Blue Eyes | 5sos

Twenty-four

     (trigger warning ⚠️)
(listened to 'yellow' by coldplay while writing this so feel free to do the same if you want)
(not proofread and not a medical expert)

..

Ashton's pov

It was nearing 7:30 p.m., and I had just left the hospital after an extremely exhausting shift. Luke had asked all of us to go check on Carson at his home if any of us were to leave the hospital before he was able to.

I happily obliged once I was able to finally clock out for the night.

We were all worried about Carson when we learned of her addiction struggles and wanted to help her and Luke through the process. Fatherhood was new to him, but he was trying. He's been trying since he learned he had a daughter just six months ago.

Pulling into his driveway and stepping out of my car, I walked up the walkway to the front door and grabbed my spare key to Luke's house from my key ring.

I noticed that strangely, most of the lights were off in the house, which I did find odd for it only being 7:30, but perhaps Carson was sleeping early or just in her bedroom.

No doubt she didn't eat dinner either, so I would either cook something for her or offer to get something out.

Unlocking the door with the key, I stepped inside and was quick to disable the alarm before it would start to beep.

I didn't like the sudden chills and feelings I got.

Things were quiet in the house, so maybe Carson had opted to have an early night, but that just didn't seem like her.

"Carson?"

I was met with silence except for the sound of Petunia, who was whimpering and pawing at the back door, probably asking to be let out.

That's odd. Wasn't Carson here to let her out? It had only been a couple of hours at most.

"Carson, are you home?" I called again.

Deciding to let Petunia out first, I walked into the kitchen area and was met with Luke's alcohol cabinet open. The lock that had been placed once he learned of Carson's struggles had been picked with a hairpin.

There were one or two empty, broken bottles of beer on the floor in front of it, and a few more bottles were missing from the shelves.

"Shit."

I opened the door to allow Petunia out into the backyard and then made my way over to the stairs, climbing over the doggy gate that was on the first step.

"Carson!" I called again and started to climb the steps. This sick feeling in me I could not shake.

Something on the second-to-last step caught my eye, and I bent down to pick it up. It was an empty box of medications, clearly something that needed to be prescribed to have it. I turned the box over and was shocked to find a fake prescription label taped to the front of it with Carson's name on it.

It was fucking Xanax.

How had none of us noticed that she was still supposedly taking these?

Making it to the second floor with the box still in my hand, I saw a trail of beer and broken bottles mixed with a red substance leading towards Carson's bedroom.

My blood immediately ran cold as I realized something was wrong.

I looked down at the Xanax box in my hand again, and it all immediately clicked, and I wasted no more time rushing down the hall to Carson's room, where I found the door to be locked.

"Carson!" I started to bang on the door.

If she was truly on Xanax again, then mixing a benzodiazepine such as that medication with alcohol was never a good combination and could even result in an overdose.

Benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, and alcohol were both depressants that slowed down the central nervous system. They both also suppressed the respiratory system.

I wasn't sure if she had even taken them both together, but something in me was telling me that she did.

None of this could result in anything good.

The problem was that I didn't know what she had taken or how much, so I was starting to panic. Especially since I was still struggling to get her door open.

Once I had finally gotten her door open I was met with a sight I wished to never see, but some part of me was glad it was me instead and not Luke discovering this.

Carson lay face down on the floor with two empty beer bottles next to her and the package of Xanax pills.

Rushing into the room, I immediately fell to my knees next to her and gently rolled her over to place my two fingers on her neck, searching for a pulse.

It was there, thank God, but it was a lot slower, probably the result of using both alcohol and Xanax.

I shook her gently, trying to elicit a response from her. "Carson, hunny. Wake up, please."

Nothing.

"Carson, please!" I tried again, this time rubbing on her sternum, but to no avail; she stayed silent.

Cursing loudly, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed the emergency number, explaining to them how I had found my niece unconscious and was suspecting an overdose.

I probably could have brought her to the hospital in my car, but I felt much better knowing she'd be in an ambulance with monitoring if something were to go much more wrong than it is right now.

Getting a good chance to look at her, I noticed that her nose was bloody and her lip was busted, presumably from a fall since I found her face down on the ground. Her right foot also had a huge gash in it, and that made sense with the smashed bottles and what I now knew was blood that I had found in the hallway.

The only other question remaining on my mind other than 'why' was if she had done this on purpose or not.

It was highly doubtful since Carson didn't know the effects of taking alcohol and benzodiazepines together could have on one person, but I honestly didn't know her reasoning or if it truly was accidental.

I just hoped for everyone's sake that she'd be okay.