John Dorian's Final Realization

Chapter 16: My Mind in Rewind

"Today you can expect sunny skies for a large part of the day until a light cloud cover will move in from the north this afternoon. There is a 10% chance of rain at 5 so keep warm out there! Back to you, Charlene." An aging box television crackled out the forecaster's cheery voice. It had been mounted in the corner drugstore's ceiling many years before and the dust built along its frame spoke of its neglect.

JD shifted a few pairs of gloves around their bin and tried to busy himself as Fratelli chattered on with the older woman behind the counter.

"Thank you, Leonard. In a recent interview with President Bush, the President admitted to the existence of many secret CIA prisons worldwide. These same prisons that are not in fact under United States jurisdiction and are said to be the location of many morbid secrets on the President's part. A shocking discovery, truly. But, nowhere near as shocking as the trailer for the new movie, Miami Vice, that will be shown in theaters near you this summer!"

Dorian's wrist grazed a stack of precariously stacked tin candles. The tower wobbled innocently at first before giving way and clattering loudly against the metal shelving. "F-!" Managing to only make the raucous crash only two candles quieter in his attempts to save the stack, he now resolved himself to staying as still and quiet as possible as he tried to assess the situation around him. 

"Didja hear about what they did to Pluto? What a crazy world we live in now.." Fratelli prattled on and pulled out his wallet. "And I'll get just the one pack if you don't mind. It's a special occasion so I thought indulgin' a bit wouldn't hurt."

John's shoulders settled and he  slowly limped to the next aisle over and flipped through magazines that he had no interest in reading. 'Tabloid, tabloid, crossword puzzle, fashion,...' Every now and then his eyes darted up between the two glass doors at the front of the store and the checkout counter across the room before returning to the colorful covers on the rack. The tightness in his chest twisted his muscles into painful knots and his heart raced a mile a minute.

"Oh my yes! How can you just throw away a planet like that? Such a waste. " The cashier unlocked the case behind her, pulled out a small package of cigarettes from its glass confines and tossed it into a plastic bag. "Is that it for you, sir?"

"I believe so.. Let me check. Jacob-!" Fratelli barked across the store. JD's hands crinkled the magazine he had been moving back into its caddy.

"This isn't a good idea, Dr. Doctor. It's not gonna work." A second voice pleaded with him over the first. "We just have to wait for a better opportunity."

"You got your one thing yet? Better pick somethin' quick or your not gettin' squat."

"Almost," John said and made his way across the back wall until the door was just a breath away from where he stood. He kept his head ducked low behind the shelf of cosmetics in front of him.

"You got one minute. Then we're leavin'."

"Dr. Doctor. Don't."

JD readjusted the crutch beneath his arm and with one last glance over to make sure Fratelli was still preoccupied, he shot forwards with his eyes deadset on their goal. Everything in him screamed to stop. To grab a random item and shamble back to David or to try and raise the old woman's suspicion. But he ignored them all and threw open the drugstores door and the bell above him jingled happily.

There was a squeak as the soles of Fratelli's worn shoes twisted about on the tile floor.  It took him half a breath to close the glass doors tightly behind him and two breaths more for him to shimmy his crutch within their metal handle bars. John Dorian let out shaky and watery laughter when his coach tried and failed to open the doors. "It worked! It worked!!"