Hallucinations! On the Bathroom Floor

235 12 0
                                    

After what was probably too long of a time trying to get Alex to change into some clothes, Alex was now sitting on the bathroom floor in a pair of sweatpants but no shirt because Jack gave up after like half an hour of trying to get alex into clothes.
Alex didn't seem to be in the mood for conversation, so Jack and Rian were talking.

"So, when we were talking on the phone you said you were with Alex at some club a while ago," Jack said. "You said he was with Brendon, right? Do you think he had something to do with this?"
"What could Brendon have done? He seemed fine when we were at the club, I'm not sure how Brendon could have done anything. Maybe it's drugs?" Rian turned to Alex with a frown. "Alex, what kind of drugs are you on?"
"I dunno... Tylenol?"
"Not drugs."
Jack frowned. "Well, Brendon's the only one that would know." He turned to Rian. "You think you can play detective and see if you can find anything?"
"Oh yeah, okay. I'll just be the one who does everything for you guys. I'll just buy you food, make you food, figure out who got your roommate sick, what next? You want me to kill someone too? You want me to kill Zack? Brendon? Alex?"
"Why me?"
"Okay, not Alex. But seriously, you gotta do something for yourself."
Jack sighed. "Look, Ri, I have to make sure Alex doesn't die. So unless you want to be stuck here in this bathroom for god-only-knows-how-long, I suggest you go find Brendon."
Rian rolled his eyes, walking towards the bathroom door. "I expect lots of cash. Or a dog. Or a both. You know, I've always wanted a hamster...."
"Rian!"

Rian laughed as he walked out of the bathroom. Jack shook his head and then sat down on the bathroom floor next to Alex.

"We don't actually have to get him a hamster, do we?" Alex asked quietly. He was staring blankly at the floor.
"I hope not. What would he even do with it? His apartment is so messy the poor animal would probably- Hey are you okay?" Alex was hunched over, his face contorted in pain as he clutched his stomach. "What's wrong? Are you going to throw up again?" Jack instinctively moved away from his friend.
Alex shook his head. "N-no I'm just... just... my stomach."
"What about your stomach? Please, if you're going to puke, don't puke on me."
"I'm n-not going to puke."
"Right, okay." Jack stood up and looked around the bathroom, though he wasn't sure what he was looking for.

"You want like water or something? Are you hungry? Do you need food? You're probably starving."
Alex grimaced at the idea of eating food. "I don't... I don't think I can..."
"You don't think you can what?"
"Eat."
"Don't be so dramatic. What are you hungry for? Pizza? Soup? No wait, we tried soup. Oatmeal?"
"I- I don't want any of that... I think. It's just- my mouth is so dry."
"You want some water then? I can't read your mind, dude."
"I-" Alex paused, struggling for the right words. "My mouth hurts."
"One problem at a time dude. What do you need?"  
"I don't- I don't know..." Frustrated, Alex grit his teeth, the pain in his stomach becoming almost unbearable. However, gritting his teeth only caused his mouth to hurt more than it already did.  Alex let out a strangled cry as the pain just got worse. Jack watched helplessly as his friend struggled.

"I- Can I even... Can I help you? Like at all? Pain killers? Anything?" Jack wasn't entirely sure that Alex had heard him. "D-do you want me to call Rian? Or... Or maybe Zack or, um... Maybe I could- no... uh..." Jack tried to think of ways to help Alex but found nothing. He wasn't even sure Alex could understand him. "I'm gonna call Rian."

Jack grabbed his phone out of his pocket and walked out of the bathroom. He stood just outside of the bathroom door so he could still see Alex, just in case something happened.

