Fix me

Chapter 1

Teaser

I don't know where I have ended up, but finding a dealer was easier than finding a corner shop. It was like he sniffed me out.

I go into a pub and order a drink, but consume less than half of it before going into the toilets. I lock the middle cubicle and fumble in my pocket hungrily, needing it.

The first time I took heroin was two nights ago. I didn't know you could get hooked this fast. My body is shaking with need for it.

I inject with a blissful sigh, enjoy it for a few seconds before making a quick exit from the pub. I need to find somewhere to crash now. I crashed under a bridge last night and nobody bothered me. Strange that you can find a drug dealer so easily, and get a peaceful yet uncomfortable night's sleep in the same place. Again, I wonder where I could be.

As I round a corner and pass an empty bus station, it happens. Someone leaps out of nowhere and slams me to the ground, making a grab for my bag.

Luckily for me I am still in the euphoric stages of the heroin. I do enough damage to the guy to make him run off without taking my bag, but my ribs are on fire, my face is burning, my head is spinning, and when I stand up my left leg gives way a bit underneath me, and I find myself limping in no particular direction.

Some time later, the drug had really taken hold. I end up collapsing against a wheelie bin in some sort of backstreet behind a row of houses, making a bit of a racket, but nobody comes outside. It has started to snow, and as I lie slumped between a wall and the bin, I curse myself. Running away from home in January was a pretty stupid idea.

I can't even function any more. Mainly it is the drugs; I feel uncomfortably hot, my arms feel too heavy to lift, my mouth is dry, making me cough, and I feel myself starting to fall asleep, my head still pounding.

Then I hear a voice.

I panic at first. My hands tighten on my bag, but other movements seem beyond me; I can't even open my eyes. The voice echoes in my head, higher and lower, distorted. It's a nice voice, I think wildly, but I still try and shrink away when I feel someone

touch me.

'Hello? Hello? Can you hear us?' the voice says urgently. Then, 'Gary, go and get me mam, quick.'

There is the sound of retreating footsteps, then that voice again. 'It's ok pet, you'll be fine.'

Suddenly I am not afraid. It is a woman's voice, and I believe her when she says I'll be fine. 'Can you tell us your name?' she says gently. I feel her hand on my forehead. I can't open my eyes.

'K - Kim...'

'Kim. OK. Are you hurt anywhere?'

I hear footsteps again, and a man's voice. 'Mam wants us to bring her inside. What's wrong with her?'

'I dunno, she looks hurt...'

'She looks drugged up to us.'

'Gary.' The woman hisses. 'Just help us, will you? Kim, I'm gonna lift you up, hold on to us, ok?'

Between them, this Gary and the woman hold me up between them and half carry me towards one of the houses. 'Go in the front room, I've put the fire on.' A different woman's voice says.

I end up curled up on a sofa, shivering. 'Gary, get us another blanket, and something

to drink. Leave us with her for a sec.'

'She's completely out of it sis. I think I should ring a doctor.'

'No, don't.' the woman says, reading my mind. 'Just let us see what I can do.'