Room 1013

Tracks

Shiro walked in the hospital room and tossed a bag to Keith. "Anybody wanna tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Keith stood up with the bag in his hands, "Thank you, Shiro. I owe you big time."

Lance gave him a sheepish smile, "Yeah, thanks."

Shiro crossed his arms and eyes him in the bed. "What the hell did you do?"

Keith slapped his arm on the way to the bathroom. "I said no questions." He set the bag down and took his mask off to clean it. "And don't tell anyone we're here or that you came."

"Yeah, alright." Shiro switched his intense eyes between them until Keith shut the door to shower. He turned to Lance, "What the hell did you do?"

Lance shrugged and hung his head, "Uh-just-something bad." He quickly held up his hands, "But I'm okay now, so you don't have to worry!"

Shiro didn't look convinced. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Lance, I'm not gonna force you to tell me, but I swear to god if you hurt Keith I'll shove my foot so far up your ass you won't shit for weeks."

"Understood." Lance fiddled with his hands as he sat cross-legged under the scratchy blankets.

"But what can you tell me?" Shiro sat down in the chair Keith was in. "Is everything okay...?" His eyes trailed down to Lance's arms and filled with disappointment.

Lance followed his stare down to the track marks on his forearms. "Uh-!" He quickly covered them with his hands. There wasn't anything he could think to say, so he sat there with his mouth open.

"Oh Lance," Shiro leaned onto his knees and rubbed his face. He took a breath to think, then lifted his eyes. "What was it? Coke?"

Lance uncovered the marks and looked down at them. The reddened punctures screamed at him for more. He shrugged, "Some of them."

"Heroine?"

Lance nodded.

"Meth?"

Lance's eyes filled with regret as he hesitantly nodded again.

Shiro sighed and leaned back in the chair. He crossed his arms, building up a wall between them. All his anger and disappointment was shot and absorbed into the cracked bricks.

Lance lifted his knees to hug them as he waited for Keith to return. The last place he wanted to be at that moment was alone in a room with Shiro.

"They got you on psych hold?"

Lance nodded, "At first it was twenty-four hours, but now they're gonna keep me for seventy-two."

Shiro shrugged and averted his eyes, "I figured." He rubbed the back of his neck, "They'll let you go since you've got Keith."

"You sure?" Lance kept his head down and raised his eyes.

Shiro took a deep, long breath. His eyes glazed over as he sunk back in thought. A wave of nostalgia seemed to stun his body, but definitely not in a good way. He clenched his jaw and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Lance eyed him carefully. Shiro was too disturbed by the situation to not be educated. "How do you know?"

Shiro's eyes met his, casting a harsh glare. "My father OD'd a lot when I was growing up."

Lance's eyes widened with surprise. Shiro was only eighteen, just like them, and he had been through so much more than they knew. "What about now?"

"He's dead." The muscles in his neck tightened as he clenched his fists. "Heroin binge."

Lance's chest fell in pity. "Oh," he brought his eyes back to the blanket, "I'm so sorry."

Shiro shook his head, "Don't be. He didn't give a shit about anything but himself."

"What about your mother?"

He let out a soft chuckle, "My dad is doing just fine these days. I've got a step-mother now."

"Oh," Lance perked up, "I didn't know that."

"You never asked."

The shower turned off, bringing both of their attention to the door. Shiro picked at his clothes, "Hey Lance?"

"Yeah?" He turned to meet his eyes.

"I need you to do me a favor."

Lance waited for more, but he realized that he expected an answer. "Okay, sure."

Shiro leaned forward in the chair, getting close to Lance's face. He glared into his eyes with blazing irises. "Get clean." He pointed at the bathroom door, "That boy needs you and I don't want him to go through what my dad did."