Break Me One More Time [McLennon]

in which paul and john finally talk

After Barney made John leave Paul's room so that Paul could be taken care of, someone else led John to another room entirely. It resembled Paul's room for the most part, aside from the cot in the corner. He sat down on the bed, feeling rather defeated in every respect. He tried laying down after a while, but he got restless so he paced. But then he got tired, so he laid down and slept. When he was hungry, he went to the dining hall. When he was restless, he would pace in his room or wander aimlessly. Sometimes he'd hunt Barney down and demanded to see Paul, but every time Barney would calmly explain to him that Paul was not in a fit state to be seeing anyone at the moment. Every time, Barney would say to him:

"When Paul is well enough to see visitors, I promise you will be the first to know."

So John paced, and slept, and ate. Paced, and slept, and ate. Pace, slept, ate. On and on.

George came to visit him eventually, and the moment John saw who was entering his room he bolted across the room and threw his arms around George. George stumbled back, but once he found his footing and chuckled. He hugged John back.

"Happy to see me?" George asked laughingly.

"You've no idea," John said, almost breathless. "Have you seen Paul?"

"No, I haven't."

"Have you seen Stu?"

"No."

"Ringo?"

"Still sedated."

"Jesus Christ," John groaned, and he dropped down to sit on the edge of his bed.

"John, it's going to be okay," George said. "Everything is going to work out. I promise. You'll see."

"I'm not so sure," John said. He looked down at his feet, shaking his head. "Paul is off in, like, solitary confinement, and I don't even know what's wrong with him. I can't see him. I haven't gotten to talk to him since all of this madness went down. And Stuart, too, like you said; he's emotionally compromised, so I can't see him. I can't see Ringo, because he's asleep. I can't be sure if he's okay. I've been looking for Yoko everywhere, and she is nowhere to be found." He sighed, lifting his gaze off of the floor to look at George. "You're the only person here who I can trust to be honest with me."

George mustered a smile. John mistook the look of immense guilt that passed across George's face for overwhelming sadness.

"Is there anything I can get you?" George said so that he wouldn't have to muster up a response to that.

"Get some dinner with me?" John said.

"Your wish is my command," George said, gesturing to the door. "Let's go."

Eat, sleep, pace, repeat. Thus passed a week and a half, John growing more miserable by the day.

On the eleventh night, John was laying in bed with the lights off, not quite ready to be asleep, but bored of circling his bedroom again and again.

The door flew in, and the light pouring in illuminated the man in the doorway just enough that John could tell who it was.

"John!" Barney exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" John sighed.

Barney scoffed. "I told you that as soon as I knew that Paul was ready for visitors I would come straight for you. Come on!"

"He's — he's —" John scrambled to his feet, searching through the darkness for his shoes. "Are you serious? I can see him? Really?"

"Yes, but you must remain calm," Barney said. "He's... fragile."