Brittle

Chapter 15

Liam rushed into the bathroom and stood over the sink. He couldn't breathe and his chest was on fire. After coughing and gagging for what seemed like an eternity Liam finally found relief and wiped his eyes with the hand towel. As he looked down at the sink he felt instantly sick again. The sink was covered in blood. He fell back against the wall and slid down it to the floor. What was happening to him?

Mindy must have heard him fall because she came running into the bathroom. They had been together for four years now and now living together. "Honey, what's wrong?" Liam shook his head and pointed to the sink. "Oh my god!" Mindy gasped and placed a hand over her mouth. "Let's go we're taking you to the hospital." She said turning to help him off the floor.

Liam sat in the exam room staring at the floor. What was going on? Was he sick? What would the doctor say? His mind was racing and he nearly fell off the exam table when the doctor came into the room. "Well it doesn't look good." The doctor said sitting down in his chair. "What's going on?" Mindy asked with fear in her eyes. "It appears he has a very bad case of pneumonia." The doctor said as he flipped through the charts on his clipboard.

"How much are you smoking?" He asked turning to Liam. "I don't know, maybe two and a half or three packs a day depending on how stressed I am." The doctor shook his head. "I have some good news and some bad news." Liam looked up at him. "What's the bad news?" "The bad news is if you keep this up there's a very high chance you won't live to see forty." Mindy looked at Liam then at the doctor. "What's the good news?" "The good news is if he quits now since he's still young there's a good chance his lungs will heal up and he can go on living a normal life."

Mindy finished getting the prescription papers from the receptionist and walked outside with Liam. "Give me a cigarette." He said as they walked across the parking lot. Mindy reached over and smacked him over the head. "I will most certainly not! Did you hear a word the doctor just said" Liam narrowed his eyes. "Yes I fucking heard him but I also just sat in that damn place for the last three hours and I need nicotine." Mindy shook her head pulling a small pen looking device from her purse. "Here, use this."

Liam looked at the device for a moment. "What the fuck is this?" He asked turning it around in his hand. "It's a vape pen. It's a healthier alternative to smoking and you can still have your nicotine." Liam shook his head. He had heard about vaping and didn't like the idea. "I heard about these stupid things. I'm not putting water in my lungs." Mindy laughed. "Listen come with me and you can talk to the guys at the vape shop. They will be able to explain better than I can."

Although he resented the idea he couldn't ignore the warning from the doctor so he reluctantly agreed to go with her and speak to them. As they walked into the vape store Liam could smell the sweet aroma from the different flavors the people inside were using. "Well they smell better than cigarettes." He said looking around at the different test tubes on the counter. After taking a moment to read some of the flavors Liam found himself intrigued by some of them. He looked around to see if he could find someone to talk to but just like high school he was now out of place.

No one in the store even looked at him or acknowledged he was there. "Who do I talk to?" He asked Mindy. She scanned the room then pointed to a man standing next to the counter talking to someone else. "That guy is the one I talked to last time." Liam waited until the man finished his conversation then walked over to him. "Hey how's it going?" Liam asked. The guy looked up at him then shrugged. "Fine I guess, what's up?" "Well I just found out I have to quit smoking and I don't really know what I'm doing." The guy sort of laughed under his breath and reached in the counter pulling out a pen similar to the one Mindy had. "This is what you need." He said sitting it on the counter.

Liam nodded and picked it up. "This is what my girlfriend has. What can you tell me about it?" The man seeming aggravated pointed to the device. "Push the button and inhale." Liam raised a brow. He already didn't want to be there and this guy was treating him like an idiot. "Yes, I know how it works, what can you tell me about it though. Like, how do I fill it up and is there anything I need to buy with it?" The guy rolled his eyes and started to say something but before he could Liam slammed the device on the counter.

"Listen bud don't treat me like an Idiot. I know I'm new to this and you think you have better things to do than teach me how to do this but the fact is I don't know the first thing about these past how to use one and your fucking job is to show me how." The guy took a step back from the counter in shock. "Mindy come on we're leaving." Liam said taking her by the arm. "It's obvious that Mr.. vape master here would rather be playing with himself than helping someone."