Disjointed Heart

Chapter Two

Chester ran a hand in his blond curls as he chewed on his bottom lip while his eyes stayed glued to the phone in front of him. He had been walking back and fort in his apartment, trying to find the courage to call the author of the book he was translating right now, since he wasn't sure of what he had meant by a certain sentence.

The young man was fine with the weekly two minutes call to Rob, but otherwise ...

Maybe he could ask Mike. The half Asian had come to deliver his meds for a few weeks now, and Chester still didn't know if he was speaking Japanese or not, since he had always kept their meeting short.

He sighed. He couldn't avoid the fact that he clearly needed to make that phone call today...

He bit his thumb nail one last time before finally deciding that he'd be brave and face this.

He wouldn't be able to ask Mike to call the author anyways since letting him into his house wasn't an option. It'd never be. He wouldn't let him get this close. Ever.

He took the deepest breath before grabbing the phone from its hook and hesitantly dialing the contact number. He hoped that the author would be able to understand English at least, since his pronunciation wasn't all good.

The phone rang, Chester's heartbeat was incredibly fast and he felt like fainting any time now. Why did he have to be so scared of a phone call? He hated himself for that. It rang a second time and he closed his eyes, waiting for the voice on the other side. Only on the third time, someone answered and as soon as he heard the man's voice, he froze.

"Hai, Tanaka desu!" The voice answered from the other side.

Chester was static. His eyes widened and he started to breathe heavily, feeling the air thick around him and his throat closing in. He felt dizzy and heard the voice far away, asking if there was someone there.

He dropped the phone from his hand and let it hit against the wall, not caring what the man on the other side would think. He just stood there for some good seconds and then rushed to the bathroom, locking himself up.

The blonde man let himself fall against the edge of the bathtub as he started to shake. He bit his lower lip harder, tasting blood as he closed his eyes, trying not to scream. He was out of breath and his palms were getting sweaty as flashbacks began to play behind his eyelids.

A fire. A white room. Some screams. Amber. A grey door.

Chester opened his eyes as he gasped, trying to regain his breath. His heart was beating rapidly against his chest and he felt like he was choking up as tears welled up in his eyes.

He needed his meds, now.

"M... Mike..." He whispered before he buried his head in his arms, sobbing heavily.

Just like magic, a knock on his apartment's door signaled that Mike had arrived.

Chester didn't have the strength to get up and open the door so he just held back a sob and tried to yell for Mike but no sound left his mouth.

With a deep breath, he managed to say a bit louder, "just leave it on the table and grab some money." He didn't need to face another person today and certainly, not right now. Not right after this.

He heard the door opened and he wondered if Mike would do as he was told, but knew he wouldn't when he heard a knock on his bathroom's door.

"Open up, Chester," the half Asian ordered in a soft, yet firm tone.

"N-No..." Chester tightened his hold on his knees as if it could make Mike go away, but then his eyes widened as he noticed that, in his haste, he hadn't locked the door at all. "G-go away, M-mike."