One and Only (LAMS)

Fine

John lay in bed tapping lazily at his phone, watching the snapchat stories of his peers who were all out having a joyous winter break. And here he was. Lying in bed. Sight impaired. Praying that his boyfriend would wake up soon.

With an exasperated sigh John turned his phone off. He lay his head back, sinking into the pillows, and closed his eyes. He was drifting between consciousness when a small knock sounded at his door.

John lazily fluttered his eyes open and saw Alex standing in the doorway with a warm smile.
"Alex?" John questioned slowly, sitting up in bed.
"John," Alex breathed, running towards him. John excitedly slipped out of bed and opened his arms, relief washing over him, but as soon as Alex reached him he disappeared into thin air.

John grasped at empty air, frowning and sitting back down in his bed. He felt a light tap at his shoulder and spun around, Alex standing on the other side of his bed.
"John," Alex mumbled, watching him with sad eyes.
"You're not Alex," John spat, burying his face in his hands and biting his lip, trying to stop himself from crying.
"I'm not, but he is," the Alex behind him spoke up in a slow hum. John glanced up, wondering what that was supposed to mean, when he screamed at the sight before him.

Alex's dead body lay on the hospital floor, staring up at the ceiling lifelessly, his skin pale and veiny. John clutched his stomach, swallowing back bile and scrambling backwards in his bed, away from the body. He shuffled straight into the other Alex, who grabbed his shoulders. He spun John 90 degrees and lay him down in the bed, leaning over him.

"Do you miss me?" Alex pouted, his lips contorting into a malicious smirk.
"You're not Alex!" John yelled, swiping his hands up and squeezing his eyes shut.

"John, who are you talking to," Peggy muttered, standing in the doorway with a worried and slightly panicked expression. John sat up and threw his head around the room, no signs of the evil or dead Alex anywhere.
"N-nobody." John whispered, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Okay, do you want lunch?" Peggy asked again, leaning against the doorframe.
"No thank you," John replied quietly. He felt like if he ate anything he would bring it straight back up.
"John you need to eat," Peggy sighed, crossing her arms.
"I will, not now," John assured her, his voice more aggressive than he intended.

"Okay," she complied with a shrug, sashaying out of the room. John fell backwards into his bed, letting the tears fall freely down his cheeks.

---

"I keep hearing him telling the air 'you're not Alex', every time I walk in there it's 'leave me alone' and 'you're lying'. I'm getting worried." Peggy sighed, twiddling her thumbs in her lap nervously.
"It would appear that John has been having nervous hallucinations," the doctor explained to the three Schuyler sisters with a grim expression. "The longer Alex is unconscious, the worse they are going to grow." He muttered, furrowing his brows in concern.

"Surely there's something you can do to stop them, prevent them, lessen them?" Angelica pleaded with worry.
"There are various medications we can put John on, but we're really going to need his cooperation to heal this." The doctor replied. He began clicking various keys at his computer, printing out a paper and slipping it into John's file. "Come back in 4 days and we'll see how he has progressed."

---

John shuffled the pills around in his mouth, slipping them behind his gums with his tongue.
"Open," the nurse ordered, tapping John's chin. He opened his mouth obediently, lifting his tongue. She nodded in approval and wheeled her medication cart across to the next room. As soon as she was gone John spat the pills into his hand, wrapping them in a tissue and stuffing the bundle inside his pillow, ready to flush down the toilet later on.

Who are these people prescribing me pills I don't need. John thought to himself, tucking his bedsheets right up to his chin.
"You really should be taking them," Alex smirked, perched on the end of his bed. His whole posture was unlike any way Alex would sit. It made John uncomfortable and he turned his gaze away from him.
"Fuck off it's your fault," John spat back, massaging his temples.
"Hey, who's the crazy one seeing dead people?" Alex laughed in response, raising a brow at John.

"I am not crazy and he is not dead," John growled, digging his nails into his scalp.
"At least one of those is true, and we both know which one it is," Alex warned John before disappearing. John cocooned himself under the bedsheets, groaning.

"Hey John," Eliza greeted as she entered his room. She had been waiting outside since the pill-lady wheeled her little trolly out, but John didn't need to know that.
"Hi," John croaked from his cocoon, peeking over the edges of the sheet feebly. He could see the fuzzy silhouette of Eliza approaching, his room still dark with the blinds closed to help his eyes' slow recovery.

"Hey ah, can we talk for a second," Eliza asked, slowly making her way over to John's bedside.
"Uh, yeah, what's up," John replied, pulling the sheets away from his face entirely.
"John," Eliza spoke firmly, taking in a shaky breath. "Are you really taking your pills?"
John nodded his head and Eliza shot him an unamused glance.

"Be honest," she warned. "Are you?"
John refused to make eye contact, shaking his head ever so slightly. "Johnnn~" Eliza pleaded, reaching out to him. She rest her hand on his cheek and tilted his head up to face her. "We're trying to help you, please, let us help you,"
"I don't need help! I'm fine!" John pouted, sitting up and letting Eliza's hand drop.
"Fine? Fine? Oh yes because fine is arguing with a hallucination of your unconscious boyfriend!" Eliza shot back, not in the mood for playing games.
"Well when you put it like that-"
"John, please. If you can't do this for yourself, do it for Alex. You need to be strong and ready for when he wakes up," Eliza pleaded, clutching the bedsheets in her fists.
"If he wakes up," John mumbled, his eyes staying to the floor.
"When he wakes up." Eliza persisted, standing up from her seat. "Please, try John,"

John sighed and gave Eliza a curt nod before she turned away and exited the hospital room, slowly slipping out of his poor vision.
John looked to his left and saw Alex's hand curl around his shoulder, his nails digging into John's skin.
"Yeah, try John."