a chained heart

16 | chaos

Lawrence didn't realize he had even fallen asleep next to Adam, until he woke up to his screams.

Lawrence jolted as soon as the animalistic sound escaped Adam's mouth. His cries were those of agonizing pain. When Lawrence tried to stabilize Adam, he was pushed off onto the floor.

Lawrence stood up and tried again, gripping at Adam's arms, but it was no good. Adam gave Lawrence no signs of acknowledgment and all efforts to help him failed.

Soon, the doctor who'd helped Adam before was in the room and flicking on the lights.

"The chain hurts! God, get it off!" Adam gripped at his bandaged ankle.

"Hey, hey, hey," the doctor tried to stop him. "It's just a wound. There's no chain."

Adam was relentless, not even knowing the doctor was there. He attempted to rip through the dressing on his ankle.

"Woah! Hey, stop!" The doctor almost panicked.

As she rushed over to grab a syringe, Lawrence whimpered, "What's going on?"

She ignored Lawrence, injecting Adam in the arm with a sedative. Adam's body movement and screams immediately ceased. He fell back gently into the mattress as his eyes shut. Soon, his mouth dangled open and his breathing was more relaxed than it had been since getting to the hospital.

Lawrence would have found the scene adorable if it weren't for the story behind it.

"W-why did you do that? He finally woke up," Lawrence stammered.

"No. He was just about to rip his ankle back open," the doctor scoffed.

"But he was...he was—"

"What? Talking?"

Lawrence nodded.

"Yeah, and he also didn't even hear or see us," the doctor spoke sadly. "He may have been acting more mobile, but he was in his own world." The doctor approached Larry and laid a supportive hand on his arm. "He's still dissociating. He's still in shock. I'm sorry."

With that, she left the room and turned the lights back off.

Lawrence looked at the time. It was almost 3:30 in the morning. He threw his face into his hands and let out a sigh of stress; they'd missed their flight and he had no clue when or how they were getting home.

Larry just wanted his boyfriend to wake up.

"Hey tiger." Lawrence recognized the soft voice speaking nickname he'd been hearing since high school.

"Ron," Lawrence stood up to embrace his friend. "Where have you guys been?"

David spoke by Ron's side, "We went back to the airport to get everyone's luggage. Is Adam okay?" sincerity burned his eyes.

"Yeah, how's the kid doing?" Ron also asked.

"He's still paralyzed in shock," Lawrence looked down at the ground. He bit his tongue to hold back tears.

Ron sighed, "I hate to break this to you right now—but—it looks like Alison's been trying to reach you." He handed Lawrence his cell phone.

10 missed calls.

There were also an abundance of text messages.

11:32 PM
I'm watching. Why are you doing this stupid show? This guy seems like a prick.

11:37 PM
What!? You and Adam are dating!?

11:38 PM
You never told me you had a boyfriend.