right arm. A faint 'I'm sorry' echoed through his head before he lost vision and balance. Falling sideways, Cecil seemed to be drugged by Carlos. His own...no, this person who says he's Carlos drugged him.

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Author's Note: Are you confused? Do you understand what's happening? Right down what you are thinking before you read the next chapter.