⇾𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐖𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 | 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐈𝐈

Chapter Seventy-Seven: What's Your Emergency?

I made it through my four days without dying😭 So proud🥴

June 22, 1967

The next day, our project of the day was to get everything from yesterday out of the car and into the house. After an hour or so, we had succeeded.

"Did you want to go to lunch with me?" I asked John as we brought the last bag inside. "I'm meeting Trixie and Seamus before they leave."

"Sure, I'll go," John said with a smile. "We can bring this upstairs later. Although, I wager that we will be more like I." He eyed me expectantly and I blushed.

"I'll do what I can," I mumbled sheepishly, brushing a strand of hair from my eyes.

He chuckled. "I'm only teasing."

I nodded. "I know."

"What time are we meeting them?" he asked me to change the subject before it became awkward.

I looked at my watch. "In thirty minutes, so we should leave soon."

"Right," he said.

"I'm going to change into something a little more—." I looked down at my unflattering outfit. "Presentable."

"I don't know, I think you look pretty," John quipped.

"Oh, shut up," I responded with a teasing glare.

"Oh, alright, just go and change and we'll head out."

He put his hands in his pockets and I reached up to give him a little kiss on the cheek. "Alrighty, then."

~~~

The rest of the day after lunch just seemed to drag on forever. I had a terrible feeling that something bad was going to happen all day. I wasn't sure why, but it just wouldn't go away.

Call it instinct, maybe.

I didn't tell John. We spent the rest of the evening putting everything we'd gotten into the nursery. Lots of cute little clothes were folded into drawers, mounds of diapers were stowed into changing table drawers as well as the closet, bottles found a home in a cloth tower of drawers we had in the corner of the room, blankets were put onto the top two shelves of a bookshelf we had in the corner, toys were put on the bottom two, and more room decorations found homes in other various parts of the room.

All in all, the amount of shopping we had to do now was significantly less than it had been, which I was certainly thankful for.

"Hey, I don't remember this," John said from next to me where we were both folding clothes. I looked over and saw him holding up a little floral dress. He carefully laid the piece of clothing out on his leg and then reached for something. He resurfaced with a tiny button-up, short-sleeved shirt with the same pattern as the dress. He laughed slightly. "Look, it matches," he mused.

"Isn't that lovely?" I asked with a laugh of my own.

"Oh, isn't this going to be fun? We can pester them about matching and it'll be so cute!" He broke into a wide smile and I grinned at him.

"Yes, we can," I replied with a chuckle.

Then, from downstairs, I heard the phone ring.

"I'll get it," John said, immediately ready to set everything aside.

"No, no, I will," I said. Something was beckoning me to be the one to answer it.

"Are you sure?" John asked apprehensively, but I was already at the door.

"I'm sure," I said without stopping. I just continued my journey towards the stairs, hoping I'd make it downstairs in time.

When I made it down there finally, I was surprised that whoever had called hadn't just given up. They must really have wanted to talk to us.

I picked the phone up and put it to my ear. "Hello?" I asked into the receiver.

"Donna? Donna, is that you?" Brian's voice was on the other end of the line. His words were terribly slurred and I could tell that he was either drunk or hyped up on drugs, something I wasn't unfamiliar with when it came to him.

"Hey, Bri, what do you need?" I asked him.

"Donna?" he asked again.

"Yes, Bri, it's me."

"Donna, I can't find the medicine," he slurred. "My head hurts."

"Brian, I'm not sure you need any medicine," I said nervously, knowing that there were probably drugs in his system already.

I turned to my left and saw John lean against the doorframe, peering in at me curiously.

"No, no, I do, Donna, but I can't remember where it is."

"Uh--Brian, have you had any water today?" I asked him.

"Well, I don't bloody know. I don't keep track of it, do I?"

"Brian, how about I come over there?" I asked him. "I-I...I'll help you find the medicine."

There was a silence on the other end of the phone line as Brian considered my offer. "Alright," he said finally. "Let's do that."

I let out a silent exhale in relief. "Okay, I'll be over there in just a few minutes," I told him.

"You promise?" he asked.

"Yes, I promise. Bye-bye."

"Bye, Donna." I hung the phone up and looked at John, who looked like he didn't want me to go anywhere.

"Donna--," he began, but I cut him off.

"I won't be gone long," I told him. "I'm just gonna go over there and make sure he gets some water and goes to bed. He doesn't know what's going on, John, just let me go over there."

"Why don't I go?" he asked, looking desperate for a way where I didn't have to leave the house.

"Dammit, John, I'll be just fine. Stop worrying."

He flushed a deep shade of red. "You're right, I'm sorry." He shook his head. "Just be careful."

"I will be," I assured him as I reached for my purse and slipped a pair of sandals onto my feet.

"And hurry back!" he added. "We've got some more clothes to fold!"

~~~

When I pulled up to Brian's house, the air around me was quiet and still. The temperature was starting to cool off for the night and the sun was just starting to disappear. I could see lights on in all different places in the house, but there didn't appear to be much going on inside the house.

I went up to the door and tried the doorknob, quickly realizing it was locked. In response, I knocked on the door and stepped back to wait for a response.

A few minutes later, no response had come. I was growing worried now. I pressed my face up against the glass and looked into the house. I could vaguely see the top of Brian's head on the arm of the couch. With a shaky breath, I looked down and began to fumble through my keys to find the one that would open his door.

When I found it, I stuck it into the keyhole and popped the door open. Taking the key back, I entered the house and rushed toward Brian. The door opening hadn't woken him up, so either he was in a really deep sleep, or—.

"Brian?" I asked timidly, peering at him. He didn't so much as move. Now silently panicking, I bent down and placed my pointer and middle finger on his wrist and felt for a pulse. I noticed very quickly that it was shockingly slow. "B-Brian?" I said again, louder this time. Again, no response.

"Oh, fuck," I hissed, my hands immediately beginning to shake as I stumbled to my feet.

I went over to where his phone was and immediately began punching in the emergency services number, tears forming in my eyes.

"Hello, 999, what's your emergency?"