Barely Alive - Josh Washington x Reader

Chapter 36

It was such a weird thing. Josh had turned back to normal within a few hours, and while the explanation seemed very logical, you couldn't believe it would only take a gunshot for him to return to his previous state. Why hadn't he turned back to normal when Mike shot him? Why was this time so much different from previous times he was targeted?

Of course you weren't going to question him about it, since he genuinely seemed happy for the first time in a while. You caught him staring at his own hands yesterday, tracing his fingers and running his fingertips over the ends of his nails. Josh used to bite his nails you remembered Chris saying, so all the time he used to have those massive claws, it must have probably drove him crazy.

"It's gross." 

"I know, Josh. But you should at least brush them." 

You couldn't help but chuckle as Josh brushed his teeth, carefully going over the teeth tearing his cheek as well. The gums were swollen, and hadn't been brushed for weeks. So it was about time that they got a good clean up. Josh had told you they were very sensitive, which didn't surprise you, but it could also have been a trick to make you kiss his other cheek. Which you did every time he mentioned the painful tear.

"Will this ever go away?"  He mumbled to himself, eyeing the huge tear running all the way up to the side of his cheek. His unusually long tongue ran over the sharp edges, eyebrows furrowing when feeling how sharp they actually were.

You sighed and eyed Josh in the mirror. He was standing behind you in the hospital  bathroom. You had helped him shower, even though he didn't really need any help, it was just very comforting to have you around. The hospital figured you and Josh must have been together for a while now, but both Josh and you knew that there was nothing official between the two of you. But that was also going to change fairly soon.

"Once I'm allowed to go home, I'll ask you on a real date." He promised with a toothy grin, and you nodded with a chuckle, already excited to spend the next few weeks together, and hopefully the rest of your lives.

Everything seemed to go by in slow motion. Chris and Sam often came to visit, along with his mom. And while they had treated Josh like an animal instead of a friend, Josh easily accepted their apology which you found surprising. His mother was just very happy that her son was still alive, and everyday she came to visit him, bring him something to eat, and make sure he got something to entertain himself with.

Josh seemed unaware of how serious the situation actually had been, and he seemed to live in the present except the past, which seemed like a good thing to do. But still, there were moments where you couldn't let go of what had happened back at the mountains.

You hadn't spoken to Mike, Matt, Emily and Jessica for a few weeks now, and you weren't even sure where they actually were. You were informed about Mike being placed into a mental hospital at some point, but where the institution was located was  unknown to you.  

But since Josh was as happy as ever, you couldn't help but live in the moment with him. He had asked about his friends a couple of times now, and you promised him that you would visit them once he was allowed to leave, which happened to be very soon.

"Are you sure that's the first person you want to go to?" You questioned, driving him towards his requested destination. Josh nodded, and leaned his head against the window as he stared at the sights passing by.

"It just feels like something I need cleared up."

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30 minutes later, you watched as Josh took a seat in one of the booths, he eyed the person sitting in front and offered them a small smile, grabbing the phone he was supposed to speak in.