Junkhead

Get born Again

"What the.." Layne gurgled, his voice hoarse. His eyes widened suddenly & anxiously peered around the hospital room. The heart monitor went off, alarm & tension thickening the cold sterile air.

"Awwww crap, now his blood pressure is too high.." The phlebotomist moaned. The doctor gestured her to be quiet & told her that he was probably having high blood pressure due to confusion.

"Where in the fuck am I?" Layne finally squeaked, glaring over at Dr. Ryan. Those blue eyes slid down to his arm, taking note of the IV stunt prodded through one of his thick veins. He licked his lips and sighed with frustration. "Mike fucking sent me to the hospital, didn't he? Fucking prick..."

"Yeah, I fucking did, Layne," Mike growled at him pointedly. He watched as Layne swiveled his head to him, his skull-like face crinkling in disgust. Before Layne could blurt out obscenities, Mike stood up & crossed his arms over his chest. "You were going to fucking die. I'm your best friend. I can't just let you die like that. Not when you have family that cares about you."

Layne bursted out in hysterical laughter. "Yeah?! Family? Interesting." He looked around the room, grinning with pessimistic spite. "Pretty funny, either my family isn't here, or they've inherited the mystical powers of fucking invisibility." He suddenly coughed, blood splattering all over his blue gown. He groaned mournfully as those light eyes watered from pain. "Eck.......God...." he gurgled, sobbing now. "This hurts...so bad... why...why couldn't you just leave me..?" Layne whimpered, looking back at Mike.

"We can talk about this later," he said.  He looked over at Dr. Ryan and his nurses. "But first, you need to get treated...." Mike nodded at Dr. Ryan, stepping aside so he could do his job.

The doctor grabbed Layne's hand & gave him a promising smile. "I'm Dr. Howard Ryan. I'm going to be taking care of you during your stay here."

Layne scowled at him. "And where exactly is 'here'...?"

"You're on the rehabilitation floor, in the extensive drug detox wing," the doctor responded professionally.  He didn't seem to be affected at all by Layne's poor attitude. Mike was pretty sure the doctor was used to dealing with uncooperative addicts.

"Fucking hell," Layne moaned.  He shot Mike another look, fire in his tired sunken eyes.  "Fourteenth trip to the rehab again for me. You know how ecstatic the media is going to be when this information leaks out??!"

Mike rolled his eyes so hard it almost looked like his head was about to implode. "How will this get leaked into the media?! You know very well that I hate reporters just as much as you do," he stopped and glared at the nurses & Dr. Ryan. "And I'm pretty sure the hospital's staff will respect your right to keep this private as well."

"Jesus fucking Christ, sometimes you can be REALLY stupid!" Layne shrieked. "The ambulance was sent right to my condo, am I right?! They have fucking cameras there. Witnesses. And if my mother or step father finds out--YEP. It'll be in the fucking media by tomorrow, count my word on that!"

Layne's heart monitor went off again, alarming the nurses. One of them jolted out of the hospital room. Only a few moments later, another phlebotomist came in. She squeezed behind Dr. Ryan, a huge syringe clenched in her hand.

"What the fuck is that," Layne growled.

This phlebotomist didn't even attempt to act like she had sympathy. She was old, had to be in her late 60's, and had pissed off scribbled all over her bull-dog face. "I'm giving you a dose of methadone for withdrawal. Also for your heart arrhythmia. If there's ever an emergency--and I mean an ACTUAL emergency--press the 'call nurse' button on the side of your bed, k?" she barked. She didn't even wait for a response & jabbed the syringe into his IV.  She quickly injected the methadone & stormed out.