Recovery (Until Dawn)

2. Medicine

"Adri, please," Beth begged, sitting at the edge of his bed. "I know how hard it is. I've seen it. I know you're hurting, but please." The pill bottle in her hand shook, the familiar rattle taking the breath from the man. Adrian shook his head, buried under his blankets in the far corner from her, his chest aching with pain and slef-loathing.

"Please..." he sobbed, curling further in on himself. "Please go. I don't want to hurt you. I can't hurt anyone else. Please."

Her eyes showed her pain, as she looked at her friend. He hated it. He hated seeing her hurt because of him.

Because of him.

"Adrian Dakota. Listen to me." Her stern tone drew his eyes, forcing eye contact with her words alone. "I know you're in pain. I know you feel like fucking King Midas, with a cursed touch. You're not. You're a human who makes mistakes. I'm not hurt because of you. You're not hurting me. You're sick. That's okay. But in order to get you okay, you need to take your medicine. Alright?" He wanted to listen. He wanted to.

"I don't deserve to be okay. Not after all I've done. I- I hurt them, Beth. I hurt them, and- and I tortured them. I'm the reason they have nightmares; I'm the reason they need therapy. I'm a monster, why do I deserve to be better?" He argued, and she shook her head, drawing closer to him, clutching his hand in hers.

"You're not a monster. You're sick. There's a difference," she stated, wrapping his hand in the both of hers. "You don't hurt us. You don't hurt me. But right now, you're scaring me, because I care about you and I know you're better than this. And I know it's hard to hear but you need to." The earliest inkling of tears were biting at her eyes, he could see it. And she was right. It hurt. "You're just scared too. It's alright to be scared. But you can't let it paralyze you. You can't let it isolate you. You need to kick it's ass, alright? If not for yourself, then for me. And to do that, you need your medicine. Because your medicine makes it harder for it to win. Okay?"

A long silence fell over them, in which Adrian could practically hear his heart beating in his chest. Her words make sense, he knew. He was scared. He was scared his mind was winning. He was scared the memories were forcing him to stay silent. He was scared of becoming those memories again, despite his best efforts. But she was right. He was better. She motivated him to be.

Finally, he nodded, nearly unable to see because of the tears in his eyes. "Alright?" He nodded again, confirming his agreement. "Good. Do you need water?" Again, a nod. "Alright, alright." She began glancing around the room- likely for an answer to her predicament, sadly to no avail. "Okay, I'm going to leave for a few moments. Just enough to get water. I'm taking the pills with me. Is there anything else I should be concerned about?" For a moment, he tried to consider what she was talking abou- oh. He shook his head. They kept everything dangerous away from him, just in case something like this happened. "Okay. Okay, good. I'll be right back. Then, you take your medicine."

...

It was a bizarre feeling for Adrian: waking up in an unfamiliar bed. He was a very spatial-oriented person, so waking up and not recognizing where he was... well, it was uncomfortable to say the least.

An unusual panic settled within his chest.

He was used to the terror that often accompanied him when he woke up, but this... this was something else. It scared him.

That is, until he realized he fell asleep in Josh's room, with the grieving man in his arms. A quick look around confirmed this to be true- he could recognize the movie posters, the trophies, and the discarded medicine bottles. A sigh of relief flowed through him as he clutched his hands into fists to ease the trembling.