"Jack, I was just there five minutes ago. What the fuc-"
"Rian, I'm freaking out. Like we were just talking and then like he said that his stomach hurt and then his mouth hurt and now he's like... dying?"
"Dying? What do you mean he's dying?"
"I don't know he just- He's like- I tried asking if he needed like pain killers and I don't even know if he-" Jack paused. Alex had stopped struggling and was now lying on the floor, completely still.
"Jack? Jack are you there? What's going on? Is Alex okay?"
"I have to call you back."
"Wait, Ja-"

Jack quickly hung up the phone and practically ran over to Alex. "Please be breathing. Please be breathing." Jack quickly checked Alex's pulse and nearly jumped with joy at the fact that Alex was in fact alive. But then he realized that Alex's skin was ice cold. "That's not normal. That's not good. Shit. Okay. Uh..."

Jack quickly grabbed one of the blankets from the tub that had been put there from when Alex had claimed the bathroom as his home and threw it over Alex. He wasn't sure if this would help or not, but he hoped for the best.
Jack's phone was ringing. He ignored it.

Jack gently shook Alex's shoulder. "Lex, please wake up. I don't know what to do with a dead body and I don't want people to think this is murder. Please, please wake up, Lex."
Jack's phone rang again and he answered it.
"Jack you fucker! What happened? Is everything okay?"
"Rian he's unconscious."
"What??"
"How do I wake him up?"
"What if he's in a coma? You gotta call an ambulance."
"He said no doctors."
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WANTED TO CALL ONE ANYWAY!"
"Yeah but now... I don't think this is some regular sickness."
"Which is why you should call a-"
Alex rolled over onto his side and coughed a bit.

"Shit, Rian, I'll call you back later. Find Brendon."
"Jack don't you dare hang u-"
Jack looked over at Alex and moved a bit closer.
"Alex-" Jack reached out, relieved that he was finally awake.
Alex blinked bearily and moved his head slowly. "Brendon?" He said, cutting off whatever Jack was going to say. Jack stiffened in confusion.

"People are too close." Alex mumbled and squirmed in the blanket that was covering him.

"Alex, what? Brendon?" Jack sputtered in confusion as he watched Alex sluggishly move his arm like he wanted to push something.

"Brendon, let's go to the bar, it's too crowded." Alex's glazed eyes met Jack's wide ones. "Come on, buy me a drink."
"I- what the fuck?" Jack watched in confusion as his friend seemed to have a conversation with someone who wasn't there.
"Something strong enough so I can forget the fucker, yeah? I don't even want to remember his name..." Alex mumbled, shifting his body to the side. "Why is it so stuffy?" He wiggled a little under the blanket in an attempt to get rid of it.
Jack listened numbly. "Is he- are you hallucinating?" Alex's eyes were unfocused and glazed as they looked at something that was not there.

"This is not a Hemingway Martini it's Gin Tonic? What are you talking about, Brendon?" Alex laughed and paused like he was listening to something. "I don't really want to go back to the apartment. It's nice and all... it's just- well, it's silly. I can't seem to let go." Alex laughed again this time it sounded bitter. "The... company gets a little too much for me sometimes, especially these days."
Jack frowned. What was Alex even talking about?
"I mean,  he's always talking about her. I don't even know why it makes me so uncomfortable. It's like I can't even do anything without him going on about how she has the prettiest hair or the nicest smile or how she's just so funny." Jack frowned as Alex started laughing. "I'm not jealous, you fucktard!" 

Jack suddenly realized that if Alex was hallucinating he needed to snap him out of it somehow. Alex wheezed like the wind was suddenly knocked out of him. He clutched his stomach and groaned. "Fucking-" He closed his eyes tightly. "Maybe alcohol is a terrible idea."
"Alex." Jack grabbed Alex's shoulder. Alex flinched a little and opened his hazy eyes. "Alex, listen to me. You're sick and I think you should rest."
"I don't wanna go back," Alex groaned.
"Just sleep, okay? I'll make sure you're fine," Jack said, trying to play along.
"I don-" Alex's eyes drooped and he curled into a ball.
"Just rest, Alex."

I'm Not a Savior, I'm a Vampire (Jalex)Where stories live. Discover now