Old Fashioned

Chapter 6

Alex whipped his head around, hoping that maybe Tai was just off to the side or something - but that was wishful thinking at best.

The hospital clothes he'd been in were discarded on the ground, while his actual clothes that had been on the chair next to him were missing. There were a couple small drops of blood on the bed around the IV needle, suggesting it had been ripped out.

Alex considered whether to ask a nurse if he had been discharged, but it was no use. He knew exactly what had happened.

Flinging the curtain back open, he pushed himself into the throng of people, searching wildly for Tai in the sea of unfamiliar faces. He thought about calling out for him, but didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to the fact that he was missing. Despite his efforts, Tai was nowhere to be seen, and no one paid a sliver of attention to Alex.

He contemplated grabbing Erin and Jake before he went looking, but ultimately decided this would be a waste of precious time. Pulling out his phone, he sent them a quick text.

"Tai's gone," was all it said.

His phone was nearly knocked out of his hands as he was jostled around by irritated patrons, but he managed to hit send as he finally burst through the doors into the unfortunately pungent night air.

It took a bit of maneuvering and light shoving, reminding him of that night in the bar, before Alex finally managed to get to a bit of open space where he could actually look around. It was about as easy to spot someone in New York as looking for a needle in a pile of needles; plus, he had no idea how long Tai had been gone.

However, just as the panic was really setting in, Alex managed to catch just the briefest glimpse of ash blonde hair stumbling around a corner about a block away, in the direction of Tai's house. His feet moved before his brain had the chance to register it.

Weaving in and out of pedestrians, he elicited a few cries of protest as he haphazardly rushed past them, sometimes bumping into them a bit too forcefully. He mumbled his apologies, but didn't slow down until he'd caught up with Tai.

Tai's movements were sluggish and disoriented, and he was barely able to stay standing, let alone walk in a straight line, making it all too easy to stop him.

"Hey man, what the hell are you doing?" Alex asked, grabbing onto Tai's shoulder and spinning him around.

Tai immediately put his hands up, as if ready to fight, despite being on the verge of falling over. He was still pretty out of it, the drugs not having fully worn off, making him bleary-eyed and confused.

"You-?" he nearly slurred, brows furrowed together. "H-How are you just everywhere??"

"I'm trying to keep you from dying," Alex replied incredulously, running a distressed hand through his hair.

Tai anxiously glanced around, searching for a threat that, seemingly, wasn't there.

"You can't- it- I have to go," he said through shuddered breaths, "You can't be around me."

Unlike all his previous attempts to get Alex to leave him alone, this one wasn't in annoyance, it was in fear - Tai was afraid of something. Alex quickly picked up on this shift, and he couldn't bring himself to overlook it.

"Tai, what's wrong?" he asked, dropping the volume of his voice, even though the sounds of the city were drowning their conversation out anyway. "Are you in some sort of trouble?"

"Y-You have to go," he said through grit teeth, trying to move away again, but was swaying horribly.

Alex grabbed Tai's arm gently to steady him, trying to calm the whirlwind of thoughts racing through his head. All of this felt wrong. Something was off, and he needed to get to the bottom of it, whether it was his business or not.