Anesthesia

[37]

In a hurry, Buzz never saw whose bathroom was he going towards.

He bust opened the doors of the bathroom nearby and collapsed near the toilet, throwing up in the toilet bowl. His stomach felt like it was gonna jump out of his mouth. He felt nauseous. He felt weak. He felt vulnerable. Medicines, he thought.

After emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl, he collapsed near the toilet on his bottom and rubbed his eye with the edge of his palm. He took in large gulps of air and tears began to form in the back of his mind. All at once, he felt like Franny.

Alone.

Weak.

Buzz kicked the nearby stool absentmindedly and as it tumbled onto the ground, a book fell on his outstretched leg, seemingly catching his attention. 

He leaned forward and took a look at the book. The cover had a autumn tree on it with leaves falling on the ground. The title said, Forty ways to live: A guide for the cancer patients to make it to life. He never had this book before and as far as he knew, Franny was not a book lover. It was not until he finally looked up at the bathroom. The stinking smell of puke, cigarette and weed. He was in Eddie's bathroom.

His fingers fumbled with the rough cover before turning it and coming in contact with the title in bold letters. He held the book vertical and went through all the pages at once until coming in contact with a bookmark. He pulled the bookmark out of the middle only to see that it wasn't a bookmark. It was a picture.

It all felt like a long-gone dream. As if he had never felt nauseous. As if he had never threw up in Eddie's bathroom. As if he never cried and kicked a stool. As if he never found a cancer book.

As if he never found a picture of the younger Buzz and Eddie smiling up at him.

In response, he could only lean back against the tiled wall and gaze at the picture, a rush of memories hitting him and thoughts entangling in his mind.