[1] Good Trouble - JJ Maybank - Rafe Cameron - (An Outer Banks AU)

Chapter 10

THE HOSPITAL

"Hey." Rafe says, at the foot of her hospital bed.

"You finally stopped with the gel in your hair." Violet says, noticing his hair. She liked it better when it was messy anyways.

"I didn't have time- I rushed over here after showering." Rafe studders.

"Take your time, I'm not going anywhere, not anytime soon." Violet jokes, holding up her arm, which was connected to an IV.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed him if you were right there— I wasn't thinking. The drugs just heightened everything." He says. He looked stressed out.

"Fighting when you're high is so stupid." Violet says. What is it with these boys and their toxic masculinity?

"I know— those dirty Pogues are always fucking shit up! I just needed to do something about it, I couldn't just stand by an-

"Hey! Don't talk about them like that. Not everyone gets things handed to them." Violet corrects him.

"Why not? It's the truth. They've always fucked with us, they don't like us cause we got nice things. They screwed with your boat!" Rafe says, aggressively.

"They are the most hardworking people I know! Your dad was from the cut. Do you know how much he worked to get all that money you have? He grew up with nothing!" Violet says.

"When you're gonna stop playing dress up with the Pogues? Huh? You gonna live on the cut next?" Rafe asks, he was getting upset.

"When was the last time you slept?" Violet asks, he had dark circles under his eyes, and they were puffy. His eyes were bloodshot, either from being high or the lack of sleep, or both.

"I don't know, I took a nap yesterday for like thirty minutes." Rafe says, shaking his head.

"You need to go home and get some rest." Violet says.

"No- it's not that. I can't sleep." Rafe says.

"What do you mean you can't sleep? How high are you? What did you take?" Violet asks, looking at his eyes which usually were a shade of bright cerulean blue but now were dilated and bloodshot to the point where his eyes weren't even blue anymore.

"I'm not high!" Rafe yells, denying it. He was getting more upset each second. The drugs messed with his mood, his personality, everything.

"Yes you are! It's all in your eyes! This behavior?" Violet yells back.

"I- I was just worried about you! I needed something to calm down!" He yells, putting his hands on his head. She knew she lost him to the drugs.

"What did you take? How many?" Violet asks.

"I- I don't know. I-I don't remember it was so foggy I-" He was cut off by Violet.

"Hey, hey, hey. I'm okay. It's just a concussion, you don't need to worry." Violet says, reaching for his hand. She felt like she needed to help him. Deep down she knew he was going to die if he took the wrong combination of drugs, and knowing him, he already developed a tolerance and needed a higher dose. He was erratic and wasn't himself. He hadn't been himself for a long time.

"Rafael? What happened to your arm?" Violet asks, getting serious, tracing her finger over the scar that was healing.

"I was late on a payment." Rafe admits.