Your Song - Madderton

8. Things Get Better

TW- mention of relapse, drugs and overdose.

"We need a parent or guardian's information if you're going to spend the night here." The nurse sat in the chair across from Taron. He lifted his tear stained face from his hands and sighed.

"I'm sixteen! Why does it matter?"

"It matters because you're still a minor, darling." She insisted, holding out the forms. Taron looked over at Richard and shook his head, snatching the forms from the nurse.

"Do you know his mums phone number, where he lives, anything?" She asked as Taron frantically scribbled on the paper.

"For the last time, no. I'm just his English tutor."

"He OD'd in your bathroom, babe. That doesn't normally happen in the middle of a tutoring session." She took the forms back from him and read through them before forcing a tight smile. "I'll ring your mum, so she can come and make sure you're okay."

Taron nodded and kept a straight face, more tears running down his cheeks. The nurse stood up and put her hand on his shoulder. He was too tired to shove it off, he just cried harder.

"This is a very scary thing to happen to you both. We just need to make sure everything's okay at home and that a parent knows you're here. That's all."

"What about Richard?" Taron choked out, looking up at her.

"We'll chat to the police and make sure his parents know he's here. When he wakes up he'll be talking to councillors and doctors to make sure this never happens again. Don't worry." She smiled at him and walked out of the ward, taking the papers with her.

Taron sat on the bed and held Richard's hand. He had a catheter in his hand and breathing tubes up his nose. Taron put his hand to Richard's cheek and smiled sadly at the boy he loved. He looked pale, almost dead, but the machines were helping him breathe.

"I'm sorry they pumped your stomach, Dickie. Well, I'm sorry I had to see it. It was pretty gross. I wouldn't leave you though." He paused for a minute to give Richard an imaginary space to talk, and then carried on. "They said you'll probably wake up tomorrow, but I'm staying just in case it's tonight." Taron whispered, wiping away one of his tears that landed on Richard's cheek.

He stayed sat on the bed for a while, staring at Richard's chest rising and falling. Footsteps sounded outside the ward that made him jump back into his seat. Christine came around the corner and gasped when she saw Taron next to Richard.

"Taron, what on Earth happened?" She pulled him into a hug and he dissolved into tears again.

"Uh- he overdosed in our bathroom and now they don't know when he'll wake up." He sputtered into his mums shoulder while she patted his back.

"Why was he at our house?" Christine gripped Taron's shoulders and held him at arms length. "Did you do any drugs?"

"No, Mum! I was helping him with an English project." Taron wiped away his tears quickly and hardened up his features, preparing himself for an argument.

"Are you sure that's all it was? We can't afford it but I can quit my night job if I have to-"

"No. You don't have to do that."

"I hoped this new start would help me regain some trust for you, T. Do I need to remind you of what your father and I went through-"

"No, you don't have to do that either."

"Well, I don't want to see this boy and you together anymore, he's clearly a bad influence."

"Because he overdosed and ended up in hospital? Ma, he needs help! He needs friends!"