egodeath

7

3rd person
Zak stood up, feeling even worse that he felt before. He leaned onto his friend feeling like he might pass out. Darryl put Zak's arm around his shoulder and grabbed his hand for support, seeing how weak he looked. He quickly snagged a blanket, knowing he was probably cold.

     Together they walked out to the car and Darryl helped Zak into the car. Letting him buckle up before placing the blanket over him. Once he got in the drivers seat, Zak was laying his head against the window with his eyes closed.

     The drive was mostly quiet, Zak asleep and Darryl silently playing some music. A few hours passed and they reached Darryl's small house. He quietly parked and got out to leave rat as well as his own duffel bag.

     Through this Zak was still either asleep or just zoning out, but eventually they reached the hospital. He helped Zak get his mask on and they walked into the emergency room, bringing the duffel bag with them. He took Zak to a chair in a far corner and went up to the reception to check in.

     Zak was shaking his knee up and down, anxiety getting the best of him. This sucked but he just didn't want to feel this way anymore.

     "It'll be alright Zak. I'm here with you and besides, they just want to help you out, alright?" Darryl tried reassured him, noticing how stressed he seemed.

     A doctor walked out to them quickly introducing himself before taking Zak's temperature.

     "I know you two are together but we're just going to bring him back alone for now. We will come out in a few minutes and you can join us." The doctor explained. Darryl nodded and gave Zak's hand a quick squeeze before watching the two walk through the doors and into wherever they were going.

     Zak felt exhausted but tried his best to answer their questions as a few nurses got some vitals. It was all overwhelming but they seemed genuine and he felt bad if he didn't comply. It was the general stuff, asking what meds he was on, how he was doing, what led up to this, if he had felt suicidal at all. He froze at the last one. He felt the only thing keeping him there right now was knowing how hurt his friend would be if he just decided to quit now.

     Darryl was sat in the waiting room, fiddling his fingers a bit anxious himself, when he saw the same doctor from before walking towards him.

     "Hello again, I'm Dr. Story, you must be Darryl. Zak is fine, he's still in the back talking to some people. Could we have a word before we head back?" He asked formally. Darryl nodded and the doctor took the chair next across from him.

     "So, he seems to have been in withdrawal from the medications. Stopping cold turkey is very dangerous, and it explains why Zak's feeling the way he is. We hear his concerns and are willing to revaluate his prescription, however he mentioned he did have some thoughts of suicide." Darryl felt his chest ache knowing how horrible Zak was feeling, glad he agreed to come to the hospital. He didn't know what he would've done if Zak went through with anything.

     The doctor continued, "He is also malnourished though so instead of the psych floor, he will have his own room so we can keep a closer eye on him. He'll be here for about two weeks while we get the medications balanced. If you're ready, you can come in and talk to your friend before we take him to his room." Dr. Story stood up, gesturing toward the double doors.

      Zak looked up and saw the doctor he's been talking to with Darryl behind him. His mouth was covered by the mask but he saw nothing but love and concern in his eyes. He was so scared but felt relief seeing a familiar face. Zak had been trying so hard to keep himself together while talking to the doctors. But right now he just couldn't. He sucked in a deep shaky break and just cried.

     "I'll leave you two to it while we set up the room we'll bring you up in a moment." The doctor said before walking out leaving them alone in then room.

     Darryl walked over to the bed and lowered a guard rail so he could sit on the edge of the bed with his friend who was still crying trying to process everything. He grabbed Zak's hands an gave them a squeeze and just stayed quiet giving him some time.

     After a while Zak's tears dried and he just layers in the bed looking at the ugly ceiling tiles. How had he even gotten to this point, he thought.

     "Zak, you're going to be here for a few days, and I can't come in because of the virus, but you will have your phone I can call you whenever, we can play 8-ball, it'll be over soon, I promise." Darryl said as calmly as he could, not wanting his friend to see how nervous he was as well. "In a few days, I'll be here picking you up and we can go over to my place. I'll get a room ready for you and everything."

     Zak smiles a bit, feeling semi motivated to get better and actually be able to live is life with his friend. "Thank you, I'm sorry I've been such a mess this whole time, this wasn't how I expected to meet up." Zak mumbled.

"Hey man it's alright, we all got our downs I'm just glad we can get you some help. I know it hurts but I'll be here with you, okay?"

Zak just nodded, starting to feel a bit tired from the stress of the day's.

"Sorry to interrupt but the room is ready. Zak can bring his belongings but they will be sanitized before he can have them with him. We have your phone number, so we'll keep you posted but Zak will be able to have his phone and you are free to contact him whenever."

Darryl stood up from the bed and looked down at his friend. He reached down and hugged him as tight as he could without hurting him and told him to talk to him whenever no matter the time.

The doctores wheeled him out of sight, up the elevators to his own room. Darryl felt sad knowing how bad it had gotten for Zak. He washed his hands and walked out into the parking look. He sat in his car for a few minutes in silence before sighing, knowing rat was probably missing him. He backed out of the parking spot and drove home listening to his favorite band on shuffle, Starset.

He got home and it was pretty dark. He had his Saturday stream tomorrow. He tweeted saying it would be moved to twitch for this week just to make it more manageable, knowing chat would be chaos since they knew he and Skeppy had met up.

He made some quick microwaveable dinner, not feeling enough energy to actually try and got ready to sleep soon after. Darryl texted Zak goodnight along with a picture of rat , hoping to bring him some joy. He said goodnight to rat too, who snuggled into his side and the two drifted off.